Fireworks Images you'll want to share!

Kalamazoo, MI. Top level parking structure. Multi exposure.

The Fourth of July is fast approaching and along with the original reason for celebrating this day (declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain) we also have parades, barbeques, picnics, concerts, and people getting insanely drunk enjoying a cocktail or two.  But one of the most anticipated parts of the days festivities are the fireworks.

Seeing the hundreds of fireworks images posted online in the days following the holiday is pretty interesting.  With a variety of fireworks images that could be on magazine covers to images that look like second grade finger paintings...I thought I'd give everyone a primer on just how to get those "cover shots" that will make your friends ask you to next years party...maybe :)

So let's list the major concerns first and then elaborate.

1. What you need.
2. Where to sit/stand.
3. Camera settings.

WHAT YOU NEED

So what do you need?  Well, you'll need a camera for sure.  A DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) or an SLR camera will give you the most control over the scene but point and shoot digital cameras will work as well.  Most small point and shoots have a mode built right into the camera that states it as a "fireworks" mode.  (Check your manual if unsure)

If you are using a DSLR or SLR, any lens will do depending on how you want your final image to look.  If using a smaller digital point and shoot or compact digital, try using different focal lengths and experiment.  Zooming in gets a nice big display that fills the frame but a wide angle shows the sheer size of some of these blasts in comparison to your surroundings.

Finally, for me, a tripod is a must.  If you don't have one, borrow one.  If you can't borrow one, find a way to prop your camera to point where the fireworks will be and just be sure that it's not going to move or be obstructed by anything while you shoot.  The camera will be making longer than normal exposures and when the camera shakes, even a bit, those pretty colored streams of light look like saw blades...unless that's your artistic intent :)

Hand held on the boat.

WHERE TO SIT/STAND

Find a spot that has an unobstructed view of the show.  No trees in front of you is good and being elevated is even better.  Scout some locations if you have time, but if you don't, get there early, pick your spot and stay there!  This might mean getting there a couple hours early if it's a spot that gets pretty packed every year.

Take a look at the weather too before heading out.  Check the wind direction as this could determine where it is you'll set up.  You don't want all the smoke blowing right back at you and it makes for not so crisp images later on in the show.  If you're in an area with a land mark try to incorporate that.  Like a local pro baseball stadium, a monument of some sort or the city skyline...truly impressive photos come from these strategies.

CAMERA SETTINGS

Cameras that allow you to have complete control will let you choose an aperture setting.  A setting of f/8, f/11, or f/16 will yield bright vivid colors if you're close to the action.  Shutter speeds will vary depending on your liking.  Being able to set this from 1 second to 4 seconds will get the trials of the sparks as the explosion opens up and drifts down.  If your camera has a "B" (bulb) mode, you'll be able to "hold" the shutter open until you release your finger from the shutter button.  Using a shutter release cable is preferred if going this route.  One way to get around holding the shutter open with your finger, thus creating camera shake, is to set the shutter speed to a longer exposure, say 10 seconds.  After you hear the thump when the firework makes it's lift off, hit the shutter.  After the firework explodes, hold a piece of black paper over the lens until the exposure ends.  It's crude but it works,  you could also set the shutter to 30 seconds and hold the piece of paper up to the lens between blasts to get multiple exposures as in the image at the top of the post, from one exposure...experiment and try different things.  You never now what you'll get.

Finally, if you do have some editing software like Photoshop, and you have a final image in mind, then there is no reason you can't create something that is definitely interesting as in the image below.

I shot this image of my wife with a flash off camera to get a good exposure of her and the sunset in the background.  Then moved a second image of a firework explosion over to appear as if the person lit it off of the boat.  It's one of my favorites.  Experiment, have fun, and be safe.  Below are some other links to helpful sites on capturing images of fireworks.

Composite Fireworks Image

Photographing Fireworks tips from National Geographic
How To Photograph Fireworks from Digital Photography School
Photographing Fireworks from Photography Tutorials & Tips

  Dave

Eclipse and Venus Transit Fine Art Prints 50% OFF!

On May 20th, 2012 the moon crossed paths between the sun and the earth creating some stunning images seen around the Western Hemisphere.  Just two weeks later the planet Venus made a guest appearance to do the same.

The partial solar eclipse on May 20th was something out of science fiction, but in this case it wasn't fiction, it was real.  While eclipses happen every year sometimes twice, the next total eclipse will happen on November 13th 2012.  The May 20th eclipse was an annular partial eclipse, so being around to see this or a total eclipse will be a definitely possibility for most.

The Transit of Venus, however, does not happen that often.

The first recorded transit was in 1639 and it was said that the transit of Venus would occur in pairs of eight years.  The next two observations were in 1761 and eight years later in 1769.  Then 1874 and 1882, 2004 and now 2012.  The next transit will occur in 2117, long after I will have a chance to see it again.

Being a photographer and being able to capture smiles and fleeting moments as they happen is one thing but being able to photograph a planet that is 26 million miles away and slightly smaller than earth by only 650 miles in diameter, is truly an amazing experience...especially as it passes in front of the sun.

With this extraordinary event, I am offering another extraordinary deal!  50% OFF of the fine art print sizes for your home of the Venus Transit.  These are prints that will look amazing hanging in your home or office and will definitely stir up conversation.

Not only will the Transit prints be on sale, but the entire gallery of Fine Art prints will be 50% OFF as well.  This includes prints and canvas wraps!  That means you're getting a beautiful 16x20 for the price of an 8x10!

Use code 50%OFF during checkout.

Sale ends June 30th!  And if you're not in the market for a Fine Art print of these, send me an email and I will send a special code to get 50% OFF the regular print of these images in the Sights and Scenes Gallery

Dave

Sunset Silhouette of Minneapolis Skyline

Planning is key to getting the results you desire.  You use recipes to make certain dishes, use a map to get to places you've never been, book tickets if you're going to fly etc.  The point is, without some sort of direction or planning, you're not going to get exactly what it is you want.

Lesson learned as I have been wanting to get a silhouette view of Minneapolis at sundown.  I can see from my patio that the sun goes down and where the shadows are and in my head, I think I have a great idea of where I can go to capture this amazing image I have plastered in my brain.  I do a search of where I think it would be and head out.

I know of a park that is East of Minneapolis and it makes sense that if the park is East and the sun sets in the West then all the planets will align, the city will appear in between that, my camera will jump out of the bag with sheer excitement and snap off one insanely great image without any worries...ya, not so much.  Turns out that the sun does, in fact, set in the West but the straight line that is supposed to be from park to city to sun is a bit more like a Michigan left turn. 

Snap a few images and this is what you get.  Rather boring and lacking anything of value for my tastes.  The result of poor planning and definitely NOT what I had in my head because I don't have sun behind the city, it's WAY off to the right!

Sun is WAY over to the right...hmmmm.

The drive back home in the dark gives me time to think.  I totally though I would nail that shot...time for more research.  Enter LightTrac.

I have an app on my phone called LightTrac where you can plot the angle of the sun (or moon) over a satellite image for any date at any time...this is pretty darn cool and why I didn't think of using it before is beyond me.

Screen Shot LightTrac

I don't want to get burned again on my next trip so a little more research is in order.  This time from Google Earth.  If you've never used Google Earth, you will probably do as I did and play with it for a few hours without getting any work done at all...its just that amazing!  The first step on my "virtual scouting" trip is to retrace where the sun will line up.  Then adjust the map to that line using Google Earth.  Now to zoom in and at an angle.  You can now see different vantage points of where it is you'd be able to shoot from.  I found a few parking ramps that I can use to get on the top level and try a few shots before committing to one location.  This will be a huge help in scouting locations around the area and for future trips to surrounding cities.

Default Satellite View (Sunset Blue Line)

Default Google Earth View

Virtual Scouting Parking Ramp 1 (bottom of image)

Virtual Scouting Parking Ramp 2 (bottom of image)

Now THAT is planning!  The skyline looked more pleasing on the virtual map from the Parking Ramp 1 view, so that's where I found myself a few days later.  Final result pictured below.

Minneapolis Skyline (sunset)

 Dave

The Inspiration Behind the new Comic Book

I received a pretty cool request a few days back.  To do a portrait session for an image in a comic book?  Yup, weird.  That's what I was thinking too...weird and AWESOME!

Melanie (click image for a bigger view)

There is a new comic book series coming out soon and Melanie, pictured above, is what the character is semi-based on.  I can't go into too many details until the release but her portrait for the inside cover will give you some ideas...conclude from that what you will.

The original shot idea was for a crazy, messy-haired, half naked woman flailing a bottle of liquor in one hand and a cigarette in the other.  The imagination always runs a bit ahead of the cart when you have some creative freedom.  We found ourselves with only a beer bottle, a cigar, and a pretty cramped living room in which to work.  You make the best with what you have and I think with what we had...we knocked it out of the park!

Here's what we started with.  After moving some things around and setting up some lights, we got what we were after.

Living Room Before

 

Can't wait to see the first issue.  I'll keep you posted.

Dave

The Perfect Model

I know what you're thinking...and yes, it IS a bit creepy.  I just ran across this from David Hobby's blog, the Strobist.  This Virtual Lighting Studio is pretty fun to play with and it gives you a pretty good idea of what your lights are going to give you.  Perfect for rainy days and avoiding doing any housework :)

You can choose from a bare strobe, soft box, or a ring light.  You can choose angles, heights, and exposure levels as well.  All with or without ambient light and/or colored gels...definitely a time killer but more importantly you can save your lighting diagrams along with an outcome visualization.  It's in the beta stage now and I'm sure it will become a valuable tool for testing out some lighting set ups for quick reference.  Cool stuff.


Dave

Lynn and Dave

A few weeks ago I hooked up with Lynn and Dave.  What an amazing couple.  They both work crazy hours and still find time to bike, pretty aggressively I might add, play broom ball all over the state and travel like there's no tomorrow!  Fun, laid back and all around genuine is who these guys are.

They recently got engaged and immediately called me to capture the wedding and whip up some engagement photos...

Being an outdoors sort of couple, we naturally went right to the woods along the Mississippi River, walked around Minnehaha Falls, climbed a tree or two and ended with some down town shots and a bike ride.

Lynn and Dave

Thanks for an amazing day you guys...can't wait for the wedding!  Congrats!

Dave

Photography is my Running

A few weeks ago there was a death in our family.  My aunt had passed away and the services were to be held the following week back in my home state of Michigan.

I made the seven hour drive East while my sister did her share of driving as well, coming from the lower part of Michigan, also about seven hours.  My brother lives in town and this was the first time, in a while, that we had all been together.  Siblings, cousins, old friends...it was nice, even if under the circumstances of the passing of my aunt.

My brother runs...he runs a lot, daily.  Rain or shine, sub-freezing temps to scalding hot pavement, he's out there.  Dedicated.  Persistent.  Inspiring really.  My sister runs too...they are runners.

In 2008 Running USA reported that there are about 23.4 million people who run about once a week, and about 15 million who make the effort twice a week.  That's a lot of runners out there...so why do they run?  That got me thinking after I took the first shots of my brother while visiting a few years ago.  This image has gained some attention with some of the running folk as it shows the focus and concentration as well as the internal struggle/competitiveness going on inside the runner (my brother).  This seems to be the consensus on what is perceived...interesting.

Jason, Jason, and Jason

So why do you run?  I thought.  I never really asked, I just kind of assumed it was for the endorphins, health reasons, etc.  But it is so much more than that...

There is a sense of calm that can come over you as you run, letting you clear your mind and focus intently on each step being better placed and an inch further than the last.  There is a sense of accomplishment.  Running encourages you, welcomes you, teases you, and challenges you.  When you are running you're completing something, you own it!  It's a stress reliever.  If you run by yourself, it's a great time to be alone with thoughts, to sort things out, get organized, become energized, and refocused on anything you want.  When you run with others there is a community of individuals driving you to be better, sharing thoughts, ideas, or having conversations that you just wouldn't have while sitting down face to face.  It's a bonding with people on a different level.  Running is a lot of things to a lot of people.

Photography is all of those things to me.  Looking through the viewfinder is calming.  I can clear my head and concentrate, think, envision the final outcome of what it is I am seeing.  There IS a sense of accomplishment.  I AM encouraged, welcomed, teased, and challenged.  Everyday runners are setting goals to beat their last times, run a little further.  I am making better images, making more images that count.

My brother Jason runs...he is a runner.  My friend Jessica runs...she is a runner.  I make photographs...I am a photographer.

Jason Promo Shot

Jessica Promo Shot 2

Jessica Promo Shot 1

 

 

Dave

Top 50 Cameras of all time.

I'm in the market for a new camera.  A bigger camera that can deliver the results that I need.

When I first started out shooting, I started with a Minolta Maxxum 7000 film camera.

Maxxum 7000 Film Camera

This camera was a great starter camera that had a ton of features at the time.  This camera was loaned to me so naturally if I wanted a new lens or something I was going to have to get my own.  I stayed in the film category and purchased a Minolta Maxxum 5.  Then some lenses that would fit the Minolta series.  As luck would have it, Minolta stopped making cameras and sold that division to Sony.  Sony kept a lot of the specs in reference to Minolta so that current Minolta users wouldn't have to fork out thousands of dollars to reconfigure their existing set ups...schwew!

As time went on, I chose a digital camera, the Sony Alpha A100 (now discontinued), then upgraded to the A700 (now discontinued).  The next logical choice would have been the A900 (again, now discontinued) but that A900 was a full frame sensor camera...hmmm...what to do, what to do?  After a lot of research in wondering if I should just jump the Sony ship, I discovered the Sony SLT-A77.

Sony SLT-A77

Now we're talking!  This is exactly what I want at this point...and of course, completely sold out/temporarily out of stock online.  Not a bad thing, it's just a waiting game now.

In the meantime, I came across a great list of cameras.  The Top 50 Cameras of All Time.  The Sony A900 is number 41!  Along with the cameras are reasons why it was chosen.  An interesting read for camera buffs.

I was given an old Minolta 7000 as a gift last Christmas from a friend.  It reminds me where I started and where I am now.  What was your first camera?

Dave

You want how much? For what?

Something to think about...


How much was your wedding dress?  The rental fee for the reception if you had one?  The food?  The invites?  The cake?  The flowers?  The DJ/band?  The shoes?  The tuxes?  The list goes on and on...now take all of these things and think about which one of them you are still using today...hmmmm.


When I started taking pictures...and that's what it was when I started, just taking pictures, I didn't know much about cameras.  I didn't know much about how light affected anything or anyone I was taking pictures of!  I shot for me and only me.  As time went on, I started to learn more.  I bought books and magazines, I read articles online, shot with other photographers, bought software to edit those "pictures", took some classes, bought more things to make better "pictures" etc.


Slowly, my "pictures" started to become actual images.  I went from a film camera to a digital camera.  A Fuji S5200. My first digital.  I bought that specific one for a few reasons.  A long optical zoom and it took regular batteries.  If it ran low on power I could get batteries anywhere and not have to worry.  As time went on, I figured out the things I wish I had on that camera.  The things I liked and disliked.

On to the next digital camera I went, then the next and the next...each time learning about the camera and what it was that I wanted in it.  New cameras, bigger and better lenses with better glass that let more light in with less distortion.  One set of lights like you'd find hanging in a workshop, then some constant running lights with umbrellas to soften the light and create a bigger light source, then a flash and another and another.  Now there are too many cords!  On to a wireless system, etc.  Like the first paragraph, the list goes on and on, but I can take these things out and use them anytime, without fail!  Sure the camera and flashes I have now can create an amazing portrait rather quickly, but can my first point and shoot do the same?  You bet!  It just takes longer and is more of a hassle, but that's part of the learning process.  The digging, the research, the late nights trying to figure out why you get those red eyes whenever you take a picture of someone!!!  (laughing)  I remember being at a party with a friend and she asked me to take a picture of her and her friend.  I took her old point and shoot and shot one picture.  You know what we got...dark black back ground, bright flash in their faces...hideous to say the least.  I asked her to hold on for one second.  I took a small piece of paper from my wallet, put it in front of her camera's flash, tilted it so the flash light would bounce off the card and up to the ceiling.  This created a bigger light source and a much more pleasing photo.  Did it work?  Yup.  Did it look great?  Not really, but it was better than the original.  Next thing you know everyone is pulling out cards and trying it, most covering up the flash completely...it was quite comical.  But that's what you learn over time...


The real point of this post is to direct you to a post that my wife shared with me.  The client just isn't aware of what it is a photographer can do for them, what they have to offer as far as value and how much work it is to get where you are today.  So please take a moment to read this Why Wedding Photographers' Prices are WACK! and let me know your thoughts.  Good, bad, or indifferent.

Something to think about...

Dave

Fire Burns On With Negative Temps Outside

Last evening I went out in search of incense.  You know, the kind where you light the tip and it gives off a somewhat disgusting yet intriguing smell.  Old school, fill your house with a haze, incense.  It's surprising hard to find now a days.  It seems to have been replaced with the oil that wicks up through sticks that you place in a little glass vessel.  Anyways...

It's winter now, and with snow on the ground it's a great opportunity to go out and shoot some winter scenes.  One factor that keeps me from doing this, however, is the slight breeze wind tunnel speed winds that make a 5 degree temp feel like -20.  Not so comfortable.

To keep the creative juices flowing I decided to try something new.  Enter Smoke Photography.  Everything I have researched has you buying incense to burn.  Incense provides a steady stream of smooth squiggly smoke.  The problem is finding incense.  Most of the major retailers have opted to carry the oil and sticks as mentioned above.  I do not recommend lighting these on fire!  So being the impatient problem solving guy I am, I turned towards simple candles to light, blow out, and test my smoke patterns.

Candle Smoke Purple

The setup is simple...way simple!  You will need these things:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Black Sheet of anything for background
• Flash (off camera)
• Snoot for flash
• Pocket Wizard or some type of flash triggering device
• Incense (or a candle in my case)

Set the camera on the tripod and about two feet away from the smoke source.  Set the flash up with the trigger and place it at a 90 degree angle to the camera facing the smoke source.  I synced my camera on manual to 1/200 sec @ f20.  (This allows a squashed amount of light in and incredible depth of field.)  Place your black piece of poster board or material about another foot or so behind the smoke source.  Don't get it too close, you don't want the kitchen going up in smoke along with the images you're trying to create.


Light the candle, let it burn for a minute or so, blow it out and fire away!  The camera, fire away on the camera.  You'll have to experiment with the flash power, distance, etc.  But for the most part...that's it.


I took it a step further and brought the images into Photoshop, cleaned it up some, inverted, and colored it.  Nice stuff for 15 minutes worth of shooting :)

Candle Smoke Red Dancer

Candle Smoke Color Tip

Dave

Where are my images?

Well, it's finally snowing here in the middle part of Minnesota and I've shoveled three times.  My wife is the avid shoveler in the family but since it's my day off I thought I'd pitch in.

The first pass I pushed it all out into the street since it was just a dusting.  The second time I pushed it into the street as well.  Now there's a build up that could become an iced over speed bump that I would surely get stuck on upon leaving the drive way.  The third time I pushed it all into the 10 x 15 patch of grass we call our front lawn.  What the heck does this have to do with the title is what you're thinking right now...good.

As I write, I am transferring images and making copies.  Archiving, backing up, call it what you will.  But it's a good rule of thumb to do this on a regular basis.  You'd hate to have all of your Christmas pictures that you painstakingly moved from your digital camera to your laptop, only to have your laptop fail on you...after you've erased your card from the camera of course...EEK!

The general method is easy to remember, it's the 3-2-1 method.  Have 3 copies (one original and two copies), on 2 forms of media (hard drive and a cd/dvd) storing 1 off site (at a friends, parents, work etc)  This will be a great way to have "peace of mind" in knowing that if you do encounter a virus or you spill your coffee on your computer...don't ask...that you will have another resource to pull those images from.

I have been lax on this process and right now I'm transferring about 30,000 images around and reworking my archives.  Hey, I had nothing else to do today but shovel!  :)

If copying files and burning things to disc to move around is too much work, then look into an off site storage place "in the cloud".  I'm really leaning heavily towards CRASHPLAN.  It's a great way to put things on your computer and forget about them...they back everything up...I mean EVERYTHING, pictures, movies, files...EVERYTHING and all at a pretty reasonable price.  If I lost all of this data and brought the drives somewhere to get it recovered...schwew!  Mucho bucks!!!

So far it's only taken about six hours to scratch the surface of rearranging my files.  Do yourself a favor and start backing things up today, you can thank me later ;)

Dave

No snow? No problem!

The second week of January in Minnesota is traditionally one of the coldest during the year.  This year, so far, has been anything but traditional.  With temperatures reaching near 50, it was unclear whether the Snocross Racing at Canterbury Park would take place, but as temps dipped below freezing at night, 3 million gallons of water was pumped through snow guns and the races took place.

I have seen many pictures of skiers, snowboarders, etc., jumping and doing tricks in which the entire action sequence is caught as the action unfolds.  Since the races were going on, I thought it would be fun to try my hand at capturing some of that.


You can do this type of sequence with just about anything that involves some sort of action.  A soccer ball into the net, sliding into home plate or a dog catching a frisbee for that matter.  Snow sports seem to lend themselves well because the whole body is the point of focus for you to watch the action.

Freestyle Jump Sequence (12 shots)

Finish Line Sequence (9 shots)

You'll need a tripod, or a very steady hand.  A camera that allows you to shoot continuously one frame after another while holding the shutter down and if its just you and a friend out doing this, then flashes are great.  My current camera allows for only 5 frames per second.  Shooting in RAW I can get about 18 before the memory card starts to 'buffer' itself.  Not to bad for this type of quick action.   After the shots are acquired you'll have to load them into some editing software, stack them up and mask away the unwanted parts.  It's not terribly difficult, a tad time consuming, but the results are pretty sweet.


Of course, you'll want to sit back and enjoy the show too and maybe you'll catch some close crash action which always gets the fans going.

Back Seat Driver

Dave

New Addition to the Website

If you read my last post you saw a small video at the end of the wedding album I did for Scott and Christy.  It was tiny and when you enlarge it, it got a bit blurry. :(

Well, now there is a link on the website to view the albums that I create.  Just follow these instructions and you can view them all as I post them.

1. Head over to The Shutter Verdict
2. Hover your cursor over "Big Days".
3. Click on "Albums".
4. Click a video.

You can watch it right there or expand it to full screen and it looks amazing either way.  Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment here or there.

Toodles,

Dave

From Florida to Minnesota, with love.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of going to Key West, Florida for my sisters wedding.  It was such a great time.  I also had the pleasure of being the photographer for the weekend and ended up with this solid shot of the happy couple. This is the cover of their wedding album that they have on the shelf, proudly displayed.

Jeanise and Mike Butterfield

This was taken right before we went to the beach for the ceremony.  My sister (the bride) literally said, "You better hurry because we get married in 15 minutes."  So here's the set up.  Two shoe mount flashes with snoots triggered via CyberSyncs.  The flash placement was done with a couple of VALS (voice activated light stands i.e. Mike's older brother and father).  They held the flashes and I told them where to go and what to do...pretty handy, thanks guys.  Dialed it in around shot number seven and then off to the beach we went.


This past summer I got an email from Mike's younger brother Scott.  He and his fiance, Christy, saw the pictures I had taken and wanted me to shoot their upcoming wedding.  They live near me in the Minneapolis area so it was a done deal.  Right away I knew the shot that I had to get of them.  Scott and Christy both ride street bikes, just like Jeanise and Mike, and both couples do "track days" where they take the bikes out dressed in protective gear and rocket themselves around a track.  It's quite intense.

Mike Butterfield - Gingerman Raceway

Mike Butterfield - Gingerman Raceway

Considering that I wouldn't be able to hit a track day with Scott and Christy, I opted for a glamorous wedding shot of the infamous "endo kiss".  This didn't take as many tries as I had thought, but once you nail it...move on!

Scott and Christy - Wedding Day Endo Kiss

Moving right along, the main reason for the post tonight was to reminisce about the past weddings and to show you Scott and Christy's wedding album.  Put together with InDesign and published in Lightroom 3.  Lightroom 3 is a must have and was such a wonderful Christmas gift from my wife...I don't know how I ever lived without either of them! :)  Check it out and let me know what you think.  If you view it at full screen, it's quite blurry, had to keep it small to run it around the web, but I can assure the happy couple that the album is incredible!

Dave