A good charger helps. I have a LaCrosse charger that can discharge the batteries and tells me how many mAH of charge they can still take. It can also recondition older batteries to some extent. Before I got this charger, I was flying blind on most of my rechargeable batteries and only had a couple that I trusted to take more than a few pictures before dying.

It's just a matter of how much light hits it relative to your subject. A white background can look gray when underexposed. Think about how different grass looks in the shade under a picnic table than the grass that the sun is shining directly on. It's more pronounced in a picture because (without HDR) the camera sensor does not have as much latitude to see shadow detail as our eyes.

Whatever frames the shot the best. You won't need the speed of the 50mm. And if, once the fireworks begin, you are shooting from a fixed location, you can try different focal lengths. I can't remember if I had to refocus since it's already near infinity. I pretty much left it except to get in closer to some smaller fireworks.

Are you shooting near a body of water? Some wider shots to get the reflections in the water could be nice.

"make the water look like milk" sounds like a long exposure of "white water". That doesn't require Photoshop and has been done since camera's were invented more than a century ago. Use of filters, selection of different film for different saturation and other characteristics, cropping with an enlarger. All of this is possible with old tech and not something I have seen referred to as faking it. So now most of it is more convenient and accessible but precisely what makes a picture fake? Seems that adjusting the color balance on a photo initially taken with the wrong color balance would be less fake after the adjustment.

Rather than commit to a particular length of time with the shutter speed use the "B". Then you can wing it and capture one or multiple fireworks'. A tripod is almost a necessity to avoid adding curly patterns from camera shake. Use ISO 100. f stop can vary. f/16 can preserve the color, but f/11, 8, or 5.6 show more atmosphere, light up landmarks in the foreground or background. A remote shutter release is also very convenient to use.

Also, if you have a kit lens without a focusing ring, just focus on the first fireworks as they happen and then switch to manual leave it there and to start later exposures before there something to focus on.

Good tip. I'll have to try. I have a couple backgrounds with stubborn wrinkles/fold lines.

I've had good results with a newer velour blanket and background light on the floor behind the subject. The pattern and texture were similar to some commercial backgrounds I've seen.

I have been looking at a few umbrella based softbox like products. One is a silver reflective umbrella with a while diffuser across the front. There is an opening on the front that the flash fits through. One advantage of this is the convenience of an umbrella while having soft controlled light. One advantage I would see is that I could move the light source higher in a room with 8 foot ceilings and aim it down at a steeper angle without needing a boom. I could get a pair of these in the 40" size for $30 online.

I'm also looking at the Paul Bluff PLM system. These are 16 rib parabolic umbrellas that come in either white or silver and have a variety of accessories. There are a couple of mounting options. You can either mount it like and umbrella with a shorter shaft than prior versions. Or you can get a speedring mount that centers the flash on axis. Seems like a better system and more versatile. Without the diffuser, it puts out a large light source that is 2 stops more efficient than a softbox. The 16 ribs make for a rounder source for the catchlight. I'm thinking of getting the silver 64" PLM and diffuser which is really 55" across the front.

Has anybody here worked with either product? The cheaper set is highly rated by previous buyers but I like the versatility and on axis positioning of the PLM. I thought either one would be convenient to take on the road to visit family during the holiday season this year.

I'm really split over getting the cheaper set of 2 for a price I don't have to think about to try out the concept vs the PLM that I see as a better product.

What would you do?

I have it and like it. I think you can only install it on one computer. Part of the purchase process is that you get a key to activate it. I don't know if they would send a CD for extra charge. I burnt a CD with the software and the key one it and put it with rest of my bought software.

Before that I used GIMP to for portraits. Portrait Professional is a much quicker process.

We've done Black Friday sales for years getting great deals but each year I find less stuff I need of don't already own or care to get up so early for without knowing it won't be sold out. For most of the deals I go for, they are sold out before the sun come up.

I've found that the office supply stores around here have the least hassle and shortest lines for Black Friday shopping. At one, we only have to get there 3 minutes before they open instead of 3 hours.

On private property they have that right. I discovered this when taking pictures of Christmas lights at an outdoor mall that has what looked like city streets. In that case neither the security guard nor I got confrontational and I was allowed to take a few pictures under the promise that it was for my own use and would not be published. It might have helped that I only had a small point and shoot camera on a small tripod at the time.

I am inclined to respect their rights on private property as I would want mine respected on my private property. On truly public property, you have a lot more rights as a photographer.