shooting at night.

[Copex]

So November 5th is not far a way, i have done some night photography but it has been tripod work, longish shutter speeds etc. im looking for some tips on shooting fireworks, so what are your tips? any recommended settings? to get a fast shutter speed to capture the fireworks (hope it makes scene)

[dpSparhawk]

Tripod and Remote shutter release are a must. You don't really want a fast shutter speed otherwise you'll not capture the effect, but then you don't want shutter speeds of 20, 30 seconds and higher.

Pre-focus - use something at roughly the distance of the fireworks to focus on and then switch to manual (otherwise your camera will end up hunting at the wrong time and missing the shots). Remember if you adjust your focal length, you need to adjust your focus. Flick to Auto, focus on something bright, you can use fireworks, then switch to manual to avoid the hunting again.

Shoot at ISO 100 - 200. No need to shoot any higher due to the intentse brightness of fireworks. ISO100, is probably all you'll need.

Shoot in shutter priority as aperture is largely irrelevant when shooting fireworks (in most cases)
as in most cases you'll be shooting moderately wide. That way, when shooting in shutter priority, you can set your shutter to around 2 - 5 seconds. I'd start shooting as and when the fireworks have started so that your camera isn't trying to compensate with a ridiculously wide shutter for very dark areas. I'd expect your aperture to be between F/8.0 and F/16

Alternatively, you could shoot fully manual. Go for around F/9 - F16, and manually adjust your shutter speed each time. Be careful about shooting for too long, it can over-expose and become messy.

Also try to get some foreground in. Fireworks look lovely when photographed properly but they can become rather boring when all you have is a shit load of sky and a big load of firework streams and starbursts. I've made the mistake of getting no foreground in and although I was very pleased at having captured the fireworks, when I look back at them, they're a bit boring really. Although I did get a couple of shots with a lake in the foreground which made for nice reflections.


Take an Umbrella! you can shield your camera if it begins to rain. Once you've got yout images, it's ok to crop a touch and perhaps clone out a few stray sparks Just a little tidying up.


Few samples from 2008. My second outing with fireworks. Not really awe inspiring but best I could do with the position I got.






Pity about the heads





Very boring example

[Copex]

thanks for taking the time to respond, i'm glad i asked the question.

[dpSparhawk]

Did you manange to get some shots?

[Copex]

hi

no, saddly not, hail & have rain the saturday, fog and low cloud the sunday night, monday i had other commitments damm shame as the skys where clear. going to try and get to newcastle or liverpool with a trypod and see what i can do........