How to get an Epic Firework Photo

The secret is to bring your own fireworks! That's right, my buddies and I went to the beach to watch the fireworks on 4th of July. I set my camera up on a tripod, turned off the internal mirror, hooked in my remote shutter and set all my settings perfectly to get fireworks from "all those people on the beach who would have them," but little did I know that it would be police city out on the beach and no one could even look at someone funny without the cops rolling up and searching you. No one lit off a firework within a mile of us. The few and far between shots I did get of fireworks were all either far away or I didnt get to it fast enough. So I said, that's it, I'm going to line up my shot BEFORE the next one goes off. So I found this killer spot with the four palm trees and told my step brother to set off the finale in the street in the center. What came out made the rest of those crappy fireworks pictures worth it.





Shot with Canon 5D Mark II
24-105mm Zoom F4-5.6
@ 24mm
ISO 100
f/11
8 second shutter for the first one
23 second shutter for the second

Seagull in the Sky

One of the first pictures I took with my new 32GB card for my camera, which means its one of the first RAW images I've shot. Never had the space to justify shooting raw before because I only had an 8GB card, but shooting in raw is what made this picture anything to begin with. I was shooting in creative auto mode (I know, I know) and had switched back to manual to shoot a fast shutter picture of some water when all of a sudden this bird flew right above me, I looked up and snapped away, only to look back down and see a way too overexposed shot, which I'd figured would be unusable. Funny enough, once I was able to get home and tweak it in lightroom, I was able to bring it down to the exact look I wanted, because I had all that raw data! And now this is actually one of my favourite pictures I've shot.



Shot with Canon 5D Mark II
24-105mm Zoom F4-5.6
@ 67mm
ISO 1250
f/4.0 1/4000 sec.

The lonely Golden Gate Bridge.

Picture I took of my colleague, Zak, who was waiting with me in the middle of the Golden Gate bridge. I desaturated everything but red and orange. I love the sense of isolation you get with this picture, since there is almost no one on the bridge in the line of sight of the camera.




Shot with Canon 5D Mark II
24-105mm Zoom F4-5.6
@ 24mm
ISO 500
f/4.0 1/4000 sec.

Romance in San Francisco

I was asked to show up in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge at the same time Aaron and Liene were to make their way to the same spot. The deal was simple, I would pretend to be a regular photographer just out taking snapshots in the city. They arrive and Aaron asks me if I can take their picture. I take a portrait of them on the bridge like any other tourist photo. Then, he tells me "you know what, just keep taking pictures" and that's when he got on his knee and proposed to her. I was able to get over 100 pictures of the whole thing, which I was then able to edit and send their way online. Now they'll be able to not only remember this moment forever, but cherish the pictures of it as well.






Shot with Canon 5D Mark II
24-105mm Zoom F4-5.6
(1st @ 45mm, 2nd @ 47mm, 3rd @ 32mm, 4th @ 55mm)
ISO 500
f/4.0 1/4000 sec.

That Red Glass

My favourite image from the Jazz on the Plazz Gala event. I am printing about 10 huge 16 x 20s of this and getting them put into beautiful stained mahogany frames. If you would like one, too, please let me know. I am selling this piece for $1600 because there will only be 10 made. This piece can only be received by special request to sheldon.steere@gmail.com



Shot with Canon 5D Mark II
24-105mm Zoom F4-5.6
@ 75mm
ISO 3200
f/4.0 1/13

Fingers in the Key of Jazz

I love everything about this picture, the movement on the hands is subtle enough to not be distracting, and yet there enough to make it pop, meanwhile the depth of field happens to highlight just the one key that he is hitting. The drummer in the background balances the black of the keyboard in the bottom right. It took about 5 shots before I finally snapped this guy. These are the kinds of photos I live to take.



Shot with Canon 5D Mark II
24-105mm Zoom F4-5.6
@ 105mm
ISO 500
f/4.0 1/100

That ol' Jazz Flute

Being a photographer for the Los Gatos Jazz on the Plazz has its perks. One of them is getting free access to a $150.00 per person gala event. Another is getting to meet mind blowing musicians like Jamie Davis and his band. The amazing musician pictured below, who not only rocked the saxophone and xylophone during the concert, but also the flute (as pictured) put on the show of a lifetime and had the whole place rocking out every time he got on an instrument. That's why he deserved such an iconic picture. My favourite picture is the second one, but since I've been told by lots of people that that first one is "better" I included that one, too. Let me know which one you like better in the comments.




Shot with Canon 5D Mark II
24-105mm Zoom F4-5.6
@ 84mm
ISO 100
(1st @ f/4.0, 2nd @ F5.6)
(1st @ 1/80, 2nd @ 1/160)