How to shoot fireworks

[Groucho]

There are several threads about how to shoot fireworks... you can check this one for a good number of tips.

 

[tkoran]

What's the best lens to use? I just got a Canon Digital Rebel XT last week. I have the kit lens 18-55 and a 75-300. Will I be ok with those or should I look into getting an additional lens?

 

[NaeNae]

subbing

 

[tigger_03]

We have a DSLR (Canon XT). I've tried taking pictures at night but they usually come out blurry. I'd really like to take some of SpectroMagic, other general pictures in the parks/resorts, and the fireworks displays (and just general nighttime shots). Any tips for how to get them to come out crisp and clear?

 

[InsertWittyNameHere]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1474329


This should help

 

[Groucho]

SpectroMagic and fireworks are completely different beasts... for Spectro, you need a fast lens and a high ISO. Your kit lens will probably not cut it, the cheapest option for your camera is the Canon 50mm F1.8 which is under $100. You'll also want to make sure you're shooting at 1600 ISO.

For fireworks, you need a tripod or some other extremely stable support system, and ideally a remote shutter release. Lens-wise, it generally doesn't make a big difference as long as you can get the castle and fireworks in frame.

 

[tigger_03]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1474329


This should help

Thank you for the link.

SpectroMagic and fireworks are completely different beasts... for Spectro, you need a fast lens and a high ISO. Your kit lens will probably not cut it, the cheapest option for your camera is the Canon 50mm F1.8 which is under $100. You'll also want to make sure you're shooting at 1600 ISO.

For fireworks, you need a tripod or some other extremely stable support system, and ideally a remote shutter release. Lens-wise, it generally doesn't make a big difference as long as you can get the castle and fireworks in frame.

We currently have two lenses, the 18-55mm F 3.5-5.6 and the 80-200mm F4.5-5.6. I'll make sure to increase the ISO for SpectroMagic. Would the ISO need to be increased for the fireworks shots as well?

 

[handicap18]

For Fireworks you need a tripod. Your 18-55 will be fine. Use ISO200 (or 100 if yours goes that low), f/10 and then a shutter between 2 and 10 seconds. If you have a remote shutter use that. If you don't have one, then I strongly suggest getting one. It is a huge help.

The Canon 50mm f/1.8 is a great inexpensive lens to use for Spectromagic and also on the indoor rides. You'll need aperture priority (AV) with ISO1600 at f/1.8. Let the camera choose your shutter speed which will probably be around the 1/60th or so range. Sometimes lower and sometimes higher. Watch your focus point too.

 

[YesDear]

I believe what the other posters are telling you is that you probably will not get clear and crisp pictures of Spectromagic without a fast lens like the 1.8. Turning up the ISO only goes so far. the lens you have are probably not fast enough to get a high enough shutter speed for the parade to be crisp.

 

[tigger_03]

For Fireworks you need a tripod. Your 18-55 will be fine. Use ISO200 (or 100 if yours goes that low), f/10 and then a shutter between 2 and 10 seconds. If you have a remote shutter use that. If you don't have one, then I strongly suggest getting one. It is a huge help.

The Canon 50mm f/1.8 is a great inexpensive lens to use for Spectromagic and also on the indoor rides. You'll need aperture priority (AV) with ISO1600 at f/1.8. Let the camera choose your shutter speed which will probably be around the 1/60th or so range. Sometimes lower and sometimes higher. Watch your focus point too.

I'm going to see if we can get a small portable tripod (they sell those don't they?) before we go. I don't know if I'll be able to find one or not. We don't have much in terms of places to look and I don't think if I ordered one it would make it time before we leave.

Thank you for the information about ISO & f. I'll see about the 50mm lens as well but I'm thinking we won't be able to find it around here before leaving.

I believe what the other posters are telling you is that you probably will not get clear and crisp pictures of Spectromagic without a fast lens like the 1.8. Turning up the ISO only goes so far. the lens you have are probably not fast enough to get a high enough shutter speed for the parade to be crisp.

I've never taken any pictures of SpectoMagic (it wasn't there the night we were at MK last time). I've taken some pictures of the local Christmas parade at night (the floats are decorated with lights) and have had not bad results with it.

 

[handicap18]

I'm going to see if we can get a small portable tripod (they sell those don't they?) before we go. I don't know if I'll be able to find one or not. We don't have much in terms of places to look and I don't think if I ordered one it would make it time before we leave.

Thank you for the information about ISO & f. I'll see about the 50mm lens as well but I'm thinking we won't be able to find it around here before leaving.

If you have a mall near by chances are there is a Ritz Camera or Wolf Camera (depending on what part of the country your in). I would think they carry it. Also check your yellow pages for Camera/Photo shops in your area. Amazon can have it shipped to you within 2 or 3 days, they have it for $89 and 1 day shipping is $4 with a prime account (which I believe is free). Otherwise 2 day shipping is free.

You should be able to find small tripods at the camera shop. Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart and the like should also have tripods. They may even carry the Gorillapod.

 

[zackiedawg]

Just to add to and summarize some of the good advice above...

You can distill night shooting down to two basic categories: With movement and without. Night photography that doesn't involve movement can be done very nicely by almost any camera or lens - it requires leaving the shutter open for longer periods of time while the camera is still, on a tripod or level surface. The more still the better - so either remote releases or self-timers are best to use, so you don't have to touch the camera. And if you're shooting long shutter speeds, you can use lower ISOs so you introduce as little noise into the shots as possible. The sensor will be absorbing plenty of light to overcome a smaller aperture lens, and since you are shooting a scene that is still, movements won't blur.

Of course, if something within your shot does move while taking such a shot - it will be blurred or streaky. But this can be a desirable element to night photography - trails of car taillights streaking on a highway, or the flower-like blooms of fireworks ribboning in the sky.

The other type of night photography is harder for alot of cameras, and will require better low light lenses to get the best results. When you want to freeze movement at night without a flash, you must get as much light to the sensor as possible in the smallest amount of time possible. That means wide-open apertures, preferably very wide ones. The smallest F number lens you can get will give you the most light - F1.7, F1.4, or even F1.2 are best. And you will likely also need to raise your ISO very high - 1600, 3200, or more. With a P&S camera, you either can't go this high, or will introduce so much noise into the shot that it becomes almost impossible to see any detail. DSLRs can do much better in this regard, but you are still going to get much noisier results than you will shooting low-ISO, slow shutter stuff. It's a compromise worth making, because you are trying to get shots where you can freeze motion or action in very dark conditions.

Another downside to lenses like this that specialize in low light conditions is that your depth of field becomes extremely narrow. Shooting at F1.4 for example, you might only have a few inches of focus area, so shooting a subject that stretches for 20 feet (like a parada float approaching you), you have to make sure to nail the focus exactly where you want it, and you will have out-of-focus blur just a few inches or feet in front or in back of that point.

As far as tripods go...definitely get one if you can. But if you can't, don't worry too much. Disney is better than most places at providing numerous places to put a camera to take slow shutter shots hands-freee. Garbagecan tops, fences, rails, tables, chairs, benches, low walls, ground lamps, etc are everywhere...so you can usually work out a slightly compromised but usable angle. I bring a tripod with me whenever I go, but have occasionally decided not to bring it because I didn't think I'd need it, then found myself wanting to take a shot that requires one - I can usually still get the shot by finding a level surface somewhere!

 

[tigger_03]

If you have a mall near by chances are there is a Ritz Camera or Wolf Camera (depending on what part of the country your in). I would think they carry it. Also check your yellow pages for Camera/Photo shops in your area. Amazon can have it shipped to you within 2 or 3 days, they have it for $89 and 1 day shipping is $4 with a prime account (which I believe is free). Otherwise 2 day shipping is free.

You should be able to find small tripods at the camera shop. Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart and the like should also have tripods. They may even carry the Gorillapod.

The closest mall is 2 hours away and I'm not sure there is a camera store there (I don't remember seeing one there but not saying there isn't one there). Our area is very limited for stores of any kind.

I did find a small tripod that can be attached to just about anything yesterday. My DH reminded me that we do have a small tabletop tripod that came with something else. I had totally forgot about it.

Just to add to and summarize some of the good advice above...

You can distill night shooting down to two basic categories: With movement and without. Night photography that doesn't involve movement can be done very nicely by almost any camera or lens - it requires leaving the shutter open for longer periods of time while the camera is still, on a tripod or level surface. The more still the better - so either remote releases or self-timers are best to use, so you don't have to touch the camera. And if you're shooting long shutter speeds, you can use lower ISOs so you introduce as little noise into the shots as possible. The sensor will be absorbing plenty of light to overcome a smaller aperture lens, and since you are shooting a scene that is still, movements won't blur.

Of course, if something within your shot does move while taking such a shot - it will be blurred or streaky. But this can be a desirable element to night photography - trails of car taillights streaking on a highway, or the flower-like blooms of fireworks ribboning in the sky.

The other type of night photography is harder for alot of cameras, and will require better low light lenses to get the best results. When you want to freeze movement at night without a flash, you must get as much light to the sensor as possible in the smallest amount of time possible. That means wide-open apertures, preferably very wide ones. The smallest F number lens you can get will give you the most light - F1.7, F1.4, or even F1.2 are best. And you will likely also need to raise your ISO very high - 1600, 3200, or more. With a P&S camera, you either can't go this high, or will introduce so much noise into the shot that it becomes almost impossible to see any detail. DSLRs can do much better in this regard, but you are still going to get much noisier results than you will shooting low-ISO, slow shutter stuff. It's a compromise worth making, because you are trying to get shots where you can freeze motion or action in very dark conditions.

Another downside to lenses like this that specialize in low light conditions is that your depth of field becomes extremely narrow. Shooting at F1.4 for example, you might only have a few inches of focus area, so shooting a subject that stretches for 20 feet (like a parada float approaching you), you have to make sure to nail the focus exactly where you want it, and you will have out-of-focus blur just a few inches or feet in front or in back of that point.

As far as tripods go...definitely get one if you can. But if you can't, don't worry too much. Disney is better than most places at providing numerous places to put a camera to take slow shutter shots hands-freee. Garbagecan tops, fences, rails, tables, chairs, benches, low walls, ground lamps, etc are everywhere...so you can usually work out a slightly compromised but usable angle. I bring a tripod with me whenever I go, but have occasionally decided not to bring it because I didn't think I'd need it, then found myself wanting to take a shot that requires one - I can usually still get the shot by finding a level surface somewhere!

Thank you for all of that.

 

[seashoreCM]

Some fireworks consist of trails rather than fully illuminated streaks. A fast shutter speed captures a short portion of a trail; a very slow shutter speed might capture the entire trail. Which you choose is an artistic decision. For these fireworks the aperture and ISO and not the shutter speed control how light or dark your results are.

Fireworks may lose their color if the exposure is too great. You'll need to experiment with smaller apertures. Many video cameras, left in automatic mode, will record fireworks and Christmas/Spectromagic lights with so much overexposure that everything is white instead of colored.

Digital camera hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/digicam.htm

 

[tigger_03]

Thank you.

Thanks for the link.

 

[Michele]

I wanted the Canon 50mm 1.8 before we went last year and have the same problem you do, no camera stores in my area.

Are you flying? We traveled 3 hours away, Indianapolis, to fly down and I went to a camera store in Indy before we got on the plane to pick up the lens. I had called a few days before to make sure they had it and asked them to hold it for me.

Or if you are driving, are you going to be passsing through a big city where you could pick one up on the way?

 

[tigger_03]

We are driving. I'm not sure when we will be in some large cities and at what time (if the store would be open when we were there). I know we will be going back in a few years so if we aren't able to get good pictures this time then we can get them next time. Or so I hope.

We shall see. If we don't end up getting the lens then we'll see how the pictures turn out. Hopefully they won't be too bad if we don't get the lens.

 

[WindyLea]

OK...I'm confused. Some people are setting the ISO at 1600, and others say to set it as low as possible. Is the higher number the lower setting?

 

[wenrob]

The people who are setting ISO at 1600 are probably hand holding the camera. The others on the lowest setting are using tripods. HTH!

 

[Experiment_626]

Just a side comment -- this particular variety of firework is my favorite -- I'm always amazed at how they just hang and hang and hang some more! They last an amazingly long time! It reminds me very specifically of Peter Pan's pixie dust.

SSB