When using studio strobes or a hot shoe flash, you might come across a black gradient at the bottom of your images. This happens when you have too fast of a shutter speed, blocking part of the frame lit by your speedlight or strobe.

There’s an easy way to avoid this. Check your camera’s manual for the “sync” shutter speed for flash. Then, keep your shutter speed set at that speed or slower when using speedlight or electronic flash. A shutter set at “sync” or slower ensures the light can fully illuminate the scene your camera captures.