How to shoot fireworks

[Groucho]

I think ideal is anywhere from F8-F11. F11 will let in less light, so you might be less likely to blow out the thicker trails of the fireworks - on the other hand, lighter firework trails will be darker - and of course, if you're shooting the castle in the foreground, it will be darker as well. Neither is necessarily "correct", you'll just see slightly different results.

 

[DueyDooDah]

How big are the lockers? How big is your tripod? You might want to make sure that it'll fit before you commit to this course of action.

My pod is about 21.5" and fits in nicely. The lockers come in various sizes and we had no problem fitting it into one of the larger ones. It's a cheap solution and has the added benefit of not having to tote around purses, bags, jackets, etc. We always get a locker when we go because we seldom go back to the room until closing.

 

[handicap18]

my camera is only a nomral digital sony cybershot, not a fancy professional one, but it's only seems to go up to f/8? is it just me not being able to work a camera, or do digitals only go up to 8?

With a PnS I would go with f/5.6.

I would be surprised if even a cheap digital would not go above F8.

Having said that, I really think trying to shoot fireworks with point and shoot is like "spittin into the wind" Even with my D70 I use a tripod and a remote shutter release because even my finger hitting the button alters the shot.

If you have a tripod with a camera that you can have some control of the shutter speed and aperture (which basically gives us every digital PnS and SLR) then you can take great pictures of fireworks.

To get around not having a remote shutter release, use the self timer set to 2 seconds. This way you press the shutter and then let the camera have a few seconds to stop shaking and your good to go. You have to be more careful on your timing the shot, your anticipation has to be much better. With some lesser expensive PnS digital's, you might not be able to get a shutter speed slower than 1 or 2 seconds.

My 5+ year old Canon S30 PnS has an aperture range of f/2.8 to f/8. Keep in mind that because of the lens size on PnS camera's f/2.8 doesn't give you the same results that f/2.8 does on an SLR lens, same for f/8.

 

[Snurk71]

bumping for all of the holiday visitors (just re-read the entire thread myself - leaving next Sunday)...

 

[raider93]

I am a new owner of a Rebel xti. I have taken some great day time pics. Night time is still a mystery to me. If I were to try some pics of wishes or illuminations, what settings would you experts choose? Spell it out for a beginner if possible. Sounds like you guys are saying to go to manual, set to bulb, set ISO to 100 or 200 then what. Pray? Please help the new kid in the game. You guys take some great pics. Some of you have to be pros. I am not hoping for pics like yours, just want to give myself the best chance. We leave for Disney on the 15th. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[boBQuincy]

... Sounds like you guys are saying to go to manual, set to bulb, set ISO to 100 or 200 then what. Pray? ...

Almost.
I mostly use ISO 100, f/16 to f/22, and 2 to 4 seconds. That will get most of the fireworks, some will be too dim, some will be too bright.

These were all taken at those settings:

 

[Groucho]

You pretty much have to have a remote shutter release to get proper use out of bulb mode. What you do is compose your photo, get focus, switch to manual focus (so there's no hesitation as the camera attempts to re-focus later), then use the remote to open the shutter at the beginning of the fireworks burst and close it at the end. Experimenting will give you an idea of how long you'll want to keep the shutter open for - with darker fireworks, you might be able to capture a few without blowing out the photo, not so with brighter ones.

For aperture, set it to F8 or F11 or around there, that should give you good results. I'm not sure that I'd go all the way to F22 like Bob did (no offense ), some lenses will start to give worst results at that settings, and the fireworks might be a little darker, but on the other hand, you'll be able to capture more without them being too bright.

 

[DizneyNutz]

 

[DizneyNutz]

Sorry about the size of the Watermark, I am still learning

 

[handicap18]

The watermark and no space in between the photos makes it hard to see them. If you can go back into the post and put a space between all the photos. That will help seperate them. Just hit enter after each photo's html (ie: after the [/IMG] hit enter)

Looks like your timing was real good. Lots of great long streaks.

 

[DizneyNutz]

The watermark and no space in between the photos makes it hard to see them. If you can go back into the post and put a space between all the photos. That will help seperate them. Just hit enter after each photo's html (ie: after the [/IMG] hit enter)

Looks like your timing was real good. Lots of great long streaks.

I still haven't got all of them loaded yet, but caught a few lucky shots still to come.

 

[dcg0317]

Nice captures, very nice

 

[Scottl]

Great Thread. Can we get some posts as to your favorite location to take the firework pictures? If there is a thread that already has this info, please point me to it. I went last year and tried to shoot from in front of the Crystal Palace and there was a huge tree in my way. Sooooo, that isn't a very good spot.

I'm leaving in 1 week and I'm looking forward to trying to get as many firework shots from different locations while we are there. Thanks for the information.

Scott

 

[handicap18]

Great Thread. Can we get some posts as to your favorite location to take the firework pictures? If there is a thread that already has this info, please point me to it. I went last year and tried to shoot from in front of the Crystal Palace and there was a huge tree in my way. Sooooo, that isn't a very good spot.

I'm leaving in 1 week and I'm looking forward to trying to get as many firework shots from different locations while we are there. Thanks for the information.

Scott

Go further to the right at Casey's Corner. Find a trash can in that area. I like the one that is right in that area near the info board. Got that same trashcan on 2 different visits.

This one in June '06:

This from Dec '07 (Holiday Wishes):

 

[Scottl]

Great angle. Thanks for the tip.

 

[DizneyNutz]

I was ahead (along the railing where the center opens up) and to the left of where Handicap18 took his photo and as you can see the right side of my photo was cut off. So the closer you get to the castle the wider lens you will need. I don't have all the heads of people and trees in the bottom of the picture, but I also didn't get all of the fireworks.
..

 

[boBQuincy]

For aperture, set it to F8 or F11 or around there, that should give you good results. I'm not sure that I'd go all the way to F22 like Bob did (no offense ), some lenses will start to give worst results at that settings, and the fireworks might be a little darker, but on the other hand, you'll be able to capture more without them being too bright.

I was surprised at the aperture too! I tried f/8 and f/11 and the fireworks were too bright. I was using my 24-105 "walkaround" lens for all of these and maybe that has something to do with it. Fireworks photos are still not an exact science.
The lens is still good at f/16 but is showing some loss of sharpness due to diffraction at f/22 and I don't like to use it at that setting. I have a 3 stop ND filter (for waterfalls) and may try it for fireworks next time.

 

[AndrewWG]

Go further to the right at Casey's Corner. Find a trash can in that area. I like the one that is right in that area near the info board. Got that same trashcan on 2 different visits.

This one in June '06:
This from Dec '07 (Holiday Wishes):

Nice photo Kyle! I was wondering, do you start your exposure when there are no fireworks going off? I mean, your exposure time is 6.4 seconds! I am relatively certain that my camera would have a WAY overexposed shot even at f11 if I had it open for 6.4 seconds. There would have to be time in the photo where there are no fireworks going off at all for me to accomplish that. I'm certain that the 6.4 sec got you the nice castle exposure though as all of mine had terrible castle exposure. They were WAY too dark. Most of mine were for like 1 or 2 seconds at f8 (I think). Also, most of mine went in the computers recycle bin!

 

[akstory]

Hope Im not repeating anything havent had a chance to read the complete thread

1. Bring a small flashlight with you to check settings

2. TURN OFF YOUR FLASH


3. Use a tri-pod if possible of something to brace yourself against a wall or similar or something to rest the camera on

4. *** set your ISO to 100 or 200 (YOu DONT need to crank your iso up to 1600 or similar!) - you'll be more successful keeping your ISO lower and kepping your Shutter open longer

5. Anticipate the action- Listen for the launch and then click the shutter

6. Settings:
ISO- 100
B (Bulb) setting this way you can keep your shutter open as long as you want. Usually around 4-5 seconds
If I dont use Bulb I shot around F/8 to F/16 but only if I have a tri-pod

7. Wide Angel Lens would work best

 

[MattJL]

If you weren't there, the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom were the best show I've ever seen. At the end the sky was lit up with the same brightness as the afternoon! I brought my tripod; unfortunately it was so packed I couldn't put my camera on it. So I turned the ISO to 1600 and hoped for the best.

I have a total of 26 pictures that you can check out here: http://matt.codders.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=485