!http://www.thadk.net/~thadk/photos/fireworks%2005/qdig-converted/med_100_25331.jpg!
Fireworks on my return
“My favorites of the shoot”:http://www.thadk.net/~thadk/photos/index.php?Qwd=./fireworks%2005&Qif=100_25431.jpg&Qiv=thumbs&Qis=M
I got to test out the “Digital Photography Hacks”:http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/0596006667 book I read on O’Reilly’s Safari free on campus. It gave some tips on the counter intuitive shooting of the bright things. Conveniently the fireworks were right out my third story bathroom window, no water to play with but you can’t have everything.
Now, set your aperture to f-8—even more counterintuitiveness, I’m afraid. If you were to open it up all the way to something like f-2.8, something you’re probably inclined to do, your fireworks would actually be overexposed, thereby producing that sickening feeling in your stomach and waves of bitter disappointment. Avoid all of that by starting with f-8.
Once the fireworks begin, take some initial shots. You want to anticipate the action. When you think a series is about to begin, put the black cardboard or baseball cap over your lens and trip the shutter. As the explosions begin, quickly pull back the cardboard and let the camera capture the action. I like this technique because you can control the cardboard faster than you can the camera. … As the fireworks explode, move the cardboard aside. Put it back over the lens until the next series appears, and then remove it again. This way, you won’t overexpose the image with the ambient light in the scene; you’ll record only the bursts of fireworks. What you’re really doing is creating a multiple-exposure shot. Try it; it’s really fun.
I think I overexposed a bit. Ah well.
Home was nice, I probably won’t be back until the middle of October. Played with my collge-bound younger brother’s new mac quite extensively. Also went on a four hour bike excursion, eating all sorts of glorious fruits the whole way–we brought blueberries, plums, and nectarines, and found blackberries, sour-sweet cherries, and bing cherries. Mm. And then returned for a full summertime harvest meal, corn, beans, the fixins. Nice being home.
Now I’m back, which means back to calculus, wee. Off I go.
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