How to shoot fireworks

[WillowBelle]

TY for the responses.

Jan, they didn't have one wider than the 15mm for rent, if they did - I would have snagged it.

Given the description of surrounding objects (mono line, street, etc.) PLUS needing to be close, would you guess that Illuminations would be my best bet? The water would reflect, as would the barge .

You gave me a good visual with your line of "also in the frame there are some fireworks".

This could explain why I haven't yet come across any firworks taken with a fisheye.

 

[WillowBelle]

I just learned how to shoot fireworks last summer (in jpg form, not RAW - haven't tackled that aspect yet). I was lucky that I didn't have to do much more editing than crop the photos that I took. I wonder if the longer exposure time gives the smoke the opportunity to disappear slightly?

 

[wenrob]

I haven't done firework shots but for a moon shot where we had a hazy clouds I've duplicated the photo and set it to burn, darkened it right up but left the moon alone. Overlay and/or Multiply would work too. Those blends make dark things darker and leave bright things alone.

Before:

After:

 

[MICKEY88]

if you google fisheye fireworks photos you will find a few examples, they are not very interesting..

 

[WillowBelle]

Off to google now, I forget that most of the information that I need is at my fingertips!

 

[WDWFWfan]

Sometimes it just being in the right place at the right time. Both of these shots were taken on film...no PP at all.

This one doesn't have any after effects of previous fireworks.

This one you can see a little smoke.

 

[singjenn]

Sometimes it just being in the right place at the right time. Both of these shots were taken on film...no PP at all.

This one doesn't have any after effects of previous fireworks.

This one you can see a little smoke.

GORGEOUS GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I say gorgeous??!?!?!!

 

[JoWiJo]

WDWFWfan

I've read that the EPCOT shots can be trickier than the traditional fireworks settings. Just out of curiosity, what were the camera settings in these shots?

 

[Steve's Girl]

No, I don't clean any of mine up. Some have smoke, some don't. I only post the good ones and the many bad ones are never seen!

 

[WillowBelle]

JoWiJo, I can't speak for the PP, here is a fireworks shot that I took..

I used my tripod & shutter release. ISO100, f9, 2 second exposure.

When I was taught to take firework pictures I was told the best ones result when you click between the 'OOooh' and the 'Aaaah'.

 

[zackiedawg]

I've never shot any myself...but I would think that MK fireworks might be a bit interesting if you slot yourself up as close to the castle as it's possible to be for the show...or possibly behind the castle in Fantasyland and shooting up. Then the fisheye may be interesting as you can get the heavily contorted lines of the castle with the fireworks filling much of the open sky all around.

Otherwise, Illuminations could work too if you're right on the fence and shooting from a very low angle (on the ground even). Also, something like what I was doing with my 18mm non-fisheye in January might work well too:

I was just messing around with handheld, low-angle portrait orientation shots of the fireworks through the people and trees. This type of orientation on the fisheye could be interesting in seeing the people at the bottom, with the illuminations water show near center, and the top of the frame filled with the curved sky filled with fireworks. Again, as close as you can get along the lakefront would probably be best.

 

[JoWiJo]

WillowBelle, yeah those look like the suggested settings in the fireworks thread. My camera has a max f8, so I'll be limited to that. Some have commented that the EPCOT show was harder, hence my question.

 

[jann1033]

I've never shot any myself...but I would think that MK fireworks might be a bit interesting if you slot yourself up as close to the castle as it's possible to be for the show...or possibly behind the castle in Fantasyland and shooting up. Then the fisheye may be interesting as you can get the heavily contorted lines of the castle with the fireworks filling much of the open sky all around.

Otherwise, Illuminations could work too if you're right on the fence and shooting from a very low angle (on the ground even). Also, something like what I was doing with my 18mm non-fisheye in January might work well too:

I was just messing around with handheld, low-angle portrait orientation shots of the fireworks through the people and trees. This type of orientation on the fisheye could be interesting in seeing the people at the bottom, with the illuminations water show near center, and the top of the frame filled with the curved sky filled with fireworks. Again, as close as you can get along the lakefront would probably be best.

nice compostion! i'm kind sick of the "usual" fireworks shots, this is a nice change. something similar to that would probably look great fisheyed as well ..you can't help but look at the fireworks here with the lamppost pointing the way and the fence(?) framing it

 

[WillowBelle]

WillowBelle, yeah those look like the suggested settings in the fireworks thread. My camera has a max f8, so I'll be limited to that. Some have commented that the EPCOT show was harder, hence my question.

Keep your ISO as LOW as possible, use your f8 and have a longer exposure. You should get very similar results. When I was taking photos of 4th of July fireworks @ the beach, some of my exposures were up to 10 seconds long and turned out just as beautiful as ones I took with shorter exposures @ MK.

I am curous to see what I can do with the fireworks at EP. My last trip we ONLY went to MK because we were there for only 2 days so I have no other firework displays at the parks to compare to.

 

[Steve's Girl]

WillowBelle, yeah those look like the suggested settings in the fireworks thread. My camera has a max f8, so I'll be limited to that. Some have commented that the EPCOT show was harder, hence my question.

The issue with the Epcot fireworks is that the ball is moving. So, if you use a long shutter, you will get a blurred ball. You have to decide if you want the nice long trails of the fireworks with a long shutter, or a more clear ball with shorter fireworks trails.

 

[JoWiJo]

The issue with the Epcot fireworks is that the ball is moving. So, if you use a long shutter, you will get a blurred ball. You have to decide if you want the nice long trails of the fireworks with a long shutter, or a more clear ball with shorter fireworks trails.

Yeah, that's what I've read. I've also considered "cheating" by taking one with a short shutter and superimposing the globe section of that photo over a a picture with a longer shutter time. I don't know how well that would work, or even if I will try it, but it's something I have thought about. But then again, I still am an amateur at this.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I just learned how to shoot fireworks last summer (in jpg form, not RAW - haven't tackled that aspect yet). I was lucky that I didn't have to do much more editing than crop the photos that I took. I wonder if the longer exposure time gives the smoke the opportunity to disappear slightly?

Hi,
Thanks for responding. I don't think the long exposure gives more time for the smoke to clear. I'm thinking it may be more dependent on what the airflow is like and what the moisture level in the air is. I usually go to DL in the winter and every time I go my photos look smokey in the background.
Here's one of my first shots less than 1 minute into the show and you can already see the smoke building up :

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I haven't done firework shots but for a moon shot where we had a hazy clouds I've duplicated the photo and set it to burn, darkened it right up but left the moon alone. Overlay and/or Multiply would work too. Those blends make dark things darker and leave bright things alone.

Hi Wenrob, I wish I knew what all that meant! Are you using photoshop? What version and did you take a class or read a book on how to do that stuff?

Sometimes it just being in the right place at the right time. Both of these shots were taken on film...no PP at all.

OMG those are both very beautiful!

No, I don't clean any of mine up. Some have smoke, some don't. I only post the good ones and the many bad ones are never seen!

Hi Steve's Girl,
Thanks for the info. Either I'm going to have some slim pickings or I'll have to suck it up and post what I've got. Most of my shots are smokey like the one I posted. I think it may have to do with the weather in the winter at DLR. Not sure though. Last year I used the typical f8+ various long shutter speeds and this trip I used f11 and various shutter speeds. They're all pretty much the same - smokey.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Some of it can simply be the luck of how the breeze is blowing relative to where you are.

I think you nailed it once again ukcatfan. I think it may also have to do with the overall weather. More moisture in the air may mean more smoke/steam perhaps??

 

[wenrob]

Hi Wenrob, I wish I knew what all that meant! Are you using photoshop? What version and did you take a class or read a book on how to do that stuff?

Well I own CS4 but haven't started using it, lol. Those were done in PSP. You have Elements right? You just need a program that does layers. I made a duplicate layer of my picture and set the blend mode to "Burn." The blend mode is on top of your layers palette and will say, "Normal." If you click on the little arrow by "Normal" you'll get a list of modes. Then you can play with the opacity if it's too dark or make another copy of the burn layer if it's still too light. Then you flatten them and save as when you get it how you like it. I learned by reading, reading, reading, lol. Layers are easy once you get the hang of it but pretty powerful and less destructive then applying a whole bunch of edits to your original picture. A lot of my older jpgs I'll add a "screen" layer to lighten them up rather then using curves, you don't get a bunch of extra noise that way. Try googling "layer modes" and you should get a bunch of info. If you want to, you can send me a pic and I'll see if the "burn" layer works on the smoke.