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| How to take
photos: Fireworks |
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This assumes
you've already looked through (and even read some of) the
'How to use your SLR'
articles. If you like this, bookmark this page in your browser, or with
 del.icio.us
(look below for others).
Also, go to our forums to
discuss and ask questions. |
Basic gear you need:
 | Tripod, remote shutter
release (or on-board timer), and a fireworks show |
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The Aim:
| To show lines from the
explosions |
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How:
| Set up: Set up your camera on a
tripod and attach the remote release. Also see this picture from the
Sunrise page:
Tripod set up. |
| Shutter speed: Set
to 'Bulb' (where the shutter stays open for as long as you've got your
thumb on the remote button), and count to any number between seven -
eleven. Or, use your timer, and guess a number of seconds between seven
and eleven. However, you need to adjust according to the show. |
| Shutter speed
Alternative: Set the timer to the minimum, like 2 seconds, and the
shutter speed to somewhere between five to 12 seconds. I think each
fireworks making company produces different kinds of fireworks, some that
stay glowing in the air longer, others make cool patterns and things. So,
you'll be needing to experiment and adjust your timer. |
| ISO: Best to use
iso100 to have as little
noise as possible. |
| Aperture: Set it to
about f14. After taking a sample photo, check your cameras preview screen
to see if you got a clear result. If it's hard to see, then step to f13,
or f9; but not much lower. |
| White Balance: Be sure your
white balance
is set for night |
| Lenses: I prefer to
use a zoom lens: Konica-Minolta 75-300mm lens pointed and manually
focused to where the previous
works exploded or manually focused to infinity (don't use auto focus). |
| Advice: It might be best not to be
right under the fireworks or close to the show, not just for obvious
reasons, but also being a little farther back, your pictures would appear
flatter and less distorted, as if they were taken at the same height as the explosions.
If you can, getting a reflection over water would be awesome. |
| Quality problems: Be sure there's no
distractions, or unnecessary junk in the foreground like powerlines or
rooftops or the tops of people's heads. |
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Examples:
Click on these to view them at a
larger size
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< F14, 7sec,
iso100; 75-300mm lens at 75mm. This one was 'cleaned up' in Photoshop. |
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< F14,
11sec, iso100; 75-300mm lens at 140mm. Not cleaned up, but notice the
smoke |
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