At 15:18 1/21/00 , Paul wrote:
>I take photos of fireworks, i.e. large scale display fireworks.
>
>Exposure time is the difficulty. I get good results from an OM2. The rule
>of thumb is to use the aperture which is the nearest reciprocal to the film
>speed, e.g. if the film speed is 100, the reciprocal is 1 / 100 which
>equals 10, so the aperture used is the nearest: f11.
Your apertures are close to the Kodak Master Photoguide: f/8 for 64-125
ASA, f/11 for 160-320 ASA, and f/16 for 400 ASA. The kicker is the text
that goes with it. "Fireworks - aerial displays, keep shutter open on BULB
[caps are Kodak's] for several bursts."
In other words, given a pretty much black sky background, the brightness of
average fireworks will give a reasonble exposure on the film. It's a
matter of how many bursts you want to capture without cluttering the frame.
I've used this with exposure success keeping the shutter open from 5-15
seconds. How long depends on the fireworks activity. My problem has been
composition and getting them in the frame!
BTW it gives similar guidance for photographing lightning at night opened
up one stop more (f/5.6 for ASA 64-125, etc.).
If the auto-exposure method is working well with the OM-2, don't change
what you're doing. I would try the Kodak Photoguide method with the Hassie
and see how it works.
-- John
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