Fireworks

We had our annual fireworks show in our neighborhood and I got quite a few shots. All taken with the D70 and 18-70 kit lens. Manual focus at infinity. There are a few more at http://www.vinodmenon.com/gallery/Fireworks
Comments welcome.  

 

Thanks Gilles and Frank!  
Frank, I used Daylight white balance (actually daylight -2)

 

Thanks Gale and Riki for your very kind comments  

 

Anand, thanks. I feel any foreground subject becomes too distracting. But I agree about the context. Ideally, you would like to take fireworks over a skyline or something. In my case, I was too close to the fireworks, you can see some of my shots were at 18mm and I had to point up to the sky.

 

Hi Pa, yeah it was sort of trial and error. I knew I wanted at least 2 secs and f/8. Then I took a couple of test shots and adjusted based on blinking highlights. I was shooting in manual mode, so once I got the right exposure, I left it there and concentrated on timing the shots   Thanks for your comments.

 

Thank you Jay! Considering where the fireworks show was held, I am quite pleased with the results. As to changing anything next time, I did think about it and couldn't think of anything I would do different for this fireworks show. I shot the same show a couple of years ago with my Coolpix from my backyard and although the shots came out ok, I had the neighbors roof in all my shots :roll: I didn't like that too much. I could have tried going a little further away from fireworks but I was afraid I would get too many roofs and trees in the way!

I set up my camera on a tripod and used the remote...it helps if you can see when the fireworks are launched so you can time your shots better.

Good luck for July 4th...looking forward to seeing your pictures.  

 

Hi Gale,
I guess the main difference between shooting the moon and fireworks is that with the fireworks timing is more important. The moon doesn't move around much  . Having said that, the moon does move and I have found that a very long shutter speed will usually blur the shot a little. It's been a while since I shot the moon...gotta give it a try some time soon.

 

Joe and Terri, thanks for your comments. Good luck with your fireworks display, look forward to seeing your shots.