Finding a place to park was a little tough. There was one field to park in which had quickly over flowed and the remainder of us sought spots along the narrow roadway. All the immediate spots were taken but we were able to park in a small parking lot about 3/4 mile down the road with a respectable view.
We took the pick up truck which allowed the ladies to open up some lawn chairs and sit inside the truck bed. I took my tripod and Olympus E-10 and headed for higher ground and an unobstructed view of the works, (I needed to avoid electrical/phone wires which cut through their view), about 25 yards away.
The Olympus E-10 was the first true 4.0 megapixel camera on the market back in 2000 when I purchased it. It has a high quality zoom lens with excellent image quality. It’s drawback……it’s slow, man is it slow compared to today’s standards. I shot in RAW format and by the time the picture loaded it was 15 seconds before I could take another.
I tethered my cable release, locked my camera into one fixed position relative to where their fireworks were bursting, and tethered my cable release. Because there was so much lag on the shutter release I found it necessary to anticipate the shot. I would hit the shutter before I saw the image on the blank canvas of the evening sky. As the shutter was opened the rocket would enter the frame, burst and do it’s magic.
My camera was set to ISO 80, BULB mode, F10. Bulb mode allowed me to open and close the shutter with the press of a button from my hand held electronic cable release. Most exposures averaged between 3.00 and 3.3 seconds.
I thought the camera did a reasonably good job. I personally have room for improvement but, for my first time shooting fireworks, it’ll pass.
Recent Comments