At 15:52 6/26/01, Jay Maynard wrote:
If all you're taking pictures of is the fireworks themselves, without
anything in the background, then the usual technique is to set the aperture
to an appropriate value for the film speed and hold the shutter open on B
long enough to let a burst or three paint themselves on the film. Don't even
think about autoexposure, as the camera will get it wrong. Use the -1. I
think I used f/5.6 for 100-speed film, but check the manufacturer's
recommendations (Kodak lists fireworks specifically, dunno about the
others).
Balancing exposures between fireworks and other objects can get tricky. The
idea is to let the exposure for the other object be the right amount when
the shutter closes from letting the fireworks paint on the film. If you need
to do that, experimentation and bracketing are the order of the day.
Jay has given the general procedure that has worked best for me. Some
additional remarks:
1. Slower film at ISO 50 to ISO 100 works better than faster films. It
keeps the background darker.
2. I don't hold the shutter open more than three sky bursts or about 8
seconds, whichever comes first. Too many bursts clutters the image; two or
three seem to be more visually pleasing (to me).
3. Apertures for film speeds:
ISO 16 - 25: f/4
ISO 32 - 50: f/5.6
ISO 64 - 100: f/8
ISO 125 - 200: f/11
ISO 250 - 400: f/16
ISO 500 - 800: f/22
ISO 1000 - 1600: f/32
-- John
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