I have to admit that I have never actually tried to take photographs for fireworks until this year. I’d always just taken my point and shoot camera and just took a few to document the event, but nothing spectacular at all. However, this year I decided to take my camera and tripod and actually take some real photos of fireworks. I was really pleased with how they turned out and figured I would share what I did to get the shots. I know my timing is bad and I probably should do a post like this BEFORE the 4th of July and not AFTER, so I promise to bring this post back to the top when the time comes around next year!
1. TRIPOD – First you MUST have a tripod!!! Without it you will have too much camera shake. So, take your tripod, set it up in front of you and sit back and enjoy the show!
2. REMOTE – I used a remote clicker. By using the remote, you aren’t touching the camera at all so again reducing camera movement. I shoot with a Nikon, so I have the ML-3 cordless remote. I also use it when taking photographs of my own family, but that will have to be a blog post for another day.
3. SHOOTING MODE – You will need to shoot in Manual, because you will need to control Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed independently from one another. I shoot in Manual 99% of the time anyway, but when I first started shooting Manual I was really nervous. Don’t be – dive in and try it, you’ll never go back!!
4. ISO – Even though you are shooting at night, fireworks emit a LOT of light (and you’ll be using a long shutter speed) so your ISO will need to be set very low. I set mine to 200. If you find that your photos are blown out, you may need to reduce to 100.
5. SHUTTER SPEED – The trick to getting the long lines is long exposure. I had my camera set to 2.5 seconds most of the night.
6. F-STOP/APERTURE – Play around with this. I kept mine at f/11. But, if you don’t think you’re getting enough light, open it a little more. Try it at f/7 see what difference it makes. I liked mine at f/11 because I really wanted to keep the sky black.
And some lessons learned, helpful hints and what I might try next time……
1. I shot with my 85mm and it was just a little too close. The fireworks filled more of the frame than I would have liked and it was hard to get the camera positioned JUST RIGHT for every shot. Next year I’ll use my 50mm.
2. While selecting the long shutter speed worked well, I think I may give the bulb setting a try next year. With bulb, you depress the shutter release to start and stop the exposure. I tried for about 2 seconds and it wasn’t doing what I thought it should, so I reverted back to just using a long shutter speed. I think next year I’ll give bulb another chance and test it out before I’m in the field.
3. When picking your spot to camp out – look for items like lamp posts and power lines – you don’t want those items showing up right in front of your fireworks. If you can see them, your camera can too.
4. If possible give yourself a little space from people right in front of you. For the same reasons as above, you just don’t want anything creeping into your frame.
5. Bottom line – just have fun with it. Here are some of the photos that I took 4th of July 2011.
The fireworks displayed were presented by the City of Surprise, AZ. Special thanks to all my friends at Rock the Shot Forum for all your firework tips prior to the holidays this year – you guys helped me get some great shots!
