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  1. #1
    Senior Member swmdrayfan's Avatar
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    My Fireworks stunk

    Not going to post any because I deleted them all. They were brutal.
    Had my ISO at 200 (lowest on the D70), f 11, and bulb. Tripped the shutter the moment I heard the fireworks go off, and held until they dissipated. All I got were little bursts, like the things were starting but no colorful trails....what was I doing wrong? I read the tips that were posted, but somewhere along the line, I either forgot to do something or just blew it big time.
    John

  2. #2
    mooo...wooh hoooh! schrackman's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Sounds like you and I had our share of troubles. I was all set to shoot fireworks only to notice that the plate where the camera mounts on my tripod was missing!! I ended up having to rest my camera against a tree and hope for the best. I just got home so I'll find out how many of my pics are actually unusable.

    By the way, sounds to me like you possibly didn't leave your shutter open long enough. Did you use a tripod and remote shutter release?

    Ray O'Canon
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  3. #3
    project forum co-moderator Frog's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Seems like if he held until they dissapated it should have been long enough.

    Are you sure you had it set on bulb?
    Keep Shooting!

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  4. #4
    Senior Member WsW-WYATT-EARP's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    John - I used the same settings on my D50 - got about 30% decent shots - and about 5% (maybe at best) ok shots - and a few great shots

    seems hit or miss with them - I did what you did with opening the shutter as I heard them go off - then as they reached their biggest diameter without dissipating yet i closed the shutter - I tried a few 15-20 sec exposures but found that since most of the fireworks were in the same area of the sky i got alot of blown out white areas - so i tried to limit the exposure to 2-3 at a time

    here is one that stood out to me so far - there are maybe 2 more that just stand out as decent

    Ben

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  5. #5
    mooo...wooh hoooh! schrackman's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Well, this is probably the best of my bunch tonight...f/5.6 @ 2 seconds, 100 ISO. Though I held it up against a tree, you can still notice camera shake.

    Still have some from last night I have to go through. But last night I had other troubles as well, so I'm not so hopeful about those.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails My Fireworks stunk-works1_pr.jpg  

    Ray O'Canon
    Digital Rebel XTi • Digital Rebel • Canonet GIII QL17 • Agfa Parat-1

    The liberal, socialist politician's nightmare: "What a comfort to the farmer to be allowed to supply his own wants before he should be liable to pay anything, and then only pay on his surplus." - Jefferson to Madison on Taxes,1784

    My Canonet GIII QL-17 photos on flickr.

  6. #6
    AutoX Addict Mr Yuck's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    I forgot my cable release for my AE1, but it may have been still enough...I will find out sometime when I get the film developed/printed....of course I still have rolls from a year ago. :lol:

    I didnt get anything spectacular, but still had a great time just enjoying the show and the good company.
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  7. #7
    Senior Member swmdrayfan's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    frog......yes..I held until the sky went black again.
    schrackman......yes, I used a tripod. The battery in my remote was dead so I kept the shutter button down.

    these were neighborhood fireworks, I might add, but still plenty powerful enough to make for good displays.

  8. #8
    Sleep is optional Sebastian's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    John,

    If the trails weren't showing up you should have just opened up the aperture a bit more. Those settings were just a starting point, the only thing you did "wrong" was sticking to them. Too bad you deleted the shots, seeing some might have helped us figure out what went wrong.
    -Seb

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  9. #9
    Senior Member swmdrayfan's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Quote Originally Posted by Sebastian
    John,

    If the trails weren't showing up you should have just opened up the aperture a bit more. Those settings were just a starting point, the only thing you did "wrong" was sticking to them. Too bad you deleted the shots, seeing some might have helped us figure out what went wrong.
    Arrrgh.....why didn't I think of that (slaps forehead)

    I just remembered that although they were deleted from the PSE5 catalog, they're still on the hard drive. I'll post them in a bit.

  10. #10
    Senior Member swmdrayfan's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Ok......I'm embarrassed to be putting these up, but how else will I learn...right?

    #1

    Camera model: NIKON D70
    Date/Time: 2007:07:04 23:03:33
    Resolution: 400 x 479
    Flash used: No
    Focal length: 35.0mm (35mm equivalent: 52mm)
    Exposure time: 1.700 s
    Aperture: f/11.0
    Exposure bias: 0.33
    Whitebalance: Auto
    Metering Mode: matrix
    Exposure: Manual
    Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing

    #2

    Camera model: NIKON D70
    Date/Time: 2007:07:04 22:39:08
    Resolution: 400 x 443
    Flash used: No
    Focal length: 25.0mm (35mm equivalent: 37mm)
    Exposure time: 3.100 s
    Aperture: f/11.0
    Exposure bias: 0.33
    Whitebalance: Auto
    Metering Mode: matrix
    Exposure: Manual
    Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing

    #3

    Camera model: NIKON D70
    Date/Time: 2007:07:04 2241
    Resolution: 400 x 491
    Flash used: No
    Focal length: 70.0mm (35mm equivalent: 105mm)
    Exposure time: 1.800 s
    Aperture: f/11.0
    Exposure bias: 0.33
    Whitebalance: Auto
    Metering Mode: matrix
    Exposure: Manual
    Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing

    #4

    Camera model: NIKON D70
    Date/Time: 2007:07:04 22:13:30
    Resolution: 481 x 400
    Flash used: No
    Focal length: 70.0mm (35mm equivalent: 105mm)
    Exposure time: 0.769 s
    Aperture: f/11.0
    Exposure bias: 0.33
    Whitebalance: Auto
    Metering Mode: matrix
    Exposure: Manual
    Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing

    #5

    Camera model: NIKON D70
    Date/Time: 2007:07:04 21:50:36
    Resolution: 400 x 527
    Flash used: No
    Focal length: 70.0mm (35mm equivalent: 105mm)
    Exposure time: 2.000 s
    Aperture: f/11.0
    Exposure bias: 0.33
    Whitebalance: Auto
    Metering Mode: matrix
    Exposure: Manual
    Exposure Mode: Auto bracketing

  11. #11
    mooo...wooh hoooh! schrackman's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Your remote shutter release has a battery???

    In any event, #s 1 and 2 look pretty decent.Not spectacular, but decent. The rest look like the rest of mine turned out, LOL.

    Ray O'Canon
    Digital Rebel XTi • Digital Rebel • Canonet GIII QL17 • Agfa Parat-1

    The liberal, socialist politician's nightmare: "What a comfort to the farmer to be allowed to supply his own wants before he should be liable to pay anything, and then only pay on his surplus." - Jefferson to Madison on Taxes,1784

    My Canonet GIII QL-17 photos on flickr.

  12. #12
    Senior Member swmdrayfan's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Quote Originally Posted by schrackman
    Your remote shutter release has a battery???

    In any event, #s 1 and 2 look pretty decent.Not spectacular, but decent. The rest look like the rest of mine turned out, LOL.
    Yeah.....a remote commander....although it works much better when the battery is good.

  13. #13
    Senior Member Jimmy B's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    I thought my night was going to be shot also,tried a test shot with remote, my batteries were dead also.
    My shutter speeds ranged from 6 sec. too 15 sec. used F-6 too F-8.
    Jimmy B

  14. #14
    The one - The only
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Everyone's shots look good! Here are a few some the beaches of Santa Cruz, Ca.









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  15. #15
    Senior Member Jimmy B's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Makes me wish for something in my foreground? Next year or opportunity?JB

  16. #16
    Pentax Forum Moderator
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    I think this year opened a lot of our eyes. John, your shots are just fine, IMHO. And the biggest thing is, we're all learning, not only from everyones mistakes this year, but also their successes. It is my considered opinion that every shot we take teaches us something and that to me is as important as whether the shot turned out or not.

    Everyone...awesome works!!!!
    Ken


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  17. #17
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    John, I think your photos look fine. You're being too critical of yourself. I didn't have a remote and had to use my self-timer so I couldn't time them well. I tried to get sense of the rhythm of the show and just blasted away. I think I shot a couple of gigs of photos.

    I had focus problems. I think I should haver just focused on infinity. I was miles away from where the fireworks were actually happening. AF was out of the question and my eyes suck. But I tried to focus manually. Bad idea. Poor focusing ability was one of the reasons I switched to auto focus cameras. Live and learn. I get to learn from the mistakes I made this time and do better the next time I have the opportunity to take fireworks photos.

    Thanks for your article, Sebastian. It's part of the reason I wanted to take fireworks pictures. It's a great how-to.
    Photo-John

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  18. #18
    photo gallery Mod. starriderrick's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Dave,
    The Santa Cruz shots rock! Nice work.

    Rick









  19. #19
    The one - The only
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Thanks Rick!
    Dave
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  20. #20
    Senior Member WsW-WYATT-EARP's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    yes Dave your shots are great !!! you posted shots from the same area last year if I recall ?
    Ben

    Bodies: Nikon D300 - Nikon D50

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  21. #21
    Senior Member swmdrayfan's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    You guys are being a bit too kind, but all in all it's a learning process, like everything else. Next time I'll take Sebastian's advice, and dial down the f-stop a notch or two. And of course, I'll be reading and researching what everyone else has done.
    John

  22. #22
    Just Lurking
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Dave,

    I agree with the others: your shots are great. I'm especially jealous because I was up in the hills of Soquel instead of down on the beach. Everything was too far away and we had too much haze to get any good shots. I was tempted to nuke the entire batch as well.

    John,

    It looks to me like you also had some wobblies going on. Did you use a tripod and remote?

    Thanks,

    PC

  23. #23
    The one - The only
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    Quote Originally Posted by WsW-WYATT-EARP
    yes Dave your shots are great !!! you posted shots from the same area last year if I recall ?
    Great memory! Yup I tried a slightly different vantage point this year a little lower and more offset from the trailhead. I actually liked last years spot better, but what can you do?
    Dave
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  24. #24
    project forum co-moderator Frog's Avatar
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    I don't think your shots look bad, John. Not spectacular but not bad either. Probably like all events like this you're lucky if you get 10% good ones.

    Of course people like Dave make us all a bit jealous with spectacular shots like those.
    Number 1 and especially number 2 are just awesome and its all because of the foreground.
    Keep Shooting!

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  25. #25
    The one - The only
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    Re: My Fireworks stunk

    John and the rest of you guys,

    You all take inherently great shots. It's not that anyone is really better than anyone else on this board, well okay Seb kicks butt at fireworks shots, but it's just some are more experienced than others.

    I think that your shots, John, are really good. I think that maybe it's the composition or cropping that makes them lack a little luster. I hope you dont mind but I took your first shot and tweaked it a little to show how I would have put it up. If you mind please let me know and I'll take it down.



    Cheers.
    Dave
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