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Welcome to the Year 2011
2nd PlaceWelcome to the Year 2011
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Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Fireworks IV (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Nikon D300s
Lens: Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED
Location: San Francisco, CA
Date: Jan 1, 2011
Aperture: 8
ISO: 200
Shutter: 8 sec
Galleries: Cityscape
Date Uploaded: Jan 1, 2011

 This is not HDR tonemapping. Although I did, reprocess the original twice to brighten the foreground, it could have been done with shadows/highlights of Fill Light in Lightroom. Taken from my friend's apartment in Potrero Hill.

[Jan. 5th, 2011 07:46:25 PM]

I used my 70-200 2.8 at 125 mm. This helped compress the foreground and background. I also cropped about a 1/5 of the image out to exaggerate the compression even more. If I had to guess I would say this is what 175 mm would have looked like. I would have shot at that length but the fireworks were sometimes going off higher in the sky and and would get cut off. I forgot the cord for my wireless remote shutter so I was taking each image on a tripod and using the a 2 second timer to get rid of camera shake from actuating the shutter. I am not sure if I did this on this shot, but on many of them I would hold my hand in front of the lens when the the large burst would go off and only try and get the trails. This would help with blown highlights. White balance is set to 2400 K.

Post challenge: Thanks everyone for the comments and votes. It has been a long time since I ribboned, I was unsure if I would ribbon again. :)

Statistics
Place: 2 out of 69
Avg (all users): 7.4635
Avg (commenters): 8.2500
Avg (participants): 6.9211
Avg (non-participants): 7.5692
Views since voting: 6078
Views during voting: 701
Votes: 233
Comments: 46
Favorites: 7 (view)

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AuthorThread
 01/12/2011 10:47:22 AM
Had I voted in this challenge, I would've given this a 10 and rated it my favorite submission. I especially like the idea/trick of covering the lens for the initial burst... thanks for the tip! I will try it next time I shoot fireworks.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2011 04:13:56 PM
A spectacular shot! Congratulations.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2011 12:40:44 PM
Big congrats on this stunning shot, and on the ribbon. The processing is very effective and creative. The foreground is more interesting than the fireworks, but they make a spectacular background.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2011 08:06:21 AM
Too good... Showering the fire
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/11/2011 07:56:24 AM
F-Stops one two punch .... great job, Joe!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2011 09:10:56 PM
Beautiful
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2011 11:46:46 AM
Ohmygoodness, Joe. This is a masterpiece. Gasp!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2011 10:37:52 AM
Congratulations, on another fine image, Joe.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2011 07:57:23 AM
pyrotechnic tsunami, good to see you back
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2011 12:15:05 AM
My pick for the blue here. Close call with some good competition. Congrats on the red.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2011 12:06:13 AM
Congratulations on your ribbon. Such a beautiful shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 06:57:33 PM
congrats Joe! good technique to balance the image!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 06:03:39 PM
This is stunning!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 03:13:33 PM
good to see you back among the ribbons
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 02:17:41 PM
I have this as the winner in my book. Most excellent work, has a huge "Ooo and Ahh" presence! Congrats on your ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 01:41:28 PM
Well deserved ribbon, my favorite photo of the challenge.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 01:37:08 PM
Exquisite - and beautifully balanced. Congratulations on your ribbon!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 01:23:22 PM
I love that the "works" look like rounded feather clusters!! Fabulous city scape.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 12:11:44 PM
What really impressed me about this is that I didn't immediately recognize it as SF. I think the "anonymity" adds to its quality as "art" as compared to "documentary photo" -- not that there's anything wrong with that ...

Nice tip about using a long exposure but covering the lens during the burst -- I will try that next time.

Congratulations on the ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 11:55:18 AM
Congrats on the red! Very nicely done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 10:55:23 AM
Congrats on the ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 07:04:25 AM
Lovely shot Joe, the micro tweaking looks just about right.
Maybe could have used a touch more.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 06:19:45 AM
Great finish Joe! 10 from me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 05:38:45 AM
Congratulations, Joe! A very cool shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 04:26:06 AM
Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 03:58:56 AM
It's so strange to see such a monochromatic rendering in what normally is a wildly colorful challenge :-) Really well done, Joe! Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 02:37:10 AM
Well done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 02:25:58 AM
Well done! Hoot! Hoot! A lovely image and ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 02:18:32 AM
Congrats Joe :O) Nice to see you back on the front page!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 01:21:26 AM
Wonderfully done Joe! Congratulations.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 01:12:23 AM
Love this image!!! Congratulations

Message edited by author 2011-01-09 01:12:50.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 12:32:13 AM
I'm always happy when a team mate ribbons and am double happy that we ribboned in the same challenge. Great shot, Joe. I know what you mean about trying to keep the display in the frame...had to adjust a couple of times. Big congrats on your red!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 12:24:31 AM
Congratulations! I really though your picture would have been first place. I showed it to all my friends.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 12:20:22 AM
Congrats for a spectacular image, and or your ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 12:14:35 AM
THIS IS AWESOME! I didn't vote in this challenge cause the images I got when I first started looking through them just didn't do anything for me and when I vote I like to vote 100%. I wish I had hung in for a few more shots, maybe I would have seen this, then I woulda been hooked.
WONDERFUL WORK!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2011 12:14:22 AM
Extremely well balanced on the exposure - very hard to do with fireworks! Nifty foreground, too - well done, and congrats on the ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/08/2011 09:31:22 PM
The Firework That Ate Tokyo! one of the few spectacular shots.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/08/2011 03:20:44 AM
Wow, very in your face, like it for it's presence.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/05/2011 11:24:24 PM
Wow!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/05/2011 09:08:50 PM
I really like the softness you captured with the long exposure, and the amazing amount o detail in the buildings.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/05/2011 06:49:41 PM
Looks like the blue to me. Stunning image. Please leave some notes so us slow people can learn a bit. Truly excellent.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/04/2011 07:34:42 PM
wow!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/03/2011 11:22:04 PM
Great Capture...Expect a ribbon for this...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2011 05:14:06 PM
This is so beautiful, one of the best I think.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2011 12:51:57 PM
Great timing!! Beautiful!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2011 06:56:16 AM
this one is really awesome !!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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