people of china

I admit - summarize by all people of china in a few pictures is a bit of overstatement, but I really like taking photos of those particular people (and their laundry!) in China. Flashback to my 2008 folder!!

fireworks creatively (again!)

You know already that shooting fireworks is my specialty and this year's New year I couldn't resist to pick the camera and shoot it again - right after the midnight kisses and glass of sparkling wine with all my beloved ones, of course!

In the small village where we were spending our end and beginning of the year there was no lack of fireworks, so it was easy to point and shoot.
I have written a post about how to shoot fireworks differently few years ago (see here), but this creative way is actually very easy:

1. manual mode, time between 1 to 2 seconds, aperture f/5.6, ISO 200 
2. turn off auto focus
3. point at the (expected) epicenter of the explosion
4. hit the shutter and at the same time rotate your focus ring on the lens

That's it! You should play with the exposure settings and change ISO depending on the intensity of the explosions. Important is to use focusing ring (and not zoom ring!), so you will be "defocusing" while taking one second exposure. And there is no difference on which side you will start - from sharp to totally blurred or other way around.

This time I have used 70-200mm lens as explosions were a bit far away, but I worked in the past with 24-70mm lens too.

Wait for your next fireworks and go to enjoy it!

Patrik

Už asi viete, že fotenie ohňostrojov je moja špecialita a tento Nový rok som znova neodolal a zobral foťák von si to nafotiť znova - samozrejme až potom ako som sa vybozkával a štrngol si sektom s mojimi drahými!

Koniec a začiatok roka sme trávili v malej dedinke a miestni sa naozaj vyšantili a vyhádzali do vzduchu množstvo pyrotechniky, takže o farebné objekty nebola núdza.

Už pred pár rokmi som napísal článok ako fotiť ohňostroje ináč (viď tu), ale kreatívne nastavenie je naozaj veľmi jednoduché:

1. manuálny mód, čas medzi 1 až 2 sekundami, clona f/5.6, ISO 200
2. vypnúť auto focus
3. namieriť na (očakávané) epicentrum výbuchu
4. stlačiť spúšť a zároveň otáčať kolieskom ostrenia na objektíve

A je to! Pohrajte sa s celkovou expozíciou a možno zmeňte ISO, v závislosti od intenzity výbuchu. Dôležité je používať ostriace koliesko na objektíve (nie zoomovacie!), takže vlastne budete "rozostrovať" počas snímania sekundovej expozície. A nezáleží na tom, z ktorej strany začnete - od zaostreného ohňostroja do úplne rozmazaného - alebo naopak!

Tentokrát som používal tele objektív 70-200mm, nakoľko bolo výbuchy trochu ďalej odo mňa, ale minule som fotil aj s 24-70mm a fungovalo to tiež v pohode.

Tak si počkajte na nejaké oňostroje a choďte si to vyskúšať!

Patrik