# Photo Assignment - Fireworks



## icassell (Jul 5, 2008)

Well, no one else put it up, so figured I'd start the thread! Hope you all had a wonderful July 4th!


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## brianne5499 (Jul 5, 2008)




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## lockwood81 (Jul 5, 2008)

Ormond Beach, FL show:


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## DefyinglyGreen (Jul 5, 2008)

Great pictures! How do you get them so clear? I'm having trouble with taking fireworks pics.


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## lockwood81 (Jul 5, 2008)

DefyinglyGreen said:


> Great pictures! How do you get them so clear? I'm having trouble with taking fireworks pics.


 
I don't know about anyone else, but I pre-focused on something where the fireworks would be, then set the camera to manual.  And used f/11...hope that helps a little.


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## RandyB (Jul 5, 2008)

I took my first digital photos of fireworks last night after a 2 hour rain delay.  After putting the camera away, they started fireworks at 10:30 pm.  I did some shot that wasn't worth posting.
Fireworks shots are a big difference with 35mm and digital.


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## icassell (Jul 5, 2008)

Great pix, folks!  Here are a few of mine from last night. I set to about f13 with camera on manual and these were with about 2sec exposure times (cable release on bulb setting).

1)  Waiting for the show






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7)


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## AdrianBetti (Jul 5, 2008)

What did you have the iso at on those? There's a looot of noise. Especially in the last photo.


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## icassell (Jul 5, 2008)

ISO 100.  Not much noise ... glare from ajoining stadium lights and a fair amount of dust.


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## John L (Jul 5, 2008)

Our fireworks display in Abilene.  The camera was set at f8 and 200 iso.  I have lots more I just haven't processed all of them yet.


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## hsmom (Jul 5, 2008)

Here is my first attempt at shooting fireworks.  I'm going to another show next month where I should be able to get within about 100 yards of where they are firing, so this was practice  

ISO 100
Aperture set at 9
Shutter speed set to bulb


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## icassell (Jul 5, 2008)

These are wonderful, folks.  John L, which lens were you using? I thought about bringing my Sigma 10-20, but didn't.  Wouldn't have worked well, though, as ours were not over water and foreground was too cluttered.


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## John L (Jul 5, 2008)

icassell said:


> These are wonderful, folks.  John L, which lens were you using? I thought about bringing my Sigma 10-20, but didn't.  Wouldn't have worked well, though, as ours were not over water and foreground was too cluttered.




I used the 18-55 lens.  I actually brought my sigma 10-20 but decided against using it because I thought I might need a little more range.  It turned out I needed even more and I wish I would have brought the 55-200.


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## icassell (Jul 5, 2008)

Yeah, I thought my 17-50 would be good enough, but wish I had my 50-150. Over water, that 10-20 might be interesting.  I wish the shows were longer so I could experiment.  It would be great to spend a few days at a place like Disneyland where they have shows everyday and one could tune-up one's fireworks technique.


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## penfold1 (Jul 5, 2008)




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## icassell (Jul 5, 2008)

Nice!  Might I suggest you put a couple of lines of spacing between your photographs -- it will make them easier to view.


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## bikefreax (Jul 5, 2008)

Columbia, MO


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## Josh66 (Jul 5, 2008)

Bonham, TX

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## Alex_B (Jul 5, 2008)

so what the **** are you colonists celebrating there??


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## icassell (Jul 5, 2008)

We're celebrating not being part of the E.U.

What IS a euro anyway?


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## |)\/8 (Jul 5, 2008)

Alex_B said:


> so what the **** are you colonists celebrating there??



Getting rid of our British accents, :lmao:.  Now I have to post some pics.

From Duluth, Georgia, last night.


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## icassell (Jul 5, 2008)

Wow.  Looking at all these pix, I feel like I didn't even have to go out last night! I'm getting a full fireworks show right here on TPF!  These have been great!


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## OB-LL426 (Jul 5, 2008)

Can they be from Memorial day? Please? xDD
My town didn't have 4th of july fireworks, and I didn't have a working camera nice enough to take fireworks.
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I reeeally need to resize most of my pictures >.<


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## icassell (Jul 6, 2008)

Very nice and nothing in the assignment specified that the pix had to be from July 4!


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## lia.j.wu (Jul 6, 2008)

Fireworks Slideshow

Some sample images:















First time shooting. It was a wonderful experience. Did some research before going out. F5.6 and bulb setting-- sadly I did not have a shutter release cable and had to click manually. Most pictures turned out okay though.


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## Uglulyx Takes Photos Too (Jul 6, 2008)

Wow these fireworks make my town's look terribly pathetic. Maybe it was because it was Canada Day. Anyway this one was the finale shot at F/1.7 shutter 60 at 400 ISO.







I used infinity to because I don't have autofocus so it's a little bit blurry. Next year I'll have to bring a digital point and shoot (hopefully I'll have one by then).


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## doug in albq (Jul 6, 2008)

Here in New Mexico they still legally let us set off our own!


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## frfefarfearz (Jul 6, 2008)

wooooooooooooooooooowwww
i lovvveee fireworks.
i hope i can shoot good ones.. x_X
its just so hard to have good firework shots if you dont have a tripod.


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## Barbiro (Jul 6, 2008)

Wow...these are terrific fireworks images!!  I love the image of the sky :thumbup:  I didn't shoot the fireworks directly this time. I shot someone who asked me to snap a picture as he jumped through the fireworks.  Can you spot him?


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## Josh66 (Jul 6, 2008)

frfefarfearz said:


> its just so hard to have good firework shots if you dont have a tripod.


Yeah, I think a tripod is pretty much a necessity for this.

You might be able to set the camera on top of something else (fence post, roof of your car, big rock...) though and use the remote/timer.


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## MikkiStreak (Jul 6, 2008)

We went to a small community fireworks show last weekend.  There had been a storm about 2 hours before it began, so the sidewalks around the lake were muddy.  After almost going camera first into the mud a couple times, I decided it wasn't worth it.  So I watched the fireworks for about 15 minutes, obsessing over taking pictures.  In the last 3 minutes of the show, I yanked the camera out of the bag, scrambled to get it on the tripod, and only got about 3 shots.


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## icassell (Jul 6, 2008)

.... sitting here making a powerpoint of all these wonderful fireworks images so I can project them next year in my living room and avoid the crowds ....

I just need a little gunpowder to add the smell of the event ... digging out my copy of the 1812 Overture to dub in ...


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## Uglulyx Takes Photos Too (Jul 7, 2008)

doug in albq said:


> Here in New Mexico they still legally let us set off our own!



Wait so in Canada it's illegal?? All those birthday partys..... I just hope they don't find out lol. The ones we usually shot off were waaaaayyyyyy better than the ones the town puts out.


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## designjordi (Jul 8, 2008)

Wow! All of those photos look stellar! I'm very glad to see that fireworks was finally posted as an assignment!

Here's my bunch from the Canada Day fireworks in the tiny town of Medicine Hat. The whole show was only 10 minutes... and was rather messy, but I still managed! =)





















Enjoy!


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## AmberBella (Jul 8, 2008)

This was my first year trying to shoot fireworks.  Sadly I was really far away from the action, but I got to see dozens of displays from several miles away.  It was fun, but not photographically fantastic.


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## themaze76 (Jul 8, 2008)

Here's my fav...


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## cszakolczai (Jul 8, 2008)




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## hossmaster (Jul 10, 2008)




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## icassell (Jul 10, 2008)

hossmaster -- I love that one -- very different!  Don't let my son see it


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## MissMia (Jul 10, 2008)

Nice work everyone! Some really great shots in here. I can't believe I didn't photograph a single firework this year.


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## icassell (Jul 10, 2008)

... looks around to see if he has a sparkler he can bring to the meetup for MissMia


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