This Friday is the 4th of July, which means lots of fireworks from sea to shining sea. Fireworks are fun to watch and even more fun to photograph–if you know how. Honestly, it’s not that difficult to get photos which will amaze your friends.
In fireworks, as in real estate, start by thinking: location, location, location. You want a spot with an unobstructed view, upwind from the show. In other words, if there’s any breeze at all, you want it to blow the smoke away from you. Having something identifiable in the shot helps keep the look local. Even better is to shoot from a low position that includes the unlit audience in silhouette. Do that and they’ll start mentioning you and Ansel Adams in the same sentence.
While it’s possible to shoot fireworks with a camera that doesn’t allow for manual settings, it’s going to be tough. Allowing your camera to control its own destiny by shooting in auto will leave it confused. Digital pics are free. You might as well give it a try. Don’t expect much.
The best fireworks shots capture the burst as the shell moves through the air. Lengthening your shutter speed will make that happen effortlessly. I’ve gotten good shots with everything from 1/3 to 10 second exposures. Unfortunately, those speeds make hand held photography a no-no. Use a tripod. If you don’t have one, improvise. I’ve taken great shots with my camera sitting on my car’s roof. A bean bag or large plastic baggie partially filled with sand makes that stable perch even more stable.
Turn off your autofocus. Luckily, long distance focusing is less critical than close-up. While in manual focus mode, look for a distant object, focus and forget it. If you’re in focus at 50 feet, you’re probably in focus to infinity as well.
The fireworks will be bright and your shutter will be open for a while. Loads of light will hit your camera’s sensor. Use a slow ISO, like 50, 100 or 200 and set your iris to a mid-range value like f8 or f11. A wide open lens will overload your frame with light and you’ll lose all detail. It’s tough impossible to fix a shot that’s overexposed.
If you’ve got an external shutter release cable, use it. If not, you might consider using your camera’s built-in self timer (they all have it) to take your shots. In any event, you’re going to want to “lead” the action by snapping before the burst of color. Be sure to check your framing to make sure you’re not cutting off the top or bottom of the display.
It’s the digital age. Take shots like they’re going out-of-style! Bracket your photos by changing your exposure settings. Then, don’t be afraid to peek to see if you’re on the right trail. Last night, watching a local display, I took 207 shots and ended up with around ten keepers. That was enough to make me happy. Your mileage may vary.
Original post by Geoff Fox
Man, Tesla’s been busy today — in addition to the announcement of the Model S and Elon Musk’s promise of a sub-$30K electric car in four years, word on the street is that the company’s inked a deal with Daimler AG to supply it with lithium-ion batteries for upcoming electric cars. Daimler’s CEO has said the company was open to leasing battery tech to get out an electric Smart by 2010 and it’s rumored that the German marque is looking to ditch gas entirely by 2015, so going to Tesla, which has been working on battery tech for some time, isn’t a totally out there proposition. Just a rumor for now — given Tesla’s generally-prickly relationships with others, we’d wait for an official announcement before getting too excited about a Roadster-powered SLR, but it’s certainly intriguing.
