We hope you and your family are enjoying the Fourth of July weekend so far! Whether you’re celebrating up at your cottage, on the lake or staying home, we have some great tutorials to help you make the most of your holiday weekend.
Fireworks, sparklers and more!
Creating One-of-a-Kind Fireworks with Olympus Live Composite - Editor’s Note: We welcome Jamie MacDonald, an Olympus Visionary and Vanguard Pro living in Michigan. With a focus on nature and wildlife, Jamie says his motivations are to connect viewers to the emotional state he was in when his images were created. Learn more about Jamie and follow his adventures at jmacdonaldphoto.com or on Instagram. One of the most under-promoted features of the Olympus brand of cameras is the Live Composite function. It has many uses, but especially during fireworks season. But before you dive headlong into using Live Composite, what exactly is it? Live Composite is a feature that allows you to create a long exposure image without having to worry about overexposure. It works with the following Olympus cameras: OM-D E-M1 Mark II and Mark I OM-D E-M5 Mark II OM-D E-M10 Mark III, Mark II and Mark I PEN-F, E-PL8, E-PL7 Tough TG-5 and TG-4 Live Composite starts off by creating a “base exposure” of your scene, and once that is locked in, moving forward for the duration of the exposure, only changes in light are recorded to that base image. For example, in the image below I set my base exposure to properly expose the Chicago skyline. Then, Live Composite continued to only record changes in light, such as the jet flying by, and the stars rotating in the sky. All the while, never overexposing that base scene. This exposure ran for three hours and in the end the camera provided me with a raw file for my use. Pretty rad, isn’t it?! Getting Started with Live Composite Start off in Aperture Priority mode initially so you can determine the proper exposure time needed for your scene. You do this by composing your scene, setting your aperture to what you desire, and then taking note of what the camera suggests as the proper shutter speed/exposure time. In the case of the image below with the Michigan State Capitol dome, my exposure time was one second at aperture f/6.3 and ISO 200. Now that the scene is composed and the shutter speed determined you can now switch to manual mode and start adjusting the shutter speed lower until you hit the Live Composite mode. Once your camera is in Live Composite mode, press the Menu button to bring up the Live Composite Exposure Time menu. It is here that you use the shutter speed determined earlier in aperture priority. Again, this time is used to set the proper exposure for your scene, and that ensures that anything in the initial scene will never become overexposed. Once those settings are in place, press the shutter button once to let the camera create a properly exposed base image. If the exposure time you determined was three seconds, then the camera will take a three-second exposure. Once the exposure has been created the camera will then display the message “Ready for Composite Shooting.” At this point, press the shutter button a second time to begin the Live Composite. After three seconds have elapsed (or whatever your base exposure time is) the rear display will show you the developed scene. And moving forward, as new light is introduced to your image, you will see it composited into the base image. So in the case of fireworks, each time a new firework explodes in the sky, it will be added to the scene, and you watch this all happen on the back of the camera. Six Tips for Fireworks Live Composite Images Now how do you apply this specifically to shooting fireworks? I have a few helpful tips for just that subject. Be aware of your foreground and if possible try to find something of interest to have in the foreground of your fireworks photos. Arrive early to get a good spot to photograph from, and to pick out that great foreground. Try to stop down a little bit, maybe f/6.3 to f/8 if possible so as to give your photos some more depth and to help increase the ease of getting the fireworks in focus. My Michigan State Capitol fireworks photos are a great example of that. I needed to ensure both the dome and the fireworks behind it were in focus, so I had to stop down to ensure I had the necessary depth of field. Once your base exposure is set, wait until you hear the bang of the first firework being launched before you start the Live Composite with that second shutter press. This ensures you don’t capture the streaking sparks flying up before the shell explodes. To avoid the streaking spark trail of launched fireworks, try holding a black card, or even a hat in front of the lens as a shell is launched, and then remove it once the shell is about to burst. It will take a little practice, but you can have it figured out within a couple of shots. How do you know when to stop the exposure? The beauty of it is that YOU are the creator of the images and when you are happy with what you see on your display, you can stop the photo. If the scene turns out too dark, or too bright, you can adjust your base exposure time by pressing the Menu button and increasing or decreasing the exposure time. It can also be adjusted by changing your aperture. Conclusion So what do you think? Doesn’t Live Composite sound like a great way to capture fireworks this summer? By using Live Composite you can take the stress out of figuring out how to photograph fireworks, and spend time enjoying the show while photographing it. While Live Composite is great for fireworks, it’s just as fun when photographing children playing with sparklers and glow sticks during your celebrations! So go out into the night and have fun with this hidden gem of Olympus technology.
Fast & Easy Tips for Photographing Fireworks this Fourth of July - The fourth of July is my favorite holiday because of fireworks! I grew up in Lousiville, Kentucky and they have this event called Thunder Over Lousiville. It’s the kick-off event for the Kentucky Derby Festival. It is one of the nation’s largest annual fireworks extravaganzas. Since the first time seeing it, I have been obsessed with fireworks so learning to photograph them was a must for me. Here are are some easy tips to get you started before the big holiday arrives. Set your camera on a tripod. Turn your camera to manual. Set your ISO to 100 or 200. You won’t need a high ISO since your subject is so bright. Set your aperture between f/8 – f/16. Keep in mind fireworks are huge and you want to have enough depth of field to have sparks from the front and back in focus. Set your lens to manual focus and turn the focus ring to infinity. Then back it up just a little bit. Your shot will be sharpest if you are focusing just shy of infinity. Turn off Noise Reduction. Even though you’re shooting long exposures it may take the camera several seconds to a minute to be ready for the next shot. Which means you could miss fireworks while your camera is processing your last image. Turn off the Vibration Reduction or Image Stabilization in the lens you use. Because your camera is on a tripod, you don’t need this feature turned on. Generally, when left on while the camera is doing long exposures on a tripod, it actually causes a little bit of image shake. For shutter speed, you’ll have the most flexibility if you shoot on Bulb. This setting keeps the shutter open for as long as you are pressing the button. This means you can start the exposure when you see the firework rocketing into the air, and end the exposure just after it hits its peak (or whenever you feel like it!). The longer the shutter is open, the more of the firework you’ll see. You can set your shutter to a particular speed. I like 15 seconds or 30 seconds. But different sets of fireworks will have different ideal lengths for exposure. Bulb gives you the instant flexibility to decide exactly when and how much fireworks to have in your shot. Also, it is easier to use Bulb if you have a release or wireless remote trigger. Rather than pushing the shutter button on your camera and causing it to shake on the tripod each time, you can use a cable release to trigger the shutter without touching your camera at all. That way you have zero shake from touching your camera and the best chance at a sharp exposure. Conclusion Remember practice makes perfect. Buy your kids a pack of sparklers. Give them 1 or 2 for a few nights before the big show. Sparklers are great practice and the kids will love it. Once they see their photos they will just think you are the coolest! Go around to the neighboring town’s fireworks shows just to practice. Try all the settings ahead of time to see what you like best. That way the night of the big show you can sit back and relax while your camera does all the work.
Seven tips to photograph fireworks and architecture - With summer comes national holidays (July 1 in Canada, July 4 in the US and July 14 in France) and fireworks. Chances are, many of you will be going to see fireworks and will want to photograph them. If you’re in a large city, it’s worth planning your shots to get some interesting architecture or cityscape composition. 1. Find a location First, prepare your shot. The best location to view the fireworks might not be great for photos. It’s probably too close and too crowded. Figure out where the fireworks are shot off from and start looking at Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View. Figure out where you can see the fireworks and the skyline. Find an interesting building that could be a good foreground. I planned the shot below so I could see three different shows. The two small ones on the left were just a nice bonus! They were all shot at different times the same night and then blended together in Photoshop. 2. Focus on one or two compositions It’s unlikely you’ll be able to shoot many different compositions during a single firework show. I recommend taking the time to carefully plan one composition and make sure you shoot a lot of different frames during the show, to have a bunch of options. If you’re careful, plan two or three compositions you can easily switch between without changing your settings. Better yet, set up two cameras on two tripods! 3. Leave some room It’s not always easy to estimate how high the fireworks will go, so make sure you leave enough room in the sky. It’s better to crop in post-processing than to have the top or the side of the fireworks cut off. 4. Photograph in manual mode Shooting in the city is tough on your meter because there are so many light sources. I recommend you shoot in manual mode to have full control and to make sure your camera doesn’t under- or over-expose. If you’re planning on a single composition, go with manual focus too. 5. Use a small aperture To get thinner and sharper light streaks, use a small aperture. I recommend around f/8 to f/11, as shooting at smaller aperture might be tough at night. 6. Aim for a two-second exposure Since you’re in manual mode, it’s easy to aim for a specific shutter speed. If your exposure time is too short, you won’t get light streaks. If it’s too long, you will get too many fireworks that will probably overlap and become messy. I recommend using a shutter speed around two seconds. You may need to increase your ISO to get to that shutter speed between f/8 and f/11, but it’s worth it! Depending on the show, you may need to adjust a bit, between say 1 and 5 seconds. Experiment and see what works best! 7. Don’t over-expose One of the easiest mistakes to make with fireworks is to overexpose because some can be really bright. After the first few fireworks, check your exposure and adjust the shutter speed to make sure you don’t blow out the highlights. If you have to underexpose for the fireworks, the city might be too dark. To avoid that, make sure you capture a few frames with the city properly exposed before the show starts. You can always blend one of those with the fireworks images later. I hope these tips will help you get some great shots! But don’t forget, enjoy the show and the company too!
Four creative techniques for photographing fireworks - Fireworks photography is a great way to get your creative juices flowing. The traditional approach for shooting fireworks is to set your camera on a tripod and open the shutter for a few seconds while the fireworks explode. Last year I started experimenting with handheld fireworks photography to see what new looks I could create. I found the process to be lots of fun and I even created a few images that worked out well. Here are four techniques you can try for creating new and interesting fireworks images. Zoom during exposure This method is the easiest to do of all the techniques I describe. The approach is simple but still produces some really cool images. Basically, just zoom the lens during the exposure. Technique Set shutter speed for approximately 1/4 to 1/2s Focus on fireworks that are exploding or focus at infinity Press shutter release button. Ideally, you’ll try to time the opening of the shutter with the beginning of an explosion. Rapidly zoom the lens during the exposure Rotate camera during exposure Rotating the camera during the exposure will produce interesting circular patterns. If you want the rotation to appear centered around the middle of your frame, then try to rotate the camera exactly around the lens barrel. Technique Set the shutter speed for 1/4 to 1/6s Focus on fireworks that are exploding or focus at infinity Press shutter release button Rotate the camera around the lens barrel during the time when the explosion is largest Zoom and rotate during exposure I like this method because it results in shapes that look like star galaxies. The key is to coordinate camera rotation at the same time you are zooming the lens. Technique Set the shutter speed for 1/4 to 1/6s Focus on fireworks that are exploding or focus at infinity Press shutter release button Simultaneously rotate the camera with one hand and zoom the lens barrel with the other hand Pan or shake camera during exposure Here’s another fun approach that can result in unique images. The idea is to move the camera in random directions during the exposure. Technique Set the shutter speed for about one second Focus on fireworks that are exploding or focus at infinity Press the shutter release button Pan the camera from right to left, from top to bottom or diagonally from corner to corner. This generally works best when the burst is at its largest size. Summary Fireworks photography doesn’t have to follow the traditional rules. Hopefully, these techniques give you some great ideas to try on your own. Do you have any unique fireworks photos of your own to share? If so, leave a link down in the comments. I’d love to see them!
No fireworks to photograph this Fourth of July? - Around this time of year, we always see so many articles about how to photograph fireworks. What if you don’t like fireworks or they’re rained out, or possibly canceled? What else can you do to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday photographically? Flowers always work Next grocery store run, pick up a bouquet of flowers. Generally, you’ll find around the few weeks before the 4th that they’ll have all sorts of colored flowers and added little decorations to bouquets. Photograph your food You know your aunt always makes that flag cake with strawberry stripes and blueberry stars, right? Flags are flying everywhere The Old Glory standby. Seek out one of those massive flags nearby. Look for ‘fields’ of flags in local parks. Pick up your own flag to hang out, or decorative flags you can use to create your own photo setup with. People are fair game You’ll likely still have some sort of get-together, a picnic or a local small gathering to celebrate the Fourth of July. Maybe you’re having a cookout. Photograph your friends and family enjoying the holiday. Photograph parades before the fireworks While they may be a bit different this year as organizers are getting creative with their events so should you with your photography. Take family photos in and from your cars. Photograph the decorations you see along the route in people’s yards and on their cars. Think completely outside the box How many red, white and blue things can you find to photograph? Buildings, kid’s toys, lights … make a challenge out of it. There are always opportunities to create images if we are aware of what is around us, push ourselves to think about what else we can see and find to photograph.
Get fired up for fireworks - Fireworks come but once a year for many of us. It calls for specialized settings in order to get the most out of our 30-40 minute opportunity each year. I know I’ve always got to go back and review the previous year’s camera settings in order to improve my crop of good ones each time I shoot. Gear An absolute must is a tripod (or, at the very least a bean or rice bag on which to rest your camera). Stability is important. Almost any camera will work, preferably one with manual settings. You want to be in control of almost everything, as the camera will be seeing all the dark sky and try to over-expose your scene. The camera should have a remote shutter release, or as many of the newer cameras have, a WiFi connection with a phone app like the Lumix and Olympus cameras. This ensures the camera is not jostled when starting the exposures. Wild and crazy I take my fireworks shooting to an extreme. Since there are only one or two opportunities each year I try to get the most out of it. Here is a setup I use for multiple cameras. A Tripad supports several iOS devices. I’m using an iPhone and two iPads. Each device is paired with a camera. Because of the Lumix Image App I can see what each camera is viewing on each device and fire frames at will. Each camera has a different lens and some slightly different settings of shutter speed and/or aperture. Note: For those that haven’t seen a Tripad it makes a table using your tripod for legs. Unfortunately, they are no longer made. You might try Tether Tools for pro-grade accessories or cobble some sort of stand for support. If you are using a single camera a table is not necessary. Number one shows the Peak Design camera strap clasps that allow a camera strap to be added or taken away very quickly. All of my cameras are so equipped. That way I can also mix and match the size and type of straps depending upon the shooting day. Settings Here are some settings that have worked for me. Depending upon your type of camera you may need to make some adjustments. For example, since I photograph with micro four-thirds cameras, my preferred ISO is 200. I recommend you shoot with the native ISO for your camera. For most full-frame cameras the native ISO would be 100. Check with your camera manufacturer to confirm. I’ve had photographers in the past ask me to review why they had less than stellar results and part of it is too high an ISO that was set because it was dark. Remember that we are photographing the burst and not the scene in front of us. One thing for those with Lumix or other advanced amateur cameras such as the Lumix FZ2500, Lumix G7, etc., be sure to look in the Scene Menu for Artistic Nightscape (as a former Lumix Ambassador Lumix cameras are the ones with which I am familiar). This setting will allow you to have a longer exposure with a smaller aperture. Test this before you go out because you will have to tweak settings just a bit and you don’t want to not be ready for the big show. Get out at night and choose the setting and change the front dial until you get a shutter speed of two to five seconds. The aperture should be f/8 or above. If you are in a dark area, you can practice a bit with car trail lights to get an idea how things are working. Then you can keep an eye on the live view image and adjust the exposure compensation to tweak your captures to taste. Post production There are a number of ways to get the best from your fireworks files and different ways to use them. I’ll share some post production tips and tricks in a future post. Have fun getting your images! Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Portrait Tips: Sparkler portraits - Photographing fireworks is one of the most fun things you can do on the Fourth of July — but it’s also a great way to ruin your family’s fun. While everyone is trying to enjoy the show, you’re sitting there cussing at your camera and running around to get a different angle while your spouse wrangles kids who are throwing potato salad at each other. Fortunately, there’s a great way to redeem yourself: Sparkler portraits. I can’t wait to make these this year — last year we were in a forest and couldn’t use sparklers for fire danger. Warning Remember, you’re trying to make a fun activity for the kiddos, so don’t get stuck and focused on making the perfect picture. Let the kids have fun — they’ll surprise you with their creativity. Tuck the ideas away for next week when the sparklers are half price and you can spend some time with a model making the perfect picture. Right now, just let the kids have fun and don’t let them burn each other.Camera settings The key to making these pictures is time, so shutter speed is your creative setting and you’ll adjust everything else to give you the time you need to let the kids make shapes and spell their names. Start here: Manual mode Shutter speed: 3 seconds Aperture: f/8 ISO: 100 White balance: Daylight Focus on the kids, then switch to manual focus Do the kids need more time? Make the shutter speed longer. Is the picture too bright? Make the aperture smaller — f/11, f/16, f/22 Need more light in the background? Raise the ISO a little. Add flash Adding flash with sparkler portraits is where this gets really fun. The flash will freeze the kid’s face and make a sharp picture with the lights blurring all over elsewhere. Read this article for complete instructions on how to use your flash. Practice!!! These are pictures of my kids practicing this technique in the living room with flashlights this morning. They had some fun for about 15 minutes and then got tired of me telling them what to do. But tomorrow night with friends they’ll have a blast telling the other neighborhood kids how cool it’ll be and they’ll help set up the pictures. Ideas to try with a sparkler Have a kid write their name Draw crazy shapes with the light Draw smiley faces Have several kids each write one letter of a word — it’ll be backward, but go with it Outline something else, like a car Have several kids dance around one kid who holds still and gets flashed I can’t wait to see your results. Upload them to the Photofocus Facebook Group and tag me. For more ideas, check out my course on Viewbug, “Ten Portraits with One Light.” Portrait Tips come out each week, and you can see them all right here.Take your photos to the next level
Finish Fireworks Photos in Lightroom! It’s Easy - Welcome to the morning after the night before when you shot all of those photographs of fireworks. If you are like me, you have at least a hundred or more waiting for you to do all of the post production work on them. This is not a mountain to climb. it’s a fun little molehill to step over. The power of AutoSync AutoSync is Lightoom’s RAW batch processor. When it’s on, every change made to the most selected photo showing in the content area of the Develop module is applied to all of the selected photos. While there are times that this could pose a big problem, custom cropping for example, it works very well when there are similar photos that want to get to good starting place for subtle refinements. AutoSync is perfect for fireworks. Turning AutoSync On When only one photo is selected in the Develop module, the only choice for synchronizing settings is Previous. Click it will apply the last group of setting to the currently selected photo. When more than one photo is selected, the most selected version (it’s the one with the brighter highlight and is displayed in the content area) Previous changes to Sync. Clicking Sync brings up a dialog box of all available settings, each with its own checkbox. This allows synchronizing only the setting chosen to the rest of the selected photographs. Click the switch to the left of Sync and the button’s name changes to AutoSync. Any change made to the most selected photo is applied to the rest of the selection with no further fuss. Remember that any change made in the Develop module is always undo-able at anytime in the future. No change is permanent. Settings for enhancing fireworks photos Here is a list of the settings I use for my fireworks photographs in order by panel. I’ve provided an explanation where the setting I choose might be confusing. Basic panel – White Balance Fireworks tend to create warm and vibrant colors. I choose Daylight for the white balance. This makes the oranges and yellows (the fire part of fireworks) show up nicely. Tungsten or Incandescent white balance cancels them out by returning those colors to white. Basic panel – Whites & Blacks The Whites and Blacks sliders set the brightest highlight and darkest shadow area in the photo. I love these for cleaning up the sky. Blacks is particularly good at this. Use the tools by first holding down the Option (WIN: Alt) key. Click the Whites slider. The preview goes black except for maybe really small sparkles. This is good. Leave the Whites alone. If there is a huge amount of white showing, the photo is over exposed. Lower the Exposure slider then check Whites again. TIP: Holding down Option (WIN: Alt) works with Exposure too. Still holding down the Option (WIN: Alt) click the Blacks slider at its default setting of 0. You’ll probably see a white screen with very few colors in the sky like the photo on the left. Move the Blacks control to the left and the sky becomes progressively more black. The middle photo shows Blacks at -20. By -28 only a tiny bit of color remains outside of the burst itself. If you have to move the slider much more to the left than -35 or so, once again, the photo is over exposed. Basic panel – Presence My favorite settings for fireworks are Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation–the Presence sliders. Clarity +40 Vibrance +40 Saturation +30 Clarity brings out the fine detail. Vibrance works on the middle, complimentary colors. Saturation hits them all, especially the primaries: red, green and blue. Detail panel – Sharpening Set this at +100 and move on. Lens Corrections panel – Chromatic Aberration & Lens Profile Corrections Check both boxes. Done. In rare instances, the Profile will display a different brand lens than the one you have. Click the dropdown menu and choose your lens’ manufacturer. All will be well. Done! With AutoSync on, all of the work you just did has propagated to every selected photo. If you want to amp up individual colors; there a post I wrote for that here. All that’s left is to choose your favorite to share with family, friends, and Facebook followers. You can easily composite your fireworks together to make an closing extravaganza of your own. I’ll post a tutorial soon.
Create Your Own Fireworks Grand Finale - Last weekend I spent time in Chicago for the Out of Chicago Conference. On my last night there, fellow author Levi Sim and myself hosted a photowalk for attendees. Our small group was able to check out the University Club, which overlooks Millennium Park, on Saturday night. And it was just in time for the Saturday night fireworks. With my new Vanguard Veo 2 tripod in tow, we made our way up to the balcony. Instead of focusing distinctly on the fireworks, I wanted to capture the environment around them. It was Pride Weekend in Chicago, and one of the main buildings surrounding Millennium Park had spelled out “PRIDE” in its window. Capturing various different shots of the fireworks allowed me to create a unique scene that would be rarely seen. And while I was happy with my 13-second exposures, I wanted more. Specifically, I wanted more fireworks. I wanted the biggest grand finale I could create. To do this, I had to get creative with my post-processing. Blend Modes in Photoshop I brought all three images into Photoshop by right-clicking them in Lightroom and selecting “Open as Layers in Photoshop.” From there, the process is pretty straight-forward. I chose the first image as my “base” image, and then the other two were layered on top of it. Those two photographs I selected the blend mode in Photoshop to “Lighten.” This allows you to keep the brighter parts of a layer — for instance, fireworks and car trails — while letting the others fall behind (the darker trees and buildings). In a nutshell, it blends the brightest parts of your image together with your other layers. Final Adjustments in Lightroom From there, I brought the final image back into Lightroom. Because I was shooting with a wide angle lens, I straightened the image so the building with “PRIDE” on it was no longer leaning. I also cropped the bottom of the photograph, to get rid of the railing screen that was reflecting a blue hue. I also boosted the clarity, vibrance and saturation. I usually do this in a lot of my images, but with fireworks especially, this helps to add a bit of “pop” to the photograph. I also reduced the highlights just slightly, enough where the brighter areas weren’t completely blinding. Finally, I adjusted the tint. The initial photographs were taken with the “Cloudy” white balance setting, meaning they were a bit warm. I added back a bit of blue and also added some green to further show the trees in the park. Conclusion Not all of us have the ability to go to a big city and capture some amazing fireworks. But with a little creativity, you can blend photographs together using Photoshop layers and blend modes, creating the ultimate grand finale.
You photographed fireworks – now what? - We all love to get out to try and capture the spectacle of fireworks during the Fourth of July holiday. Sometimes we do better than others. And, sometimes we’ve done better than we thought. Let’s talk about some post-processing ideas. The Chicago skyline you see above was made the same basic time as the fireworks. Unfortunately, the fireworks show was way to the right of the city. I rectified that error and moved the fireworks over the skyline to be more in line with my vision. Initial post-production It’s a great idea to take all your images through a quick run in your software whether it is Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom or other choice. My post-production workflow system uses Adobe Bridge, Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) and Photoshop. Most of these techniques work the same but may have slightly different names or control positions for the functions. Adobe Bridge is used for my first run through images is to cull the mistimed, overexposed or poorly composed photos that I know I never wish to see again. I also use keyboard shortcuts to rate images I absolutely know are winners with a four and those I’m sure will shine with some extra work as a three. Hold down the Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (PC) key and then the numbers 1-5 to apply the rating. If you have multiple images that will receive the same rating highlight them and that rating will be applied to all selected images. Using Cmd (Mac) or Ctrl (PC) and 0 (zero) will reset the choice of any selected images to no rating. Next I grab the rated images rated three and four and open in ACR. I select all and hit the images with a combination of settings. Start with an adjustment to the overall exposure. Lower highlights (being careful not to totally lose highlights), lower protect shadows, add a little black, a little white and lower the smoke. Add a little Vibrance without overdoing it and work with adding or subtracting some Saturation. Then I take a quick run and tweak individual images for their best, adding contrast or taking away Black or White. Season to taste. To speed up the process if I see a number of images that need the same tweak I’ll select them and make the changes en masse. Once an overall adjustment has been made, make one more quick run-through of individual tweaking. Now what? If you made an image such as this one below you are pretty good to go. Great exposure and color with no blown out areas. This rocks! You can also control the final image by blending together multiple captures into a single image. The best way is to move into Photoshop and use the power of Layers and Blend Modes. Select all the bursts which you would like to work in Bridge and Menu Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop Layers. The files will be ready to go without having to open each individually. To go further most fireworks images will be better when you have an interesting foreground rather than just the bursts against a blank sky. Water, a skyline and interesting tree or piece of architecture can add a ton of interest. In my area one of the fireworks displays occurs over an empty parking lot and another over a macadam storage site. This means it is time get creative in post-production. One caveat — I never promote these images as anything other than my imagination at work! Technique Search through your files for images with dark skies above an interesting nighttime subject. See the example above. Add pre-processed files to the dark skies. Maneuver to taste with the Blend Mode set to Screen or Lighten. The black portions of the fireworks images will disappear leaving only the burst of color. Add a mask to remove anything that you would rather not see by painting on the Mask with black. You might want to bookmark this page plus the one on photographing fireworks to have on hand before you go out to photograph next Independence Day celebration. Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
