Black Vertical Bar In Photo, Please Help.

[mbrager]

I doubt there's anything wrong with your camera. The line does look like a shadow, which, if you used flash, should be there depending on how you held your camera and where you stood relative to the post. Camera and flash settings may have influenced the shadow. But there is no shadow on the background behind the model. You really answered your own question.

[Marko]

I'm with mbrager - shadow on model was caused by light, not your camera.

To prove it to yourself take a picture of a white wall, if it was the camera you'll see it on the white wall.

Hope that may help

[christopher steven b.]

There are to me 3 possibilities here:

1) some kind of sensor issue--my guess is only having seen one example photo that it's NOT a sensor issue
2) a shadow cast from an off-camera light
3) you used flash but exceeded your sync speed--so your shutter wasn't open long enough for the light to fully cycle thus cutting off the bottom of your frame (the left side of the frame would be the bottom of your frame if you had shot in landscape.). If you poke through your EXIF info and see 'flash fired - yes' and some shutterspeed that is greater than 1/320 or thereabouts--well, that's your answer. My guess is that this is the answer because the effect only occurs in the foreground (where your flash would reach) and not the background as far as I can tell.

[PhotoBoyBC]

I will try to tweak the sync speed. I rarely use the flash being mostly into landscape photography. Thank you for the advice.
John

[Iguanasan]

Hey, John.

Sorry for the slow reply. Based on what I can see I agree with the others as well. If you are shooting with the flash on the camera and it was tilted vertically to your left then it would perfectly line up with that post and create the shadow.

[PhotoBoyBC]

Thank you for your reply. I was a bit hasty with my post. I am not familiar with the site and am a bit antsy due to the short time I have till my trip.
Again, I appreciate your help and advice.

John

[PhotoBoyBC]

Thank you for the help. I am pretty sure that was the issue now. Take care.
John

[PhotoBoyBC]

It was an epiphany for this newbie photographer. Thank you for the reassurance.
John

[PhotoBoyBC]

I appreciate it mbrager. It all makes sense. I got a bit worried by the Nikon reply.
John

[ericmark]

Instead of advice I am going to say thanks. It is easy to forget a focal plane shutter can cause that effect. Even back to days of film I had the odd picture with odd effect which I could not explain.