My first fireworks newbie!! C&C wanted!!

Ok so I am another fireworks newbie... Please tell me what you think. They are all just of the fireworks, I didn't have a good "city scape" or anything around to background them with. Plus I was right under them, the bardge was no more than 500 feet from me. The rain let up just enough so we could let them off.. Did I do ok??

More can been seen on my wesite at kgaugerphoto.photosite​.com

How did I do??
1.

Nothing that good? I guess they are not that good if there is no background or should I say backdrop to them ..

Hi Kim, actually they are pretty good. Personally, I don't need to see landscape or "cityscape" just for the sake of it being in the picture. Fireworks are unique in that way, at least to me. I would suggest, however, that perhaps a shutter speed of 2 seconds or maybe even 2.5 seconds would have better served your efforts. The smoke blur to me is a bit distracting on otherwise gorgeous shots. Also, next time try to position yourself upwind so smoke doesn't obscure any of the colorful lines. Just my $.02. Nice job!

Thanks alot Jim. The wind was actually moving off to the right. We were fighting the rain also. We were trying to stay under a pavillion so we wouldn't get soaked!! By the time the rain stopped there were no other places to sit. Figures..right? LOL I was swapping between I think 2-4 seconds. Plus at the time I didn't know how to adjust my aperture on my camera in manual mode.. (I am a dummy lol) Next time I will be ready though. I am glad that they came out even just a little bit. I agree with the smoke comment. I had said the same thing but I was cussing at the time lol...

One question, wth the shorter shutter speed, would that have lessened the smoke?

I am the exact oposite of Jim..... shots of flashes in a nondiscript sky are just too much the same. I guess I just don't appreciate this type of shot enough to see the nuances of one firework versus another. I like to see context to the shot, when, where, who was there, etc. But it is just personal preference. There were plenty who didn't particularly like my shots.... that's the beauty of it, we do it just to please ourselves and any other like minded viewers.

Other then that, the exposure looks good. Nice deep blacks. Good detail in the shots. Not too much to add there. Cheers.

Thanks Mark.. I would have loved to have a few with a cool background. But where they were, there just isn't anything cool lol... I would love to have one over a bridge or something like that I have see from others on here.

Kim, as with anything in photography it sometimes takes a lot of experimenting. There's no necessary right or wrong way to take fireworks pictures...it just depends on the look you are after. So have fun and try different things. If you like the type of pictures I took on the 4th (click here), then follow my suggestions. I used the manual mode, 2.5 shutter speed, f/8, 40mm, ISO 100, tripod with a remote release. Another option I will try next time is to use the bulb setting for exposure time. Keep trying things to see what works best for you. Best of luck!

Very nice Jim.. I used my kit lens cause the only other lens I have is a 75-300.. Thanks for the tips.. You had a little smoke in yours too, but not as bad as some of mine..

For a newbie at it, I'd say you did pretty darn good at it... You've got some great shots there.

Thanks Herb... I appreciate that comment very much..

nice job. please number pictures.

I really like the last 3.

I usually do number them, I have no clue why I didnt with this one. I am very sorry!

You got some great photos. The fireworks show where I'm located was rained out :/! I really wish I could have taken some shots!