Fireworks Pictures?

[Roktoys84]

With all of the festivities going on this weekend does anyone have any tips or trick to share to get some good firework pictures? If you wanted to take a long exposure with several fireworks in the frame how do you meter for it? I want to use a small aperture so I can get the city lights in the background.

 

[photoman]

Fireworks like everything else can be shot many ways. Some shoot them wide and I have seen some people shoot them by zooming in.

If you want to have the surrounding building lights exposed properly that is what you need to set the camera up for. As far as shutter it could be anything from 1 second to 10 seconds depending on the fireworks and the effect you are looking to get.

You may want to turn off in camera noise reduction becuase it can slow the shooting down.
You will definetly want a good tripod.
I shoot in manual focus but some people use auto focus.
You will want to be able to quickly make adjustments- if the smoke is not being blown away it will get much brighter and you will have to adjust.


A couple examples

ISO 100
F22
6 seconds

ISO 160
F8
1.3 Seconds


Have fun and post your results!

 

[Tucson T4R]

Here's a great website with some good suggestions on how to shoot fireworks.

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-fireworks

 

[d0ubledown]

cam on a tripod. focus on infinity. have lockable shutter remote, and a black card. experiment...medium ISO (high iso not needed), and about F8. use bulb and not a predetermined second setting as its more customizable...esp with a black card.

play with bulb times. you can time the shutter just when the burst is about to go, then once its gone or to the point when you want to stop the light trail...place black card close, in front of lens. remove black card when the next burst is about to go. release shutter lock. next frame. this is a simple way to do multiple exposure and to capture multiple bursts. it also allows you to expose bg light without blowing it out waiting for the bursts.

have fun and experiment lots! remember, the light is very bright, so you dont need high iso or a wide aperture. depending on the frequency of bursts...you can go anywhere from 5-30 seconds...

 

[tibaal89]

I had some decent luck experimenting only with the shutter speeds and exposure... once I got the length of the blurred trails where I wanted it and the exposure in a good range, it was just a matter of timing a good shot.

These were taken by me only a month or so into ownership of a D40 (my first SLR) so decent fireworks pics must not be that hard to come by!

What would have been much more challenging is if there were some kind of cityscape in the background...

 

[pkelly72]

Fireworks

Lake Ontario, Oswego NY. It's a great photo.

 

[d0ubledown]

Lake Ontario, Oswego NY. It's a great photo.

wow! talk about timing!

 

[Vermejo]

Lake Ontario, Oswego NY. It's a great photo.

Well, it looks like this thread is over. Not much else to show after that...:Wow1:

 

[IH8RDS]

My Nikon P90 actually has a "fireworks mode". I plan on trying it out Saturday.
the manual says:
use tripod
slow shutter speed
camera focus infinity
motion detection disabled

 

[pkelly72]

I have absolutely no skill with a camera and was not responsible for the photo. I love it though. I'm glad to see you enjoyed it. Good luck capturing more fireworks photos.

 

[Michael Slade]

Not really a still photo, but here's something I did last year.

http://www.vimeo.com/1287842

 

[6Pins]

My Nikon P90 actually has a "fireworks mode". I plan on trying it out Saturday.
the manual says:
use tripod
slow shutter speed
camera focus infinity
motion detection disabled

My Olympus does too, but check the camera manual. I have to set up a few other settings too.

I'm experimenting for the first time too tonight with fireworks photography.