First time shooting in Bulb mode (Fireworks from downtown last night)

[lindsey7682]

This is the first time I have ever shot in bulb mode or even shot fireworks. I played around with bulb on my "beginner" Nikon (d3000) as I like to call it last night. I absolutly love shooting in bulb mode now and would love to try and shoot a good lightening storm sometime. After shooting the fireworks downtown last night I did find it very hard to focus. It was very dark out and you didn't know exactly where the fireworks were going to end up. Anyways I just recently started to get into photography as a hobby about 6 months ago and would love some feedback on my shots from last night. I only uploaded 2 of my favorites but also included the link to the album.
Fireworks 2012 pictures by lindsey7682 - Photobucket

[geraldb]

There are numerous firework shots out there and many of them are excellent. To make your shot extra special you should include some sort of skyline or on ground activity to make the image look special and relate them to a location as well and not just sparks in the air.

[Lava Lamp]

I get the point about the context, but it's a hard to get context in the dark -- especially if you want the fireworks to "pop." These are solid shots. I was playing around with bulb settings and different exposures last night, too, and I'm not sure I figured out the optimal time, but I think these may be a touch overexposed (ie, bulb held too long.)

[wfooshee]

If you don't hold it as long, you get shorter streaks. To darken, close down the aperture.

Myself, I'm not a fan of long-exposure fireworks shots. It's not how you see them when they're going off. I know a lot of people shoot them that way, though.

[geraldb]

I get the point about the context, but it's a hard to get context in the dark -- especially if you want the fireworks to "pop." These are solid shots. I was playing around with bulb settings and different exposures last night, too, and I'm not sure I figured out the optimal time, but I think these may be a touch overexposed (ie, bulb held too long.)

Actually, not hard at all. If you live in a city with lighted skyline you don't need to do anything extra. if you're shooting trees, they'll appear as silhouette. With people, you use fill-in flash or your camera "night portrait or night scene" auto setting.
There are fireworks in every city and town in the world, they all look alike in mid-air. What makes the shot uniquely yours is what you capture in the foreground.

[GB1]

Great shots. I really like the top one, which looks like a palm tree. Not sure why it was so hard to focus? as fireworks are normally fired at a fairly consistent spot in the sky, but perhaps you were really close - almost underneath them - and couldn't count on them going to a consistent altitude. The second isn't as good as the top one because in this one I think it would also have been best to leave a little white space around the burst. Still, nice pix!

G