Interesting Photo of the Day: Focus Blur Effect for Fireworks Photography

Interesting Photos

Want to try out some cool new effects while photographing fireworks this New Year’s? Photographer David Johnson shows us what can happen when you manually adjust your focus while capturing fireworks:

Floating Sea Creatures in the Sky (Via Imgur. Click to see full size.)

Johnson shot this image by setting his shutter speed to 1-2 seconds and adjusting the manual focus/zoom while the firework exploded. He waited until he heard a firework, and then shortly before it exploded, he triggered his shutter, starting with the lens out of focus and gradually bringing it into sharp focus. The gear he used was pretty standard: a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8, a Neutral Density Filter (ND2, 0.3), and a basic Rocketfish tripod.

Experiment with this technique during this year’s fireworks displays, and let us know how it goes!