Pic of The Day: Happy 4th of July!

zippyjuan · 07-05-2009, 03:28 PM

I often end up working on the 4th and either miss the fireworks or just get off in time to watch them from our parking garage- not that exciting. This year I got off earlier and decided to head downtown and took the ferry across to Coronado to catch the ones on San Diego Bay with the city skyline in the background. Brought a tripod and got some nice shots. Hope everybody enjoyed their holiday!

Cue the "oohs" and "Aaahs" and turn on your John Phillips Sousa music!

Sirrich3 · 07-05-2009, 06:36 PM

Nice indeed...

Showtime · 07-05-2009, 08:45 PM

None of mines came out like that.

eSDee · 07-06-2009, 01:01 AM

Those are probably the best firework pictures I have ever seen.

rajatQ2 · 07-06-2009, 03:26 PM

wow, those are gorgeous juan! can you give some details on how they were shot? long exposures?

ps: wow that was my 1,000th post!

Jcranmer · 07-06-2009, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rajatQ2

wow, those are gorgeous juan! can you give some details on how they were shot? long exposures?

ps: wow that was my 1,000th post!

Firework shots are hard to pull off. Come on, it's time to give up some secrets!

Devhux · 07-06-2009, 07:41 PM

These are indeed amazing pics. The only advice I can give is:

- Tripod is pretty much mandatory (obviously due to longer exposures)
- Vary your shutter speed and aperture to experiment with what works
- Try to capture shots at the beginning of the fireworks display, rather than towards the end. By the end, there's too much smoke in the air.
- Practice, practice, practice

I'm sure Zippy might be able to offer some better suggestions, but that's just my take.

zippyjuan · 07-06-2009, 08:33 PM

Fireworks are tricky and these are the best I have ever taken.
What I did:
Number 1: USE A TRIPOD! You have to be able to keep your camera steady during your long exposure times.

I used Aperature Priority on my camera and let it decide how long of an exposure it needed. The longest exposure it gave me on these was 30 seconds.

I knew I wanted longer exposures so that the shutter would be open long enough to catch a few bursts- it is impossible to try to use short exposures and hope to catch things just right. I set my aperature to f/11 but f/8 would probably have worked fine too. Higher aperature number will get you a longer exposure to go along with it. Set your ISO to its lowest number (in my case, 100). You want details and again longer exposure. Higher ISO means more noise or grain in your photos. Higher ISO allows you to use faster exposures as it gets darker, but that is not what we want to do here. Longer exposure means you capture more bursts of fireworks.

Choose your background or shooting location. I wanted to capture them going off over the water (nice color reflections) but I also wanted to get the downtown buildings in the background ao that meant not only going downtown but also taking the ferry across the bay to the Coronado side. I knew from taking pictures of downtown from this side that I would need a wide angle lens to get the buildings and the sky in. A longer lens that just focuses in on the explosions is less interesting to me. Include something to show location and scale. Same suggestion is true of sunsets. Sunsets are pretty but are more interesting if there is some other subject to go along with the colorful sky. I actually could have used a wider angle to get more of the water in but these were already at around 14- 17mm which is a pretty wide angle already.

Test your exposure before the fireworks begin. It will be getting gradually darker as the time gets closer so wait until maybe ten or fifteen minutes before they start. I wanted to be sure I would be able to see the buildings so I practiced and made adjustments to try to get correct exposure for them. In aperature or shutter priority modes most cameras have an EV or Exposure Value Adjustment to them. Learn how to use this function- it will help in all your photos. Usually this is a square with a +/- on it and is often used by holding down that button and rotating you adjustment wheel. A more - number will make your image darker than the meter wants ot make it and a + will make it brighter (let in more light).

During shooting, watch what results are coming out on the camers- if your camera meters when a flash of fireworks has just gone off, it will tend to make the rest of the image darker to compensate. You may have to continue to adjust the EV while you are ahooting. Most likely you will need to give it a bit more on the plus side to get the buildings back in decent exposure. One of the shots has zero exposure compensation the other had minus two stops on it and both came out pretty close to correct. #3 had minus 1 2/3 stops and is maybe a bit dark.

Shoot lots of pictures. You will get a lot of not that good shots. I might have taken 50 and had three or four I really liked- between nice fireworks and the light in the rest of the pic being balanced. So take lots but don't forget to enjoy the show while you are there. The pics cannot replace the actual event but can remind you of it.

Weather. Best is a clear night with a slight breeze. If there are clouds, they will reflect back the city lights and be brighter than a cloudless sky. The breeze is to blow away the smoke the fireworks themselves create. I was lucky and had both this year.

So it is part luck, part learning your equipment. I hope this helps. Any other questions I wlil try to answer them.

brainsmile · 07-07-2009, 12:19 AM

Is the pic on your web page the largest you have? I'd love the raw pic for my background.

zippyjuan · 07-07-2009, 12:46 AM

I do have larger ones. Any preference on which one? See if this works- go here and click below the pic on "see full size".
http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=804825

Nija · 07-07-2009, 02:31 AM

So cool. Nice work!

Markel · 07-07-2009, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zippyjuan

I do have larger ones. Any preference on which one? See if this works- go here and click below the pic on "see full size".
http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=804825

Is it just me, or does it seem that you have to have an account in order to get the "see fill size" option?

zippyjuan · 07-08-2009, 11:36 AM

Hmm. Maybe. Go here then and click on "original" below it.
http://www.pbase.com/jeffryz/image/114750339/large
http://www.pbase.com/jeffryz/image/114750225

07-05-2009, 03:28 PM	#1
zippyjuan Picture of the Day Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sunny San Diego Posts: 8,756	Pic of The Day: Happy 4th of July! I often end up working on the 4th and either miss the fireworks or just get off in time to watch them from our parking garage- not that exciting. This year I got off earlier and decided to head downtown and took the ferry across to Coronado to catch the ones on San Diego Bay with the city skyline in the background. Brought a tripod and got some nice shots. Hope everybody enjoyed their holiday! Cue the "oohs" and "Aaahs" and turn on your John Phillips Sousa music! __________________ I add new pictures to my photo gallery pretty regularly. You can see them here if you are interested: http://www.pbase.com/jeffryz

07-05-2009, 06:36 PM	#2
Sirrich3 Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: In Sunny Southern California Posts: 3,950	Nice indeed... __________________

07-06-2009, 01:01 AM	#4
eSDee Old Skooler Numba 1 Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Diego Posts: 10,063	Those are probably the best firework pictures I have ever seen. __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 days ~ Willie Nelson 3 days I dread to see arrive 3 days I hate to be alive 3 days filled with tears and sorrow yesterday today and tomorrow

07-06-2009, 03:26 PM	#5
rajatQ2 Commander Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: boston, ma Posts: 1,020	wow, those are gorgeous juan! can you give some details on how they were shot? long exposures? ps: wow that was my 1,000th post! __________________ Find some free Comcast or Verizon on-demand movies to watch at home tonight: www.movie-cat.tv

07-06-2009, 07:41 PM	#7
Devhux Rear Admiral Lower Half Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Calgary Alberta Canada Posts: 2,511	These are indeed amazing pics. The only advice I can give is: - Tripod is pretty much mandatory (obviously due to longer exposures) - Vary your shutter speed and aperture to experiment with what works - Try to capture shots at the beginning of the fireworks display, rather than towards the end. By the end, there's too much smoke in the air. - Practice, practice, practice I'm sure Zippy might be able to offer some better suggestions, but that's just my take. __________________ 0118 999 881 999 119 725... 3

07-05-2009, 08:45 PM	#3
Showtime Lakers fanatic Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: L.A. ->SoCal<- O.C. Posts: 7,338	None of mines came out like that. __________________ NBA REPORT 10-11/ The 3-Peat! 1948 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1972 1980 1982 1985 1987 1988 2000 2001 2002 2009 2010 Reigning NBA CHAMPS!

07-06-2009, 08:33 PM	#8
zippyjuan Picture of the Day Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sunny San Diego Posts: 8,756	Fireworks are tricky and these are the best I have ever taken. What I did: Number 1: USE A TRIPOD! You have to be able to keep your camera steady during your long exposure times. I used Aperature Priority on my camera and let it decide how long of an exposure it needed. The longest exposure it gave me on these was 30 seconds. I knew I wanted longer exposures so that the shutter would be open long enough to catch a few bursts- it is impossible to try to use short exposures and hope to catch things just right. I set my aperature to f/11 but f/8 would probably have worked fine too. Higher aperature number will get you a longer exposure to go along with it. Set your ISO to its lowest number (in my case, 100). You want details and again longer exposure. Higher ISO means more noise or grain in your photos. Higher ISO allows you to use faster exposures as it gets darker, but that is not what we want to do here. Longer exposure means you capture more bursts of fireworks. Choose your background or shooting location. I wanted to capture them going off over the water (nice color reflections) but I also wanted to get the downtown buildings in the background ao that meant not only going downtown but also taking the ferry across the bay to the Coronado side. I knew from taking pictures of downtown from this side that I would need a wide angle lens to get the buildings and the sky in. A longer lens that just focuses in on the explosions is less interesting to me. Include something to show location and scale. Same suggestion is true of sunsets. Sunsets are pretty but are more interesting if there is some other subject to go along with the colorful sky. I actually could have used a wider angle to get more of the water in but these were already at around 14- 17mm which is a pretty wide angle already. Test your exposure before the fireworks begin. It will be getting gradually darker as the time gets closer so wait until maybe ten or fifteen minutes before they start. I wanted to be sure I would be able to see the buildings so I practiced and made adjustments to try to get correct exposure for them. In aperature or shutter priority modes most cameras have an EV or Exposure Value Adjustment to them. Learn how to use this function- it will help in all your photos. Usually this is a square with a +/- on it and is often used by holding down that button and rotating you adjustment wheel. A more - number will make your image darker than the meter wants ot make it and a + will make it brighter (let in more light). During shooting, watch what results are coming out on the camers- if your camera meters when a flash of fireworks has just gone off, it will tend to make the rest of the image darker to compensate. You may have to continue to adjust the EV while you are ahooting. Most likely you will need to give it a bit more on the plus side to get the buildings back in decent exposure. One of the shots has zero exposure compensation the other had minus two stops on it and both came out pretty close to correct. #3 had minus 1 2/3 stops and is maybe a bit dark. Shoot lots of pictures. You will get a lot of not that good shots. I might have taken 50 and had three or four I really liked- between nice fireworks and the light in the rest of the pic being balanced. So take lots but don't forget to enjoy the show while you are there. The pics cannot replace the actual event but can remind you of it. Weather. Best is a clear night with a slight breeze. If there are clouds, they will reflect back the city lights and be brighter than a cloudless sky. The breeze is to blow away the smoke the fireworks themselves create. I was lucky and had both this year. So it is part luck, part learning your equipment. I hope this helps. Any other questions I wlil try to answer them.

07-07-2009, 12:19 AM	#9
brainsmile Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: woah... why is welfareloser here with me so early in the morning and more importantly why am I wearing her clothes?!? Posts: 13,754	Is the pic on your web page the largest you have? I'd love the raw pic for my background. __________________ ********************************** DCM #1 (Founder) "Nobody beats Vitus Gerulaitis 18 times in a row." - Vitus Gerulaitis on beating Jimmy Connors after 17 failed attempts.

07-07-2009, 12:46 AM	#10
zippyjuan Picture of the Day Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sunny San Diego Posts: 8,756	I do have larger ones. Any preference on which one? See if this works- go here and click below the pic on "see full size". http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=804825 Last edited by zippyjuan : 07-07-2009 at 01:19 AM.

07-07-2009, 02:31 AM	#11
Nija Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: May 2001 Location: City of The Dead Posts: 13,552	So cool. Nice work! __________________ "Nija is the dark soul of gotapex. We don't like to talk about him." - LPMiller

07-08-2009, 11:36 AM	#13
zippyjuan Picture of the Day Guru Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Sunny San Diego Posts: 8,756	Hmm. Maybe. Go here then and click on "original" below it. http://www.pbase.com/jeffryz/image/114750339/large http://www.pbase.com/jeffryz/image/114750225

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