How to shoot fireworks

[DizneyNutz]

thank you. I am hoping to get a remote before our trip. I know we have a timer , but you can't predict when the burst will happen.

What camera will you be using? If it doesn't have the bulb setting the you willl have to set the timer and try to time the burst. you can often hear when they shoot from the tubes and try to time them in relation to those sounds.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

You may also want to turn off in-camera noise reduction. When you take long exposure pictures, you can start to get noise (random dots that are the wrong color or too dark or bright). In-camera noise reduction works by taking each picture twice. The first shot is normal and for the second shot, the camera sort of keeps it's eyes closed and takes a totally black picture. It looks at the second picture and wherever it sees anything that isn't black, it knows it's noise and it subtracts it from the first picture. Normally, that's great, but when you're watching a quick fireworks show it might not be. You have to ask yourself whether you'd prefer half as many pictures but with less noise in them or more pictures at the cost of a little noise.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

thanks again. I have the olympus evolt 500, and I am loving it. I am not sure about a bulb setting, what is that? I took a class to help me learn more about my camera but they did not touch on that topic.

 

[DizneyNutz]

thanks again. I have the olympus evolt 500, and I am loving it. I am not sure about a bulb setting, what is that? I took a class to help me learn more about my camera but they did not touch on that topic.

It appears as though you do have this function listed in the specs for your camera using the RM-1 shutter release. When you are using the bulb function for fireworks, set the camera ISO to 100 the Aperature f/8 or f/11 and put it on a tripod. Then using the remote shutter release, you press the shutter trying to anticipate a burst and the shutter will remain open as long as you continue to press the release. So as you are watching the fireworks and the burst you are currently photographing starts to fade out just release the shutter and get ready for the next one. You can actually capture multiple bursts on one frame.

 

[boBQuincy]

Like waterfalls, fireworks look good but different with different shutter speeds. I have used as fast as 1/15 to catch some bursts and as slow as 5 seconds to get those long trails.

With the faster shutter speeds you can get by using a monopod but for anything longer than maybe 1/8 you will need a tripod. Fireworks are brighter than we realize and ISO 100 with f/11 or f/16 does well with the long shutter speeds.

 

[DueyDooDah]

According to my handy-dandy Professional Photographers Log and Reference Guide, "f/11 at various shutter speeds, ranging from 1/2 sec to four seconds. Or keep shutter open long enough to capture several bursts."

 

[Shutterbug]

Also another thing I keep in mind is if you have buildings in the picture.
If I am doing a shot that includes the city skyline, I take a meter reading off that and use that for shutter speed.
Sometimes a long exposure will totally over expose the buildings.
Now if its something like the castle, thats a lil harder because the lighting is always changing during the show

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Here's how I handle it. First, I set my ISO at 100 and my aperture at f/11. Then, I use two light meters. The first is a spot meter aimed at the castle so that I can get continuous readings based on the light hitting the castle. The second reads the light from the fireworks. I have the set to sample the light every 1/250 of a second and feed the results into a miniature computer. The computer tracks the light input during the shutter and determines the optimal balance of light between the fireworks and the castle. I control when the picture starts by pressing a remote shutter switch and the computer controls the duration of the shot.

Now wait, now that I think about it, that's not quite how I do it. Instead of the light meters and the computer, I just stand their mashing the remote shutter release and holding it in for a very short period (as fast as I can press, a medium period (a second or so), and a long period (several seconds) and sort of mixing those up in hopes that I get a few good ones. When I don't, I just search other people's photo sites for similar pictures, clone out their watermarks, and pass them off as my own.

 

[The Grays]

I have often kept my shutter open for as long time and covered the lens so I could pick a few bursts

 

[brack]

Now wait, now that I think about it, that's not quite how I do it. Instead of the light meters and the computer, I just stand their mashing the remote shutter release and holding it in for a very short period (as fast as I can press, a medium period (a second or so), and a long period (several seconds) and sort of mixing those up in hopes that I get a few good ones. When I don't, I just search other people's photo sites for similar pictures, clone out their watermarks, and pass them off as my own.

 

[handicap18]

I go with a low ISO (lowest on my camera is 200). Low iISO cuts down on noise. Aperture if usually around f/10. An aperture in this area (f/8-11) usually yields a very sharp image, especially for night shots. Shutter speed is anywhere from 2-10 seconds. Last trip to Disney I used BULB. I believe my averge shutter speed with that was around 8 seconds. The longer the time the longer the streaks and bigger the bursts.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

thanks a bunch everyone. I am hoping to "try" some photos this weekend at our towns fireworks display, but I do not have a remote yet so I will use a tripod, set the timer and hope for the best. Will let you know how it goes.

 

[oogieboogieman]

On the Olympus you will find the Bulb mode when you set your camera to manual mode. You can use Bulb without having to use a remote to open & close the shutter. Just press the shutter button to open and release it to close it. Having a sturdy tripod will help. I did not have any good results when using the timer, it's too much of a hit or miss. I missed and was very disappointed! I now have a remote and I think I'm ready.

 

[Groucho]

thanks a bunch everyone. I am hoping to "try" some photos this weekend at our towns fireworks display, but I do not have a remote yet so I will use a tripod, set the timer and hope for the best. Will let you know how it goes.

You'll want to use a tripod whether you have a remote release or not - the remote just lets you open and close the shutter without wobbling the camera, plus it means that you don't have to keep an arm in the air all the time.

 

[disneynewbeemom]

We just got a Canon Rebel XTI -- do you have any advice on how to get great firework pictures?

 

[boBQuincy]

Yep, ISO 100, f 16, tripod, cable release (or remote), 2 seconds. Prefocus to infinity (or where ever the subject is) then set the lens to manual focus and don't touch it.

 

[frugal_mar]

This following link has some good tips on taking fireworks photographs:

http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=academy_new&article=063006

 

[DizneyNutz]

We just got a Canon Rebel XTI -- do you have any advice on how to get great firework pictures?

And used it on our trip last Dec. I used a tripod, set my ISO to 100, f/8 or f/11 your preference, and set my camera to bulb exposure using a remote shutter release. I used f/8 and here are some of the results.

 

[DVC Eric]

You may also want to turn off in-camera noise reduction. When you take long exposure pictures, you can start to get noise (random dots that are the wrong color or too dark or bright). In-camera noise reduction works by taking each picture twice. The first shot is normal and for the second shot, the camera sort of keeps it's eyes closed and takes a totally black picture. It looks at the second picture and wherever it sees anything that isn't black, it knows it's noise and it subtracts it from the first picture. Normally, that's great, but when you're watching a quick fireworks show it might not be. You have to ask yourself whether you'd prefer half as many pictures but with less noise in them or more pictures at the cost of a little noise.

I have a canon rebel xti is it possible to turn off noise reduction in this camera i cann't find it.

 

[wdwensel]

As mentioned above, the tripod and cable release are must haves for fireworks. I usually set my shots at 2 or 2.5 seconds, and to this point I've let the camera adjust the apeture. I think I'll try setting the apeture next time, but until then here are some of my shots:

2 seconds at f/8


2.5 seconds at f/5.6


2.5 seconds at f/3.5