Fireworks with bulb

[PhotoPhoenix]

what iso is that? it looks pretty noisy.

 

[PatriK-b]

Are you shooting digital? If so, you may find that the long times with bulb will cause "hot Pixels". These are unexplained blue or red pixels due to the sensor getting overheated by being powered on for too long a time. The latest generation of DSLR's are much less prone to this, but I would suspect it to still be a problem.

Some cameras, like 30D, has a noise reduction feature for long exposure. It takes a second exposure, used to subtract the background sensor noise. If this option is available, try to use it, but keep in mind that if you expose for 4s, you'll have to wait another 4s before being able to shot again.

 

[PhotoPhoenix]

yeah, i used to do that. i never notice much difference.

 

[MostlyDigital]

the 2nd exposure that the 30d take for noise reduction, is that just a black 4 second exposure? It doesnt take awhole nother exposure of the scene again does it?

 

[Garbz]

Noise reduction is done by taking a second photo with the same iso and time but leaving the shutter closed. This brings up an image with hot spots showing which pixels die and the camera subtracts them (so you get a black spot rather than a white red green or blue one).

It should be noted that this is something you can do afterwards. With fireworks I turned the noise reduction off. I was too afraid of missing the shot I wanted while NR was running. If you have dead pixels they can be cloned out quite easily but if you want to go with noise reduction dead pixels are remarkably consistent. Setting the same ISO, and shutter speed and leaving the lenscap on will often reproduce a perfect reference image which can be applied as a subtraction layer in photoshop if needed.

tekzero very nice from underneath. There are normally a few problems with this. Asside from not being my style since there's not background under the fireworks is normally where the people are, so getting a camera in early can be difficult. Also when you get close to fireworks there's a greater chance of you missing them. You seemed to catch them very nicely though. Not my cup of tea but very well photographed, especially against the blue sky.