Sony VX2000 Frame Grabs from the Fireworks...

On July 6th, the Lions Club put on a fireworks display. It wasn't very well-publicized, so not a lot of people attended, and it was staged in a somewhat out of the way place. This made conditions ideal for getting great video.

We set up in an abandoned battting cage across from the field where the launchers were. There were hardly any people around--we were basically alone. No screaming, no other sounds but the fireworks.

I did the entire 22 minutes hand-held. I used manual audio set to about 20% on the scale and varied the aperture between f2.4 and f4, manually, depending on the intensity of the fireworks. I used automatic shutter speeds and auto white balance.

We got home and plugged into our large-screen monitor and big sound system and watched right off the VX2000. The footage completely blew away anything I've seen in the past and certainly what we shot last year with the TRV900--the freedom from snow and the color saturation and intensity of the colors and not to mention resolution--were breathtaking. I think I nailed the exposure pretty darned good.

Audio turned out quite good, with a lot of punch to it. The absense of crowds at our secluded taping location allowed us to capture just the fireworks with nothing to distract the viewer. The display itself was pretty darned good and stood up well against the larger displays we taped in earlier years.

It was a great pleasure to watch the fireworks on DV and I was VERY pleased with the results. They were head and shoulders above anything I had shot in the past 15 years.