Thanks for the suggestion, Rook, I know of only two camera shops in Peoria that deal with non-professionals, one has downsized in a big way and pretty much sells used equipment only and has a limited inventory. The owner told me he is working it down towards retirement. The other shop is one I have purchased from several times (cameras, lenses, filters, tripos, etc) and have recently had problems dealing with them, so I have been limiting my activity with them to only what is necessary.

Thanks DaveO, I looked as you suggested and found several options I will look into. I should have tried that first, I guess, but I'm starting to get that "senior-itis" disease of not thinking too clearly all the time.

I am looking to rent a telephoto lens with a max reach to 500-600mm.

I am using a canon T4i. Can someone direct me to one or more reputable sites where I can accomplish this? The lens need not be Canon brand; I would certainly try a Tamron or Sigma lens. If you have direct personal experience with the site, that would be best.

Thanks

I like the color best (especially the yellows and blues) in #2 but the composition best in #3.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. This forum is a place to learn about things outside of the main topic of photography.

This is my best (so far) opportunity with the beautiful osprey. This guy (gal?) was a very willing model and he (she?) gave me several different poses as long as I was willing to take images. I am sharing a few of the many I was able to get. I was mesmerized by how close I was able to get to this one without it taking flight. I gave up before he took off. Would loved to have gotten something this nice with teh osprey in flight...maybe next time. Hope you enjoy.

Winking at me

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Ready for Action

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Checking the rear flank

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Eyeballing me!

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My winter camera club (we meet in Gulf Shores, AL in Jan & Feb) has a monthly assignment thru the summer and fall months - this month the subject matter was Night Time Photography. I am submitting three of those I took for the club assignment. As you can see I was using a secondary subject matter of churches

A Local Church Steeple

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A Local Church Bell Tower

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A Small Local Church

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I hope I am posting correctly to the current challenge for Bokeh shots. If not, maybe someone can direct me as to how to do it correctly.

Both shots were taken in my backyard from an open window with the screen removed. The sparrow was 80-100 feet away and shot at 300mm lens setting and heavily cropped (1/640 sec and f8 aperture). The bokeh was created by virtue of the long subject distance and the further distance of the background. The finch was much closer, but still using the long focal length while the background was relatively a distance back from the finch. I think the long focal length in each shot is primarily responsible for the bokeh in both shots, as each each shot at f8.

Sparrow on a Fence

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Goldfinch Eyeballing My Feeder

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I have been tinkering with panos just this week and have been concentrating on city scapes and skylines with various lighting opportunities. Here is a couple I am willing to show. Still need some fine tuning in my process, but I am liking the results so far. The pano presentation of photographic work makes a bold statement, in my opinion. (I had to downsize these photos quite a bit in order for the website to accept them.)

Peoria, IL from Across the Illinios River - Sunrise


Similar Position - Sunset

SS: I have tried taking fireworks photos several times in the past with nothing I am proud of. However, I did a little web research last week just in time for a short 15 minute fireworks display in my small hometown summer celebration (Good Neighbor Days). I have posted a few photos I got that night and a little description with each. Some were cropped, some were not.

Here are my tips:

What I found to be most important is FOCUS. As it is very difficult, if not impossible to focus at night, you should try first to estimate how far from the fireworks you will be. If you can find an object near that distance – earlier in the day while you still have light – use your auto focus and focus on that object. Note the position of your focus ring, how close is it to “infinity.” Leave the focus ring in that position and switch the camera to Manual Focus.

Next try to set your aperture to a higher number (f11-f18, something like that) to make the aperture small and this will increase your DOF. With a greater DOF, your chances of having the fireworks in that focused part of the field are greater. Once you are engaged in taking fireworks shots, after one or two, take time out to check the focus on those shots, if it is good; keep the focus ring where it is. If it is not, you must start moving the focus a very small distance one way or the other and check focus until you get it right. I found my daylight focus to be right on – lucky mostly, but I did try to get it set in the daylight.

Set ISO to the lowest number you have, I used 100 ISO. There is plenty of light when the fireworks burst into light.

I set the shutter speed to BULB setting. When using this setting, you trip the shutter (turn off Image Stabilization use, a remote shutter release and have the camera on a tripod – these are must haves) by depressing the shutter button on your remote – the shutter stays open until you trip the shutter button a 2nd time, then the shutter closes. In my photos, I varied the number of seconds I kept the shutter open from about 1.5 to 20+ seconds. Depending on how fast they are shooting the fireworks, you might get 2-3 different bursts in a 6 second period. If they are that fast, you can get 3-4 bursts in a single shot. I think these make for better photos. This is something you will have to play with and check what you are getting – even at the expense of missing a few bursts while you are getting your work checked. If there is too much light from the ground such that you are overexposing, you can use a black hat to something dark to cover your lens (while it is open in BULB) and remove it long enough to get an additional fireworks burst – this will keep the surroundings dark and have multiple exposures.

Have a fully charged battery, and/or backup

In these 4 posted photos, my settings were:
Canon T4i
Tamron 18-270mm lens - all photos at 42 mm
Manual Exposure
Manual Focus (after AF was used in daylight - see above)
Aperture - f18
ISO 100
Evaluative Metering
LiveView
Shutter Speed - variable, Photo #1 - 6.2 sec, #2 - 4.3 s, #3 - 14.2 s, and #4 - 21 s

I would be happy to try to answer any questions anyone might have

#1 - Cropped, no camera movement between exposures


#2 - Cropped, no camera movement between exposures


#3 - Not cropped, no camera movement between exposures


#4 - Not Croppped, rotated camera horizontally between bursts

SharpShooter: I'd be happy to share on this page. If I go to the Main Photography Discussion page, how to I find the discussion relating to fireworks. I want to get my input in the right spot.

Rather than use rubber bumpers on the bottom corners to keep the picture from moving on the wall after leveling, I use a SuperGlue product called HandiTack. It comes in small rectangular strips of clay-like material. One can cut off a small piece, roll it into a little ball and place it at the corners. Once the picture is leveled on the wall (use Old Redeye's approach or another of your choosing), apply pressure at the corners pressing the two little clay balls against the wall and back of picture frame. These will adhere to both surfaces, and the picture will not slide around on the wall. If you need to relocate the picture, these balls can be removed without leaving any markings on the wall.

Frank - Sorry, it looks like I thought I gave you are reference site but did not. Here is one that I used.

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-fireworks/

I also checked out this one and saw there was a different approach, so I used more tips from the first one than the second. Of course, some are the same in each one.

http://digital-photography-school.com/15-tips-for-successful-fireworks-photography/

Good Luck.

calliwa

Frank: This is a site I used for reference. Much of this is intuitive, but the most important thing I got from this is that you need to have thought it through before the event and to have been prepared. The single most important element (and most challenging), I think, is focus. If you know the specifics of where the location of the fireworks are to be, and your camera location, try to set the manual focus on an object at a similar distance and lock in the focus. After a couple of shots, check to see how well focused the shots are, and adjust if necessary.

I am obviously still a novice and got locked in early on the focus at this event - for this time, I tried to be prepared and it worked out for me, good luck was on my side and I hope it is for you as well.

Our local small town has an annual celebration - carnival, fine arts booths, music, citizen of the year, etc, all capped off by fireworks. This year the e,vent, Good Neighbor Days, had two nights of fireworks, a short show each - about 15 minutes. I tried photographing the first night and was not happy with the results. I did a little internet research the next day looking for tips to taking photographs of fireworks. I am happy to say, I took some of the advice and found myself taking quite a few really good (I think) fireworks shots - in fact I had trouble picking three from about 18 keepers. Hope you enjoy them, now I am looking forward to another opportunity to hone my skills on July 4.