Fine Art

How to Photograph Fireworks - 4th of July Fireworks St. Petersburg Florida 2012

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4th of July Fireworks over downtown St. Petersburg Florida 2012 - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/11 ISO 200 10.5 sec tripod mounted with cable release covering lens frequently with a cardThere is an art and methodology to photographing fireworks that if you have the necessary gear is pretty fun.  To photograph fireworks properly you need:

  • DSLR camera with bulb mode
  • Lens with appropriate focal length for your location
  • Very stable tripod
  • Cable release
  • A stiff card large enough to cover the front of your lens

Other tips for shooting fireworks:

  • Choose a spot with a clear open view (obviously!)
  • Choose a spot that is upwind (so smoke does not blow into your shots)
  • Include foreground elements (do not just shoot the fireworks themselves)
  • Do not record overlapping fireworks (will just look blown out in one spot)

4th of July Fireworks in St. Petersburg Florida 2012 - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/11 ISO 200 27.4 sec tripod mounted with cable release covering lens frequently with a cardThe actual process for making and recording a multiple firework image:

  1. While still light out focus on something where the fireworks will be
  2. Set your focus to manual focus so you do not have to worry about autofocusing in the dark
  3. Use manual exposure mode set to bulb mode and f/8 or f/11 & your lowest ISO
  4. Hold the shutter open with your cable release when seeing a streak going into the air
  5. Cover the front of the lens quickly & carefully with the card
  6. When the firework explodes remove the card for a split second
  7. If another firework explodes in a different spot, remove the card again
  8. Repeat step 7 a few times then release the shutter

4th of July fireworks finale in St. Petersburg Florida 2012 - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/11 ISO 200 28.8 sec tripod mounted with cable release covering lens frequently with a cardI also try to avoid removing the card for fireworks that are just bright balls of light as these tend to overexpose and just look like all-white blobs.  Overly bright fireworks can also reflect light onto smoke in the sky ruining the shot.  The ideal is to catch a streaking firework trail going up, a low firework explosion, a middle one, and then a very high one.  This evening they tended to explode in the same spot like three times in a row, which is no good as the overlapping makes them start to again look like an all-white blob.  If you are patient, study the patterns of explosions, and use good technique exposing the front of the lend with the card, then you will give yourelf the best chance at creating a satisfying fireworks multiple explosion image.  

Post a link to your fireworks shots in the comments below!

Sailboat Dreams in St. Petersburg HDR Fine Art Florida

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Sailboat masts in downtown St. Petersburg Florida marina - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 9-exposure HDR tripod mounted with cable releaseMy goal when making this photograph was to just show the part of the sailboat that inspires dreams.  A sailboat docked in a marina is not going anywhere, so the collection of hulls is not the part I find inspiring.  My eyes focused on the masts and in particular the long row of masts, allowing one to pick out their own particular sailboat to build a dream on.

This composition also utilized repeating patterns and leading lines.  I chose HDR for the exposure so that detail could be seen in the masts as well as the background sky maximizing the color gradient as twilight approached.

Super Moon or Perigree Moon Over St. Petersburg Florida May 5 2012

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Super Moon or Perigree Moon May 5, 2012 over Smacks Bayou St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 Nikkor 80-200mm @ f/8 ISO 200 5-exposure HDR mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseWhat is sure to be one of the most photographed subjects of the year is the so-called Super Moon or Perigree Moon that rose in the twilight sky tonight on May 5, 2012.  Luckily for me I had a good vantage point of the Super Moon right from my back patio allowing me to make the HDR image above.  I chose to center the moon between two palm trees.  Uncharacteristically, I did not try any other compositions, so I hope I wake up tomorrow still liking how I framed this shot and not regretting trying a simpler framing!

Did you photograph the super moon tonight?  

Sunrise Dawn Sky Over Smacks Bayou Snell Isle St Petersburg Florida Fine Art

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The sunrise dawn sky over Smacks Bayou as seen from my back patio - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1/60th handheld 

 Every morning I am outside, briefly around 6:30am.  It is almost like clockwork, but it is not my clock that keeps this schedule, rather it is Kiki's.  She wants to go out to pee then quickly come back inside to eat breakfast, then we both go back to sleep until a more sane time to fully wake up.  At this time of year (April) this morning ritual coincides with late dawn just before the actual sunrise.  In the approximate 2-minutes we are outside I usually look at the horizon through not quite wet enough contacts and note what color can be found in the sky this particular morning.

Yesterday the water of Smacks Bayou was particularly calm producing a fairly clean reflection.  My senses were of course not fully functioning, but after feeding Kiki her breakfast I did go back out to make a few handheld photos of the above scene.  I should have been using a tripod of course, but I did not have the ambition or coordination at that moment to fumble with putting on the tripod plate, etc.  I think what I will do to remedy this is already have my camera mounted on my tripod before I go to bed, so should the dawn sky be particularly beautiful, all I have to do is step outside, compose and click the cable release letting the gear do most of the work for me.  

Baby's Ear Shell Macro Strobist Photographs

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Baby's Ear Shell in macro top side - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/16 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: Nikon SB-600 Speedlight with diffuser cap @ 1/8th power just under shellA dog park friend saw my recent macro photographs of shells I found actually at the dog park and approached me last week with a rare shell she found herself on a local beach thinking I might like to photograph it as well.  She gave me a shell she said was called a Baby's Ear Shell for how its soft curves and translucent shell looks.  It is a very delicate looking shell when held in one's hand.  However, to photograph it I wanted to bring out as much detail as possible, which meant using a strobist technique.  The other challenge was how to prop or stand the shell so it could be cleanly photographed.  My solution for that is represented in the last image below.

For the above shot I placed a speedlight just under the shell adjusting the strobe's power to illuminate without blowing out too much of the bottom of the shell.  Slight movements produced different shadows, but it did not take long until I was pleased with the results I got above.

Baby's Ear Shell in macro back side - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/16 ISO 200 1/200th Strobist: Nikon SB-600 Speedlight with diffuser cap @ 1/4th power just under shellTo photograph the under side of the shell I placed the speedlight behind the shell for a more traditional backlit look.  This created shadows which show the depth of the dome of the shell and the underside ring portion of it.  I was surprised to be able to pull blue out of the dome portion, which is not visible with the shell just in hand.

My shell shooting solution, putting a piece of tape on it and hanging it from a wire rack.The method I came up with to photograph the shell was simply to hang it by a piece of tape from a wire rack plant holder I have in my living room.  Then I simply painted over in black the tape and the wire in Photoshop.  The black background was created in camera by choosing a fast shutter speed of 1/200th while shooting in my living room with the blinds closed.

Thank you Mari for thinking of me and sharing your shell!

Seashells in Black & White Macro fine art images

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Nature's spiral black & white seashell macro image - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/32 ISO 200 2.5s tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersPhotography is mostly about observing.  To be a good observer, I believe one needs to practice silence in mind and body.  The seashells featured in this photo story would not found along a quiet beach where I was taking a contemplative stroll.  They were, in fact, found in the middle of the chaos of my neighborhood dog park, but since my mind was silent, I was able to observe them.

This seashell reminds me of an anklyosaurus - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1.6 sec tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersBy the newly installed water station there is a ring of seashells, not crushed, but small and mostly whole.  As I pushed the nozzle to let Kiki drink, I observed this unusual fact.  Mostly one finds crushed seashells used in landscaping purposes so to see a bed of intact seashells surprised me.  You have to bend over quite a bit to trigger the water flow allowing me to notice the details in the shells.  I thought to myself, "I will take a few home to make macro photographs of."

Into a cavern of a seashell opening - Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/22 ISO 200 1.6 sec tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersIt fascinates me to think that such objects once resided untold miles away at untold depths in the sea.  Where were they from?  How old are they?  Of all places they end up in a dog park, albeit one very close to the sea.  In fact, you can see a part of Tampa Bay from the park.  Now these seashells have journeyed a few more miles to inside my apartment.  They have felt air conditioning.  However, I shall return them shortly to the dog park and their water fountain resting place.  

How did you get cracked seashell? Nikon D300 Nikkor 105mm VR micro @ f/32 ISO 200 2.5 sec tripod mounted with cable release Strobist: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight @ 1/4 power in 42" brolly to frame left using Yongnuo radio triggersPHOTOGRAPHY TIP:  always be observing, and you will always be improving your photography

Wide Panorama of Pass-A-Grille Beach St. Petersburg Florida Fine Art Photography

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Click for 2000px version - 5 shot panorama of Pass-A-Grille Beach St. Petersburg Florida available for commercial license & fine art printOn the same stormy evening I photographed the kiteboarder out on Pass-A-Grille Beach I made this 5-shot panorama of the beach as empty as you will ever see it.  This shot was made handheld which is surprisingly not hard to keep aligned if you have a grid view inside your DSLR's viewfinder.  I put the lower third of the gridline in the viewfinder straight on the horizon allowing me to make the shot without the tripod.  What I had to watch for was leaving enough overlap (about 1/3 of a frame) so that Photoshop could work its stitching magic with its Photomerge automation.

Pass-A-Grille Beach is one of my favorite spots in all of Tampa Bay as it represents the very tip of the main Gulf Blvd beaches in Pinellas County.  It definitely has a "land's end" feel to it, especially at a time like this after a storm at twilight.