Fireworks

This past weekend was the Canadian, or at least English Canada, Victoria Day Weekend. A long weekend where we open the cottage, drink booze, and shoot off fireworks. A good weekend if you can get it. I was at a friends house warming party and after consuming a few wobbly pops we decided to light off a few fireworks. We wandered to a nearby park and set stuff up. Or tried to. Point of note with regards to cameras. Taking pictures of fireworks can be difficult. Here are the best pictures that I took. And no, alcohol was not a factor. Trying to focus on something moving really fast, really close, late at night is not a good thing.


The roman candle fell over when I took this one. Not my fault.


Exposure and shutter speed are tricky.


Not to mention making sure you are aiming at the right location. As you can see, nope, not this time.

At least I was able to get a cool effect after with all the smoke and haze, trees, and light involved.



I will have to work on this project another time.

Paladin Phil

2009: The New Camera...

Okay, I am stepping forward to the present for a post, maybe more, to bubble with enthusiasm. I finally got a new camera. Well, new to me at least. It's a gently used Nikon D200. As far as I am aware I am the third person to own this camera. I have been pricing and thinking about a new camera for almost a year now. Ever since some people talked to me about photography and stuff. Of course even good used cameras aren't cheap. Well my friend knew I was in the market and asked if I wanted to buy his. He was upgrading to a better model and by selling me his old camera it helps to defray the costs. So I have been waiting for him to get his new camera so I could get my grubby mitts on his.

He was generous and allowed me to play with the D200 from time to time. Mostly to teach me what to do and how it handles. A week ago I got to use it and shot some, I think, decent shots.



Well, I got the news and on this past Sunday I was handed a camera. Now, I have been learning how my old camera worked and most of my pictures were turning out decently overall. All of a sudden I was thrown to the wolves and making a whole bunch of new and old mistakes. Like the evil of over exposure.



Well, I was shown how to adjust that and learned about the handy dandy light meter. (I even found out it shows up in the view finder).

And I started to take some more decent pictures. I was also given a lens with the camera. OMG!!!!ELEVENTY!1!!1 No more digital zoom, I was doing optical baby. Of course I had to test it out.



Now, I had gotten the overexposure problem mostly solved. Then I learned about under exposure. Yep, more bad pictures. Once again I thank the digital age for saving me massive film costs as I am learning.



Slowly I got the hang of it. And still I am getting the hang of it. There are so many buttons and meters, and settings, and, and... I think it's going to take awhile for me to figure everything out. I have been getting better at it though. I will be needing some more lenses soon. Even though I have only one lens, I am not letting it restrict me.

Even after the sunset.


Keep walking, and I think it's time to get a back support too.

PaladinPhil