Yes, this would have been more helpful BEFORE the 4th of July, but there are fireworks being shot off all the time so you'll have lots of opportunities to hone your technique.

Back in the film days, shooting fireworks was really guesswork. You'd shoot some film, make some notes about exposure settings, get the film processed, finally see the pictures (usually the next day) and then, in conjunction with the scribbled notes, make some conclusions and try to remember what you learned for the next time.

When digital cameras arrived, the exposure controls weren't really up to the job. No f-stop settings and no 'bulb' setting to hold the shutter open. Now with a dSLR, (digital Single Lens Reflex) things are much easier: fast and easy adjustments to the lens angle (zoom), exposure settings (f-stop), and a remote shutter release to open and close the shutter, and of course, the preview to make adjustments on the spot.

Many years ago, I had the good fortune to watch a pro taking pictures of the fireworks on the National Mall in Washington DC. He was using a 4x5 view camera. (I said many years ago...)  but his basic process made sense and was easily adapted to the SLR.

Try to frame up your shot BEFORE it gets dark. If you're in a new location, ask someone who has been for fireworks before about where they set them off, where they will burst, how high, how wide, etc. and then be prepared to make adjustments to your camera angle and/or location after the first shots.

Set your lens wider than you think you'll need. You can always zoom in and/or crop later. I like to include some treeline and foreground elements in my shots, too. I use a 28-70mm zoom, set pretty wide.

You MUST use a tripod. You don't need anything fancy, but the steadier the better. I don't even extend the tripods legs, I sit on the ground and see through the viewfinder and I don't obstruct the view for people around me.

Put the camera on Manual mode.

Set your aperture (f-stop) to f16, as a starting point and then make adjustments as you shoot.

Higher f- stop number = smaller opening = less light = sharper lines.

F-stop set too high = too small of an opening = not enough light = little skinny lines.

Too low = too big of an opening = too much light = over exposed fat white lines.

Set the shutter speed to 'B' or 'bulb'. This setting lets you to open the shutter for as long as you want. I have a remote control that opens and closes the shutter without touching the camera. If a remote is available for your camera, get it. I use it all the time.

If your camera doesn't have a 'bulb' setting, put it at a long setting, like 15 seconds.

When the fireworks start, watch the first shots through the viewfinder to see if you've got them in the frame.

Then before the next shell goes up, open the shutter. A moment or so after the shell bursts, put a dark card (or your hand) in front of the lens (try not to touch the camera) and wait for the next shell. After a shell bursts, the lights start to trail down and drift in the breeze.  If you don't block the lens, you'll get those wiggly lines in your shot.

Watch and listen for the next shell going up, and remove the card (or your hand) just before the shell bursts. Do this for a few shells and then close the shutter.

Look at the image preview and make any adjustments before the next shot.

There's still plenty of guesswork about how many 'bursts' to capture in one exposure, so I am always in pursuit of the perfect shot.

This summer we spent a day at Watkins Glen State Park, about an hour away from Rochester, in the heart of the New York State Finger Lakes.

Watkins Glen is well known to car racing enthusiasts, and nearby Ithaca is well known as the home of Cornell University and Ithaca College.  But did you know the area is also well known for gorges and waterfalls?

The gorge was once visited by Native Americans, and became the site of a mill. In the late 1800s, there was a well known tourist resort known with an impressive hotel.  It's long gone, and was converted to a state park in 1906. Through the early 1900s, walkways, bridges and tunnels were created so you can walk the length of the one and a half mile (2KM) gorge. The walkways and many of the bridges are made of beautiful stone masonry.



It was a cloudy day, with light rain on and off.  I had a hard time deciding if I would carry my new Kodak Z1015 camera.  I'm glad I decided to take it.  Even though there was almost no sunshine, this camera seems to do a great job showing off the landscape.  I captured great contracts of light and shadow, and the greens of the ferns and trees popped nicely against the stone and water.

Here's my daughter Julia climbing one of the main tiers of stairs cut into the sides of the gorge.



Here's another stair during a moment when the sun tried to peek through the clouds.



It took millions of years for the water to cut the gorge out of a somewhat flat land above. Now, wind and rain continue the work, eroding the loose shale rock.  

Since it was raining, we were able to see this in action.  This is a beautiful "curtain waterfall" that comes over the ledge above and falls in two perfect tiers.



 While you peer over the edge and the rushing water, listen for falling rocks from above!  We saw some rock fall on the trail ahead of us once during the walk.

I love the light and shadow contrasts in this picture:



There were plenty of other photography subjects Flowers, birds, and this little guy.



A little more than half way you reach this rewarding place, with a rushing waterfall crossed by a pretty stone bridge.



The water flows into Cayuga Lake, one of the "Finger Lakes" that grace western New York State. Although we took a picnic lunch, the nearby villages are full of country inns, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and county shops. I think I need to spend more weekends out with the new camera!
 

See the Kodak Zi8 in action as two un-suspecting campers run into BigFoot. This funny tutorial video shows you how to get the most out of your Zi8, exploring features such as capturing HD video with 60 frames per second and finding your favorite videos using the Multi-Up, and TimeLine views. We also demonstrate cool features such as reviewing your video using Slow Motion, Fast Forward and Fast Reverse.


"screen grab" from the Howcast video.

Our video is below. You'll see that Howcast's player is unique in that it allows you to jump to spots of interest in the video, and bookmark them for later viewing, and even print it out if you want it for reference.