Fireworks

[hw771230]

I'm not sure where is appropriate for this kind of shot, but I felt like sharing.

I went out to the solstice fireworks last night (no use having July 4th fireworks b/c of light, so they get them in when they can). It was a fairly brief, but full show.

Both shot with Nikon D70, Sigma 18-50/2.8. At ISO 200, f/6.3, Exp. 8 sec for the first, 6 sec for the second.




I had a good spot on a foot bridge over the river. It was fairly warm (-5 to -10F), but through the 50 shots I took I had to keep switching hands to keep my fingers from freezing. My camera seems to have no problems with the cold, I've used it down to about -50F, as long as I have a good charge.

Caleb

[Bonish Photo]

Phenominal Shots Caleb! Long exposures are my hobby, and fireworks are some of the hardest to capture. You seemed to have gotten two great ones here.

I cant remember how many rolls of film I had wasted with trying to get shots like those. Problem is now that I have swapped all to digital, I havent had a good chance to try any firework shots.


This was taken back in 1997 at the Detroit Fireworks Festival. It was taken on 35mm with a Canon Rebel and a Tamron 24-200 Cant remember the ISO or the Settings since there is no EXIF Data.

If you look closely, you can see the fireworks bouncing across the water

Now you have me itching to try some out.

Pat
www.everymilesamemory.com

[hw771230]

Pat,

Thanks. This is my first attempt at shooting fireworks. I wish there were better shows around. That shot of yours looks like a really big show. Pretty nice shot too.

Caleb

[swoozie]

Winter Solstice is as deserving of fireworks as the 4th.. Nice shots from both of you! I haven't done very well in this dept.. Got lucky on a couple but need to find opportunities to practice more!

[Bonish Photo]

Hey Caleb, the International Freedom Festival in Detroit is done the last week of June to celebrate Canada Day which is July 1st and our Independance Day of July 4th.

It is one of the largest fireworks display in the world and if you live in Michigan or any surrounding state, it is a must see. It usually draws around 1 million people to downtown Detroit and it's neighboring city of Windsor Canada.

Like I said, that was back in my film days when you used to be able to leave the shutter open for a few minutes with a black card in front of the lens. Now with Digital, really long exposures are much harder and I'm not good enough with my post processing skills to sandwich multiple exposures together.

Like I said, seeing you shot got me itching to try shots like this again with digital

Pat
www.everymilesamemory.com

[hw771230]

Glad you're excited Pat. I love long exposures. I'm even thinking about getting a Kodak gel ND so I can do multi-minute shots in the daylight. I have not tried too many multiple frame shots with digital, but the ones I have were relatively easy and turned out well.

It's a lot of fun to play with the possibilities of digital.

Caleb

[Bonish Photo]

I was just buying a new ND filter when I saw B&W has a 9 stop ND Filter!! Can you imagine the possibilities that would allow you during the day time when the sunlight just doenst want to allow you a do-able shot!?!

I'm thinking that's my next purchase

Pat
www.everymilesamemory.com

[totalyfrozen]

those are great shots! Here is one I took in Mexico, we all chipped in and bought some fireworks for my moms birthday, didnt even think that we would get real fireworks for the price we paid. Not as nice as what you guys took but still a cool shot with the moon in it.

[Bonish Photo]

Cool shot Totally Frozen! That moon really makes the shot look cool!!

Pat
www.everymilesamemory.com

[hw771230]

That is nice with the moon. Must have been fun having your own big fireworks!

Caleb

[totalyfrozen]

Thanks, it was definatley a treat!

[Walczak Photo]

Hey Caleb,
I know I'm real late on this one...I don't usually stop by this part of the forums, but I have to say those shots are simply splendid! Very well done!!!

I tried shooting the fireworks here in Lorain last 4th of July, but I had kind of got "caught up in the moment" and had forgot to check my ISO...which was set at 1600 so I didn't walk away with anything worth writing home about. Maybe next year...

Anyways, again I just wanted to say great job on those...very nicely done indeed!

Peace,
Jim

[hw771230]

Thanks Jim,

The best thing about shooting fireworks is you get anothewr chance when they come back around. I went to the new years fireworks thios year too, and got a lot of out of focus shots. I thought I had it nailed, but when I put the on the computer they were all out of focus. The exposures were really nice but blurry.

Caleb

[gldiana]

Caleb, great shots, I love how your photos came out.

Totalyfrozen, nice original shot the one with the moon in it.

Pat,
thanks for sharing the info about the ND 9 f/stop, I think I'll get it too, I love working with slow motion water in daylight, I usually use 3 filters but I think with the ND 9 I won't lose too much quality.