Fireworks, Anyone?

[Dr. Jay]

Anyone take any photos of fireworks this 4th of July? If so, how'd they turn out?

These were my first attempts. I lost a lot more due to having too many exposures per single exposure (if that makes any sense), and I ended up with a bunch of bright cauliflowers.

 

[Dee]

Too many trees around our house.

Very cool pictures! That first one really does look like some anemones I've seen!

 

[okiediver1]

Great pics--can you tell me what your settings were?

 

[Dr. Jay]

Dee and okiediver1.

Actually, I used a wierd technique. The fstop for fireworks shots are normally set very high, in my case f/8.0. This is to narrow the depth of field, cuz what you're shooting at is so far away (I hope I got that right). I had ISO 100, and used manual focus about 3 steps back from infinity. I used a tripod...goes without saying. The wierd technique was actually setting the shutter speed to about 16 seconds. I used the little black remote for the C-5050 and covered the lens between exposures. If you look at the second photograph, you'll notice I got a bunch of blasts in one frame, or exposure, depending on how you look at it. This would have worked better if the blasts were a little more spread apart. The best thing about the technique I used was that I didn't have to worry about the delay between shutter activation and exposure, because all I had to to was remove the remote from over the lens in the 16 seconds I had the shutter open.

The whole thing was definately a lot of fun, and I look forward to trying next year, or on the 1st.

Breakin' it down:
ISO 100
f/8.0
16"
Manual focus
Full zoom
No flash

Let me know if you need any more info, or if I forgot something.

 

[Agape]

Nice pics! They turned out better than mine but I also forgot to take my tri-pod with me too but they weren't too bad. I used my 5050 while sitting down trying to keep the cam steady on my knee. I've got the pics at home so I'll post a few when I get a chance. Went to Estes Park, CO for a wedding and took some shots of the firewarks at Estes Lake.

 

[WileEDiver]

Hey Doc,

Very nice shots! A technique I definitely will try out next chance I get.

One small point though, a higher f-stop (more narrow aperture) will increase the depth of field (more will be in focus), not narrow it.

 

[PhotoTJ]

Very cool, Doc! Set up your desktop for a slide show, put on Sousa's Greatest Marches, have a hot dog, and you've got a 4th whenever you like it.

Great shots!

TJ

 

[Agape]

Here's my fireworks pics from Estes Park. Not too bad, but would have turned out a lot better had I remembered my darn tripod. Oh well I'll remember next time!

http://www.agape1.net/travel/estespark/fireworks/

Paula

 

[Dee]

Paula...I think the squiggly lines give some of the shots extra character!

Very Nice, anyway!

 

[Abril]

Im still trying to figure out my camera, Why are mine so blured? Yours look awesome!