"X Shot" information.
Camera - Canon-1D Mark II
ISO - 800
Shutter - 1/800 sec.
F/stop - 5.6
Lens - 70/200 zoom
Ken Papaleo
Colorado Photographer
303-674-0615
July 4th fireworks show, Aurora, Colorado.
"X Shot" information.
Camera - Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO - 200
Shutter - 11 seconds
F/stop - 18
Lens - 70/200 zoom.
Note - tripod, cable release and a piece of black foam-board were used for this shoot.
CHALLENGE.
I was hired to photograph Aurora's July 4th fireworks show. I had done some work for this city in the past but not this show. The challenge would be to get a real knock-out shot.
SOLUTION.
The first thing that had to be done was go to the fireworks area and find a good location to shoot from.
In this situation, the spot was going to be on the roof of the Aurora Municipal Building. Get in position and be ready to shoot early! My set up was a 70/200 zoom on a tripod, using a cable release. ISO of 200, starting with a f/stop of 8. My shutter was set at bulb and my first shots were around 3 seconds.
This gave me a nice image but I wanted more. More explosions, more color and long drawn out lines of light. To do this I changed my f/stop to 18 and held the shutter open for 11 seconds. Normally this would cause some over-exposure in your image. The trick to prevent this is to use a black piece of foam board. First thing is to take off any lens-hood. Now during the 11 second exposure, block the lens with the board, between explosions, during the launch time and remove it just before bursts of color and keep it off until the light disappears. Repeat this a number of times. Make sure you take your camera off auto-focus and than manually focus on the first bursts and than leave it alone. Move your zoom in and out during the show, this will give you a little different look in some of your photos .
More shots from the fireworks show, which was to music and great!!
Ken Papaleo
Colorado Photographer
303-674-0615
Weekend Flash Back - A collection of American Flags for this July 4th holiday.
"X Shot" information.
Camera - Nikon D2H
ISO - 400
Shutter - 1/250 sec.
F/stop - 16
Lens - 14 mm
For this weeks holiday flash back, I decided to post a collection of American flag photos.
Ken Papaleo
Colorado Photographer
303-674-0615
Bear Creek Lake Regional Park, Lakewood, Colorado.
"X Shot" information.
Camera - Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III
ISO - 400
Shutter - 1/1000 sec
F/stop - 5.6
Lens - 70/200 zoom
LOCATION.
1. Bear Creek Lake Park is just minutes from Denver.
2. It is located east of the C470 and Morrison Road intersection.
3. There is a $7 general daily fee per vehicle.
4. Summer hours are 6 am - 10 pm.
This is a great park, it's just a short drive from Denver, but gets you out into the open spaces fast, with 2,600 acres. It has rolling hills, grasslands and a number of lakes to enjoy. Some of the activities are swimming, boating, fishing, biking, hiking, archery, waterskiing plus wildlife viewing. The park is kept very clean and is a enjoyable place to visit. I mostly shot in the morning and again late afternoon to sunset, to get the best possible light. I traveled the park with two cameras, one with a 70-200 zoom and the other with a 500 mm lens. This gave me a pretty good chance to get any picture I saw! Being ready, with nice light, is a good combination for susses.
Ken Papaleo
Colorado Photographer
303-674-0615
About Me
- Ken Papaleo
- Evergreen, Colorado, United States
- I worked for the Rocky Mountain News for 28 years, until they went out of business. I now do freelance work, post this weekly blog, ski and play with my four grand children. I still have the love to get out and take photographs, which brings me great peace and comfort.
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