fireworks C&C please
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Registered User
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,369
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From: Renton, WA
fireworks C&C please
Ok, these ones were taken with the kit lens (18-55) on a 30d. I went to a local fireworks show last night and attempted to take some pics.
One thing I notice is that I am picking up the smoke a lot. Especially on the bigger explosions. Is there a filter that will take that out, or is it all post processing?
Here are a couple shots. I haven't had a chance to really go through a bunch of them yet.
And, since I don't have enough experience yet taking pictures in the dark, these were all on the 'P' setting and I turned off autofocus. And almost hte whole night I had it set at 18.
The first one. You can see some of the smoke.
The next two, I tried to see if I can manipulate the picture a little to get rid of some smoke.
Original
The only thing I did was turn the blacks setting all the way up. This seemed to get rid of the smoke, but I'm not sure I like the colors that were produced.
The final one, is another smoke picture. I tried the above technique, but it caused the building outline and the flag to be lost in the picture.
Just looking for some thoughts. Thank you.
One thing I notice is that I am picking up the smoke a lot. Especially on the bigger explosions. Is there a filter that will take that out, or is it all post processing?
Here are a couple shots. I haven't had a chance to really go through a bunch of them yet.
And, since I don't have enough experience yet taking pictures in the dark, these were all on the 'P' setting and I turned off autofocus. And almost hte whole night I had it set at 18.
The first one. You can see some of the smoke.
The next two, I tried to see if I can manipulate the picture a little to get rid of some smoke.
Original
The only thing I did was turn the blacks setting all the way up. This seemed to get rid of the smoke, but I'm not sure I like the colors that were produced.
The final one, is another smoke picture. I tried the above technique, but it caused the building outline and the flag to be lost in the picture.
Just looking for some thoughts. Thank you.
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 6,242
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From: Branford, CT
In my honest opinion the last one is the best for the following reasons..
1) the inclusion of the substrate gives sense of scale that the others do not.
2) the longer shutter speed allowed the bursts to do what your naked eye sees, but that a fast shutter speed does not allow
My suggestion would be to close the lens down (f/16) to allow longer shutter speeds which would at the same time only expose that which is bright enough to be captured over a longer exposure and eliminate stuff like the smoke. More importantly, if you are not shooting manually, do so to give yourself more control. The camera's metering system more often than not will be fooled and try to speed things up when that is the exact opposite of what you are looking for.
I am sorry I no longer post pictures here, to get an idea of what I am talking about, please check the "fireworks" gallery found on my website.
I hope this helps!
1) the inclusion of the substrate gives sense of scale that the others do not.
2) the longer shutter speed allowed the bursts to do what your naked eye sees, but that a fast shutter speed does not allow
My suggestion would be to close the lens down (f/16) to allow longer shutter speeds which would at the same time only expose that which is bright enough to be captured over a longer exposure and eliminate stuff like the smoke. More importantly, if you are not shooting manually, do so to give yourself more control. The camera's metering system more often than not will be fooled and try to speed things up when that is the exact opposite of what you are looking for.
I am sorry I no longer post pictures here, to get an idea of what I am talking about, please check the "fireworks" gallery found on my website.
I hope this helps!
