Arrange the people in a shallow arc instead of a straight line, that helps keep the people on the sides in focus. I'd use a longer length, 50 or 85, and back up instead of going wide. F8 or F11 sound good. Getting further away helps your depth of field.
Your flashes are not polarized. If they reflect off of metal, or glass or water that light will be. So you may get varying effect from your filter.
Most times I would use a short shutter speed to reduce the sunlight and use aperture to affect the flashes.
F8 or F11, low normal ISO, bulb setting is shutter speed.
Do you have a remote? Open shutter, firework, close shutter. Open shutter, firework, close shutter. Repeat.
You open the shutter before there is something to see. You close it after.
Some people like to leave it open longer, some go much longer and cover up the front of the lens with a hat or something between fireworks.
Experiment tonight, do it right on July 4.
Good luck,
Adorama has quantity discounts. You have to call.
I use my super wide zoom (12-24) in addition to the above mentioned close in use, for 360 panoramas. 36 shots at 12mm for a full spherical pano.
To adjust your diopter, do not focus the lens on a subject.
De-focus on a plain wall or sky, and adjust so you see the markings on the focus screen clearly. That is what your lens projects the image upon.
Those aren't really bright enough, you can force it if necessary.
The cheapest portrait ring is the Alien Bee ABR from Paul Buff. I've been trying to justify one for a while.
They work great, especially when well lit or with natural light. I find I need to make a biased contrast curve, with dark darks, tapering to lighter lights with lighter than normal mids. A normal contrast for me shows up too dark on the metallic print. Maybe make a test print with strips of different adjustments to print first and see how you like it.
Moisturizer and creative use of light to reveal depth with fine highlights.
Yes, which is why for an equivalent image larger cameras produce better images. And why there is a limit to how much magnification can be used, even in a telescope or microscope.
Look at your 100mm, it is not 3.5 to infinity at f4. Maybe a 10mm.
The discussion we've been having is the reason why compacts get so much depth of field. On a tiny lens with tiny aperture the depth of field is huge.
Posters on this forum have gotten confused with thinking a compact takes a better picture before. This is part of the reason why it isn't true, but sometimes looks that way.
You can print 8x8" book on Adorama now for $10.
Still wrong, lens focal length doesn't affect it, only magnifies it. View a wide angle print magnified and you get the same DOF as a long focal length.
It seems there is less DOF with longer lens, but your vision is just poorer.
Distance is true, but is constant with each aperture (measured not ratio).
You and Coker.
The aperture size is the only determinant.
Every thing else is apparent. Aperture is absolute.
F-stop, you are both wrong.
DOF is by the absolute size of the aperture, f-ratio is a working description only for a given sensor/film size.
Focal length has to do with the magnification-you-view-the-set-in-stone-by-the-measurement-of-the-aperture with.