A few fireworks pics from the 4th

[hoover86]

These are some of the first pics I've taken with my new SLR. It's a Pentax *istDL with the 18-55mm lens. I wasn't using a tripod, and had things on AUTO picture, still trying to get the hang of the basic functions before I jump into the more advanced features. These pictures were ONLY cropped and are otherwise untouched by CS2. I'm still also trying to learn the basics there too!!

 

[PoukieBear]

Those are some amazing pictures. Now I don't feel so bad that it rained here and I didn't get to see any fireworks

 

[maroonytunes]

Sweet pictures, I can never get my camera to take a non-blurry picture during fireworks.

 

[scothew]

Those are really good. I was upset it rained and I didnt go try out any of the tips I read on photographing fireworks.

Btw, if anyone is interested, this is a good read: http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-photograph-fireworks/

 

[jwedehase]

One of the keys to some great fireworks shots is the extended shutter speed so you can see the entire trail of explosion. Notice your 5th shot (with the purple squigglies), the trails are short. However, don't be mislead, these are some real nice shots!

This is the plus of digital, you can immediately see what worked and what didn't. I didn't get to see any shows this year, but last year I spent the entire evening shooting away, experimenting.

Another great effect I found was to open the shutter before the firework exploded (so you're looking at darkness), then when the firework explodes, your shot shows streamers all the way from the center on out. On this shot, I also decided to zoom in so the trails would shoot out of the viewfinder. Uncropped:

 

[thor32766]

great pics guys!

 

[louist]

Nice photos there. IMHO, your exposure time is too short. You need to open the shutter as soon as the rocket is fired, that way you have a trail going up, which then explodes. It's more dramatic to have the trail + ground (or foreground) rather than just the firebal.

Yeah I am being picky, how well fireworks photos come out often depend heavily on the firework display itself and the location. Here in Sydney, our annual NYE fireworks is set against the bridge, which gives a spectacular display.

 

[hoover86]

Yea, I live in a town of about 13,000 so I can't imagine a firework show like that! Taking pictures at night of fireworks is actually a bit of a challenge, noone knows exactly when it's gonna explode, and trying to time it perfect is really hard, since some go higher then others, some explode at different times making the use of a tripod pretty difficult. You can't tell the explosion to sit still a minute while you try and focus in to get a better shot. It was a lot of fun though, I took a ton of pictures to get the few good ones shown.

 

[Desert Fox]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7702045#post7702045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by louist
You need to open the shutter as soon as the rocket is fired, that way you have a trail going up, which then explodes. It's more dramatic to have the trail + ground (or foreground) rather than just the firebal.

Just like any other type of photography (or any one photo for that matter) you'll find a million differing opinions on what makes fireworks photos worthwhile, but i agree with Louis here. Having the trail as a leading line towards the explosion typically makes for more dramatic photos. I find that stopping down the aperture to have a good exposure of around 8 - 10 seonds works well. Here's an example:

Obviously just another man's opinion. Take it or leave it.

 

[maroun.c]

Sorry to be out of the subject but a friend of mine is using PEntax and she asked me about some good lenses for it? Which do you recommend? Does it take the same lenses or Nikon on Canon?

 

[jay24k]

I'm not familiar with Pentax but I do know Canon only works on canon and nikon on nikon so I would assume Pentax only works on Pentax. I would look for a Pentax forum on the internet as you will probably find a load of information there.

 

[hoover86]

Yea, I'm a member of flickr.com and they have a dedicated forum for Pentax users, and even a dedicated forum just for Pentax *istDL, so chances are they have a forum for her model of camera as well. You do need a Pentax lens with the camera, but hang out at the forums on flickr and there are a lot of knowledgable people on the forums with experience with a lot of lenses. It's an awesome site IMO, and people post pictures so you know what camera they are using etc. I'd check it out if I were you, or let your friend know about it..

 

[louist]

You can't really recommand a lens without knowing a person's shooting style. In fact, IMHO, only onself can decide what lens to buy for, oneself. That's a Q you should ask yourself as a photography. Most gear talk online are that, gear-talk, it's all measurbating.

I know I sound harsh, but you when you are ready, you will know which lens you want to buy

 

[Lpabsolute]

Nice job on the pics guys...