Fireworks Question (I know...*GROAN*)

[Figment]

So obviously we just finished up 4th of July weekend. And there are a TON of fireworks photos all over.
Here's my question, for anyone who wishes to throw some advice.
I've JUST gotten started in photography as a hobby. I'm pretty happy with my gear so far, but am learning something new every day.
I shot a bunch of firework stuff this weekend. After 5 or 6 shots simply to focus (GOD that's tough) I got a lot of what I thought were great shots. But when I started to self-critique them, I noticed they're all kind of...blended or streaked.
I guess what I'm getting at is I wanted to get some that were good and crisp. But on a really fast shutter it was too dark to catch anything. So I was shooting at about 2 Seconds, F5 200 ISO. So my thinking was Let enough light into the lens to expose, open the shutter as far as I could, and lower the ISO as far down as it would go since it was low light.
The pics, as I said, came out kinda neat, but not what I was looking for. I wanted to see individual streaks, and sparkles. I've seen some INCREDIBLE fireworks shots. Any advice on how to improve? Any settings advice in particular.
I'm still learning about Fstops and ISO Settings. The more I read, the more I learn, but the more I read, the more questions pop up. (Who knew going from P&S to DSLR would be so different! )
Thanks gang! Sorry for the long post.

 

[PhotoXopher]

I used ISO 200, f/11 and 8 second shutter speed for mine but I wasnt' trying to stop motion like it seems you wanted to do.

 

[Figment]

I used ISO 200, f/11 and 8 second shutter speed for mine but I wasnt' trying to stop motion like it seems you wanted to do.

That's a nice shot!
Mine all came out about the same, except mine are a TAD brighter (Probably because of my Fstops). I'll have to post a couple of mine when I get home from work.

 

[kundalini]

A search for threads with "Fireworks" in the title yielded 15 threads in the last two weeks alone. I'm sure there is some useful information within those, in fact, I know there is.

 

[Figment]

A search for threads with "Fireworks" in the title yielded 15 threads in the last two weeks alone. I'm sure there is some useful information within those, in fact, I know there is.

Honestly, I tried searching for Fireworks, and Fire Works, both with no results. (WHich I found REALLY odd) However, upon a little more digging, this happens on a gaming site I'm a member of, as well as my personal forum as well... So I'm now thinking something's gone haywire with my work computer again..... Gonna go steal my co-workers computer for a while, see if it's broken too while IT fixes mine.