Yo,
on Sat, 30 Sep 2000 20:22:01 +1000, Dylan wrote:
>the millenium NYE celebrations last year. Which leads to a question
>(which I'm sure is answered in the archives somewhere, but danged if I
>can find a summary): what do our expert firworks photographers prefer in
>terms of film, and what is a suggested starting point in terms of
>exposure? I have a newly acquired OM 2SP (bought from fellow listee
>Foxy, in much better condition than stated, at a better than fair price
>- a class act), so auto exposure is finally an option.
Well, as to the film I have found that slide film is much trickier for
fireworks than negative, especially as you should have some background
and/or foreground in the frame (pictures that show nothing but the fireworks
are usually pretty boring, IMHO). In my (still limited, as I only just
started experimenting with slide for that kind of subject) experience, with
the bright fireworks correctly exposed, the foreground/background turns out
too dark. Negative film handles this much better, so while I'm planning on
experimenting with slide some more (used Agfa Precisa 100 last time;
considering giving Provia F a shot at the next occasion) it will probably
continue to be my preferred material for fireworks shots.
While I'm anything but a Kodak fan, some of my best fireworks photos were
taken using Gold 100 which IMHO has a color balance and contrast that
harmonize very nicely with the subject (see my ADITL 3 entry for an example,
if you like, or have a look at my gallery under
http://www.translators.de/gallery/).
As to exposure, I usually set my OM-2 (which I prefer slightly over my 2n
for this kind of shoot, and both of them over the OM-4; don't know about the
2s - on a side note, I've also had some extremely pleasing results using the
XA) on Auto, aperture to 8, and exposure compensation to +1 (you might
bracket by taking a few shots with no compensation, but +1 usually gives me
the best results; in my experience more than +1 or less than 0 is useless in
most cases). I guess I don't need to mention that you should use a good
tripod. As to lenses, the choice depends, of course, on your field of view.
The 85/2 is my favorite for fireworks, but as it is very hard to guess in
advance how high the rockets are gonna go it can also be a good idea to use
a zoom; the 35-70/3.6 and the 35-105/3.5-4.5 have both worked well for me.
That way, you don't need to mess about changing primes in the dark after the
display has started, in the meanwhile missing much of the usually
not-too-long show, or lose your fore-/background by turning the camera
upward too far. It may also be a good idea to use two cameras if possible,
as the limited time available for the shoot combined with the long exposure
times (most over 20 seconds, quite a few well over 1 minute) won't allow for
too many shots.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention something I learned the hard way: Do NOT
use any filters on your lenses as with the long exposure and the bright
highlights they tend to give you some bad reflections which show up as
mirror images of some of the firework trails in the picture.
Just my 2 cents' worth - your mileage may vary.
MtFbwy,
Volkhart
--
Volkhart Baumgaertner email: kyu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MausNet: @MGN
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