How to shoot fireworks

[mom2rtk]

Howdy fellow Wildcat!

Thanks for posting. I love that last one with the red reflection on the water!

 

[NUguyinCrew]

Howdy fellow Wildcat!

Thanks for posting. I love that last one with the red reflection on the water!

GO U, NU. I had a blast with the camera....next pictures might be from Bay Lake Tower and our DVC buy in. I cant wait!

 

[mom2rtk]

GO U, NU. I had a blast with the camera....next pictures might be from Bay Lake Tower and our DVC buy in. I cant wait!

Can you share what camera you were using?

And congrats on the DVC buy-in!

Isn't Disney with a DSLR just the best!

 

[NUguyinCrew]

Can you share what camera you were using?

And congrats on the DVC buy-in!

Isn't Disney with a DSLR just the best!

My camera is an entry level Canon XS. For the fireworks I was using a ND4 filter with various exposure times and usually set at F9.

We are still working on the DVC but with a not-quite 2 year old at home we figure it will be worth the money...especially if we buy resale.

 

[Docarino]

Thanks for sharing! Disney photography is addicting, isn't it?

 

[Dizneydawn]

My camera is an entry level Canon XS. For the fireworks I was using a ND4 filter with various exposure times and usually set at F9.

We are still working on the DVC but with a not-quite 2 year old at home we figure it will be worth the money...especially if we buy resale.

My daughter (17) is really getting into photography and plans on a career at least part time with it. I want to get her an entry level camera and yours seems to have great reviews. She is left handed so we should probably get to a store to try it in her hands and make sure she is comfortable with it.

How many extra lenses/filters/add on's etc... do you have and if you can give me a ball park at total cost, I would appreciate it. Christmas is around the corner!

Thanks and my son said those were amazing pics! Look catalog worthy! That's a huge compliment from a 14 year old manly teen!

 

[mom2rtk]

My camera is an entry level Canon XS. For the fireworks I was using a ND4 filter with various exposure times and usually set at F9.

We are still working on the DVC but with a not-quite 2 year old at home we figure it will be worth the money...especially if we buy resale.

Well, you did great. LOVE the night shot of the Grand Floridian!

And yes, with an almost 2 year old, you have many magical memories ahead of you . Take tons of pictures, and don't blink. Or soon you'll be out visiting colleges like we are with our oldest. Thankfully (I guess....) he's not considering Northwestern. I paid for that once. I'm not sure I'm ready to do it again.......

 

[smile4stamps]

I am considering getting a new digital camera. I would love to get a DSLR but it is out of my budget. Are there any Point & shoot digital cameras that can get good pictures of fireworks and other dark scenes such as Fantasmic? I am looking to spend approx $100-$150. Thanks!

 

[VVFF]

Any camera with some sort of manual control can get decent enough firework pictures. You just need a tripod and to learn about exposure.

Fantasmic on the other hand is a fast moving show and it will be a bit more hit and miss. You need a fairly long lens to get close to the action and Image stabilization helps a bit. I would say fantasmic is by far more challenging to shoot than fireworks.

 

[Purpleblanket]

Awesome photos! Thanks for sharing!
I hope you'll post more!!

Debbie

 

[TheDisneyGirl]

You are quite the photog! Your fireworks photos are amazing, and crisp. I felt like I was there all over again.
I really like the Mickey pumpkin lightpost one. Keep up the good work!

 

[NUguyinCrew]

My daughter (17) is really getting into photography and plans on a career at least part time with it. I want to get her an entry level camera and yours seems to have great reviews. She is left handed so we should probably get to a store to try it in her hands and make sure she is comfortable with it.

How many extra lenses/filters/add on's etc... do you have and if you can give me a ball park at total cost, I would appreciate it. Christmas is around the corner!

Thanks and my son said those were amazing pics! Look catalog worthy! That's a huge compliment from a 14 year old manly teen!

First of all thanks for the compliments. I love checking out the pics others post on here also so Im just happy to give a few for others to look at.

I have been VERY happy with my camera. We were at disney for 9 days and I still have a full battery after taking 700 pictures and using the LCD to review them. I got the package with the 18-55mm stabilized lens and 55-300mm standard lens. After that I bought a 50mm prime lens (for night and bokeh shots) and both a neutral density filter (fireworks) and a polarized filter. All said and done I would guess about $900 at the time I bought it all earlier this year. I tend to buy most of my stuff from Adorama or B&H which have been great online stores for me. Hope that helps.

Well, you did great. LOVE the night shot of the Grand Floridian!

And yes, with an almost 2 year old, you have many magical memories ahead of you . Take tons of pictures, and don't blink. Or soon you'll be out visiting colleges like we are with our oldest. Thankfully (I guess....) he's not considering Northwestern. I paid for that once. I'm not sure I'm ready to do it again.......

Recently I looked up the current tuition for Northwestern...I thought it was expensive when I was there!!

You are quite the photog! Your fireworks photos are amazing, and crisp. I felt like I was there all over again.
I really like the Mickey pumpkin lightpost one. Keep up the good work!

Thanks! I had a blast with my camera. Ready to go back just for more pictures.

Awesome photos! Thanks for sharing!
I hope you'll post more!!

Debbie

I have a few hundred to go through yet but I will work on getting some up. Thanks for taking the time to check them out!

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

Thanks for posting the great pictures!

We'll be back at the Poly in about 3 weeks and attending MNSSHP too. We are SO excited to get back to WDW and your pics just fanned the flames!

 

[mdb78]

Well, you did great. LOVE the night shot of the Grand Floridian!

And yes, with an almost 2 year old, you have many magical memories ahead of you . Take tons of pictures, and don't blink. Or soon you'll be out visiting colleges like we are with our oldest. Thankfully (I guess....) he's not considering Northwestern. I paid for that once. I'm not sure I'm ready to do it again.......

My younger brother attended and graduated from Northwestern. I remember at the graduation ceremony for the School of Journalism they announced the parents of the grads would get a free mug. Everyone had the same reaction, "Only a mug? We paid all this money just for a mug?"

OP, nice pictures! Thanks for sharing!

 

[mom2rtk]

My younger brother attended and graduated from Northwestern. I remember at the graduation ceremony for the School of Journalism they announced the parents of the grads would get a free mug. Everyone had the same reaction, "Only a mug? We paid all this money just for a mug?"

OP, nice pictures! Thanks for sharing!

That's a great story. I graduated early so just got my diploma in the mail. That's a decision I still regret all these years later. I should have driven back for it. And since I put myself through school, maybe they would have given ME the mug!

 

[Groucho]

Short answer... nope, sorry.

Medium-length answer... you will have to stretch your budget a bit to get much beyond an entry-level PnS... and even the best PnSs still have tiny sensors compared to any DSLR, so you will have much worse performance in low light. You may want to save a little longer and get a used DSLR - you can often find them in the $200-300 range for a couple-year-old entry-level DSLR, which will be better built and give much better image quality than any $100-150 PnS.

For fireworks, ideally you want a remote shutter release, which you usually can't get at all with a PnS.

 

[macfinn]

did you use a tri-pod or mono-pod? i missed it what kind of camera? sorry if you already answered.....my fireworks pics def do not look like that....i would love a quick lesson .........i have an older eos rebel dslr..10mp.....

 

[mom0299]

I am a DSLR newbie. I'm just now starting to play with my manual settings on my Nikon D3000. We are going to WDW in December and I want to get some shots of the Castle at night with fireworks. I'd also like to get some good shots of AK's Tree of Life at night. This will be my first trip to the World with a DSLR.
I guess I need to know the recommendations for ISO and f settings for these night pictures, as well as any other advice. I do have a tripod.
I know how to change the ISO, but I'm still trying to figure out how to change the f settings and shutter speed.

 

[Experiment_626]

I guess I need to know the recommendations for ISO and f settings for these night pictures, as well as any other advice. I do have a tripod.

Well, I put my camera on a tripod and keep the ISO to the base level for fireworks. Shutter speeds vary, so get a remote release and experiment with apertures between f/8 and f/16. You'll get a different quality to the fireworks trails with different apertures. Smaller apertures give you thinner trails and more saturated colors; larger apertures will give you brighter, fatter trails but a little less color saturation. I prefer the look closer to f/16 most of the time. Put your shutter on "bulb" and use your remote release -- exposures of around five seconds work for me. Just try to anticipate when a burst is about go, hit the shutter and hold it open until you've got what you want -- paying attention to the number of bursts. You can count off three to five seconds in your head. And don't forget to prefocus, or at least focus as the show begins, then change to manual focus so the camera doesn't waste time trying to lock focus again and again.

For the castle at night, I'd again use the tripod and keep ISO as low as possible, and use a remote release. Keep aperture around f/8. Shoot in Aperture-priority at first. You can start with whatever shutter speed the meter recommends. The lighting on the castle changes so often you might need to increase ISO a bit to get shutter speeds fast enough to get the shot before the color changes. ISO 400 should be fine as an upper limit. You might want to shoot once in center-weighted metering, then try again with Matrix metering. Adjust from there, based on your histogram. Always better to experiment with different shutter speeds and get one good shot.

I'm sure I've forgotten some pertinent details -- someone else will chime in, no doubt.

 

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