Tips on photographing fireworks

An introduction to low-light photography

It's happened — somehow, it's gotten to be summer already. Summer means Fourth of July celebrations, and fireworks offer wonderful opportunities for photography. Despite the somewhat challenging circumstances (nighttime and with bright, moving light), it's actually pretty easy to photograph fireworks as long as you follow some simple guidelines. You'll find that many of these suggestions are a lot like those we discussed in our article on how to photograph lightning, because many of the principles are the same.  
Tips for using your camera phone
Before we dive in, know that no matter what equipment you have at hand, you can still snap great fireworks photos. Fireworks have the benefit of generally being very bright, so it is possible to get decent photos even without an expensive camera. Since the sensors on compact cameras and camera phones don't tend to be as large as on the average DSLR, motion blur can be a significant issue. Take extra care to hold your camera as still and steady as possible. If your camera phone can capture video, that might be an even better option, especially for the grand finale! And read on — much of the general shooting advice here will still help you work wonders in your photos.
Fireworks Mode: Easy and automated
Beyond camera phones, many "point-and-shoot" digital cameras offer a special fireworks shooting mode that's definitely worth trying out. To figure out if your camera has this option, hunt around in the settings for a small icon that looks like a burst of fireworks (hopefully it will be labeled). This mode will automate much of the challenge of capturing bright bursts of light at night, ideal if you'd prefer to kick back and let your camera do the legwork.
It should be noted that "night mode" is not the same as "fireworks mode" — the former will use the camera's flash, which isn't helpful for shooting fireworks, so make sure you turn off the flash if you use that setting. If you don't have a fireworks mode and you aren't comfortable delving into the more advanced settings, you might want to try landscape mode; it will set your focus to infinity and give you a nice, wide depth of field.

Point of view is important

Find your vantage point
Where you decide to shoot from will depend on the location of the fireworks and what sort of shots you're going for. Ask around or look online to determine where the fireworks will be launched, so you can figure out ahead of time the best place to be to photograph them. The ideal position would be some distance away, at a vantage point above ground level — a balcony, a hillside, or even just standing on a picnic table or other raised object. The elevation and distance result in nice, wide-open shots of the fireworks themselves, as well as the scene around and beneath them. Try to avoid external light sources like street lamps, if possible. They won't necessarily ruin your photos, but they will detract from the fireworks themselves. It's also a good idea to check the speed and direction of the wind so that, ideally, the wind blows the smoke from the fireworks away from you and your camera.

Scenery can be as important as the display

Add perspective and context with scenery
While the colorful explosions are beautiful to watch and provide lovely photos, pictures focusing only on the bursts aren't terribly exciting in and of themselves. Consider including scenery in your pictures, both to offer a sense of scale and to keep your compositions interesting. Obviously, you want an unobstructed view of the sky, but trees and other objects can provide interesting framing for your compositions. Being lucky enough to be somewhere the fireworks will reflect in a body of water like a lake, bay, or pond can result in stunning photographs. Also consider whether you want people in your photographs. Including spectators can be a great way to capture the excitement of a fireworks display and gives you the opportunity to play around with techniques such as silhouetting. You could also consider including buildings, monuments, and similar structures as an addition to the fireworks themselves.

Use a tripod
As with most low-light photography, you'll get the best results if you use a tripod. This is especially important when photographing fireworks, as the long exposure times needed to capture the spectacle will also capture any movement of your camera. In a pinch, you can always try setting your camera on something like the hood of your car or a bench, but a tripod is definitely the best way to go.
You'll also probably want to use a remote release of some sort — either a remote control or a wired shutter release — for the same reason. You could just use the self-timer function, but since it's sometimes hard to predict when the most beautiful fireworks will light up the sky, timing your shots right will be difficult.

No flash needed here

Flash and focus
In almost all fireworks photography, you should keep the flash turned off. You might want to use it to briefly illuminate a subject in the foreground while still allowing the fireworks themselves to light up the background. This can be tricky, though, and works best with an external flash.
The other thing you'll want to turn off is your camera's auto-focus function. A bright, moving object in a dark sky will utterly confuse your camera, which will spend so long whirring and stuttering to try to find something to focus on that you'll miss your shot! Turn it to manual, and set the focus to infinity (or focus on an object in the foreground, if that suits your composition).
Slow shutter speeds
The beauty of fireworks isn't just in the explosion itself, but in the trails of light that blossom out and slowly fade away as they fall. You'll have to use relatively slow shutter speeds to capture the whole show. Luckily, you'll probably have a bit of warning, as most fireworks make some sound as they shoot into the sky, but takes practice and a bit of luck to get the timing right.
If you have a bulb setting on your camera, which makes the shutter will stay open exactly as long as you hold the button down, that might be the most useful. If not, try using the shutter priority mode and setting the exposure time for 1 to 3 seconds.

Slow shutter speeds create stunning shots

Aperture and ISO
Finding the right balance between capturing enough of the explosion's beauty and not ending up with a washed-out blur or a grainy mess can be tricky. Play with your camera's settings and experiment with different shutter speed and aperture settings to see what works best. Since you're using a tripod, you should be able to select a relatively low ISO setting of 100-400 — remember that you're not exposing for the dark sky, but for the bright flashes of color.

Fireworks over Seattle

While you could use a higher ISO, you don't need to. The fireworks are bright enough to be captured by your camera sensor, and using a lower ISO will reduce the digital noise you'd see in the dark sky at higher settings. Bear in mind, though, that a higher ISO will let you use a smaller aperture, which will give you a larger depth of field. That gives you a bit more wiggle room in terms of focusing, which is incredibly helpful for moving subjects like fireworks. So aim for the 200-400 range, but experiment and see what works best for your camera. Light up your own backyard
In addition to the fireworks displays put on by municipalities, most states allow individuals to use some forms of smaller fireworks on their own property. While not as spectacular as the huge commercial displays, these smaller explosives can provide some beautiful photographs. What can be even more fun is that with your own personal fireworks display, you can control exactly when, where, and how everything happens. This is a great time to try out light painting techniques with sparklers!

Smaller shows can still create stunning shots

Whatever your plans are for this Fourth of July, don't forget to bring your camera! From a huge national fireworks extravaganza to your own backyard barbeque, a little planning and a little luck will reward you with beautiful photographs. Just remember to follow your local laws and be safe! The American Pyrotechnics Association has an excellent online resource for fireworks safety information, as well as listings of local regulations. Read more from this Digital Photography 101 series:

• Low-light photography, part 1 — The basics of low-light photography
• Low-light photography, part 2 — How to shoot light trails and paint with light
• Low-light photography, part 3 — How to photograph the moon and stars
• Low-light photography, part 4 — How to photograph fire

[Image credits: Eric Lim, Aditya Goel, K. Gray, William Warby, Brett Monroe]
Post by Katherine Gray

KUNSTLER: On Gay Marriage

SHOOT:  I found this snippet on James Kunstler's blog which I dare say is worth a second glance. 

Which brings me to the troublesome subject of gay marriage, which is lately up for debate in the legislature of New York State where I live, making it the public's business. I have an unpopular view of it for men of my demographic (Democrat, Boomer). I'm not in favor of it. I don't think it is a good idea. I don't have empirical proof, but I suspect that unsettling such an age-old and fundamental social arrangement will produce strange unanticipated consequences that we are not prepared for. I don't believe gay marriage is a genuine social justice issue. I think it is a bid for a kind of broad social approbation which does not require ritual enactment in law, and would be socially mischievous to pursue. Civil unions would cover the necessary legal issues. Otherwise, it is a case of unwarranted relativism, a Boomer weakness. Not all conditions or states of being in this world are the same. Some things are on the margins because they are marginal.

     What fascinates me in the debate is the narcissism of Boomers, males especially, who advocate so earnestly in favor of gay marriage. Is it really about the law and social relations, or is it about making yourself feel good?  Is it just more posturing for moral brownie points, for approval?  Is your job and social position or maybe even sense of yourself at stake if you have a differing view?

Who wants to marry Prince Albert?

SHOOT: 53, and father of 2, or is it 3...?   She's 33, why is she marrying this oaf? And by the looks of this kiss, she's none to keen.  I sensed that something tragic was unfolding based on the beautiful but subdued appearance of the Princess.

Princess Charlene of Monaco 'tried to flee three times'

Princess Charlene of Monaco tried to flee home to South Africa three times before her marriage to Prince Albert II, according to report on Sunday in French newspapers.

Princess Charlene and Prince Albert II during their religious wedding ceremony Photo: REUTERS

By Henry Samuel, Monaco

7:03PM BST 03 Jul 2011

42 Comments

The couple's glittering religious wedding drew crowds of thousands to the Mediterranean principality on Saturday and the guest list included a host of heads of state, European royals and stars of the fashion and sports world.

But sources cited by the French press on Sunday said the former Charlene Wittstock, 33, had even tried to take refuge in her country's embassy in Paris in an attempt to get out of the wedding.

Instead senior Palace officials confiscated her passport and then persuaded her to take part in the weekend's nuptials.

"Several sources have even confirmed that an arrangement was reached between the future bride and groom," said a report in Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD), the French national newspaper, which provided no further details.

It followed confirmation by palace sources that Albert, 53, was due to undergo DNA tests because of claims by at least one unnamed woman that he has fathered another illegitimate child.

Yesterday, the couple hosted a private marriage brunch, and are due to fly to South Africa on honeymoon on Tuesday.
Albert already has a six-year-old son called Alexandre through a former Togolese air hostess called Nicole Coste, and a 19-year-old daughter called Jazmin with Tamara Rotola, an American estate agent.
With the wedding in full swing, a senior palace official confirmed rumours that Prince Albert is likely to undergo the test after claims that he has fathered at least one more child.
The French news agency said anonymous officials spoke of "the truth" of a reported falling out between the couple earlier in the week and of a probable demand that Prince Albert take a paternity test.
In the new claims reported in the JDD, the newspaper quoted Monaco "policy advisors" among those discussing "two illegitimate children – one already born, the other to come" and the Princess trying to "escape three times".
The sources said that when Charlene visited Paris in May to try on her white-silk Armani wedding dress she "took refuge" in the South African embassy.

Later that month she also tried to escape during the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, they alleged. Then, last week, she allegedly had her passport confiscated en route to Nice airport via the helicopter service which runs between regularly between Monaco and France.
Senior police officials were reported to have confirmed the passport confiscation to Le Figaro newspaper last week.

Even if more illegitimate children come out of the woodwork, none will have a claim to the throne under Monaco law, a source said. "Even if a third or even a fourth child is confirmed Albert will not have an official heir until Princess Charlene bears him one," he added.
French magazine Public has attributed 'two new illegitimate children' to Albert. One is said to be 18 months old and the son of an Italian woman who is preparing to tell all.
Others, including Voici, have suggested that Ms Coste could have had a second Albert baby – an idea which gained credibility on Thursday when the 40-year-old beauty was pictured in Monte Carlo on the eve of Albert and Charlene's marriage.
Despite all the talk of palace intrigue, residents of the low-tax haven are standing by the royal couple.
"When the most famous of bachelors gets married, naturally there are jealousies," real estate tycoon Michel Pastor told the JDD.
Several Monegasque families claim the rumours were spread by a vengeful former mistress of the Prince.

A palace advisor told the paper everything hinged on when any alleged love child was born. "The whole thing rests on finding out whether (any child) is over five, as Charlene and Albert have officially been together for five years," he said.
One well-placed Monaco observer said that in the tiny enclave, "rumour and malice (are) held up as a national sport".

The View from my Bicycle [COLUMN]

Saved by the Car Gods - by Nick van der Leek

On the 1st of July, almost 6 months to the day after moving to Cape Town, I packed all my things [barring rollerblades and surfboard] into my car and hightailed it to Bloem.  It was a crystal clear day, with the mountains of the high river valley resplendent, and almost sparkling in snow.Curiously enough, after Laingsburg the drive went seriously downhill.  Many sections of the N1 are being repaired, which makes the trip from Cape Town an unpleasant chore.  I honestly enjoyed my adventure by rail far, far more than the long slog by road, with its many momentum busting delays.  The frustration is such that you tend to drive faster on the sections of road that are still functional.  At one point I hit 170km/h.  And all for nothing because around the corner you came to a complete stop again.

On my second day in Bloem I decided to sit out a blackout [which started in the morning and ended sometime after 4pm] by going to watch a flick.  Transformers is essentially about machines fighting machines, with the stronger metal monsters being biased to human beings. It's entirely about veneer - 'Transformers' is - in that what something looks like is what it is.  Beauty, functionality, good and evil.  In 'Transformers' the good forces are civilised, and colorful, and eloquent, while the bad forces are uncouth, dirty and ragged.  Does that mean if you're poor you're simply considered evil? Even so, it's entertaining silliness, and fun, but it is also incredibly stupid cinema given that behind the silver screen countries are literally sending battalions to the Arctic in order to seize access to the world's last undiscovered oil fields. That the world's poor are starting to rise up in protest.  Can we really be so smug to say the poor are uncivilised?  Isn't rampant greed mankind's greatest evil, his ultimate arrogance? Transformers is about the gee whizz-ness of techno-enhanced machines.  But sadly, the filmmaker seems unaware that cars and jets and trucks run on a substance called gasoline. 

The filmmaker does acknowledge that this sometimes red colored liquid exists, but merely to illustrate either a salivating or a bleeding machine.  Not once do you see any of the 'Transformers' fuelling up, or repairing themselves, or reloading, or recharging.  Yet they are able to endure endless smashathons, launch an endless series of explosive weapons, and then reappear without a dent, not even a scratch. Infinite sustainability based on...nothing.  And the reason people, including very small children, fall for this bullshit idea is because in society we are made to believe that you can get something out of nothing, or something for nothing. You can get something for nothing, for exaple, if you're very good looking.  Look at the cult of the celebrity. In its worst form, the something for nothing mindset manifests in little brats who expect whatever it is they want from the world, or from their parents, based on the mere fact of their existence.  This includes a home, or a car, or a university education, or a job, or a meal.

In fact a cousin recently told me that her mother can't remember ever having said 'no' to her.  This is no gift parents are giving to their children, instead they are leaving their children to face a lifetime of misery, disappointment and therapy.  Another example of the something-for-nothing psychology is in the idea that God created the world.  Whether you believe he did it in a millisecond or a thousand years, the nuts and bolts of that belief are that God basically went Shazam, and spoke creation into existence.  Really? And you might think that's an impressive feat.  Actually, far more impressive is billions of years of organic evolution, sometimes random, sometimes responsive, into more and more sophisticated systems, all ultimately adaptive of course.  Creating a man out of a starfish takes a heck of a lot of painstaking response to the environment.  And the lessons learned over millions of generations, are hard wired into our DNA, making us impressively able to deal with plenty of life's curve balls.  And these multi-layers of adaptive technology is what ultimateky sustains the current species that populate the earth. 

The very heresies man walks around with stuffed in his back pocket ultimate undo millions of years of physical bargaining and negotiation made with the material world.  The very ideas of instant gratification, and instant creation, and believing ourselves to be very very special [for example made in God's image] are what are propelling us rapidly towards our own destruction.  Ultimately if God created the world, then the world's problems are his to sort out, and we are simply God's entertainment on His petri dish.  But what is more realistic - that God made the world and climate change is another experiment, or that we evolved into the world, conceived and created a mental construct of our world, a derivative of what it actually is, but whatever we believe, our actions produce the average problems we know as self evident around us.  Everyday reality it hard to argue with.

In any event, sitting in a cinema on a cold July day, while the power in other parts of the city are down, to watch a flick about machines running on magic - if this is how we entertain ourselves this late in the day, then God help us.  And if there is no God, will cars save us?  It is ironic that, as far as I'm concerned, one of the greatest evils man has ever known, is the automobile.  Perhaps it has made us independent, and ushered in things like a middle class, and suburbia, and seaside holidays, and commutes, and shopping malls, and traffic jams, but car wrecks also account for over 30 000 dead Americans every year [14 000 South Africans].

Civic life is now designed around cars rather than human beings.  We see highways, parking lots, drive thru takeaways, garages, strip malls - and these happen to be some of the grimmest, most unfulfilling places.  Our addiction to motor vehicles has come at a terrible cost to the way we live, to the way we see ourselves, to the way we inhabit the landscape, to our arrogant sense of entitlement when we go shopping.  The meat we eat without thinking was a living, breathing animal that moved and slept at night and had its own fears and desires.  Yet people are becoming increasingly machine-like in our simple, voracious functioning.  And in the same mechanical mindset as the machine, which after all has an on and off switch, we too terminate friendships or delete ideas or forget about conversation, or switch off when we should be listening to someone.

I believe we will learn the lesson on how to live properly once more, but that lesson will come against a severe backdrop.  The austerity we face, of course, has already started.  The good news is we will learn to treat each other - and ourselves - better than we have been.  The bad news is that most of won't be around to see tomorrow. In the meantime, invest in your community.  Learn to grow some vegetables.  Look up to see the Milky Way, and marvel at how insignificant we are, and what a vast and untellable story it is we find ourselves in...

Russia deploying thousands of troops to protect Arctic interests

'Open for dialogue': Vladimir Putin is to send thousands of troops to protect their interests in the Arctic

Russia has announced it will send two army brigades, including special forces soldiers, to the Arctic to protect its interests in the disputed, oil-rich zone.
Russia, the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Norway have all made claims over parts of the Arctic circle which is believed to hold up to a quarter of the Earth's undiscovered oil and gas.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia 'remains open for dialogue' with its polar neighbours, but will 'strongly and persistently' defend its interests in the region.
Russia's defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov said the military will deploy two army brigades which he said could be based in the town of Murmansk close to the border with Norway.
He said his ministry is working out specifics, such as troops numbers, weapons and bases, but a brigade includes a few thousand soldiers.

 The new 30 Years War: Why energy will be the next battlefield

In May Commander of the Russian Ground Forces Aleksander Postnikov took a three-day long trip to military camps on the Kola Peninsula, next to the borders of Finland and Norway.
A spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry said that the first soldiers to be sent would be special forces troops specially equipped and prepared for military warfare in Arctic conditions.

Claim: In 2007 The Russians used a mini submarine to plant their flag and stake a claim on much of the Arctic Ocean floor

The Russians say the establishment of an Arctic brigade is an attempt to 'balance the situation' and point to the fact that the U.S. and Canada are already establishing similar brigades.
Drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic Circle has been made feasible as much of the Sheet ice has melted due to climate change.

Earlier this month Russia and Norway finally agreed terms on a deal to divide an area of the Barents Sea.
The two countries had been locked in a dispute over the 68,000 square mile area since 1970.
However the agreement does not address one of the Russians' key claims, that a huge undersea mountain range that covers the North Pole, forms part of Russia’s continental shelf and must therefore be considered Russian territory.
The race to secure subsurface rights to the Arctic seabed heated up in 2007 when Russia sent two small submarines to plant a tiny national flag under the North Pole.
Russia argued that the underwater ridge connected their country directly to the North Pole and as such formed part of their territory, a claim which was disputed by other Arctic nations.
The Russian company Rosneft has struck a short-term deal with BP to begin drilling in areas of the far north, even if the future of the marriage business is still not clear.

Oil reservoirs at the Val Gamburtseva oil fields in Russia's Arctic Far North. Russian state oil company Rosneft earlier this year announced a joint venture with BP

Another change brought about by the melting ice in the Arctic Ocean is that it has opened up new sea routes. 
The amount of ice in the region continues to decrease each year and many experts predict it will disappear completely by the year 2030.
This week a leading British global security expert predicted that the competition between nations for natural resources will bring about a third world war.
Professor Michael Klare of Hampshire College, believes the next three decades will see powerful corporations at serious risk of going bust, nations fighting for their futures and significant bloodshed.
He said the winners in the race for energy security will get to decide how we live, work and play in future years - with the losers 'cast aside and dismembered'.
He explained: 'The struggle for energy resources is guaranteed to grow ever more intense for a simple reason: there is no way the existing energy system can satisfy the world’s future requirements.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2010335/Russia-deploy-thousands-troops-protect-nations-interests-Arctic.html#ixzz1Qz8c94Qb

The kitty cat that brushes its own hair

Curvy Karolina Kurkova

The N1 Yesterday [PHOTOGRAPHY]

Chinese high speed train tops 185mph

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Philippines: Hundreds of new species discovered

SHOOT:  I've travelled to the Philippines; an amazing country, a jewel really, and still quite off the beaten track.  It reminds me of what the Transkei was like at one time, but still 1000 times more exotic, and rustic and just plain stuffed full of critters and creatures.  One of my favorite experiences was a trip to an underground river - yes a river flowing out of a mountain - on the long narrow island of Palawan.

Lobsters without shells and a small shark that bulks up with water to scare off predators are among hundreds of potential new species found in the Philippines, according to a US-led biodiversity survey.
The California Academy of Sciences said it discovered more than 300 previously unknown animals and plants during a recent 42-day marine and land survey of the vast but ecologically threatened Southeast Asian archipelago.

"The Philippines is one of the hottest of the hot spots for diverse and threatened life on Earth," expedition leader Terrence Gosliner said in statement on the academy's website posted this week.
"Despite this designation, however, the biodiversity here is still relatively unknown, and we found new species during nearly every dive and hike as we surveyed the country?s reefs, rainforests, and the ocean floor."
Their notable finds included a deep-sea shark that swells its size by filling its stomach with water to scare off other predators, and a starfish that eats only driftwood.
They also found three new lobster relatives, a crab with pincers lined with needle-like teeth, and a worm-like pipefish hiding among soft-coral colonies.
Many of these avoided previous detection because they were too small, including goblin spiders, sea slugs and barnacles, the statement said.

Others existed in places rarely, if ever, visited by humans, such as a snake eel from the ocean floor and a primitive spikemoss from the dangerously steep upper slopes of the 1,976-metre (6,483-foot) Mount Isarog.
The statement was an update of the group's announcement in Manila on June 8 immediately after finishing the survey, when it said it had found about 75 potential new species including a cicada that made a "laughing" call.
No reason was given this week for the sharp jump in potential species found.
But the group said on June 8 that it was still studying the collected samples, comparing them with existing literature.

It said it would have a definite number of confirmed newly discovered species "over the coming months", as scientists completed DNA studies.
The finds add weight to the idea that Philippine waters likely house more species than any other marine environment on earth, the academy statement said.
It urged Philippine conservators to set up or expand marine protected areas and curb plastic rubbish that litters the ocean floor.
It said many of the current supposedly protected ecosystems were mere "paper parks" that lacked any means to stop logging and hunting.