I didn’t get the memo. So, there I was Thursday night, sitting here minding my own business, wondering just why it was all the yahoos in my general vicinity couldn’t wait until the Fourth to shoot off their damned fireworks. Nope, they couldn’t wait… they HAD to blow off the inventory a day early. And then… “Whoosh-ka-BOOM! Whooosh-ka-BOOM-BOOM!” “Hey!”... sez I to myself... “Those weren’t backyard fireworks I just heard, that’s the Real Deal!” A quick peek out the window revealed that, yes, those reports actually were part of the Big Civic Fireworks Production that takes place every year at Eastern NM U’s athletic fields, just behind El Casa Móvil De Pennington.
So, I grab the camera out of the camera bag, set the controls to aperture-priority shooting, open the lens as wide as it will go, and step outside to enjoy the fireworks and take some pics. I took a couple of shots and realized things would probably go a lot better if I set the camera to “continuous shooting” rather than single shot, which is the default. I stepped back inside (where there was light) and set the camera to “continuous shooting.” Once back outside I realized immediately things weren’t going smoothly. The camera’s electronics were apparently confused by the slow shutter speed and the demands of continuous shooting, because it (the camera) wouldn’t shoot consistently in continuous mode. I’d get a burst of two or three photos and then the camera would hang momentarily in the “mirror up” position. That’s pretty disconcerting, to say the very least. And then I must have inadvertently hit a button on the camera by accident, because I realized I’d somehow reverted to single-shot mode. Frustrating. And that's the way it went for the duration of the show.
So… we finally arrive at this post’s title: disappointment. I took 56 photos, 12 of which were totally black and were discarded right off the bat. I saved 42 of the remaining 44 photos I downloaded to the PeeSee but none were “keepers,” in truth. Most came out looking like this:
Which is interesting, I suppose, but it’s not what I wanted. I wanted stuff sorta like this:
And those two shots were as good as it got. Compare these two shots to the pics of the fireworks I took four years ago with my old G5; the G5 pics are much better. I think there are a few reasons for this. First, I was caught by surprise and was unprepared Thursday night. I didn’t do my homework, most especially by consulting my manual to see if there are any low-light limitations with continuous shooting. Second, the SLR’s lens is “longer” than the G5’s, which makes composing a little more difficult. Third, composing a rapidly moving subject through the camera’s viewfinder is considerably more difficult than composing on an LCD screen. The end result is lousy photos, thus: disappointment. Which says everything about the workman and little to nothing about his tools, eh?
The fireworks were good, though. Lotsa oohs, aahs, and applause could be heard throughout Beautiful La Hacienda Trailer Park, along with joyous shrieks from the very little kids. And all the local yahoos went back to shooting off their own stuff once The Big Show was over, even if it was a day early. Last night was pretty quiet by comparison, but not completely without the odd boom and whistle here and there... until well after midnight. It's a great good thing no one had to be at work today, eh?
Buck, I enjoyed your pictures a lot more than I did the Boston Pops Fireworks/Concert last night on TV. Every year I wonder who the liberal is they hire to perform touchy-feely lib music and not good old American patriotic stuff like we really want to hear.
ReplyDeleteI got so disgusted I walked away from the TV and watched the fireworks out my bedroom window miles away in Santa Fe and it was a better show.
Just think of your failed pictures as experimenting with the new camera. BUT I know how disappointed you must be....
Just take it as an experiment as Towanda says, you did get a couple good ones.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get any pics, I tried, but ended up with 2 wiggly kids on my lap. I really wanted to get their faces as they watched to show, but no luck.
Buck, sorry you didn't get the memo. I assumed you read the Portales paper sometime in the last couple weeks explaining why it was going to be on the 3rd this year (Not enough certified pyro crew, so the company doing the fireworks said to Pville "it's on the 3rd or none at all").
ReplyDeleteWe tried to make it to the Portales show but were detained by Jeff being a good sam., made it in time for the grand finale. Bummer. But I think what we had at Floyd last night was even better than town's.
FWIW, I didn't even try to get out my camera this year. I was too busy trying to keep the youngest child (who I have dubbed Hodini) from disappearing in the dark, again. Yours don't look that bad. I think next year I'm going to try a tripod.
Boy do I remember the days of breaking in a new camera. Course, these new fancy digital ones allow you to trash your mistakes right away and you can try again. No waiting for film to be developed and analysis on your work from a print many days or weeks later.
ReplyDeleteI used an Argus SLR (an STL-1000 if anyone is wondering) for many years shooting desert landscapes and sunsets (the desert there in NM is absolutely the best for that even over the sunsets at sea). It had no "auto" features except the aperture stop in the lens. I used a hand-held light meter and after many, many rolls of film I could figure in my head most situations.
Then, I bought a twin-lens reflex, large format camera (a Yashika model) that was modeled after those famous Hasselblad cameras. It had a small view finder on it but you composed mainly on a piece of glass, a prism that had marks (reticles) on it and a circular split screen that allowed you to get your focus just right. Since the image was reflected through that prism with mirrors the subject was backwards on the screen. So, when you were working the shot you had to adjust the camera up to look down and right to look left. It was so not intuitive. Took great photos though, and when they were enlarged from that 4" negative you really did get amazing prints. I used it in conjunction with the 35mm and took pictures with different lens on the 35 but on the stock lens set on the box. Just to compare. Also, later I would buy these close-up lens for that camera and get really great macro photo's.
There seemed to be no end to my fun with camera's back in the day. Then I joined the Navy and had room for only the 35mm and one extra lens. That camera has ten's of thousands of miles on it, still takes great pictures.
I think, learning on something like one of those old 35's makes you a much better photog than learning on these pont-and-shoot models. Not that it matters, you get great photos' no matter.
BT: Jimmy T sends.
Sorry Buck! Thats a bummer. I've never tried firework pictures.
ReplyDeleteSharon sez: I got so disgusted I walked away from the TV and watched the fireworks out my bedroom window miles away in Santa Fe and it was a better show.
ReplyDeleteAh, Sharon... you turned it off too early. I was watching the same show last evening and had the sound on "mute" whilst reading, looking up every so often and un-muting when someone new came on. But, to PBS' everlasting credit, they saved the best for last. The final 10 minutes or so featured the US Army Band (I think...) playing the old favorites, like "The Washington Post March," "Stars and Stripes Forever" and so on, while the fireworks exploded over The Mall. A great finish.
As for my pics... yeah, I'm being sorta philosophical about it and am indeed looking at it as "a learning experience." What else could I do? ;-)
Susan: Too bad you missed the kids' faces! Those are the sort of pics I REALLY like to see! And yeah, as I noted immediately above, Thursday night was a learning experience. I'll be better next year!
Jenny: One of my minor (?) failings: I hardly ever read the local paper. And I paid the price for that bad habit Thursday. It's good to hear all y'all had a good time out Floyd way.
I'm not gonna do the tripod thing next year... there's too wide a variation in the explosions physical space to work, from my POV. But...we'll see!
Jenn: I cleaned up my language considerably for the blog post; I wasn't nearly as kind in my thoughts last evening while trying to get to sleep. I would have been MUCH less kind had my sleeping baby been awakened, I can tell ya that!!
Jimmy: I came this close (imagine my thumb and forefinger pinched together) to buying one of those Yashica twin-lens reflex cameras you mentioned... many times. Being "of a certain age," I grew up when serious photogs used Hasselblads, Rolleiflexes, and nothing much else, aside from SpeedGraphics...which was what my father had. So: I know from whence you speak!
That said, I still have my old Olympus OM-1 SLR, which is a camera I've had for well over 30 years and the instrument that taught me much of what (little) I know about photography. Years and years of using a film SLR really does teach you a lot about what works and what doesn't.
Ash: It's not really hard to do (fireworks pics), my bitching aside.
Gack! My sympathies on the disappointing results with the new camera. My new camera came with a manual the same size as needed to rebuild a Volkswagen. It's going to be a while before I get desperate enough to consult it. In the meantime, your results look great by comparison to my night shooting.
ReplyDeleteRight, the pictures are good, last years are better and I'll just bet next years should be the best, eh?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the post Buck, I was up until around 2:30 am and they were still going strong in my neck o' the woods! good thing I had ear plugs and you can bet I used 'em :)
Just blame it on the learning curve. By next year, you should have some bang up photos!
ReplyDeleteI kind of like the photos, but I know how it is when it is not the results you were wanting/expecting. We sat out in the yard and watched the neighbor to the north who put on a pretty good fireworks display. all around us we could see fireworks going off, but they were low on the horizion. Sitting in the yard in the dark was very nice.
ReplyDeleteLin: I hear ya about camera manuals; mine's pretty intimidating, too. And I have NO idea why Canon felt they had to "conserve" on paper... the new manual is 4.25" x 5.75"... I literally HAVE to read the damned thing with my magnifying glass.
ReplyDeleteDawn: Thanks for the kind words. Ear plugs ARE a good idea, I wish I'd have thought of getting mine out of the drawer...
Becky: Agreed. Now that everyone's expectations have been set high, I better deliver, eh?
Lou: There are a couple of photos in the set I like as well... the two I put up are the best, but there are a few more. And I like sitting out in the dark, as well. But it's a LOT more fun when you have company! ;-)
wow! i'm loving those firework photos!
ReplyDeletegreat pic.s
ReplyDeleteBuck:
ReplyDeleteI think the shots you showed us here are great!
I can step outside, walk a block (up a hill) and see most of the Boston show at a distance (supply my own patriotic tunes in my head, as the music doesn't carry as far as the reports from the works.)
Night photography is a challenge....even with time lock camera and film. I've got some good lightning shots, and a few fireworks...but it's a gamble.
ReplyDeletePhlegmmy and Diva: Thank ya, Ladies!
ReplyDeleteJim: Big-city fireworks are very, very cool...especially over water. And I would imagine Boston puts on quite the show, as well. And thanks for your compliment, too!
Pat: Night photography IS a challenge, but it can be done and done well, if you have the right equipment (like a tripod) and take the time to experiment. I have some pretty good night shots in my archives and will add more the next time I'm up all night (and motivated to go play in the dark).