his & verde - I used a tripod set up at a nearby lake, with a cable release. I left it on the "bulb" setting so I could control how long the exposure was, typically only about 2 or 3 seconds, just long enough to catch the trails going up and 2 or 3 bursts, otherwise the fireworks overlap eachother and don't look very good. I used mostly F8 at ISO 100, as I have read that is best for fireworks (although, i experimented with one or two stops below and above). I then used ps elements to crop (i left the lens pretty wide to avoid cutting off any of the larger, higher fireworks) and then slightly burned the reflection in the water to make it stand out a little more. I also cloned out any smoke if i felt it was distracting, then resized and saved for the web.
i was a little dissapointed because the buffer on my camera seemed slow, and it wasn't until afterward that I realized I had the "noise reduction" custom function enabled and it was slowing me down alot. I only took 150 or so photos this year, and I was able to take about 300 in the same amount of time last year. none of my shots last year had any noise worth reducing... and neatimage would probably do just as good anyway...
Canon 20D, 3" on bulb, F10, ISO100, tripod/cable release
Wow, fireworks as seen from across some water, now that does add a lot to a picture. Hard to tell which one I like best, I like them all, seems to have been a wonderful fireworks, could be I like the water best in Photo 2. Maybe, but I don't really know :scratch:
thanks everybody, glad you enjoyed them... mentos, it was an early July 4th (Independence Day) celebration... basically an excuse to go to the lake, drink beer, barbecue, and photograph fireworks...