Big blast
Jul, 2015Views
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Awards
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 22
Creative Winter Award
Featured
Contest Finalist in Your Summer Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
All Star
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken at the Ballantyne Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.Time
It was taken right around 9PM after the sun had set but it was not yet completely dark out.Lighting
I love the lighting you can get from the western sky at dusk. This served as a nice backdrop to the fireworks explosions.Equipment
Nikon D5100, Tokina f/2.8 11-16mm on a tripodInspiration
I love fireworks shows, and I go to this same location every year, and each time I go I learn something new. This year I decided to pick a spot behind the crowd so they would be visible in the foreground. I wanted to fill the upper frame with the explosions since this one was a portrait. I took a LOT of shots that night. When it comes to shooting fireworks, you want to shoot a lot. Most will be throwaway shots but you will inevitably get some good ones. I spent a lot of time switching from landscape to portrait and back again. I did not use a remote shutter, I just held the shutter open with my finger for each shot, holding it open longer or shorter depending on how many explosions were occurring.Editing
I use Adobe Lightroom, and all of my firework shots require a fair amount of post-processing. The ones I took this night were taken at ISO 100, so I knew I would be getting underexposed shots, but they would be clean and not contain a lot of noise. Lightroom can rescue the details for me as long as I shoot RAW. The explosions were overexposed while the sky and background were underexposed. This is easily fixed by decreasing the whites (to account for the blown out parts of the explosions) and increasing exposure and shadows to bring out the detail from the underexposed areas. This combination of low ISO and adjustments in Lightroom usually give me good results.In my camera bag
I keep an ultra wide angle 11-16mm, a 50mm f/1.8 prime, a 17-50mm f/2.8 and a 55-300mm f.4.5/5.6 in my bag. I like to be ready for anything. I also keep an external flash with me along with some simple flash modifiers.Feedback
Always shoot RAW! If you plan on doing any kind of post processing at all, shoot RAW. Keep your ISO low to keep the noise down as much as possible. I like to hold the shutter open with my finger but I really should use a remote shutter to keep vibration down to a minimum. But the "finger" method has worked ok for me so far. I have learned that you have to arrive at your location early and set yourself up. The spot I picked out was quickly surrounded by people and it wouldn't have been possible to be there had I been late. And shoot a lot of shots, keep shooting like crazy. You will capture that one keeper when you have 200 to choose from!
