Although the fireworks time is a long way off from now, I recently came across some photos of
fireworks on the internet and was totally addicted. Of course I've always enjoyed watching the 4th of July fireworks in my area, but simply had no idea how beautiful they looked in photos.
So, it looks like my next project is to learn how to prepare myself to take good pictures of fireworks. I bookmarked a bunch of photo websites that gave instructions as to how to properly take photos of fireworks. The camera I'm using is a Canon Rebel XT
I'm going to post what information if have here, and please let me know where I'm going wrong...
1 First, pick the best location to shoot from.
2 Use a tripod
3 Use manual exposure & set the focus to infinity OR use the Landscape mode (infinity)
4 Shutter speed 2 to 10 seconds, so use bulb mode & a remote shutter release to avoid any
camera shake due to the slow shutter speed.
5 Set ISO at 100 or 200
6 Set aperture anywheres from f/8 to f/16
7 Lens: Medium to a wide angle focal length.
8 Don't use the flash.
9 Remove any polarizing filter.
I suspect that if I use all the above settings, and the pictures come out good, I'll be as happy as a pig in mud!.... but, of course, that'll probably not happen, but I'm sure gonna try my best...
Now, which of my three lenses should I use? I suspect the "widest" would be best?
These are my three lenses: Canon (kit lense) EFS 18-55 3.5, Canon 50mm 1.4, and a
Sigma 18-200 3.5 OS. I'm guessing that the Sigma would be the one to use since it's zoom
would permit me to be more flexible even though I guess wide angle would be best?
I'm wondering, whats wrong if I zoom in and I like what I see? or is wide angle the way to stay?..
Okay, please let me know what you think of these setting!.
And, again, I had no idea that photos of "fireworks" would appear so spectacular other than
watching them up front!.. Each burst appeared to be "hand-made"... each blast was always different from the previous....
I've done some fireworks in the past, and I found that presetting the focus to infinity didn't work that well.
Right at the start of the fireworks show, I used autofocus and let the camera set the focus on the first shot, and without moving the focus ring, changed it to manual focus. That worked really well.
Regarding the choice of lenses. You really can't choose from a list. It all depends on your distance from the show.
This shot was taken from a boat in the lake at the Magic Kingdom. I used a 70-200 f2.8 for this one, but I wouldn't necessarily use the same lens if I was closer.
I like to vary the aperture and exposure time depending on how bright the sky is overall. I don't think using a set exposure time or even f-stop is the best way to go. That said I tend to stay between f/11-f/14 and 2-8 seconds. Generally the shows I shoot almost always have a bunch of shells going off at once so the fireworks make the sky brighter than at shows which ignite fewer shells at once.
Set white balance to tungsten and ISO to 100.
I use either a Canon 28-135 or Sigma 15-30. Depends on how close I am. Zooming in sounds good, getting as close as you can and shooting nearly straight up is also interesting.
When there are a lot of shells going off at once, getting a really good image is pretty much a matter of luck, since you have no control over what shells will be ignited and when. I just aim the camera where I want it, press the remote release and hold it, counting the seconds until the exposure time seems right based on f-stop and brightness of the fireworks, then repeat continuously.
"Monoprints" photos are exactly what I had in mind when I wrote about fireworks.
His fireworks shots are truly spectacular!...great work....i loved it!.
I can only hope that when I do take my firworks shots, that if they come half as good as his,
I'll be content, for a while..... in the meantime, I'd really love to get more info from others,
and their camera settings, etc...
grumpy: Your plan is a sound one. And I agree with the others that your lens choice will be determined by your distance from the fireworks. Here are three shots. Nothing spectacular, but additional examples with EXIF. All shot with a 5D and 24-70 f/2.8 lens
1. 24mm, ISO 100, f/10, 10-second exposure
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/0547.jpg
2. 28mm, ISO 100, f/10, 12-second exposure
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/0588.jpg
3. 30mm, ISO 100, f/10, 11-second exposure
http://www.russisabellaphotography.com/0591.jpg
EDIT: Regarding focus, I seem to recall I had to back off infinity just a bit.
Edited by Russ Isabella on Jan 26, 2008 at 12:16 AM GMT
Funny this topic just came up, I was shooting fireworks a few hours ago as it's Australia Day here (Like your 4th of July).
I found I was using a faster shutter speed (I found the longer exposures either resulted in over exposure, Or movement blur) and I was shooting at ISO 500 at 1/4th sec for the single bursts, But I also done some long exposures using a black card to hold over the lens between bursts to create a composite of bursts into a single exposure.
I tend to disagree with you....I do think your fireworks shots were indeed spectacular.....
Come this July and August at a park in my area, will have fireworks twice a week, which I
intend to attempt to shoot.
And, I'll be able to correct any mistakes I've made, since the frequency of these bi-monthly park fireworks will allow me to keep improving the shots. But, that's a long time from now, but I can hardly wait!.. but, I will of course post any of those decent shots, if any, on this terrific FM forum....
I've shot fireworks only about...i dunno...8 times or so, and it's usually only 1-3 times a year, so I forget everything I learned between shooting.
Here are my thoughts...
First off....arrive early, if you're driving, expect not to leave quickly after unless you're parked far off....cause everyone comes out and crams up every parking spot within a half mile....at least that's how it is in NJ... figure out which way the wind is blowing, because if it's coming at you, you'll get some wonderful smoke that will ruin your shots. However, if it's not windy, then you get some giant puff of smoke in the middle of a lot of your shots, especially if they have a lot of fast-firing ones that leave short trails and don't do much else. One of the last fireworks events I shot was windy at first....blowing directly at me...and then calmed down later on to make sure that the smoke stayed put.
I also tend to put the ISO too high, I'm probably at 400 or 500 ISO most of the time, which does not help me much with the smoke being better illuminated and showing up in the photos.
I also vary the shutter speeds, though I find I'm happier (at my ISO settings) with the shorter exposures - under 4 seconds. I get a lot of what I would describe as 'palm tree' shots if I do longer....
I do use a tripod and remote release(s - if using 2 bodies), and I vary the exposure length every once in a while. I will sometimes lock the shutter release down, so that the camera keeps shooting and I actually get to watch the display, other times, I'll wait for the sound of the firework being launched and press the relrease, or I'll wait a second longer and then release. I try to vary it a lot so I get a number of different looks to the shots.
Of course, by the time I shoot fireworks next, I'll be trying it at ISO500 and making all my other mistakes again....
EOS20 (and everyone who posted really) - those are beautiful shots....I love them...and I think I know the perfect place to get some not-quite-as-perfect shots like those next 4th of July when a nearby town hosts their fireworks....
I don't use manual mode. I find AV, ISO 100 and f8-11 to work. I do use a remote. I guess the lens mostly depends on where you are seated - I love the 70-200mm for my situations.
These are great. I remember back in the dark ages I wasted many rolls of film (& $$$) just trying to get great shots like above, and at the end only a handful turns out to be a postcard. I'm sure glad we have digital cameras.
I would offer this as an opinion, as this past year was my first attempt also. There are times when (based on where you shoot) you can get a background that would stand on it's own as scenic, and there are other times when you can't. If you can get the bg, set up and shoot wide or from a distance to capture both. Meter or set up your equipment for the background (i.e. city skyline) before the fireworks begin, and then a focus setting of infinity works well. Crop as needed in ps. But if you're shooting a "neighborhood" display, the tops of houses and trees probably won't do your photos justice. In this instance, I would take advantage of a slightly longer lens (between 70 -135 has worked well for me), and zoom in on the center of the explosion. In my attempts, I have found it easier to aim the camera (on a tripod) towards the target area without looking through the viewfinder. I hold the remote in one hand and the tripod / ballhead control in the other. As for exposure, it is better to err on the side of overexposure than under-. It's easy to darken a photo in ps without too much damage to the color of the fireworks. I would agree with the above (using a f/8 - f/11 setting) for better depth of field. Finally, once set up and the action starts, keep shooting. The more you take, the more you'll stand to keep.
Hey Russ...trying to figure out 10 second exposures...if I do it any more than about 2 or 3 secs I get a mess with many fireworks all getting muddy and mixed together...
I think some of the difference would be the fireworks display itself. A smaller budget neighborhood display may not fire off as many individual explosions at the same time, spreading smaller bursts over a longer period of time. A "big city" type of display typically keeps the sky pretety well lit up and is more constantly active. I think your exposure time depends partially on the display you're trying to shoot.
Shane: I don't have a reasonable answer. I think the shots I posted here were from a few years back and I may have been putting something in front of the lens between bursts, though the shutter still would have been open to a good deal more than 2 seconds worth of firewords. Also, if I remember correctly, I was on the bulb setting with a wired shutter release that I would just depress while counting. I tried a wide range of times, anywhere from 1-24 seconds (according to the exif I'm looking at). 1-second shots were virtually black. In some cases, 8-second shots were overexposed if there happened to be a lot being set off during that time. Some of the best exposed shots were between 10-18 seconds. Again, I can't explain why there'd be such a difference between this and what you're getting, unless it was a matter of there being significant lulls between volleys of fireworks (which I know there were at times).
Exif on this one shows a shutter 'speed' of 24 seconds. Obviously, it would take some time to capture the trails of light that cover the distance from the peak of the blast to the ground. I suspect that if this had been a 10-second shot, it would have looked more like my second shot posted above.
Wow Russ...24 secs and that is beautiful! Maybe you did do that trick of covering the lens inbetween shots...or maybe you are just a great photographer!
Well it must be what Matt was saying, that makes sense in this instance.
For what it's worth, I don't think there are any rules when shooting fireworks; guidelines for a certain outcome or 'look' maybe, but fireworks are a dynamic subject that can be interpreted many ways, as people have shown above.
) - but I got some good shots hand held at 1/60th with a 50 mm lens.