Fireworks

Fireworks
Originally uploaded by DriftingPhotographer

I finally figured out how to successfully photograph fireworks, and it was much easier than I expected.

Before I even set up my camera, I contacted the people in charge of the event to determine where the launch site was, and the Idaho State Trooper who was stationed there to determine where I could position myself.

Once I had that information, I set myself upwind (so that the smoke didn't make my photos hazy). After making sure there would be no bright lights in my frame, I set up my camera on the tripod.

For this shot, I unfolded the legs of my tripod so they were almost parallel to the ground, allowing me to position my camera at ground level. This permitted me to include both my foreground subject (the truck), and enough of the sky for the fireworks. How much of the sky to include is a guess, based upon how high the show was last year, how close you are, pure luck.

After the camera was set up, I placed it in manual mode at an aperture of f/8 for a decent depth of field. Fireworks are quite bright, so wide apertures really aren't that suitable for this technique. Shutter speed was set to bulb, and I connected my camera's remote cable and configured it to immediately trigger the shutter when pressed.

Once the show starts, exposure is a matter of timing and guesswork. I pressed the remote's button when the explosion started, and held it down until the explosion dissipated (about 7 seconds or so I think). It's important to use a long exposure to include the entire pattern, as a short exposure would freeze only a small portion of the design.

After about ten tries, I started to get about a 90% success rate.

The Thrills of Photographing in National Parks

DSC_4183Duo
Originally uploaded by DriftingPhotographer

So yeah, national parks are some of the most beautiful places in this country, with some of the best landscapes to photograph.

The problem with them is that because they are some of the most beautiful places in the country, they are filled with tourists admiring the views. These tourists often come with small children. Nothing disturbs the peace of the early morning landscapes like screaming little kids.

This morning I was out photographing at around 6:30 AM in Grand Teton National Park. I was out by Jenny Lake and it was dead silent. I spy a river otter, just hanging out. I go to change my lens to my telephoto and this family comes along.

"Shhhhh (kids name), you don't want to scare the animals" - the mom whispered
"ammmnimals!" - the kid whispered back, "amnimals"

At this point I'm done focusing and about to press the shutter button.

The kid spots the river otter, and screams "DADDY LOOK A RAT!"

River otter is gone, I ended up taking 10 pictures of the sky...