I bombed out (no pun intended), on July 4th. Relatively few displays, in
the skies, here. When one did appear, my tripod-mounted Kodak DX6490 (4
megapixel, 10x optical zoom) never seemed to be in the right position,
to capture it.
Also, I attempted some shots of my own bottle rockets' launches, with
the digicam hand-held; no better luck, alas.
Okay...did any of you, enjoy more success than I did?
On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 23:20:38 -0500, John Turco wrote:
> I bombed out (no pun intended), on July 4th. Relatively few displays, in
> the skies, here. When one did appear, my tripod-mounted Kodak DX6490 (4
> megapixel, 10x optical zoom) never seemed to be in the right position,
> to capture it.
>
> Also, I attempted some shots of my own bottle rockets' launches, with
> the digicam hand-held; no better luck, alas.
>
> Okay...did any of you, enjoy more success than I did?
No way could I take any shots using a tripod. The bursts were too
random in location/distance and varied too much in size, brightness
and whatever. So I had to go handheld, but the expected wiggle
wasn't too bad. The metering system did a pretty good job so I used
that instead of using a fixed manual exposure, and it still allowed
the shutter speed to be changed by varying when the shutter was
tripped. I was able to get a range of shutter speeds from about
1/25th to 2 seconds. A fairly strong wind didn't help, but I got a
few decent shots. None as spectacular as the real thing, though.
"John Turco" <jtur@concentric.net> wrote in message
news:468F1496.308E6D37@concentric.net...
> Hello, everybody:
>
> I bombed out (no pun intended), on July 4th. Relatively few displays, in
> the skies, here. When one did appear, my tripod-mounted Kodak DX6490 (4
> megapixel, 10x optical zoom) never seemed to be in the right position,
> to capture it.
>
> Also, I attempted some shots of my own bottle rockets' launches, with
> the digicam hand-held; no better luck, alas.
>
> Okay...did any of you, enjoy more success than I did?
Nope. I brought mine along for a trek downtown with the family and I thought
we were in a pretty good place until the show started and I realized there
was a large electrical pole in the distance, right through the shot! Still
had a great time.
I pushed the ASA to 400 (two stops), and got something decent about every
third shot. I left the view zoomed out so I could crop closer at a later
time.
"John Turco" <jtur@concentric.net> wrote in message
news:468F1496.308E6D37@concentric.net...
> Hello, everybody:
>
> I bombed out (no pun intended), on July 4th. Relatively few displays, in
> the skies, here. When one did appear, my tripod-mounted Kodak DX6490 (4
> megapixel, 10x optical zoom) never seemed to be in the right position,
> to capture it.
>
> Also, I attempted some shots of my own bottle rockets' launches, with
> the digicam hand-held; no better luck, alas.
>
> Okay...did any of you, enjoy more success than I did?
>
>
> Cordially,
> John Turco <jtur@concentric.net>
>
On Jul 6, 9:20 pm, John Turco <j...@concentric.net> wrote:
> Hello, everybody:
>
> I bombed out (no pun intended), on July 4th. Relatively few displays, in
> the skies, here. When one did appear, my tripod-mounted Kodak DX6490 (4
> megapixel, 10x optical zoom) never seemed to be in the right position,
> to capture it.
>
> Also, I attempted some shots of my own bottle rockets' launches, with
> the digicam hand-held; no better luck, alas.
>
> Okay...did any of you, enjoy more success than I did?
>
> Cordially,
> John Turco <j...@concentric.net>
Stuck working in Daytona Beach this year. Was all set and ready to
shoot but unfortunately, a wave washed over the launch barge and
drowned the entire set up so no show...
ASAAR wrote:
>
> On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 23:20:38 -0500, John Turco wrote:
>
> > I bombed out (no pun intended), on July 4th. Relatively few displays, in
> > the skies, here. When one did appear, my tripod-mounted Kodak DX6490 (4
> > megapixel, 10x optical zoom) never seemed to be in the right position,
> > to capture it.
> >
> > Also, I attempted some shots of my own bottle rockets' launches, with
> > the digicam hand-held; no better luck, alas.
> >
> > Okay...did any of you, enjoy more success than I did?
>
> No way could I take any shots using a tripod. The bursts were too
> random in location/distance and varied too much in size, brightness
> and whatever. So I had to go handheld, but the expected wiggle
> wasn't too bad. The metering system did a pretty good job so I used
> that instead of using a fixed manual exposure, and it still allowed
> the shutter speed to be changed by varying when the shutter was
> tripped. I was able to get a range of shutter speeds from about
> 1/25th to 2 seconds. A fairly strong wind didn't help, but I got a
> few decent shots. None as spectacular as the real thing, though.
Hello, ASAAR:
Well, I decided to experiment with the DX6490's manual settings, too.
(Not for fireworks photos, however, as I'd already given up on them,
mostly.)
This camera's shutter can stay open, as long as 16 seconds. That
resulted in some interesting images, especially when cars passed by,
within the Kodak's field of view -- those particular vehicles turned
into nothing more than horizontal streaks of light, for obvious reasons!
(Tripod was employed, of course.)
Oh, and another thing. The DX6490's LCD and electronic viewfinder are
amazingly useful, in such dim conditions. (They're able to "gain up,"
as necessary.)
Just the week before, I took a number of nighttime pictures, with my
DX4530. I couldn't see anything, other than a few barely visible street
lamps and house lights, in its LCD. Hence, basically, I was shooting
blind...hit and miss! :-P
On 2007-07-06 21:20:38 -0700, John Turco <jtur@concentric.net> said:
> Hello, everybody:
>
> I bombed out (no pun intended), on July 4th. Relatively few displays, in
> the skies, here. When one did appear, my tripod-mounted Kodak DX6490 (4
> megapixel, 10x optical zoom) never seemed to be in the right position,
> to capture it.
>
> Also, I attempted some shots of my own bottle rockets' launches, with
> the digicam hand-held; no better luck, alas.
>
> Okay...did any of you, enjoy more success than I did?
>
>
> Cordially,
> John Turco <jtur@concentric.net>
I generally photograph fireworks with a six second exposure, stopped
down 2 stops from whatever the meter says, on a tripod. I make sure I
know where the fireworks will be before I set up and I usually take a
couple shots before the show to test exposure and composition.
It is best to have something interesting in the picture along with the
fireworks, whether it is Cinderella's Castle or just some old monument.
Even an awestruck kid will do. If necessary, I will photograph the
other subject separately and combine the fireworks shots later. This is
not to add compositional material that is not there, but often I want
the foreground to be shot at a different focal length or exposure.
I use a wide angle lens in order to catch the launch, trail, and burst.
The six second exposure usually allows me to catch multiple bursts. If
it does not, I will do multiple exposures.
Automatic noise reduction is a must, but it should not be set too
strong or the fireworks will look fuzzy.
I also use a small keychain Micro-light to work around the camera. The
camera will be set up with a remote control but the viewfinder will not
be blocked since the exposure is basically manual anyway and I
sometimes need to check what is going on in there. Then I will pull up
a lawn chair, some cold cans of root beer, and shoot pictures. I don't
even look at the camera much except to make sure no one is tripping
over it. I would rather socialize and the remote control can be used
almost unconsciously.
C J Campbell wrote:
>
> On 2007-07-06 21:20:38 -0700, John Turco <jtur@concentric.net> said:
>
> > Hello, everybody:
> >
> > I bombed out (no pun intended), on July 4th. Relatively few displays, in
> > the skies, here. When one did appear, my tripod-mounted Kodak DX6490 (4
> > megapixel, 10x optical zoom) never seemed to be in the right position,
> > to capture it.
> >
> > Also, I attempted some shots of my own bottle rockets' launches, with
> > the digicam hand-held; no better luck, alas.
> >
> > Okay...did any of you, enjoy more success than I did?
<heavily edited, for brevity>
> I also use a small keychain Micro-light to work around the camera. The
> camera will be set up with a remote control but the viewfinder will not
> be blocked since the exposure is basically manual anyway and I
> sometimes need to check what is going on in there. Then I will pull up
> a lawn chair, some cold cans of root beer, and shoot pictures. I don't
> even look at the camera much except to make sure no one is tripping
> over it. I would rather socialize and the remote control can be used
> almost unconsciously.
Hello, Christopher:
All very logical, except for the "root beer" part...I'd substitute Coke,
instead. ;-)
Any Good Fireworks Pics? 
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