July 4th pt3

FIREWORKS!!

I've never tried to photograph fireworks before, but I thought I'd try, just for fun this year. Got some tips from dad. This is how I did it.

1) I brought my tripod.

2) I zoomed out really far and cropped the pics later. You never know exactly where the firework is going to land.

3) I set my camera on "bulb." This is represented by a  'b" on my camera. Never knew what it was for. Apparently, when on this setting, you can hold down your shutter for as long as you want the shutter open. If you only hold it for a second, the pic looks like this.

So the idea is to hold it a long time (3 - 6 seconds) so you get the whole flare of the firework.

4) I also used a low ISO (film speed) and a high F-stop. This has to do with the bright lights of the fireworks. It's something I probably won't remember next year unless I reread my blog.

Here's how I did.. . .

For some reason, a lot of them flared left. I'm not sure if there was a wind or if it's because I was moving my camera when I pushed down the shutter. My camera wasn't attached to the tripod very tight (I had the wrong attachment with me).

Nothing magazine worthy, but it was fun trying. Maybe next year I'll get more creative with it.