My first fireworks!!! NYC - Very exciting results for me :)

thepieces · Jul 5, 2004

hehe that was my first time at fireworks too... i stuck with 4 to 8 second exposures... i myself dont like big blurs.. i like to keep the fireworks looking as realistic as possible.. as you see in my shot they just barely exploded..

lonnit said:
Lonnit

thepieces said:

Andy Williams said:

andy

lonnit said:

I gave it a shot at the Grand-daddy of the American displays - why
not start right at the top! LOL! I'm very happy with the results,
being my first attempt ever at fireworks. Gave my brand new Slik
400 DX a trial run as well...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

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lonnit · Jul 5, 2004

thepieces said:
hehe that was my first time at fireworks too... i stuck with 4 to 8
second exposures... i myself dont like big blurs.. i like to keep
the fireworks looking as realistic as possible.. as you see in my
shot they just barely exploded..

Wow - that long? I just double checked and mine were all 1/4 sec - 4 sec, with two of them at 6 sec. I think the discussion was recommending 6-8 sec. That seemed awfully long to me.

Lonnit.

thepieces said:
lonnit said:

Lonnit

thepieces said:

Andy Williams said:

andy

lonnit said:

I gave it a shot at the Grand-daddy of the American displays - why
not start right at the top! LOL! I'm very happy with the results,
being my first attempt ever at fireworks. Gave my brand new Slik
400 DX a trial run as well...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit
and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when
you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you
like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

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Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit

and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

lonnit · Jul 5, 2004

dpreader said:
and you chose a great background. They are interesting and
different, and technically perfect

Thank you for sharing,
Slava

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Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit

and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

lonnit · Jul 5, 2004

eeprete said:
Lonnit, Great shots! I love the first one. Fantastic.

Thanks.

eeprete said:
your photos and thinking of what you did so different I can point
out a few things. You had a nice silhouette as a foreground
element.

Yes, it was dawning on me that you don't usually see foreground elements at all. If you see more than the burst, it's usually just the ugly, boring ground setup that detracts from the attractiveness of the explosions, and those are usually of someone's home fireworks or a very tiny, more amateur public display.

eeprete said:
there wasn't that many firework elements included in each shot.
I've noticed by viewing some other photos that some try to fit many
fireworks into one exposure as opposed to only a few.

Yes, I'd aim for a particular burst and would get some extra bonus in it, but they just more or less added some extra embellishment to the main attraction I was trying to capture. So I guess I avoiding having bursts compete with eachother. Each one stands on its own with jsut a little extra flourish for added detail so the rest of the frame isn't boring and blank. Too much time = too much of the bursts competing for attention, confusing the viewer. I guess I had pretty decent instincts on this one. LOL!

eeprete said:
you were in midtown somewhere, possibly up in the 50s or 60s,
looking downtown? (which to me really makes it stand out even more
as I know a lot of people like to shoot them from B'klyn and
Queens).

LOL! Gotcha on that one! I was in Long Island City!

eeprete said:
Completely astounding for a first time!

Thank you very much.

~ Lonnit

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Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit

and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

lonnit · Jul 5, 2004

Karl T. said:
Great composition and exposure. I had tickets for the "official"
Macy's grandstand right on the East River. Unfortunately, there
were TV cameras on us and spotlights turned on when they filmed us.
This did NOT enhance photography attempts. In addition, no large
bags or tripods were allowed so I had to bring my old Canon G2 and
leave the 10D at home.

Ugh! What's the point of going, YK?

Well, unless you're not a photog of course! LOL!

Karl T. said:
Most importantly, Queens, rather than any
Manhattan background, was the only land mass available for adding
to the compositon.

Yup, when you're on Manhattan Isle you don't get Manhattan Isle!

Karl T. said:
outstanding.

Thanks.

Karl T. said:
Where were you standing?...I will try that location next
year...could only be better.

Long Island City. I bet standing on the Brooklyn Bridge would be way cool though!

~ Lonnit

--
Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit

and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

Karl T. · Jul 5, 2004

I bet standing on the Brooklyn Bridge would be

lonnit said:
way cool though!

~ Lonnit

I don't think anyone was allowed to be on any of the bridges..although you are probably right, standing on the Brooklyn Bridge would have been great.

Ok, I want to put the info. in my calendar for next year...can you let me know where in LI City you took those shots from? I was thinking of heading to my favorite Manhattan cityscape location (Gantry Park), but am sure it will be way too crowded. (You can attempt to see my shots from there and Long Island in my Photosig portfolio: http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=53414 (hopefullly this link works).
Thanks,
Karl

lonnit · Jul 5, 2004

Karl T. said:
Karl T. said:

way cool though!

~ Lonnit

I don't think anyone was allowed to be on any of the bridges..although you are probably right, standing on the Brooklyn Bridge would have been great.

Click to expand...

There were tons of people on all the overpasses on the LIE as well!

Karl T. said:
Ok, I want to put the info. in my calendar for next year...can you
let me know where in LI City you took those shots from? I was
thinking of heading to my favorite Manhattan cityscape location
(Gantry Park), but am sure it will be way too crowded.

Off Van Dam st. Working around buildings and streetlights is very problematic though. I've not been able to go near the water, only about as far as 3 blocks in, but you might want to see what it's like closer to the river.

Karl T. said:
attempt to see my shots from there and Long Island in my Photosig
portfolio: http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=53414
(hopefullly this link works).

Your gallery is beautiful!!! Where are those beach huts on LI? I'm on LI too. Any recommendations on favorite places to shoot on LI?

Hey! I've got the identical planetarium image taken the same night! LOL! Did we have this conversation already? Someone else from the forum was there that night - was it you?

Lonnit

--
Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit

and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

Mark Gillett · Jul 5, 2004

I think its as someone esle pointed out, the foreground ground level interest. Great shots, really.

Mark

--
http://www.pbase.com/markgillett

Sharif · Jul 6, 2004

Hi there lonnit,

these are some very nice fireworks shots. Interesting that you chose a smaller crop/tele-perspective versus a wide-angle perspective that I'd intuitively chosen. But your images turned out very nice and exposure is very good!

Cheers,
Sharif

lonnit said:
I gave it a shot at the Grand-daddy of the American displays - why
not start right at the top! LOL! I'm very happy with the results,
being my first attempt ever at fireworks. Gave my brand new Slik
400 DX a trial run as well...

If you'd care to see the others, they are here:
http://www.pbase.com/lonnit/fireworks

I hope you liked them! Comments VERY welcomed!

Warmly,
Lonnit

--
Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit
and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when
you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you
like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

--
Sharif El-Hamalawi
http://www.el-hamalawi.net
http://www.pbase.com/sharif

lonnit · Jul 6, 2004

Sharif said:
Hi there lonnit,
these are some very nice fireworks shots. Interesting that you
chose a smaller crop/tele-perspective versus a wide-angle
perspective that I'd intuitively chosen. But your images turned out
very nice and exposure is very good!

Thanks. At first, when I got there and set up before it started, I put on the wide angle. I decided there would be too much unwanted 'junk' in the frame and switched to the 28-135 so could crop it out. I was lucky enough to have that straight on view of the Empire State Building peeking out across the river, and the church and the smokestacks on this side of the river made for lovely slihouetting. At first glance it looked like a bad spot with a lot of clutter but then I spotted my 2 best angles to shoot at. I was thrilled that I had not one but 2 wonderful angles of view! When I first spotted the Empire State Building my heart went pitter pat - I couldn't have chosen a more perfect spot if I'd planned it!

~ Lonnit

Sharif said:
Cheers,
Sharif

lonnit said:

I gave it a shot at the Grand-daddy of the American displays - why
not start right at the top! LOL! I'm very happy with the results,
being my first attempt ever at fireworks. Gave my brand new Slik
400 DX a trial run as well...

If you'd care to see the others, they are here:
http://www.pbase.com/lonnit/fireworks

I hope you liked them! Comments VERY welcomed!

Warmly,
Lonnit

--
Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit
and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when
you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you
like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

--
Sharif El-Hamalawi
http://www.el-hamalawi.net
http://www.pbase.com/sharif

--
Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit

and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

Eric Haglund · Jul 6, 2004

I like how you used the building silhouettes-

--
Eric, Snapshooter
DSixty, GTwo, Four20EX, Fuji 38Hundred
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde

lonnit said:
I gave it a shot at the Grand-daddy of the American displays - why
not start right at the top! LOL! I'm very happy with the results,
being my first attempt ever at fireworks. Gave my brand new Slik
400 DX a trial run as well...

If you'd care to see the others, they are here:
http://www.pbase.com/lonnit/fireworks

I hope you liked them! Comments VERY welcomed!

Warmly,
Lonnit

--
Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit
and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when
you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you
like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

Karl T. · Jul 6, 2004

lonnit said:
Karl T. said:

attempt to see my shots from there and Long Island in my Photosig
portfolio: http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=53414
(hopefullly this link works).

Click to expand...

lonnit said:
Lonnit wrote:
Your gallery is beautiful!!! Where are those beach huts on LI? I'm
on LI too. Any recommendations on favorite places to shoot on LI?

The beach huts are actually located at the far West end of the Jones Beach boardwalk. They are, I believe, the lifeguard huts and are only together like this during the winter storage. As I mentioned in the Photosig site, that particular image is a composite with the sky from Las Vegas, the huts from Long Island, and the lifeboat from Atlantic City. I was testing out Photoshop one night and liked the result. More recently I am leaning towards more "pure" images and am attempting to minimize and/or eliminate as much after-processing as possible.

Favorite shooting locations on Long Island? I tend to not post my favorite images on Photosig (have had a few copied and "stolen"..and claimed to be taken by others).....so you may not get the full breadth of my local portfolio, and interests, from viewing it there. I certainly like the texture and coloring (red tones) of the dunes and beach at Robert Moses...especially during the winter time. In early summer the colors of the beach grass turns very "earthy" and dramatic. E-mail me and I will attempt to be more specific about locations I have scouted out if you let me know a particular "focus" of interest. Also, please let me know what you have found.....I have the summer off and am looking for places to go to find new images.

I've been to most of the parks on the island and typically seek landscape, scenic shots. Waterfalls are a favorite, but I have yet to find any on Long Island....have you? I would recommend Bushkill Falls in PA. Some of my favorite shots were taken there just at sunrise. As you may have noticed, I also like cityscapes.

Althought I am sure there are a multitude of untapped image possibilities in the Island, I have begun to wander Westward. Last summer I spent two weeks in Western Colorado shooting mountain scenery and wildflowers. I have also been to the extremely beautiful and photogenic Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone Park. One could spend a lifetime in either location and never run out of inspiration. There are over 112 waterfalls in Yellowstone alone! The wildlife is also unbelievable.

lonnit said:
Hey! I've got the identical planetarium image taken the same night!
LOL! Did we have this conversation already? Someone else from the
forum was there that night - was it you?

No, I do not recall discussing that image with you (or anyone else) previously...but I also don't recall what I had for breakfast this morning. I like taking pictures of the balloons being inflated the night before Thanksgiving, but found that in 2003 the crowds were just too large and made it difficult to set up my tripod. So I just turned around and got some shots of the Planaterium. I prefer your image... I also had bleacher seats right in front of the stage for the Thanksgiving Day Parade the next morning (my Macy's connection again). Got a few good shots there also.

Anyway, thanks for having a look at, and the positive comments, regarding the images I posted on Photosig. Let me know if you want more LI info, of if you have any suggestions.>

lonnit said:
Karl

lonnit · Jul 6, 2004

Karl T. said:
Karl T. said:

Karl T. said:

attempt to see my shots from there and Long Island in my Photosig
portfolio: http://www.photosig.com/go/users/userphotos?id=53414
(hopefullly this link works).

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Karl T. said:

Lonnit wrote:
Your gallery is beautiful!!! Where are those beach huts on LI? I'm
on LI too. Any recommendations on favorite places to shoot on LI?

Click to expand...

The beach huts are actually located at the far West end of the
Jones Beach boardwalk. They are, I believe, the lifeguard huts and
are only together like this during the winter storage. As I
mentioned in the Photosig site, that particular image is a
composite with the sky from Las Vegas, the huts from Long Island,
and the lifeboat from Atlantic City.

Cool!

Karl T. said:
one night and liked the result. More recently I am leaning towards
more "pure" images and am attempting to minimize and/or eliminate
as much after-processing as possible.

I'd be much happier getting everything right in-camera to cut down on the time spent processing. Seems I can't process as quickly as I can shoot! LOL!

Karl T. said:
Favorite shooting locations on Long Island? I tend to not post my
favorite images on Photosig (have had a few copied and
"stolen"..and claimed to be taken by others).....so you may not get
the full breadth of my local portfolio, and interests, from viewing
it there.

Geez, that stinks.

I certainly like the texture and coloring (red tones)

Karl T. said:
of the dunes and beach at Robert Moses...especially during the
winter time. In early summer the colors of the beach grass turns
very "earthy" and dramatic. E-mail me and I will attempt to be
more specific about locations I have scouted out if you let me know
a particular "focus" of interest. Also, please let me know what
you have found.....I have the summer off and am looking for places
to go to find new images.

I've not really come across any particular places that make my heart go thump thump. I've stumbled on a nice shot here and there but nothing that is screaming for me to go back. One of my favorites though was jsust driving all over the North Shore when it was snowing. The snow makes everything look pretty!

If you like junk yards, you can go to Hicksville/Westbury, a block north of old Country road, and just drive up and down there. You'll pass a whole bunch of junkyards, concrete plants, and industrial decay.

Karl T. said:
I've been to most of the parks on the island and typically seek
landscape, scenic shots. Waterfalls are a favorite, but I have yet
to find any on Long Island....have you?

LOL! No - that's what I'm soooooo itching to find. I think we've got to go to Jersey or the Bronx for that. You need a place made of bedrock - you won't find waterfalls on the glacial deposit we're living on! Well, any taller than a foot high anyway! LOL!

Karl T. said:
Falls in PA. Some of my favorite shots were taken there just at
sunrise. As you may have noticed, I also like cityscapes.
Althought I am sure there are a multitude of untapped image
possibilities in the Island, I have begun to wander Westward.

Yes, the grass is always greener! LOL!

Karl T. said:
summer I spent two weeks in Western Colorado shooting mountain
scenery and wildflowers. I have also been to the extremely
beautiful and photogenic Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone
Park. One could spend a lifetime in either location and never run
out of inspiration. There are over 112 waterfalls in Yellowstone
alone! The wildlife is also unbelievable.

UGH! Sounds wonderful!

Karl T. said:
Karl T. said:

Hey! I've got the identical planetarium image taken the same night!
LOL! Did we have this conversation already? Someone else from the
forum was there that night - was it you?

Click to expand...

No, I do not recall discussing that image with you (or anyone else)
previously...but I also don't recall what I had for breakfast this
morning.

LOL! I didn't think it was you but I can't remember who it was.

I like taking pictures of the balloons being inflated the

Karl T. said:
night before Thanksgiving, but found that in 2003 the crowds were
just too large and made it difficult to set up my tripod. So I
just turned around and got some shots of the Planaterium. I prefer
your image...

Like you can tell the differenc? LOL! I did clone out something on the right - I forget what... maybe a small tree. I was trying to balance the color tones and that thingy wasn't cutting it so I got rid of it.

Karl T. said:
I also had bleacher seats right in front of the
stage for the Thanksgiving Day Parade the next morning (my Macy's
connection again). Got a few good shots there also.

Wow!

Karl T. said:
Anyway, thanks for having a look at, and the positive comments,
regarding the images I posted on Photosig. Let me know if you want
more LI info, of if you have any suggestions.>

If I find some amazing site I'll post it. Don't hold your breath - seems like you've scoped it all out already. LOL!

Lonnit

--
Please visit my gallery at http://pbase.com/lonnit

and offer your comments. The fastest way for me to learn is when you tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong, what you like and what you don't. I welcome all opinions.

WARNING: 10D-itis is contagious!!!!!!!

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My first fireworks!!! NYC - Very exciting results for me :)

thepieces

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lonnit

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Karl T.

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