P3D Shooting Fireworks

[Dave Williams <davidrw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, Everyone,

Thanks to everyone who had suggestions about shooting fireworks in 3d. 
Thought I'd pass along the results of my experiment on the Fourth.

I used two Nikon F bodies with 50mm lenses, the cameras mounted on Bogen
tripods 10 feet apart.  Why 10 feet?  From all the comments I recieved,
that just sounded like a good place to start.  The fireworks were from
the city display in Drexel, MO, the small town where my parents live. 
We set up in their back yard, about three blocks from the display
site.   We aimed the cameras at the spot where last year's fireworks
were, which I had photographed in 2d.

I used Fuji Sensia II, 100 ASA, f8 at B setting and held the shutters
open for several bursts.  I fired one camera and my Dad fired the
other.  Syncronization was by verbal signals.  Since these were time
exposures, syncronization wasn't real critical, but I waited for the
between burst darkness times to open and close the lenses.

Once the fireworks started, it turned out that they had changed the
firing location from the year before!  Now instead of coming up between
the trees in Dad's yard, they were behind the trees.  There were a few
bursts that went higer than the trees, but not many.
I hurriedly tried to adjust my shooting angle after the first few
bursts.  

The results?  I had the slides processed unmounted, since there would be
no frame lines, and I didn't want mis-mounts.  The exposures were
perfect, color saturated and sharp.  But I discovered that in my last
minute adjusting, one of the cameras was aimed slightly lower than the
other, so the images were too low on one set of slides for good
mounting.  I managed to get two decent shots mounted in Realist mounts
by lowering one slide and raising the other almost to the sprockets. 

The resulting 3d effect of those two slides were pretty good.  At least
I know what f-stop, etc to use.  There were some tree tops in the bottom
foreground , in our yard, which were much too close for the separation I
had.  A distraction, but the slides are still pretty neat, for me at
least.

What I learned:
1. Put the cameras on a bar of some kind, so that if I adjust one, the
other will go the same way.

2. Never shoot in my parent's back yard again.  Check out the display
site, and make sure where they will be!

3. F8 at B for several bursts was a good exposure for Sensia 100.

4.  Watch the foreground with long stereo base separations.

5.  Put a can of OFF in your camera bag.

6. Never try to mount stereo slides the same day you get new glasses
with progressive blended bifocals!

I had fun, I have a couple of neat slides, and I've learned some tings
to better my stereo photography.  Hope some of this helps someone else
in their journey!


Dave Williams
Kansas City, MO


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