bdot@hogpd.UUCP (J.BARRETT) (07/05/84)
Maybe one of the experts on the net can offer a solution to the problem
I encountered last night. I took a boat over to the East River (New York City)
last night to catch the fireworks. I brought ASA 1000 speed film to catch
the action. Even with the high speed film, the shutter speed was very slow
(in the neighborhood of 1/30 sec). With such slow shutter speeds, it is
hard to keep the camera steady enough to avoid blur in the pictures. I
thought of bringing my tripod but figured setting it up on the deck of a
floating boat wouldn't solve the problem. Would this of helped or is it
an unsolvable problem. How about setting the camera at 1600 ASA (as high
as my camera goes) and having the film pushed during development?
Thanks. John Barrett
AT&T Information Systems
Lincroft, NJwally@cornell.UUCP (Wally Dietrich) (07/06/84)
Most experts recommend using "bulb" (long, user-controlled) exposures for fireworks. That way you get the whole burst. They also recommend getting several bursts in each frame. You don't need very fast film either. Kodak recommends using f/11 with ASA 100 film.
fhb@hou2f.UUCP (F.BUTLER) (07/09/84)
I used the 'B' setting on my Pentax ME Super and ASA64 film to get some fine slides of fireworks in Aspen this past winter. I varied the time I held the shutter open to include from one to several bursts and had some slides of both style turn out good. This was all experimental as I had no idea what the proper thing to do was. tim tierney (hou2f!hotlv!tjt)
rs55611@ihuxk.UUCP (Robert E. Schleicher) (07/09/84)
Maybe others can add their experiences in shooting fireworks, but here's one opinion: It sounds like the original submitter had his/her camera in auto- exposure mode. This is no good for fireworks, as the resulting photo will be very washed-out, as the auto-exposure will try to make the black sky look like a normal daytime exposure. The result is a lightened sky, with washed out fireworks. I've had reasonablt good luck with regular 100ASA film, at about f5.6, with 1/60 second exposure. This gives nice black backgrounds, and the actual fireworks expose nicely too. If you want to get multiple fireworks in one picture, without going to the hassle of multiple exposures, you can use the camera on a tripod, and the B setting, holding the shutter open for several seconds. If the fireworks are spaced far apart, cover the lens between fireworks, while keeping the shutter open. For this type of shot, the lens should usually be stopped down as far as possible. Bob Schleicher ihuxk!rs55611 AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, Ill.
tjk@cbneb.UUCP (Tim Konfal) (07/09/84)
In the July issue of Photographic Magazine there was an article on shooting fireworks (with your camera that is). It basically confirms W. Dietrich's advice, and has some sample photographs with exposure information that can be used for reference. T. Konfal .. BTL, Cols.