Last post I included an image of a firework explosion. Yes, it was taken on the Fourth last year. Right around Independence Day, there's a lot of advice from the "experts" on the best way to shoot. I'm no expert, but I like to at least give my perspective. If you haven't figured out that a lot of photography is trial and error by now, you're hearing it. I know going out with my camera, that I'm not going to get every shot right, and that I'll be collecting throw-aways. And it's not a problem with digital although it can be cost prohibitive with film. Moving from film to digital gave me the patience to frame a shot and wait for it to happen. With fireworks, however, it's nice to have the digital to make as many throw-aways as possible.
I read somewhere that with fireworks, you'll have a ratio of 20-1, meaning out of 20 shots, you'll have one that comes out good. I think it's easy to come out with a better ratio than that. It helps to have a camera with multi-shot capabilities, and adjustable shutter speeds. It also helps to choose your spot. If you're at a small, local show, get close to the area where the pyrotechnics are happening, and try to stay upwind. For the last two years, I was able to sit about a hundred yards away from the platform the shells were shot from, so I could hear the shot, see the fuse trails and have a great chance of approximating how high the shells were going to go. I didn't use a tripod, I shot with a shutter speed of a second at f/8 with a 28-80mm lens at 28mm, and ISO was 400. Multiple shot mode came into play after a couple of minutes when I realized it would help me bracket better. The one thing I've seen people repeat in their advice was use a tripod and shutter release/remote. I threw that out, but with this caveat - if you're not shooting next to/under the explosions, use it. If you're far enough away that you can't track the shells easily, but you know where they're going to go bang, set up your tripod, point the camera in the right place, and let it do the work.
Me, I was sitting in a lawn chair, tracking the fuse trails (they make weird lines on images too, so don't ignore them) and pressing the shutter just before I figured they'd blow up. I only looked at the previews on my screen the first couple of times to check out the settings, but after I had everything dialed in, I ignored them. Make sure to close the eye you're framing the shot with as the explosion happens, or you'll be seeing a lot of spots by the end of the night. When the finale started, however, I realized that it'd just be better to keep the camera pointed in the general direction of the shots and only peek very quickly. Through the viewfinder, it was all white, although later on the computer, most came out well.
It also helps to have a large memory card. I ended up with over 500 jpeg images, some just black, some remnants of the blasts, some not quite at the apex of the colors. I even had several that were just off center so only half the blast shows up. I still kept those, sometimes it adds drama and could be used in the future for who knows what. As for the final number of decent or semi decent shots? 294. Not bad, and well over the 20-1 ratio. Granted, I'll be doing another culling to get the best shots to show publicly, and I'll probably do some Photoshop work to have a little fun with the ones that weren't exactly what I'd hoped. All in all, I figure it was a pretty good night for fireworks. And cameras.
I hope your shots came out as you'd hoped, if they didn't, I hope I helped you for next year.
Lake of Fire - The first picture I put up is one, that to me, looks like an optical illusion. If you consider what the perspective could be, you may see a serene lake scene from atop a hill or mountainside and seeing the whole shoreline with a layer of low lying clouds. Or, you could be looking off into the horizon standing on level ground at a burning orange sky during a sunset. You be the judge.
The blog entry that was supposed to go here, will not be making an appearance. It was meant to remind photographers to pay attention, and be respectful of the surroundings they're in, especially during a paid job. However, I have since become a bit more understanding of the issue, and my previous thoughts don't hold water now a year later. So we'll just skip it and move on.
I will, however, put up the anecdote that I talked about at the end of the post. As I was standing outside a church at the wedding of some friends of ours. I was not the professional hired to shoot their wedding, but I always take my camera with me. As everyone was filing out of the church to do the bubbles thing, and I was standing well back from the crowd as I had a rather long lens. One of the other guests stepped into my line of view, quickly realized that there was someone behind her and apologized for blocking me. She then looked at my gear, looked at her point and shoot and back to me, waved her camera and laughed, "Of course, look at this thing and look at yours." The camera envy was very palpable. I chuckled and responded with "Well, I'm a professional..." and just left the thought open. I could have been a bit more suave, but oh well. She was at least paying attention to her surroundings.
I think that's enough for now. I'll finish up the rest in the next post or so.
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