Camera: Nikon D2X
Exposure: 4.7
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash

How I got this shot:

The camera was on a tripod in “Bulb” mode with a cable release. As the show progressed, I watched the trajectory of the rockets and got an “average” of likely explosion spots, and set my compositions accordingly.

I set the ISO to 200 to get a little more speed while keeping the noise to a minimum, and the aperture to f/11 to get some good depth of field. I opened the shutter manually just before the explosions and held it open until the light trails faded, about 3-5 seconds on the average, constantly checking the LCD for composition and exposure.

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Waiting to pick up Chinese food tonight so I ran across the street to this place and shot a photo. I was in this shop a couple of months ago and all I can think about is that movie Grumpy Old Men. The guys that work here are actually really nice but it just reminds me of the 50’s or something. Anyway, back to the weekend!

Where
Bennington, VT

The Shot
Nikon D90, Sigma 10-20mm, bracket 3 exp (-2,0,+2) using a tripod

Photomatix
Generated HDR using Photomatix, tonemapped with Details Enhancer

Photoshop CS3
Layer mask of curves to slightly increase the contrast
Layer mask of decrease saturation (reds) to reduce the tone of the sign
Layer mask of levels to correct the overall shot
Blended some areas to correct the red color cast
Dup layer to apply high pass filter @ 60% to sharpen things up a bit

Noise Reduction
Neat Image Trial Version

You
I would always appreciate any suggestions you may have. I don’t always know the best way to adjust things in Photoshop so any areas of improvement are welcomed.

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Camera: Nikon D90
Exposure: 30
Aperture: f/25.0
Focal Length: 62 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash

How I Did It

I used an old double pole cloth hanger (google it) in a dark room to hold a little LED construction I made. The LED construction consists of 5 small LEDs of different colors and a detachable battery pack with an on/off switch.

The lamp is hanging from the cloth hanger. On the ground I put a 1x1m mirror. In an angle of about 60 degrees I put my camera on a tripod, facing the mirror and focusing on the little LEDs reflection.

I switched off the light in the room, set my shutter speed to 30 seconds and put the LEDs in a circular motion. As soon as they were spinning evenly, I switched on the LEDs via the battery pack switch, let them rotate for a short while and switched the lights off again. 30 seconds are a long time, you will probably need about 10 seconds where the LEDs are actually turned on. You have to pay attention that you switch off the LEDs in about the same position where you switched them on so that there is almost no telling where there is the beginning or end in your picture.

It was really fun taking those pictures and it is an easy setup with the “wow-effect” many of us are looking for

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By Andy Beal

Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 10
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 42 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: -1/3 EV
Flash: No Flash

I happened to be in Waikiki when they launched a few fireworks. I knew this ahead of time, so set up my camera on a tripod, on one of the small piers.

I wasn’t sure where the fireworks would launch, so I set a relatively wide angle on my zoom lens. Then, knowing that I’d need a long shutter time, I set my ISO to 100 (the lowest) and my Aperture to f/11. This seemed to work well.

I was in Manual mode, so experimented with changing the exposure time. If I had used Aperture priority, the camera would have selected it’s own shutter speed. If I had selected Shutter priority, the camera would have selected its own aperture.

I didn’t have my remote control with me, so I used the camera’s timer so that it took the shot 3 seconds after I hit the shutter release. This is important, because you want to avoid any shake in the camera, while it’s taking the photo.

One thing I learned with this shot, was that the best option was to manual focus to infinity. Using the auto focus didn’t work, because the camera would simply “hunt” for something to focus on–and it was too dark.

Then, I just kept hitting the shutter button and hoped that I’d get a shot like this.

There was very little I did to the photo in Aperture. Pretty much cropped it and that was it!

View Andy Beal’s Flickr Photostream.