Fireworks Again

I tried shooting fireworks earlier this summer at a Kernels baseball game but the photos were not the long tails that and brilliant lights that we associate with fireworks.

My problems was that my iso was too high, my f stop too low and my shutter too fast and needed a tripod to hold the camera.

I had another chance on July 4. We, my family and I, decided to go to the Kernels game and watch the fireworks they had. We also were able to see the Cedar Rapids Downtown ones from the game as well and occasionally there were other fireworks going off.

This time I lowered my iso to 100, raised my f stop to f/11, and used my shutter remote to have the exposures of 2 seconds or longer. While I was not able to take in my tripod I was able to take my monopod. These were  much better.

This was one at the very beginning when the field lights were not completely dimmed. I really like the the field in the foreground with the fireworks with long tails in the back and the starring of the fireworks just before they exploded.

The next two are during the Kernels firework show with the downtown fireworks in the background.

The next two are after the Kernels fireworks show ended but the downtown one was still going on. These were further away and we had a little bit of monopod movement but I like the effect it gave to these.

These are a lot more interesting that my previous attempt with fireworks. I can still see a lot of room for improvement but these are so much better. A tripod would have been better because they are much stabler than a monopod but the monopod made these possible because there was no way I could have hand held my camera for these. Also using my shutter release cable allowed my to have longer exposures without adding any movement from pressing the shutter release button on the camera.

Trying Fireworks

Recently we went to a Minor League Baseball game, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, and after the game they had fireworks. They have fireworks after games through out the season so I can go back and try fireworks again and again.

I took pictures of the games and fireworks but want to share the firework photographs. I was hand holding the camera for all of these shots. I will talk about how I could improve them after the photos.

Fireworks one. iso 800, f/3.5, 1/20sec

Fireworks two. iso 800, f/3.5 1/20sec

Fireworks three, iso 800, f/3.5, 1/10sec

All of these photos have the same problems.

1- I had my shutter speed too slow. I should have had it at 2-4 sec which means that I would have needed a tripod of someplace to set my camera.
2- too low of f stop. A higher f stop would have helped because I would not over expose the image with a slower shutter speed.
3- lower iso. This would have allowed for longer shutter, lower noise and better quality image.

If I had done these I would have had more colors and longer tails which would be more interesting to look at and come closer to what we see with our eyes.

In images one and two more in the foreground would have helped make a more interesting by giving more dimension to the images, where as image 3 had things in the background that added interest.

I will try again with fireworks and share my results. While I did not photograph the firework well I did learn what I did wrong so I can improve next time.