Fireworks!

Ok first let me just say that the Fourth of July is probably one of my favorite holidays. I love cooking out, a nice cold beer or cider in hand, chowing on corn on the cob and hot dogs and ice cream, and most of all the fireworks. I can't really explain it, but something about them makes me feel like a little kid again. So I was practically beside myself at the thought of trying to capture them on my new camera. I knew it'd be hard, but thanks to a tripod, a remote, the camera's shutter-priority mode and a little editing, I managed to nab a few shots that I am really, really proud of.

The remote and tripod together eliminated camera shake, allowing me to range my shutter speeds from half a second to a full 13 seconds. I found one to two seconds was kind of the "sweet spot" to catch one or two bursts at a time, but some of the longer exposure ones turned out pretty cool too. The only editing I did was adjusting the exposure in Photoshop RAW, especially on the ones where I had the shutter open for five or ten seconds. I also adjusted the white balance of a few shots, and cropped many of them for a better composition. (Since I was on a tripod, and given how fast everything happens, I couldn't really frame individual shots as I was shooting.)

Here are a few of my favorites. I posted more photos, plus larger versions of these, in a Facebook album for those who are interested :) Feel free to leave a commont on some of your favorites as well!