Calling All Photogoraphy Experts - Manual Camera Settings

[Razor Roman]

Hey everyboy,

I am leaving on Saturday! And it's my first trip with my Digital Rebel, so I was wondering if anyone else has a manual camera and what kind of settings they used for night time stuff,

specifically the night time parade (Spectro, in this case)

and

the fireworks!

I know most pictures of fireworks come out bad, but since I'm going digital I can take lots in the hopes that I might get that one "perfect" shot - and then delete the rest so I have room for character pictures!

I tried doing a search for this but no such luck. :-/

 

[Nik's Mom]

I have the Nikon D70, so I can't help you. But there's a website called twopeasinabucket.com It's a scrapbook website with a chat room for photography questions. I'd go over there. People will tell you exactly what settings you will need (there are lots of WDW fanatics there too).

 

[Razor Roman]

cool... I was just sort of trying to get a feel for ISO's and other things like that... do you know what you set your Nikon to?

(and I know not to use a flash!!! hehehe)

 

[Nik's Mom]

I just pulled out my instructions that I received from someone at the twopeas website. Here's what they said for the Nikon:
Set camera on tripod, 200 ISO, F8 and manual focus. You will also need a 5x7 piece of black paper (or card stock).

When the first firework goes off, push the shutter button down. Keep holding it down until the first firework is gone, then cover the lens with the black card stock. When the next firework goes off, pull the card stock away and wait until the firework is gone. Cover the lens again. You can do this 4 or 5 times before you have to release the shutter button.

I haven't tried those tips yet. I'll try in May. Hope this helps.

 

[seashoreCM]

Try these settings:

ISO 200 f/2.8 1/30 second for Spectromagic floats showing colored lights
ISO 200 f/4 1/30 second for floats showing white lights.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Nik's Mom]

Try these settings:

ISO 200 f/2.8 1/30 second for Spectromagic floats showing colored lights
ISO 200 f/4 1/30 second for floats showing white lights.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

Thanks! Your instructions are a lot easier than the ones I received. I'm going to print this out for our trip!

 

[off to neverland]

Thanks for the tips, I can't wait to try them out in May!

 

[Razor Roman]

great thank you!

 

[crazyboutWDW]

if someone is going before Memorial day and uses these settings, I would love to know how they worked out. I have an olympus digital SLR and need this info too, my instructions are not the greatest in the world and lastyear all came out wrong when I did the night time photos.

 

[WillCAD]

The Digital Rebel can be used in fully-manual mode, but you don't have to. There are auto and semi-auto modes that you can use to good effect.

P mode (Program) will make the camera fully automatic. This is fine for everyday shooting, and even for long-exposure tripod or braced shots.

In Av mode (Aperture Priority), the camera lets you select the f-stop, or aperture size, and then sets the exposure time automatically. This is a good mode for forced-perspective shots or landsape shots where you want both forground and background to be in focus.

Tv mode (Shutter Speed Priority) is good for shooting fireworks. It lets you set the shutter speed, which controls blur, then automatically adjusts the aperture to let in enough light. By setting the speed to 1/60th of a second, you control blurring, but pics in this mode can come out pretty dark and only the brightest fireworks will show.

M is fully Manual mode, requiring you to set both aperture and shutter speed yourself. I don't use manual much because it's beyond my skill.

If you can find yourself a mini tripod (at Best Buy or Circuit City) that fits in your pocket or bag, take it with you and try to find a place you can set it up to shoot fireworks. Then you can set the camera in Tv mode and set the shutter speed much slower without the picture blurring. 1/60th is the slowest that most people can use when holding the camera in hand, but a tripod will steady it and let you shoot fireworks at 1/30th or even 1/15th, making the pics brighter.

 

[ralfrick]

The single best photo accessory one can buy is a tripod, and it is the biggest key to good fireworks photos. Beyond that, I'm going to disagree with some of what has been said here, but it all assumes tripod use. It should go without saying that you want to be unobtrusive to others in where you set up.

First, use the lowest ISO setting. The higher the number, the less sharp the image. Fireworks are bright, high ISO speeds aren't needed.

Next, your shutter speeds should be seconds, not split seconds.

The aperture should be around F8 for low ISO speeds, F11 for 200, or stop down to F16 for 400. These are starting guidelines. If they are looking too dark, open the aperture; too light-stop down.

Since most digital cameras have a monitor on them, you'll be able to quickly see if a setting needs to be changed, so that's a plus. If for some reason, there's no monitor on this camera, or for anyone using film, you should bracket your photos. For instance, if the probable shutter speed is 5 seconds, do other photos at 3 seconds, as well as 8 seconds.

These settings are all connected. For instance, if you're at ISO 100, F11 and 1 second, and want the photo brighter, you can change the ISO to 200, OR open to F8, OR go to 2 seconds. Any of these moves will be increasing the exposure by 1 stop.

I've never used the covering the lens trick between bursts, although I'm aware of it. That will work best if you just getting the FWs. But you may want something in the foreground as well, such as the castle.

http://home.comcast.net/~ralfrick/disneyland_14_.htm
(Low res image originally shot on film)

Therefore, I would determine the best exposure for the castle at night with a low ISO speed set at F8; it will probably be about 5 seconds. Once you know that exposure, assuming the brightness of the castle lighting is similar, that should be your starting point for pics with the FWs.

Since there are videos of the shows on the web, seek one out to get a feel for which specific points of the show would make the best still photos. A lot of this is intuitive by nature. You can take a photo, see in the monitor that it's too bright, but, of course, the next one will be different anyway because the fireworks themselves will be different. Lot's of them won't work out too well, but don't worry about it; it's not like you're paying for film.

I'm giving this advice based on the "National Geographic Phtographer's Field Guide", which is currently in front of me, and my experience, which includes a BFA in photography. Good luck and have fun.

Cheers

 

[Razor Roman]

So I can see from your pictures you prefer the slow speed, which does make the castle look great - and makes a very dramatic effect of getting the fireworks kind of "streaking"

I do have a mini tripod already that I hopefully will be brining with me (provided I can remember where I put it when I moved) I also have the IR remote for my digital rebel which means I can shoot without touching (and disturbing) The camera, so those long exposure can work nicely. I normally watch fireworks from the hub, but I am thinking I will get better pictures if I am down on main street.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

my rule of thumb:

Fireworks: 2 sec shutter, f8, ISO 100, tripod and a cable shutter release is a must.
Light parade (I haven't seen spectromagic but I've taken pics of Main Street Electrical Parade): ISO800, 1/60 shutter (or ideally 1/80 shutter)

 

[Razor Roman]

yeah I'll definately be using my remote control to take the pictures, I don't have cable release but I do have IR

 

[ralfrick]

A tip for anyone without a remote release:
Use the self timer on the camera, and any vibrations you cause pressing the shutter release will stop before the exposure is made. Of course, with a changing subject like FWs, there will be a luck factor involved with what you get. I've also set cameras on a trash can or somethig in a pinch when without a tripod.

Cheers.

 

[jfis1020]

Oh my gosh! My head is spinning! I love taking pictures, but am a total rookie! DH got me a new digital camera for Christmas and it is driving me crazy!! I am pretty good with electronic, but I am struggling! I also love good instruction manuals, but mine is too far over my head. Why do they do this??? ISO, F settings, etc. Where is a "Digital Camera Usage for Dummies" possibly located?

BTW ~ We leave at 6 a.m. tomorrow!!! Give me some dummy suggestions!

 

[WillCAD]

Easy Jenny: Set your camera in Automatic mode and let it do all the thinking.

You won't be able to get all the really difficult shots in Auto mode, but the vast majority of your pics will turn out if you remember that your flash only reaches about 10 feet, so it won't light up the castle if you try a night shot, and stuff that's moving will be blurry, and if you are moving the picture might be blurry.

If you can work out one setting to change on the camera, find out how to change the ISO settings. Set it to 200 for bright daylight, 400 for indoor, and if it goes that high, set it to 800 for outdoor night-time shots.

Aside from that, just look through the viewfinder at the picture. don't try anything fancy, just point your camera at stuff you see and click.

 

[Kasmir]

Thanks!

 

[jfis1020]

Easy Jenny: Set your camera in Automatic mode and let it do all the thinking.

You won't be able to get all the really difficult shots in Auto mode, but the vast majority of your pics will turn out if you remember that your flash only reaches about 10 feet, so it won't light up the castle if you try a night shot, and stuff that's moving will be blurry, and if you are moving the picture might be blurry.

If you can work out one setting to change on the camera, find out how to change the ISO settings. Set it to 200 for bright daylight, 400 for indoor, and if it goes that high, set it to 800 for outdoor night-time shots.

Aside from that, just look through the viewfinder at the picture. don't try anything fancy, just point your camera at stuff you see and click.

I envision a picture though of my kids sitting on a railing. They are looking up watching the fireworks but I shoot it of their backs and the fireworks going up. I tried this once with my "old" camera and of course it was junky! Now with the digital, at least I know how junky it is before I waste the film!!!

 

[seashoreCM]

Auto setting on a video camera and I believe on most still cameras tends to give terrible results when doing Spectromagic, Osbourne, and other nighttime colored light subjects. Christmas lights tend to get overexposed and turn white.

With a digital camera or video camera you should use manual exposure and at least make the scene in the viewfinder look like nighttime.

I am not sure of the definition of ISO setting on a digital camera. For a film camera, once you know and set the ISO, it is still necessary to compute the lens opening and shutter speed (or EV, or exposure value, setting) if you do not want to rely on auto setting.