nngrendel
Well-Known Member
I will say. Knowing the show helps A LOT!!! Good luck! Seems you already have a great plan.
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I will say. Knowing the show helps A LOT!!! Good luck! Seems you already have a great plan.
Grumpy-Fan
Active Member
I`m new as well and I also am looking forward to the challenge of Fireworks pics. The idea of watching them on youtube is a good one.I already have a nice ND Filter, Tri-pod and wired shutter release. Now I have two months to master the rest.
everestnut
Active Member
You'll do great and I'll bet you'll have more than 1 good shot.
Allen C
Well-Known Member
@Joshua&CalebDad and Grumpy-Fan: I think you'll both do just fine. You've both done your homework and you're both well-prepared. Enjoy and bring us back some great images.
ddbowdoin
Well-Known Member
100% agree... you have the tools, now just get out there and open that sensor.
Really play with your aperture, try shooting at f/8 - 11 - 16 and see how the images come out.
nngrendel
Well-Known Member
Although you two have way more experience than me I will agree! Most of all guys have a good time. Photography should be fun.
CP_alum08
Well-Known Member
This is from that pathway around the hub, headed towards TomorrowLand, just for reference.
152/334 - A Finale of 40 Years! (Explored) by CJ Balogh, on Flickr
Another big thing with fireworks photography is to have patience. I remember the first time I tried I got terrible results and it took me a couple tries to get the hang of it. Also, starting out I would go for quality over quantity, I did it the opposite way and I think that was part of my problem. I figured I could fix whatever I messed up in post, but that's not really the cast with fireworks. So take a second or two after a shot to look at the LCD and adjust, you might get a few less shots overall but they should come out better.
152/334 - A Finale of 40 Years! (Explored) by CJ Balogh, on Flickr
Another big thing with fireworks photography is to have patience. I remember the first time I tried I got terrible results and it took me a couple tries to get the hang of it. Also, starting out I would go for quality over quantity, I did it the opposite way and I think that was part of my problem. I figured I could fix whatever I messed up in post, but that's not really the cast with fireworks. So take a second or two after a shot to look at the LCD and adjust, you might get a few less shots overall but they should come out better.
ddbowdoin
Well-Known Member
yup... having is fun is the key, we aren't national geographic photographers depending on this for our survival!
flynnibus
Premium Member
A constant problem... Those set shots and wanting to spend all kinds of time composing shots tends to try the patience of significant others... Only works when traveling with other photogs
PirateFrank
Well-Known Member
I did a prime-only trip in October, 2011. We were there for 10 days and all I had with me was my (now my wife's) T3i and a canon 50mm F/1.4. I had the best trip ever, photographically speaking. I got great shots inside dark rides, some great up-close 'candids' of parade characters, some great night shots....
Granted, I would have shot the trip differently, had I known what I do now...one year more of photography under my belt (I'm still very much a beginner) and I would have taken advantage of stopping down the 50mm in situations where I wanted to get greater depth of focus. If I recall almost the entire trip was shot wide-open....so there are quite a few shots that could have been in better focus.....
But regardless, it was still a far better trip than my april, 2012 trip, where I was using a 60D and a canon 17-55mm F/2.8...that trip was far more challenging, as I struggled with the 17-55mm (still do). I tried stopping down a few more shots and found that I had to bump up the ISO to compensate.....a great deal more of my shots from that trip were far noisier.....
Very tempted to try my upcoming 4-day weekend trip in Nov with nothing but the sigma 30....or better yet, grab an S100 or S110 and go with just that in my pocket...
And here are the results of my personal Prime Lens challenge. Overall..I'd say pretty good! It forced me to make a lot of compromises and think about composition a lot. Also..a prime lens can't be beat for dark photos on rides.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dreggs/sets/72157631783412692/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dreggs/sets/72157631783412692/
ddbowdoin
Well-Known Member
I'm surprised that lens struggled at 1/80th of a second
I know you mentioned you were thinking of a D600, is the 3100 all you have? I thought you had a 7000. ISO 3200 is real dirty on a 3100.
ddbowdoin
Well-Known Member
ah got yah... my old D80 was horrendous at ISO 1000
flynnibus
Premium Member
wow, that really resets my expectations of what this body can do when mated with a fast prime in those rides :/
Its still pretty decent on dark rides with a fast prime...ALL of these pictures below were taken this same trip with a prime lens on the low level D3100. The noise CAN get unworkable, but usually its not a complete disaster. The big downside would be limiting what you can do in post:
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
The New Fantasyland by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
The New Fantasyland by DreGGs, on Flickr
kimberlymautz
Well-Known Member
Its still pretty decent on dark rides with a fast prime...ALL of these pictures below were taken this same trip with a prime lens on the low level D3100. The noise CAN get unworkable, but usually its not a complete disaster. The big downside would be limiting what you can do in post:
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
Disney Trip Oct 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr
The New Fantasyland by DreGGs, on Flickr
You took all of these with a D3100? I need to hangout with you, that's the camera I have and I'd LOVE to have pictures like these from my upcoming trip! Haha. But I'm still trying to figure out how to work it in manual.
Yep. All with the D3100 and the cheap 35mm 1.8. You can always view my EXIF data on my flickr (all pictures on there are shot with the D3100 and either the 35mm or the 85-200 which is also affordable) to see how I got these pics.
MAJOR thing to keep in mind is that the D3100 STINKS at low light auto focus. So you may want to practice with manual as much as you can. I get a lot of blurry pics..yes..but as you can see above, once you zero in..it can do great.
Also..in dark rides...to start I'd say shoot in Shutter Priority to get your feet wet...then as you get more comfortable..move on to manual. I always shoot as wide open as I can (in the examples above, that usually means 1.8), and at a high ISO (3200 which explains the grain). I do some post processing to remove SOME of the noise (I will get arguments about this, I'm sure...but the Noise from a Nikon is a LOT more manageable than the noise from a Canon), and then as long as you aren't printing large format..you don't notice
MAJOR thing to keep in mind is that the D3100 STINKS at low light auto focus. So you may want to practice with manual as much as you can. I get a lot of blurry pics..yes..but as you can see above, once you zero in..it can do great.
Also..in dark rides...to start I'd say shoot in Shutter Priority to get your feet wet...then as you get more comfortable..move on to manual. I always shoot as wide open as I can (in the examples above, that usually means 1.8), and at a high ISO (3200 which explains the grain). I do some post processing to remove SOME of the noise (I will get arguments about this, I'm sure...but the Noise from a Nikon is a LOT more manageable than the noise from a Canon), and then as long as you aren't printing large format..you don't notice
flynnibus
Premium Member
kimberlymautz
Well-Known Member
Thanks! I definitely appreciate your help.Yep. All with the D3100 and the cheap 35mm 1.8. You can always view my EXIF data on my flickr (all pictures on there are shot with the D3100 and either the 35mm or the 85-200 which is also affordable) to see how I got these pics.
MAJOR thing to keep in mind is that the D3100 STINKS at low light auto focus. So you may want to practice with manual as much as you can. I get a lot of blurry pics..yes..but as you can see above, once you zero in..it can do great.
Also..in dark rides...to start I'd say shoot in Shutter Priority to get your feet wet...then as you get more comfortable..move on to manual. I always shoot as wide open as I can (in the examples above, that usually means 1.8), and at a high ISO (3200 which explains the grain). I do some post processing to remove SOME of the noise (I will get arguments about this, I'm sure...but the Noise from a Nikon is a LOT more manageable than the noise from a Canon), and then as long as you aren't printing large format..you don't notice