Fireworks 2016

Nikon D7000, 28mm (28-200), 1/60, f/4.5, ISO 6400

Once again our Independence Day celebration was full of fireworks and photography. For the most part I stuck with standard techniques: long exposures for light painting and short exposures for sparky blasts.

However, I tried one trick:

Nikon D3000, 48mm (18-55), 5 sec., f/11, ISO 200, front curtain flash

This shot combines a long exposure with an off-camera flash. The flash fired as the shutter opened, when our friend Brandon was still lighting the fireworks. He was illuminated strongly only during the brief fraction of a second when the flash went off. As he swiftly got out of the way, he doesn't appear in the long exposure part of the shot along with the stationary tub or the light trails from the sparks.

Of course we had our usual fun finding creative ways to blow things up.

Nikon D7000, 200mm (28-200), 1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 200

That's a Pringles can meeting a fiery end.

 

Nikon D3000, 48mm (18-55), 5 sec., f/11, ISO 200

 And that's a tennis ball stuffed with ground-up sparklers.

Nikon D3000, 18mm (18-55), 5 sec., f/4.5, ISO 200

And though smoke bombs are typically better during daylight, lighting a bunch of them at once produced a nice effect.

Light painting

Nikon D7000, 48mm (18-55), 5 sec., f/5.3, ISO 100

Last week we took a look at photos of moving light sources shot at slow shutter speeds. Today’s example is traditional “light painting,” using a light and a long exposure to draw something in the darkness.

This is impromptu stuff, shot with the flashlight feature on my iPhone. If this had been anything besides an experiment, I probably would have at least changed the backdrop to a black muslin to reduce the chances that it would show up in the shot (as it does a little here). I should also have removed the UV filter from the lens, as it’s likely to be the source of the faint phantom lines in the shot.

And if I was really getting fancy, I could have thrown in some rear curtain flash so that I would be visible in the shot. Or at least practiced a bit so I could legibly write the word “hello” (and do it backward so it would read correctly in the photo).

Picasso was much better at this.

Awika

Nikon D7000, 45mm (18-55), 3 sec., f/5.3, ISO 800, cropped

For our fun class session last week, we killed the lights, slowed down the shutter and photographed some moving light sources.

Our first subject was Awika, relative of Cosmojetz. I neglected to shoot video with the lights on, but the folks who created it have a good, quick clip. With the lights off, the only visible part of the scene were the sparks shooting out the back.

The first attempt (above) was a little over-exposed. To be sure, it was still a cool effect. The winding key and Awika’s feet are faintly visible. But I was curious to see what we’d get if we played with the exposure a little. First I dropped the ISO:

Nikon D7000, 45mm (18-55), 3 sec., f/5.3, ISO 100, cropped

And then I closed the aperture down a bit:

Nikon D7000, 45mm (18-55), 3 sec., f/11, ISO 100, cropped

Unfortunately, for that test I put the subject on the table upside down, so its body hid most of the sparks. One more try:

Nikon D7000, 45mm (18-55), 3 sec., f/11, ISO 100, cropped

Now the only visible parts of the subject are the narrow light trails made by the sparks. They look like fine hairs or dandelion fluff. Sometimes it’s nice to just play around and see what you get.