Fireworks 2005 - First Timer

[Cory Cooper]

Hi Everyone,

I tried capturing my local fireworks tonight for the first time. I live less than a mile from the high school where they shoot them off from. This was shot from the back of my driveway though the woods. Natural tree framing to boot! I used a combo of settings I found here:

Camera: Nikon D1 (Firmware ver. 1.05)
Lens: Nikon Micro 105mm 2.8D AF
ISO: 200
WB: Daylight -2
Exposure: 4.0 s at f/16
Focus: Manual at ?
Format: RAW NEF

Here's the best shot:

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I feel focus might have been a little off, and exposure a little too long. Did the following in PS CS2:

1. Opened with default ACR settings
2. Camera Bits - Band Aide: Medium 50%
3. Levels: Black/Shadows +15
4. Cropped: Fixed Aspect Ratio 4x6
5. Image Size: Height 630px
6. Smart Sharpen: Basic, Default, 25%, 0.1px, Lens Blur, More Accurate
7. Frame: my own web frame action - end up with 800px height
8. Save for Web: JPEG, Very High, Quality 80%

Comments/critiques/suggestions more than welcome...

C

 

[dbirdsong]

Nice photo...

 

[Cory Cooper]

Here are four more...

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Same settings as the first shot above.

C

 

[Cory Cooper]

One more...

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C

 

[eng45ine]

Very nice images, Cory...

 

[Cory Cooper]

Thanks Frank...I appreciate it.

Was literally "shooting in the dark".

Learned a lot though.

C

 

[greyflash]

Well you beat my pitiful attempt. I haven't processed them yet but after looking at yours I may not.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Well you beat my pitiful attempt. I haven't processed them yet but after looking at yours I may not.

Process them! You'd be surprised what you have and can get. I took a total of 48 shots, and the first six (the posted ones) are the best of the bunch. I have numerous "horrible" exposures...just reddish noise. Not sure what happened with them.

I took the original for the "best shot" from the first post and only resized it so you can see what I started from.

Resized-only original "best shot":

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"Best shot" post-processing as stated above:

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Resized-only original #7:

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#7 post-processing as stated above except - Levels: Black/Shadows +50 instead of +15:

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Give it a shot, the results may surprise you!

Cory

 

[PhotoByMark]

Those are some cool fw shots.

Thanks for posting your post process techniques. I will have to try them out on my shots.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Mark,

No problem...I learn a lot from other folks that share technique. Of course, not much technique for these, but every little bit helps, right?

All are standard PS2 tools except the Band Aide plug-in from Camera Bits. It's a lifesaver with the old D1 and underexposed and night captures.



C