Big Ball in the Sky!

Big Ball

When you are photographing using long shutter speeds, you can do things that you normally try to avoid doing in order to get some interesting effects. Usually, you try to keep the camera nice and still on the tripod so that you don't get a blurring image. However, if you are deliberate with your camera movements or adjustments, then you can get effects like the one above. This was taken by zooming my lens while the shutter was open. This caused the streaks streaming into the building as well as changing the apparent depth between the building and the fireworks. In this case it made the fireworks appear as a big ball and as though the fireworks were launched from in front of the building rather than from behind it.

Breaking the "rules" of photography can result in interesting images so long as you understand what you are changing and are careful with how you make those changes.


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Fireworks

Fireworks

Photographing fireworks really is not too hard. In order to get the streaks as you see in this shot, you have to use a long shutter speed. This particular photograph was around 3 to 4 seconds long. Because the shutter speed is so long, you need to secure the camera which generally means using a tripod. I also use a cable release remote to trigger the shutter to further minimize any camera vibrations which could affect the image.

I set my camera in Manual mode (that is not as scary as most people thing it is) with the Aperture set to between f/5.7 to f/11 depending on how much I want in focus. Then I place the shutter speed in the "Bulb" setting. This allows me to hold the shutter open for as long as I want. While shooting fireworks, I try to open the shutter when I see the rocket streamers going up, and keep it open until the final bloom is finished. I will use the image on the LCD to gauge the exposure and adjust how long I keep the shutter open.

Holding the shutter open longer will capture more movement and more fireworks in a single frame. However, you can over expose the image if you keep the shutter open too long. In the end, it really just matters what you want to capture and what you want the images to look like. I don't even have may eye to the viewfinder for fireworks except for the initial framing. Once you have the camera set on your tripod, your framing won't change too much unless you really want to try different angles. Live View can be very useful in this situation as well which I did use a few times.

Photographing fireworks is one of those times when you can really play around with the camera and get some neat effects.

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Red, White & Boom!

Fireworks over the Chapman Cultural Center

Our club meeting on July 3, was a big success. We had close to forty photographers present some of whom also brought their family. There was a meeting prior to the fireworks show to discuss how to photograph fireworks. Mike at Spartan Photo Center also had some "games" where he gave away some stuff. I got a small Nikon badged, Victorinox Swiss Army pocket knife, a National Geographic belt pouch, and a coupon for a free filter. We were set up right across from the Chapman Cultural Center in downtown Spartanburg which was great because the fireworks were launched from directly behind the center. Here is a slide show of my favorite shots from the evening. I'll post in more detail about some of them later this week.



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