Hoping to get some tips

[Annery]

Hi....
I am still a newbie in photography......
And I hope to get some help or tips in my photography skills........
I cannot post my pic here cos i am still a new member and I do not have my own website......
I took some fireworks pic on sunday....... but in almost all my pic, the background is under-exposed, but the fireworks looks ok to me.....
I am using film SLR, ISO 200, F8, bulb mode...... exposing abt 2-6 sec on my own count.....
What do I have to do to make my background look brighter?
But I do not hope to over-exposed the fireworks also......
Hope somebody can give me some tips.....
Your help is greatly appreciated.....

[Adiemus]

Originally Posted by Annery Hi.... I am still a newbie in photography...... And I hope to get some help or tips in my photography skills........ I cannot post my pic here cos i am still a new member and I do not have my own website...... I took some fireworks pic on sunday....... but in almost all my pic, the background is under-exposed, but the fireworks looks ok to me..... I am using film SLR, ISO 200, F8, bulb mode...... exposing abt 2-6 sec on my own count..... What do I have to do to make my background look brighter? But I do not hope to over-exposed the fireworks also...... Hope somebody can give me some tips..... Your help is greatly appreciated.....

Well, you could do your post-production in Photoshop. That's a skill you should pick up when you shoot in digital.

There are many sites that provide free webspace. Sign up for one of these, upload your photos and link them to the forums. If need help, ask! PM me also can.

Read today's Computer Times article by Willy Foo on shooting fireworks for some simple tips.

[Annery]

Hmm.... I can see that nearly 70 people has seen my thread but yet only one person has given me a little advise... Thanks Adiemus...
It seems to me that We, the citizens of Singapore, are really not helpful enough....
Why is it that so many people has view my thread but yet not help me at all??

[coldman]

you can do a scan on your picture and post it to a web server, so we have a rough idea how bad is your photo.
or get a book on post-processing your scanned photo.

[MooEy]

simple, set the camera to aperture priority, set the aperture at f/8 or lower. watch the shutter speed, making sure that it is 2 sec or longer. the camera's metering system will take care of the exposure.

a even better way would be to meter the entire scene before the fireworks start, with the camera's built in meter, then set the settings manually. this will ensure consistency on every shot taken.

~MooEy~

[MooEy]

err..i have no idea what camera u are using, but i would give u a rough idea on how to do it with my f70.

firstly, make sure u are in matrix metering mode. some cameras call it evalutive.

then u change ur camera to aperture priority, set the aperture at f/8 and point at ur target. the camera should give u a shutter speed reading. for me with iso 100 film, i see 8 sec.

then change to manual mode, set the aperture to f/8 and shutter speed to the reading u got earlier, for me 8 sec.

then focus precisely, and then set camera to manual focusing mode.

when the fireworks start, keep hitting the shutter button and watch ur camera do it's work.

~MooEy~

[GENO]

Annery, F8, 3 to 4 sec at bulb 100% ok. if u see the fireworks starts to become strong , close yr shutter quick, dont let too much light in . u dont want to c sun in th centre right? i also shot in film, amost 85% turn out great. go for the timing.

[whoelse]

Will this suggestion help?

[GENO]

forgot to add. i am using iso 400 lah. the grains will not show much, dont worry. trust fuji more. all in manual n let yr eye tells u when to close the shutter. its around 3 to 4 secs depending on how BIG the firework is. Need to open yr eyes wide, dont watch until u forget yr there to control the shutter.

[Yildun]

Quote: It seems to me that We, the citizens of Singapore, are really not helpful enough....

Yah, true, we Singaporeans are not helpful enough , but of course there are very helpful ones.

Seriously, I think we need more info so that we can help you. We could give you a hundred tips but would all of those solve your problem? Maybe a couple of them would, and the rest would just be a waste of time (our time and your time).

For your settings, I don't see any catastropic problem. Maybe (I said maybe) the problem lies with the processing part (Your photo studio might have done some adjustments for you, the way the photos look good to them, unless of course you told them not to, and they remembered).

A detective needs clues to help solve a crime.

[Adiemus]

Hi again Annery,

You might even want to try out the "Black Card Technique". You basically set the shutters open, use a black card board (matte surface, not glossy) to block the lens when you do not wish to capture certain details. Take it away when you want to capture (eg. the burst of the fireworks.) I'm not an expert or anything, but I was just experimenting.

You can check out my thread for what I caught.

http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=87263

[Annery]

Originally Posted by MooEy when the fireworks start, keep hitting the shutter button and watch ur camera do it's work. ~MooEy~

Thanks MooEy.....
But 8sec.... it seems quite long to me.....
During my last shooting..... i see a lot of fireworks overlapping as they fire it in very close timing....... thus some of my shots can see so many overlapping that it seem kinda messy...... but the HK team dunno why so 'hiong' also.... fire so many fireworks in one shot...... if they fire slowly den can last longer also....... :P

[Annery]

Originally Posted by GENO Annery, F8, 3 to 4 sec at bulb 100% ok. if u see the fireworks starts to become strong , close yr shutter quick, dont let too much light in . u dont want to c sun in th centre right? i also shot in film, amost 85% turn out great. go for the timing.

But closing the shutter quickly will make the background under-exposed... won't it?
I try on my last attempt.... some pic i close quickly and some i exposed longer.... those that i close quickly........ the background is very dark..... those longer are a little better only.....
I was at the sheares bridge so the background got some CBD building.... but it really is quite dark......

[Annery]

Originally Posted by whoelse Will this suggestion help?

Geez....... tat was helpful......
I have not taken course in night photography before..... so i hv not learn this technique....... but ur post is very helpful to me.......
the only thing is....... the fireworks display usually happen so fast that we sometimes have no time to adjust so much thing........

[Annery]

Originally Posted by Yildun Yah, true, we Singaporeans are not helpful enough , but of course there are very helpful ones. Seriously, I think we need more info so that we can help you. We could give you a hundred tips but would all of those solve your problem? Maybe a couple of them would, and the rest would just be a waste of time (our time and your time). For your settings, I don't see any catastropic problem. Maybe (I said maybe) the problem lies with the processing part (Your photo studio might have done some adjustments for you, the way the photos look good to them, unless of course you told them not to, and they remembered). A detective needs clues to help solve a crime.

Hmm.......... but it also seems to me that i get more help/post/comments after i criticize ourselves......... I also Singaporean, u think i like to criticize myself also meh.......
But we ourselves can also see that esp. in shopping centre and boutiques....... the salesperson is more helpful towards foreigners but to our own country ppl....... the treatment is totally different......

Actually i was just wondering if my setting, F8, is not enough and maybe F16 is better?
Or what abt films?? whats the difference between Konica, Kodak, Fuji?
Anybody knows the difference?

[Adiemus]

Hey Annery,

Check this article...

http://www.clubsnap.org/display.php?.../fireworks.htm

[adrian26]

Originally Posted by Adiemus Well, you could do your post-production in Photoshop. That's a skill you should pick up when you shoot in digital. There are many sites that provide free webspace. Sign up for one of these, upload your photos and link them to the forums. If need help, ask! PM me also can. Read today's Computer Times article by Willy Foo on shooting fireworks for some simple tips.

Hi Annery, im also a new member...jus posted several pics here..u might wanna try www.photobucket.com for online photo storage and you can soon show us your pics!

also went to shoot the fireworks on 1 Aug (US team) and during the NDP...didnt get gd shots also...agree with the rest when they suggested reading up on techniques...need to learn, appreciate and keep snapping to improve i guess! keep snapping!