Fireworks

[Derf]

Looking forward to seeing many Fireworks pictures from this year.

Each year the boys and I go to Bald Hill for the 4th of July Fireworks. We go to the Allstate building just to the East of the Amphitheater and there is a very large hill that the boys and I love to roll down! If you go, bring Mosquito repellent... It is lots of fun!

Every year I get better and better with fireworks. Remember not to over expose the fireworks or you loose the color. Adjust the F-stop and not speed for brightness of fireworks. Make sure the colors look RICH and not bright in your LCD.

Here are some shots from previous years!
2008






2008




2006





This looks good in viewfinder but when you see the above, this is a good example of what not to do

[MarkLawrence]

Quick poll - I've never got decent fireworks shots - what settings are you guys using? Particularly the Nikon folks...Nick..Kenny...the other Nikon users????

[moose135]

Mark, I'm not a Nikon guy, but the basic settings should be about the same. Use the lowest ISO you can, I use ISO 100, mid-range aperture, f/7.1 - f/9, although I may try some smaller for grins. Use bulb mode and a remote release. Shutter speeds anywhere from 1 to 10 seconds depending on what is going up.

This was from my first attempt, three years ago - ISO 200, f/11, and 10 second exposure to get multiple bursts.



Two years ago, I shot the Macy's Fireworks show on the Hudson River. This was ISO 100, f/9, 4 seconds.

[MarkLawrence]

Helps a lot - thanks John!!!

[MarkLawrence]

Ok - I got a huge freaking light pole in my display - but - thanks to Moose - I think I got some decent shots...first one edited quicky..

[moose135]

Bummer on that light pole, Mark - looks like a good catch on the fireworks, though.

Fred, John and I went out to Bald Hill (or should that be "Follically Challenged Hill"?) tonight. My inexpensive Hong Kong wireless remote started giving me problems half way through (I guess 4 years use is the limit on those...) so I was playing with camera settings more than I wanted to.

[cancidas]

nice work all, i took these a few years ago in Salinas. no idea what the cam was set for was my old D70 back then:








i think it's time to seriously get back behind my camera!!

[lijk604]

My grouping from Bald Hill last night.

[Derf]

Nice shots guys!!! I had a great time last night and was really pushing the F-stop. The higher it went, the better the colors.. I ended up past F-16 at 100 iso and will shoot high F-Stops from now on. Here are some of my shots


















Many more on my site here

Great time with Great friends. Sorry you could not make it in time Ken

[GrummanFan]

This year, I decided to spend more time setting them off than shooting them from afar...

The Setup


The Execution


The Results


The Aftermath

[wunaladreamin]

Great shots guys! Yeah Fred, after our call, we decided on the Bay Shore Marina and wound up at the Captree boat basin where the view of the fireworks wasn't yreat but that gorgeous sunset made up for it. We wound up watching from the northbound RM bridge and had a great view of everything.

[steve1840]

All these fireworks shots are great! You all have done a fantastic job with them.

I will be heading out tonight to try my hand at photographing some fireworks. I'll post them later on.

....After going to see the weekly fireworks display, I now know a location NOT to go to again if I plan on photographing the display. Trees hid part of display and power lines got in way.

Only got one that I really liked enough to share. Shot at ISO 50, f16, 10sec