Fireworks photos start here: http://www.chaosreigns.com/gallery/CRW_
I wanted to watch them from a distant hill, but![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
cathijosephine was going to watch them up close and that wasn't negotiable, so I went with her. I'm really glad I did. Yes it rained some, but I read the weather report and had my rain jacket with me, and it turned out fine. They timed the fireworks for the lightest rain so I was comfortable pulling the camera out. All shots were with my 50mm f/1.8 at ISO 800 on a tripod which I purchased for this event (but also had for fire spinning). I did some shooting at 4 seconds, and 2.5 seconds, but the ones I was happiest with were at f/1.8. I'm really glad I was there, and I expect to be there in the future.
My experience greatly contradicts what I had heard about photographing fireworks. Recommendations of anywhere from 3-8 second exposures, and zoom lenses. 50mm is not a zoom lens, and shooting at f/1.8, resulting in very fast exposures. I think more than anything this is evidence of how impressive the Boston fireworks are, that they gave off enough lite to shoot like that.
Today I bought my second Canon mount lens, marking my official choice to go with Canon over Pentax.
The lens is the Tamron 18-250mm. That works out to 13.9x zoom. Yes, that's fun. And yes, that convenience comes with a compromise of image quality, but it also is 3.3" long when closed, and therefore fits much more nicely in my bag with my 50mm on the camera thancathijosephine's 70-300mm.
The Pentax K10D really excites me. It shows how stingy Canon is with features, particularly weather seals. Shortcomings of the K10D resulting in my choice of Canon:
I'd buy a 30D now, but Canon is overdue to release its successor (it was expected this past spring), so I'm waiting.
I wanted to watch them from a distant hill, but
cathijosephine was going to watch them up close and that wasn't negotiable, so I went with her. I'm really glad I did. Yes it rained some, but I read the weather report and had my rain jacket with me, and it turned out fine. They timed the fireworks for the lightest rain so I was comfortable pulling the camera out. All shots were with my 50mm f/1.8 at ISO 800 on a tripod which I purchased for this event (but also had for fire spinning). I did some shooting at 4 seconds, and 2.5 seconds, but the ones I was happiest with were at f/1.8. I'm really glad I was there, and I expect to be there in the future.My experience greatly contradicts what I had heard about photographing fireworks. Recommendations of anywhere from 3-8 second exposures, and zoom lenses. 50mm is not a zoom lens, and shooting at f/1.8, resulting in very fast exposures. I think more than anything this is evidence of how impressive the Boston fireworks are, that they gave off enough lite to shoot like that.
Today I bought my second Canon mount lens, marking my official choice to go with Canon over Pentax.
The lens is the Tamron 18-250mm. That works out to 13.9x zoom. Yes, that's fun. And yes, that convenience comes with a compromise of image quality, but it also is 3.3" long when closed, and therefore fits much more nicely in my bag with my 50mm on the camera than
cathijosephine's 70-300mm.The Pentax K10D really excites me. It shows how stingy Canon is with features, particularly weather seals. Shortcomings of the K10D resulting in my choice of Canon:
- Short focus under tungsten (under low incandescent light, autofocus fails).
- No ISO 3200.
- No AF assist lamp.
I'd buy a 30D now, but Canon is overdue to release its successor (it was expected this past spring), so I'm waiting.
Off-topic, but the Utilikilt group gift for Jay link is up in my LJ (a few posts down). I'm probably going to order this weekend, so join in if you want to get in on the gift!
I already did. You're welcome to redo it.
http://www.chaosreigns.com/tmp/jay/lj_C