photography: July 2008 Archives

Photographing fireworks is incredibly easy, and it impresses the daylights out of your friends when it works. If they only knew how easy it was. You point the camera, and open the shutter. Fireworks (the explosion) is easy. But strong composition and showing the crowd which is there is another problem entirely.

Of course, the people in the foreground will all be facing away from you. And they'll be backlit, just a fraction of the light in the sky reaching the crowd on the ground.

Photographers get plenty of silhouettes, a few people lit by a fill flash, or buildings lit up with enough existing light to show up in the frame.

The above exposure was about 30 seconds-- for the bottom of the frame. And maybe five or six seconds for the top. I used a black card to block out the top (fireworks) while keeping the shutter open for the bottom. No double exposures or computer manipulation is allowed.

I'm all for trying something new to get better photos. If your fireworks photos look terrific, and you'd like to share your expertise, let me (us!) know how you did it.

A while back, one of our intern photographers noticed my ancient 500mm mirror on my desk. He picked it up, inspected it like an geologist looking over a fossil and asked, "Where's the autofocus?" There was no autofocus. That lens is older than most of the reporters at the Daily Record.

The photo above was taken with the 500 mm mirror lens. I bought it used nearly 30 years ago, and it's still one of my favorites. It's less than six inches long, fits nicely into a small belt pack and weighs almost nothing, making it wonderfully handy on walks through the woods. I don't think Nikon even makes mirror lenses anymore.

The Record's 400 mm lens weighs almost 12 pounds, and is optically shorter, but at least a foot longer in real length. The 400 is a favorite among sports shooters,and one that's seen along football sidelines. It's huge and heavy. But it's a beautiful lens. It's quick, sharp, and at least three f-stops faster than the mirror lens.

I couldn't carry the 400 through the woods and survive unless I'd find someone to haul around this massive hunk of glass.

So, look at my 500 as a short cut. The picture above wouldn't have happened without my 500, and it would have been impossible with a shorter 80-200.

The problem, of course, is that the 500 is awfully slow at f8. Once the sun goes behind the trees, put this lens away. And another problem is obvious in this photo-- all those circles. It takes away from the heron here, but sometimes, it's an unusual element to the photo. The circles are just the result of the mirror images bouncing around inside the lens.

It's the lazy man's long telephoto. And if you find another 500mm around, let me know. This old girl should have been put out to pasture years ago.