Fireworks

I am the first person that will tell you that I don't know a lot of technical things about photography. I am certainly willing to learn, but as I go through daily life I take pictures by instinct. About a year ago I started Project 365 and posted everything on my private blog. But, to take things a lot further I want to use this blog to select a few from each week and write a little about what I did or what the photos make me think about.

In general, my only goals for Project 365 are to keep doing it and to document my daily life. I have several cameras, none of which are very fancy or pricey. My best camera is a Kodak EasyShare DX6340 3.1 megapixel, which I bought 5 or 6 years ago. It does not have as many bells and whistles as the newer ones but it has a good lens and the macro and action settings are much better than any other cameras I have. I usually take this along on car trips or in any situation where I know I am going to take lots of photos. My everyday camera is a little blue Kodak EasyShare M753, 7.0 megapixel. This is very small and I keep it in my pocket at all times. Some of the settings aren't that great, but it does what I want it to do in that it takes decent photos. In the rare instance that I don't have either camera with me I have a Nokia cell phone with about 3 megapixles. I don't know if it has any settings, but it works in a pinch.

Normally I won't get into which pictures I took with which camera, I just feel I ought to explain now for people who'd like to know. I feel that composition, lighting and other elements of design make good photos. I believe you can take great photos with any camera, as long as you pay attention to what you are doing. Digital cameras are great for this because you can take time to compose a decent shot before you take it.

Yet, though I just went on about composition, this selection from the first week of this year was really happenstance.

My first photo expedition of the year was to go down to the Inner Harbor near where I live (Baltimore). The fireworks were canceled on New Years Eve due to high winds so they were rescheduled for early in the evening on New Year's Day. I took many, many crappy shots during the 30 minutes or so of the fireworks show. It was very cold and I think that affected my camera because there was an unusual delay between when I pressed the button and when it actually registered. I ended up with many pictures of the ground because I took the camera away before it was finished. This photo above, at least, worked. I literally just pointed and shot, which resulted in this. Sometimes I just have to trust my gut because in some situations I can't stand there looking at things because the moment moves along too quickly. Making logical guesses about where things might appear in the picture is works at times, and if not, at least I have a better idea of how to refine things. This is part of how I use my instinct over mechanics.