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Fireworks Revisited

Monday, July 6th, 2009
Ground Burst

Ground Burst

This year, we got to enjoy 4th of July fireworks with our 2-year old grandson, who was watching a fireworks show for the first time. His squeals of delight as the fireworks burst high in the sky reminded me of how awe-inspiring fireworks can be.

The pictures here were taken this year, starting with a picture of the fireworks at ground level. You can see the crowd in this picture, as well as the silhouette of the trees in front of the main area where the fireworks took flight.

I shot all of these pictures with a wide angle lens – a Sigma 10-20 mm lens, which provides a wide expanse of sky for capturing the fireworks.

Spider Burst

Spider Burst

And, as I described in my previous post, I used a tripod for all of my pictures, and set my camera on ISO 100 with an aperture of f/8.

I varied the shutter speed from about 3 seconds to 8 seconds. The shorter shutter speed is good for isolating a single fireworks burst, as in this picture.

Using a longer shutter speed (8 seconds) results in capturing multiple bursts. Rocket trails are also longer with a longer exposure.

Color Burst

Color Burst

Since I was using a wide angle lens, most of the pictures I took were then cropped in post-processing – which fills the frame with the actual burst of light, ensuring that the fireworks are the center of attention.

My favorite pictures are those that capture the multiple and diverse colors of the light as it explodes from the shell.

For more pictures of this year’s fireworks display, click here.

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Fireworks

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Starbursts

Starbursts

With the 4th of July approaching, cities and counties across the United States will be having holiday festivals and fireworks displays. This is a great time to get out, enjoy the festivities, and get some great photos.

I took these pictures last year at Kletsch Park in Glendale, Wisconsin, and I thought I’d share my technique with you. Shooting pictures in the dark can be a challenge, but if you set up in the twilight, or bring a small flashlight, it’s relatively easy.

The first key is to use a tripod – while you can get good photos of fireworks with a point and shoot camera, it is much more of a guessing game – guessing when the burst of light will occur, and where. With a tripod, you can set the camera up and use a long exposure – greatly increasing your chances for a great shot.

I put my camera in manual mode – auto focus doesn’t work since there’s nothing to focus on until it’s too late, so just set the focus to infinity. If your camera or lens has image stabilization, I’d recommend turning it off since it can actually introduce camera blur when used on a tripod.

Milky Way

Milky Way

Use the lowest possible ISO for your camera (mine is ISO 100) – this reduces any noise caused by long exposures.

For most photos, I use a wide angle lens instead of a telephoto. This captures more of the night sky and makes it less likely that you’ll miss a burst that’s in a different direction than you expected. A telephoto will work, but you’ll need to know where the burst is going to take place.

Since the light of the fireworks is very bright, you don’t need a wide aperture – I use f/8 or f/11, and I set the shutter speed to 4 seconds. With a four second exposure, you can press the shutter button when you hear the fireworks rocket taking off – the burst will be a couple of seconds later and you’ll capture a great picture.

Experiment with the exposure length to capture rocket trails and multiple fireworks in a single photo (longer exposure) or crisper fireworks bursts (shorter exposure). Have fun and enjoy the 4th!

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Cheri’s Garden

Friday, June 26th, 2009
Flower Cluster

Flower Cluster

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting my sister in Waterloo, Iowa. And while visiting, we took a walk around her backyard.

If you’ve read this blog much, you know I take a lot of pictures of flowers – I love the infinite ways that nature puts them together and the vibrant colors of the petals.

While there were many vibrant flowers in Cheri’s garden, I wanted to show a few of the other interesting things that reside in her backyard. Because there are interesting things in everyone’s backyard.

The picture above is a cluster of small flower buds, with purple and yellow buds emerging from the green leaves. I took these pictures in the morning light, using a tripod and a telephoto lens to get in close. This picture was taken for 1/13 second at f/11 (ISO 200) with a focal length of 300 mm.

The pictures below show just a few of the subjects that can be found with a little bit of looking. The first is a dragonfly sitting on a leaf. Early morning is a good time to take pictures of dragonflys, since the cooler weather makes them less active. Next is a picture of a decaying flower bud – no vibrant colors, but a very different look at a flower. And finally, looking down at my feet – small mushrooms popping through the grass.

Take a look around your backyard – I’m sure you can find a lot of interesting items – whether you decide to photograph them or just look at a bit of nature.

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After the Rain…

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

Today started out like any other day – I got up my normal time and headed out the door to get the morning newspaper. A light drizzle greeted me, but that was it – no newspaper. After going through my email, I went out again – still no paper. A quick look at the headlines online, and then back out – still no paper. At this point, I was taking this as a sign that maybe I should stop and smell the roses – literally. However, since all I had at hand was some wildflowers and a lot of weeds, I took out my camera and focused on the raindrops.

Raindrop on a Leaf

Raindrop on a Leaf

With all of these pictures, I used my Tamron 28-300 mm lens at its longest focal length – 300 mm. This gives the greatest possible magnification and allows the raindrops to be the center of attention.

I also used natural light and a very small aperture (f/11 for this picture). The small aperture provides better depth of field, which is somewhat counter-intuitive as you look at the picture.

It clearly shows the background out of focus, but this occurs because of the long focal length. The small aperture keeps the leaf in focus, and ensures that if there’s any slight movement, it will still maintain focus.

The small aperture requires a longer shutter speed as well, though. I this case, I used a shutter speed of 1/8 second (ISO 200), even though it was quite bright out.

This next picture is of a purple wildflower that grows in clusters (maybe someone will tell me what kind of flower it is).

Purple Wildflower

Purple Wildflower

Similar to the previous picture, this was shot with a long focal length (300 mm) and a small aperture (f/16 for 1/5 second).

There are several things I like in this picture. One is the tightly furled flower just above the main flower in the picture.

It’s hard to see, but that’s what makes it interesting to me. The other is the large drop of rain that’s sitting on the top flower.

Most of the drops are small and collected on the petals, but this drop is like a small bubble of water.

Raindrops

Raindrops

Finally, this last shot is of a blade of tall grass growing wild in the garden.

The raindrops are cascading off of the grass, providing interesting contrasts of colors, textures, and light.

This picture was shot at 300 mm, using an aperture of f/18 and a shutter speed of 1/4 second (ISO 200).

With all of these pictures, a tripod is absolutely necessary. The long focal length requires it since the depth of field is so shallow, but the slow shutter speeds also necessitate a tripod.

The late newspaper this day initially perturbed me, but also gave me the chance to take some time and enjoy a bit of nature after a rainfall.

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Foxgloves & Bonsais

Friday, May 29th, 2009
Foxglove Flower

Foxglove Flower

I actually took these pictures a couple of weeks ago, drawing upon the ever-changing abundance of fresh flowers maintained by my mother.

This is a foxglove flower, formally known as ‘Digitalis’, which means finger-like, and refers to the ease with which one can insert a finger into the flower.

This picture was taken outside, using natural light, with my Tamron 28-300 mm telephoto, maxed out at 300 mm. The exposure was 1/80 second at f/11 (ISO 200). Even though that’s a fairly fast shutter speed, a tripod is critical for a shot like this, for two reasons. First, to avoid camera shake, you need a shutter speed at least as fast as 1 over the focal length – in this case, 1/300 second is the minimum to avoid camera shake.

Foxglove Flowers

Foxglove Flowers

The second reason is that with the long focal length and close focusing distance, depth of field becomes an issue. Slight movement of the camera after focusing will cause the close up view of the flower to be out of focus, which is prevented when using a tripod.

This second shot was taken indoors, near a large patio door with natural light. It necessitated a much slower shutter speed – this was taken for 1/13 second at f/18 (ISO 200), also at 300 mm.

The final picture in this group is a small bonsai tree. Bonsais can offer many interesting photo opportunities, due to their small size and the twisting of the tree trunk.

Bonsai tree

Bonsai tree

For this picture, I positioned the bonsai tree outside, against a backdrop of green foliage. The intent was to capture the twists and turns of the bonsai’s trunk and give the feel of a much larger tree via a close up.

The bonsai, however, was not cooperating. It was in a dormant state, with no foliage of its own. As such, the bark still provides a lot of interest, but to me it doesn’t fulfill its potential. This photo was shot for 1/80 second at f/11 (ISO 200) using a focal length of 119 mm.

If you’ve got a bonsai tree at home, try taking some photos using natural light. The uniqueness of the bonsai’s growth provides some great opportunities.

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