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-Set your camera to manual mode
and set the aperture to F/8 or F11.
-Rotate the dial until you get
the ''BULB'' mode on your camera. See your owners manual if
you're not sure how to set your camera to ''BULB''. When the camera
is set to BULB, the shutter will remain open as long as you need. For
the pictures shown here, some exposures were around 6 to 15 seconds.
Again, a tripod is a must for pictures of fireworks.
-Make sure the auto focus on yor
camera is turned OFF, if you leave it ON, the camera will start
''hunting'' looking for something to focus on. With the AF in OFF,
pre-focus in the area the bursts will be.
- Stay ahead:
I shot this set of pictures in
downtown St. Paul on July 4th. Early in the morning I was observing
the weather forecast. That gave me an idea on where the wind was
going to blow, with that in mind I could find a spot in which I was
not going to be engulfed by the fireworks smoke. Then I launched my
Google Earth software and found a good shooting spot thru the
satellite photos, that knowing ahead of time that the fireworks were
going to be launched from Harriet island. I arrived to Smith
ave. 2 hours early to find and secure my spot. After that, the
multitude was elbow to elbow. Arrive early and be patient.
ISO 100 gave me the chance to
take a few bursts in one frame without clipping the highlights that
much. Even on film we wont have a spot on exposure.
Camera used: Nikon D200
Lenses: Nikon 17-55
AFS F/2.8 and Nikon 80-200 F/2.8
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