Topic: Wishes from August

[jbwolffiv]

I learned a good lesson the day I took these shots.  Dont try to set up your tripod at 9:50 pm!  For starters I forgot that Main Street is a mess now with the Magic, Memories and You show.  The other thing I learned is that I need time to take a few shots without the ND filter on to see if I like the framing.  I found out just as Wishes was to begin that you cant see through the ND filter, so all of these shots were framed with slightly more that the top half being wasted.  Fortunately I was able to crop them to make them look a little better.  All shots are 18mm, f/10 for 40 seconds.  Here they are:



Wishes I by jbwolffiv, on Flickr


Wishes II (Explored) by jbwolffiv, on Flickr


Wishes III by jbwolffiv, on Flickr


Wishes IV by jbwolffiv, on Flickr

[Will G]

I really like the way the red pops in pictures 2 and 4
And the smoke is nicely tinted green in picture 3 - making it cooler than smoke usually is in fireworks pictures.
Thank you for sharing!

Will G

[jbwolffiv]

I really like the way the red pops in pictures 2 and 4
And the smoke is nicely tinted green in picture 3 - making it cooler than smoke usually is in fireworks pictures.
Thank you for sharing!

Will G

Thanks Will!

[jbwolffiv]

And the finale, I think a better timed and shorter exposure here would be better.
 

Wishes Finale by jbwolffiv, on Flickr

[Scottwdw]

John, what you need to do before Wishes starts is get a good exposure of the castle.  I think you needed longer shutter times as the castle looks very underexposed.

The things you learned are very good tips.  Thanks for passing them along.

[zackiedawg]

Nice effort indeed, and I really need to get out and try these with an ND.  I like #3 in the first group...I can see what Scott said about the castle underexposure - either metering the castle through the ND for a proper exposure, or taking a series of separate castle shots to overlay in layers from the same perspective both might help.  I'm quite sure the first time I finally get out there with an ND and try some fireworks, I'll be going through the same learning procedure as you!

[Scottwdw]

Don't forget Justin, I have an ND primer for fireworks on my blog. 

Also, in some of my Wishes photos, I did burn in the castle in post to make it stand out better.  John's are very dark but that is something he could try.

[zackiedawg]

I'll definitely be looking it up.
 
My next opportunity will be at Pixelmania, so I'm sure I can get some in-person tips from all the ND fireworks shooters!  Just have to remember to bring my ND400. 

[jbwolffiv]

Thanks for the suggestions!  No you mentioned burning it in, I only remember doing this in the darkroom back in HS and college.  What is that with respect to digital?

[Scottwdw]

In Aperture 3.x I have a Burn brush which lightens an area I brush over.  I then can adjust the amount with a slider. I am sure there is an equivalent in the software you use, John.

[zackiedawg]

John,  You just need a photo editor that has a layers capacity.  If you have a castle shot taken from the very same vantage point and focal length, where the castle is nicely exposed, you can copy that photo, then add it to the fireworks shot as a new layer.  You'll end up with one photo stacked over the other.  By either masking the layer, erasing out the parts of the layer where you want to show through what's behind, or changing the layer's opacity mode to 'lighten', then using an erase brush to get rid of any unwanted brightened areas, it will allow you to have the fireworks exposure show through in most of the shot, but where the castle is you'll have the nicer castle exposure from the layered shot instead of the darker castle.
 
I don't have a fireworks example, but here's a quickie example with a moon shot.  I have a shot of just the moon in a black sky...so I add it as a layer to a shot of the Mexico pavilion and change the blend mode to lighten - the dark sky is darker than the sky in the Mexico exposure so it doesn't show up, but where the moon is in the layer shot is brighter than the sky, therefore it shows through:
 

 
I can take that same moon shot, and stick it in this Epcot lamp shot using the same layer method with 'lighten' blend mode: