Fireworks - A Closer Look

[jayboat]

Ok, I admit... I'm a pyro. Have been all my life.
Burned a grocery store to the ground when I was 8 years old (different thread).
I went to shoot the fireworks in Sarasota last week with something different in mind. I've always been fascinated by the workings of fireworks,
so I wanted to try and capture the beginning of the explosions.
One, to see it from a different perspective,
and two, because there are a blue million shots out there that look like every one you've ever seen.

So I set up close to the launch and brought the big lens so I could get up in there.
I also set a fairly quick shutter speed of 1 second so it would only record the start of ignition.
Kinda fascinating to see what is happening and getting ready to happen.

Anyway- good, bad or boring, here are some of my favorites.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3418/3708876528_82021dc6af_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3527/3708064369_9b2f8ca33d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3444/3708064323_d020f294b8_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3441/3708064287_f94f81fb97_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3708876316_196c8a8c86_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2626/3708064171_534598bc72_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2599/3708064115_1451c84409_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2480/3708876078_85a3757c8e_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2581/3708876028_d48c94a2b3_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3502/3708875832_99f6f14c74_o.jpg

[Ratickle]

Outstanding stuff there Jay, outstanding.....:)

[rchevelle71]

Fuggin Pyro...........

Just kidding Jay, Nice shots:biggrinjester:

[Expensive Date]

Great shots

[Bobcat]

reminds me of a drunken night in vegas, great photos as usual:)

[jayboat]

reminds me of a drunken night in vegas, great photos as usual:)

haha. Got yer neon right here, Bob. :sifone:

slideshow to the whole set is here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/jay2boat/sets/72157621124636121/show/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2643/3708063589_afbc7665b1_o.jpg

[inbetween]

Jay, incredible. As usual.

[MarylandMark]

Burned a grocery store to the ground when I was 8 years old (different thread).

I've been thinking you were a domestic terrorist for a while now... :biggrinjester:

[ThrottleUp Props]

Curious Creativity.......Man those are great shots Jay.

Julie

[masher44]

Very cool shots Jay! A guy from my hometown made fireworks in his basement. (yes he had the powder and EVERYTHING in his basement). He would makes whatever you wanted, colors etc and however big you wanted them. We bought some one year and they were incredible. He went to jail. Illegal in MA.

[Tommy Gun]

Very nice but I want to hear more about the grocery store.

[old377guy]

fantastic, Jay!

[fund razor]

Those are really fascinating Jay.
Thanks for putting them up.

[Mark]

Very nice but I want to hear more about the grocery store.

X2! Very nice Jay! But now you have to tell about the Grocery store....

[Ted]

those are really fascinating jay.
Thanks for putting them up.

+1

[jayboat]

X2! Very nice Jay! But now you have to tell about the Grocery store....

I was saving the neighborhood from domestic terrahists...

twinkies of mass destruction and such. :)

[cigdaze]

Holy crap man. That's incredible. I tried the same thing this 4th...All I got were incomprehensible big bright blobs.
:cool:

[J-Bonz]

Awsome Shots!! My woman loved them!

[jayboat]

Thanks again for the nice words, guys.


Holy crap man. That's incredible. I tried the same thing this 4th...All I got were incomprehensible big bright blobs.
:cool:
You cannot just hit the shutter button like it's the 'lock thread' button. :26:


Awsome Shots!! My woman loved them!
Ok, now you owe me. We can discuss payment in Key West.

[cigdaze]

You cannot just hit the shutter button like it's the 'lock thread' button. :26:
That's funny. :)

I had the tripod out with my remote shutter fire. I played around with a few different things. My best attempts were using high ISO and high shutter speeds But still on the fast moving stuff, it was all streaks. A bigger lens that collects more light is probably what I needed, but I'm just guessing. You got it figured out.

Now, off I go to close that other thread.

[jayboat]

That's funny. :)

I had the tripod out with my remote shutter fire. I played around with a few different things. My best attempts were using high ISO and high shutter speeds But still on the fast moving stuff, it was all streaks. A bigger lens that collects more light is probably what I needed, but I'm just guessing. You got it figured out.

Now, off I go to close that other thread.

Low ISO (there's plenty of light from your subject matter), aperture priority (I let the camera do this, f/7.1 was it's choice), 2-4 sec exposure (3 is optimal- you usually want the streamers to mostly play out).

Here's a 100% crop of one of my favorites- love the detail. It's kind of amazing considering how far away it was. I bow to the gods of Nikon.

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/9293/sar092704800.jpg

[cigdaze]

Thanks man; good tips. I'm a huge Nikon fan, always have been. Their lenses are simply the sht!
:cool:

[Boss252]

What lens and Camera did you use Jay?

[jayboat]

What lens and Camera did you use Jay?

Nikon D300 w Nikkor 80-400mm 1:4.5-5.6