Didn't intend this to be so late but I was hoping to get a few lessons on PS elements from my son before posting.  That hasn't happened so these are all untouched just as the camera caught them.  I'll work on cleaning up the street light on the right and some of the busy work of lower fireworks.  My wife thinks I should leave those however as it "adds something".  I'm on the fence and will be interested in your opinions on the matter and see what happens.  So, with out further adu. It's time for Red, White, and Boom.

I started with my XT set to TV (apeture priority) and set it to F16.  As it tried to focus on the black sky and figure out exposure time, my first shot resulted in an  Ugly 30 seconds where I could do nothing  but wait.  I immediately threw the settings over to M (Manual) and set the exposure to bulb so that I had full control.  I used a remote (wired) and of course a tripod and things started looking up.  I also focused on one of the buildings near the point of focus then switched to manual focus so that I wouldn't have to suffer any mis-focused shots because the camera tried to help.  Trying to keep an eye on the screen things looked a bit dim.  So remembering my reading on the subject of fireworks from here an a Cannon forum I also visit, I remember that anything from F8-F16 works and it's a personal preference as well as location etc.  So I adjusted to F8 and while the Center of the explosions is a bit bright/overexposed, I preferred the rest of the color and thought I could fix some of that in PSE.

So those are my settings XT Kit lens at varied degrees of zoom, bulb so I had total control of the exposure and F8 on the apeture and ISO 100 of course.  At this point, I did my best to settle into a rhythm of triggering the exposure just before the blast and held it till either just before another or till I thought it was a good stopping point. Sometimes I missed, while other times, I got some interesting colors. Some were Neon looking, and others were were more simple.  There were the palms, as well as the wilting ones. The big stars are always popular, as are the flowers.  Of course fireworks wouldn't be complete without the golden water falls.  All in all I took about 118 captures in 28 minutes of program.  From my perspective things were much better   through the camera including my personal favorite of red, white, and blue.

Hope you have enjoyed and I didn't wear you out with reading or watching the displays.  I guess I was a more than a little pleased to get so many decent shots.  Please comment and critique so I can make it better next year or know what to PSE under my son's tutoring.  All pointers welcome and appreciated.

Posted the Sea of Sound  when I first joined here.  I thought it was cool enough to have a 20x30 poster made of it and it now hangs in my room.  Besides Chef needed a little competition in the "things" category LOL.

I'm curious if I'm the only one with this issue or if I'm doing something wrong....

When creating a story, I begin typing my text and at the point I want to Insert a photo, I select it from the drop down on the right, then click the "Insert" button.  The problem is the html that gets inserted doesn't show up at the end of my text, but somewere else.  Not at the biginning either, but in the middle of words or worse, in the middle of another link.  I know enough to cut and paste until things are right and preview a few billion times till it's just so, but there has to be an easier way.

Is there a trick like linking all the shots at the biginning or the end and then cut and paste where I want?  Sorry for being difficult but there is no rhyme or reason to this and I'm a rhyme and reason kind of guy LOL.  For such a fantastic site, it's seems that the key to getting your post up is a bit clumsy.

Thanks for any input.

On Thanksgiving day, we went to my wife's aunt's place for dinner.  While waiting, I grabbed the camera and took a few shots because her house is like a museum and full of interesting things.  Anything from a Lion  to a Violin.

The theme of the house though is the old west.  There are signs of Bronco busting  all over the place.  The kids and grown ups alike could play Cowboys and Indians.  For those not into the old west, there were more modern Pool Balls to play with.

But alas, the table is set and the Clock says it's time to put the camera away and eat.

P.S.  Not happy with some of these shots, particularly Cowboys and Indians.  Unfortunately I've not mastered identifying focus issues on the small screen of the camera just yet or I would have taken more.  But I did manage to take these and a few others not worthy of even showing for the sole purpose of building a story/journal here, so dispite some flaws, I thought I'd share.  Hope you enjoy.

I've been poking around for a couple of weeks now and this site and you photographers are amazing.

I'm a bit nervous sharing some of my photos, but feedback is what it's all about.  Besides a little grace under pressure is good for all of us.

Photography is just one of my hobbies along with playing in a Sea of Sound .  

The idea for grace came from my favorite Rock Band and back in 84 (yea, I'm old), this was on the inside of the album and when I got my Rebel XT last spring I just had to attempt to recreate it.

Thanks for any and all comments and critiques.