thank you to everyone for your well wishes, your time, advice, and tips...i appreciate it more then you'll know!!! i got the flash problem partly solved, meaning i got one. it's not the recommended sb600 or 800, it's not even from this decade i don't think but it sincs and works, i just got to learn how to use it now...that's the next thing i'll be starting on as soon as i'm done typing. as for the fireworks, i found a display not to far from home so i managed to sneak in a few shots, that was simple enough to figure out. one thing and this may be helpful for people who use it, turn off the noise reduction feature on your cam if you have it, it was taking way to log to process between shots and because of it i missed quite a few...luckily it was only a practice run and well worth it i must say!!! now just got to learn the flash and figure out a way to deal with the people by tomorrow at 7:30pm...yeah, talk about last minute!!! thank you all again, i've learned some valuable things and i'm so glad i asked!!!! i'll let you know how i make out!!!! kindest regards, Eric