13 replies to this topic

[Carrtoon]

Well, it's another fourth of July that has come and gone. Another fourth with some great fireworks and great pictures. I want to see those pics! I'll start off with some of mine:









I think this one should go in the new Budweiser commercial:













Enjoy!

Edited by Carrtoon, 06 July 2006 - 10:12 AM.

[ompa]

I must say, you really know how to take pictures.

Anyways, I walked all the way to see the fireworks, then realized I forgot my camera. I was a tad bit pissed. However, my mood was soon to change, as a group of drunk college kids turned up behind us, and the entertaining remarks made the night worthwhile.

~ompa

[CustomSnake202]

Damn, those are nice. And I thought I new how to use my firework setting on the panasonic. Very nice work, I really like the pointed clam shell type one.

I was too lazy to get to my local firework extravaganza. Buh.

[Carrtoon]

Thanks guys. It is fairly tricky to get good firework pictures. I took 160 pics and only about half of those turned out well. I use manual mode an set the shutter to different speeds. Some of the pics are 4 seconds, while others are 1/3 of a second. I use a tripod. Each firework is different also. Some explode out faster than others.

The other thing I do is use manual focus. This eliminates the camera trying to find where to focus. This takes a few shots to figure out where to focus. I also use my 12x optical zoom. This is the best feature on the camera. Zoom will get you some amazing pictures. The hardest part of taking these was timing the shot right. You have to physically follow the tail of the firework in your viewfinder and guess when it will go off, while keeping the camera still when it does go off. This isn't easy, but when you get it, some amazing pictures will follow. Lastly, the way to get some amazing pictures is just trying different things. Trial and error. I have not gone to a photography class yet. I take pictures, find what I like, and duplicate it. Find that niche, and you will find yourself taking very nice pics.

Anyways, I walked all the way to see the fireworks, then realized I forgot my camera. I was a tad bit pissed. However, my mood was soon to change, as a group of drunk college kids turned up behind us, and the entertaining remarks made the night worthwhile.

~ompa

Haha! I know what that's like. Sometimes I bring my camera somewhere. Find a place where I want to take some shots, and turn the camera on. NO MEMORY CARD FOUND. I left my memory card in my computer. That happens a lot...

[NerfMonkey]

I only took this picture and a video at our fireworks show.

[cxwq]

The other thing I do is use manual focus. This eliminates the camera trying to find where to focus. This takes a few shots to figure out where to focus.

I'd like you to meet my friend ∞...

But seriously, you can calculate this ahead of time by working the hyperfocal distance for a given focal length (12x = 400mm) and f-stop. Check this out before your next shoot. If you were shooting at 400mm and f/8, for instance, you can focus to 66m to put everything from 33m to infinity in focus. If you stop down to f/16 you can focus to 33m and get everything from 16.5m to infinity. That should be enough depth of field to cover any fireworks that aren't blowing up in your hand.

Cheers.

[Carrtoon]

Wow. Thanks for that info. I hadn't the slightest idea that I could calculate the focal length before I shot. That will come in handy for fast shots of flying birds and such. I'd like to see some of your pics sometime. If you get a chance, could you PM me some? I bet you've done wonders with your camera. Thanks

[NinjZ]

When I use my old manual camera I shoot most everything at 5.6 unless im trying to get a very shallow depth of feild or a very wide one. It's nice to always have some fading. Although, this doesnt matter too much for nighttime shooting of fireworks.

[friendly nerfer]

WOW!!!!! Nice pics carrtoon.
It's really hard to take pics of fireworks.
Yours are really clear.
GOOD JOB!!!!!!!

[NerfMonkey]

What about mine Powerclip? It's not the best quality, but I thought it'd at least be worth posting Rototrack. Don't you think so Razorbeast?

Just kidding. Mine sucks in comparison to yours Carrtoon, I applaud you. They are really nice pictures. What is the one of a bunch of dots going up into the sky, was it shooting off sparks as it went up?

Nice!

Edited by NerfMonkey, 05 July 2006 - 09:29 PM.

[Uncle Hammer]

Probably a crackling affect as the shell was shot into the air. Nice pics carrton, I've tried taking pics of fireworks before and its no easy task.

Edited by Uncle Hammer, 05 July 2006 - 10:05 PM.

[Carrtoon]

No, yours didn't suck, you just need to take more. Why did you only take one? I applaud you for actually getting a firework in the frame in one shot! As to what firework that one made, I am not sure! I didn't really watch the show, I just took the pics. You sacrifice one for the other. I think it looks like the edge of a planet as the sun comes up. My best guess would be that it was the tail of a firework. I tried to take a few of those...

I also resized the smaller pics above ^^

It seems there is some interest in these pics, so here are a few more:



















And the grand finally:



Enjoy!

Edited by Carrtoon, 05 July 2006 - 10:44 PM.

[taita cakes]

You wern't perchance browsing digg or del.icio.us about a week ago were you?

Nice shots man, beautiful.

[Forsaken angel24]

Those look nice and all but nothing beats the feeling of playing with firewire.

Firewire <------ click here stupid!