Fireworks at the speedway. C&C welcome

JustJazzie · Jul 5, 2015

Its been many years since I was able to shoot fireworks. I am usually chasing kiddos around. This year we were instructed to stay in our seats, so I was able to break out the tripod. It was nearly impossible to narrow down my favorites, but here are my top three.

I hope everyone had a spectacular holiday.

1) For most shots, I tried to stay in the sky since the scenery wasn't terribly awe inspiring, but I thought I'd try including some foreground in a shot for context. I would love some C&C on this one specifically.

2)

3)

4)

tirediron · Jul 5, 2015

Very nice; perfect exposure on those!

JustJazzie · Jul 5, 2015

tirediron said:
Very nice; perfect exposure on those!

Thank you! I definitely played with my ss speed and iso a bit. But I found it was more hit or miss depending on how many were going off at once. The grand finale was a little too grand for what my settings had planned! :giggle:

Derrel · Jul 5, 2015

Yeah, fabulous exposure choices...fireworks are a blend of how close you are, f/stop, ISO, and time duration....on the first one, I like the people in the foreground, and the context provided by seeing the track. I absolutely LOVE to see a firework from the mortar, the shell's ascent and its trail, and its explosion and blooming!!! Having the two shells and their mortars/ground area showing really helps a LOT as far as showing the entire process from ground to air. Pretty good exposures too--many people over-expose the heck out of the central explosion and or the bloom by using too wide an f/stop and or too high an ISO level....

I personally think f/8 at ISO 64 on slide film is **the sweet spot**. I noticed this year, Thom Hogan did a monthly teaching point on fireworks, and revised his suggested aperture downward, from f/8 at ISO 100, to f/11 at ISO 100, to avoid over-exposure of the central explosion of the shells.

JustJazzie · Jul 5, 2015

@Derrel, thank you! I like seeing the trails too, makes it look like a flower bouquet. ;-)

Since you brought up ISO... I actually preferred the few I tried shooting at ISO 50, but I don't really understand the difference between a native ISO and the expanded.... Am I loosing anything by shooting at 50???

Derrel · Jul 5, 2015

I've had good luck dropping my ISO when that is a critical exposure parameter...as I understand it, the Lo- range ISO values cost a bit of exposure latitude at the bright end...but in actual use, the new sensors Nikon is using don't make that a huge penalty. Fireworks are one of the types of situations where the TIME is a critical factor in the look of the finished shot...the longer exposure times are, well, timed exposures, and the shot going up, and the shell exploding, and then the blooming takes at least four seconds--or longer....depends on the shell, and the type it is, and so on. The biggest issue I think, and what Thom mentioned, is OVER-exposing!!!

Also...there's more than one way to shoot...I liked the old black-card, shutter open, 20- to 30-second exposure, ISO 64 slide film, f/8, from about 250 yards away: pretty CLOSE, so the light is pretty bright. Some people like a much shorter exposure time, but then the firework looks "different"....the longer exposures at lower ISO settings and smaller sized aperture openings give an exposure that tends to keep the sky a bit darker, and keeps smoke from being quite so bright, and tends to keep from over-exposing. This is why ISO 400 and the like is generally not all that successful: it over-exposes many of the explosions, and washes out the colors, and tends to lead to shorter times.

"Whatever it takes."

bulldurham · Jul 5, 2015

I like these; I got lazy this year and shot at f:/9, ISO 100, 50mm 1.8 at 4 sec. For the most part with a little timing, I was able to get some good exposures but also like Jazzie, 4 seconds for the grand finale was a bit too short. Oh well, if I really felt ambitious, I'd do some creative Photoshop work.

MSnowy · Jul 5, 2015

Nice set!

BrickHouse · Jul 5, 2015

Nice shots Jazzie!

KmH · Jul 5, 2015

Nice set.
What speedway? Colorado National Speedway north of Denver?

JustJazzie · Jul 5, 2015

bulldurham said:
I like these; I got lazy this year and shot at f:/9, ISO 100, 50mm 1.8 at 4 sec. For the most part with a little timing, I was able to get some good exposures but also like Jazzie, 4 seconds for the grand finale was a bit too short. Oh well, if I really felt ambitious, I'd do some creative Photoshop work.

Thank you! I was shooting between 15 and 30 seconds. It was actually too long for the finale. Most everything was blown out and too busy. Maybe I'll try 10 next time!

MSnowy said:
Nice set!

Thanks!

BrickHouse said:
Nice shots Jazzie!

Thank you!

KmH said:
Nice set.
What speedway? Colorado National Speedway north of Denver?

Bandemere Speedway, Morrison CO. They host the jet car nationals every year on the fourth of July. I had no luck (or skill) with panning those machines! :giggle:

goooner · Jul 6, 2015

Very nice set!

Raj_55555 · Jul 6, 2015

Great shots, love #1 especially!

C. Brian Kerr · Jul 6, 2015

Jazzie, great job and nice set. I like #1 the best. Adding the foreground adds perspective and the racetrack guides you right to the action. Well done

JustJazzie · Jul 6, 2015

goooner said:
Very nice set!

Thank you!

Raj_55555 said:
Great shots, love #1 especially!

Thanks!

C. Brian Kerr said:
Jazzie, great job and nice set. I like #1 the best. Adding the foreground adds perspective and the racetrack guides you right to the action. Well done

спасибо! I did notice the leading lines of the track while editing, but I'll be honest and say it was not intentional. ;-)