煙花2013

Fireworks should be called "Fireflowers", July 4 2013

In Chinese we call fireworks "煙花“ (yan hua). It translates into English literately as "smokeflowers". Neither fireworks or smokeflowers are the best description of what we see and capture during fireworks events. Therefore, I "coined" this new word to reflect the truth: Fireflowers. 

See for your self.




A few days before this year's 4th of July, I saw this article online: 

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/08/unusual-long-exposure-firework-photographs-by-david-johnson/

It talks about a "new" way to capture firework images with long expo...See More

Unusual Long Exposure Firework Photographs by David Johnson | Colossal

www.thisiscolossal.com

I tried this new way to shoot fireworks two days later on July 4th, 2013. Bingo, I like what I did. The difference between what I did and David Johnson's technique is that I set the lens on focused first and then gradually moved it into out-of-focus. I think that creates an effect that look even more like flower pastels.

On the surface the work seems to be random. The success seems to be dependent on luck. I kept on shooting and moving the lens in and out of focus while shooting. About 10 photos came out as a "keeper" after about 100 photos taken in about 15 minutes. There are a few "tips:" set the camera on Tv mode, 1-2 seconds, using a tripod, etc. I am sure we will see cooler ones next time.