thank you so much Michael, i appreciate your input very much!!! to this day i still use the stuff you showed me when we met down town!!! thank you for that as well!!! i wich i shared your confidence, but i won't be sure till i do it and see my results...hopefully good ones!!! this is the one firework shot i got tonight, i got two but this is the good one. i didn't manage to get a lot, by the time i found a place to park and set up they were nearly over but i got what i needed so i can't complain!!! one other question if i may? with the flash, there's no possible way for me to get the right one so i have to make due with the one i borrowed (from the couple test shots i did it looked ok)... here's the part where everyone will laugh... for a difuser, could i get away with using coffee filters? i'm going to do some testing with and without to see what's what but i' thought i'd make a fool of myself and ask first... thanks again everyone, Eric