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2.18 - "Needs Work" 

Pacific coast fireworks at a distance... But with some ICM (intentional camera movement).
CC welcome

Earlier that evening I quickly grabbed the tripod to reposition, but had it mid-exposure at that moment. After finding that accidental result 'interesting' I spent a good while trying to balance getting some fireworks (for context) combined with abstract motion. This 30 second exposure is a few seconds steady for that center burst, then deliberately moving the camera for the remaining exposure time. I took probably 40-50 similar shots to get a few where the mixture felt compelling.

I had done ICM + compositing in the past, but this was an attempt to get that duality feel in a single shot.

(Besides compositing, any suggestions to get better shots like this in the future are much appreciated. TIA.)

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2 Comments

2 - great concept. Outside of compositing i'm not sure I can offer any suggestions. I think the sharpness of the main firework is important. Possibly using the zoom to allow for main subject to be larger in the frame. Possibly using a still 15 sec of exposure zoomed in and then zooming out for last 15 seconds to do the icm part. You can always cover lens as you zoom out so you dont create light trails for that motion. Just thoughts. I will have to give this a shot. Thank you for inspiring.

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback and suggestions Justin. Definitely agree a zoomed in could work better - I'll have to remember that if I try this again.

(In this particular case this was a distant beach, so wasn't ever sure the angle or distance of the next firework. But in other more 'predictable' cases, a better zoom would definitely be possible.)