best tips for fireworks photos? About This Page:

[Nancyspe]

I'm looking for some great fireworks photos this trip. I'm taking my tripod this time, and I plan to set my iso at 100, but I had a question. Should I set my shutter speed manually (if so, to what) or put my camera in aperture mode (I assume f11) and let it pick the shutter speed? Also, is the self-timer release a better option to avoid any camera shake? Thanks. Last time I used my son's head and tried to keep the camera as still as possible, but as you can imagine only a couple turned out any good.

[duck addict]

The tripod should help . I would use the timed shutter release since your camera can stop shaking before it takes the photo.

(if you have a video mode, I have had really good luck taking videos and then stop framing them and saving the picture as a photo instead of video)

[Dave Marx]

Since you mentioned selecting your ISO speed, I'll assume you've got a digital (some of my comments won't apply if you're using film).

Set the camera in shutter priority, rather than aperature, and experiment with different exposure lengths. Your focus is at "infinity," so aperature doesn't matter when it comes to depth-of-focus, whereas the length of the exposure makes a big difference. Exposure duration? Anywhere from a half-second to five seconds is a good place to start.

Rather than a self-timer exposure, get either an old-fashioned cable release or an electronic remote shutter release, if your camera can use one or the other. Unless you know the show so well that you can anticipate each shot by several seconds, a self-timer exposure leaves you with far too little control over your shot.

If you have manual focus, use it. Your focus doesn't change once you've setup the shot, but your camera is going to waste precious reaction time auto-focusing every shot if you don't override it.

The movie mode is an interesting idea, but resolution will generally be significantly less than the camera is capable of in still mode. My recommendation is to select a slower frame rate and a higher resolution, if you have the choice. Slower frame rate? If you're planning to capture stills, rather than watch it as a movie, the jerkier motion you get from slower frame rates (15 frames per second) won't matter, but resolution will.

If your camera has a burst mode (series of still shots), try that instead - you'll get full resolution, and if you choose the right options, a series of closely-spaced shots from one click of the shutter release. That'll eat up your memory card (and on many cameras, results in a delay between shutter clicks while the camera stores all the shots), but you stand a better chance of getting at least one usable shot out of each shutter click.

With your camera on a tripod and a remote shutter release in your hand, you really don't even need to use the camera's viewfinder. I find that kind of relaxing. Stand around, watch the show, and click away at will.

[bradk]

i've probably written something like this a half dozen times but i'll try to be as extensive and detailed as possible so i'll just refer to it myself in the future...

First, let's talk about the optimal setup

- Tripod.
- Remote shutter release.
- ISO of 100-200
- Shutter speed of 1.5 - 4 seconds.

Now, let's look at each and examine the reason as well as the result if we don't have it.

Tripod - There are two kinds of shake in this world: camera shake and subject blur. With fireworks, we're concerned about camera. The subject does move in this case, but that's a desirable thing. The Tripod naturally allows us to almost eliminate camera shake. Barring the fact that it requires setup and care, the tripod is almost always a good thing, particularly at night when the shutter needs to be open longer.

If you don't have a tripod (or even a monopod), you can try to keep the camera steady other ways. worst case, you just try to hold it steady. easier said than done, but when you're taking multiple pics, the camera shake is bound to be far less noticeable (if at all) in some of them. usually it'll help to hold your arms against your sides for support. i believe they say it also helps to take a deep breath, take the shot, then exhale.

Remote Shutter Release - useless without the tripod, it'll eliminate any chance of suffering from camera shake from manually pressing the button directly on the camera. Also not the end of the world if you don't have one. You can try using the self-timer function as well, although cameras often have minimum time delays (my camera is actually 10 seconds), so it's tough to get the exact shot you want - or even more tough i should say.

ISO - only available on digital, it's the film speed on film cameras. The ISO level controls how sensitive the camera is to light. It ranges from 100-3200 (camera dependent). The lower the number, the more vibrant the color, but the more light is required. The higher the number, your image may suffer from 'noise' or a graininess, but you have a better chance of getting a photo in a darker environment (not using flash) without having to worry about camera shake or subject blur. Traditionally for fireworks, you shoot for a lower ISO because you want the colors of the fireworks to stand out.

Shutter Speed - This controls how long the camera is actually taking the picture. The longer the shutter is open, the more light is let in and the more the image on the sensor is compounded. The camera doesn't see life as animated, it sees it as a snapshot against its sensor and as long as that shutter is open, whatever it sees gets added to the image - this is the biggest problem with subject/motion blur.

Now why we want it open so long for fireworks is to take advantage of that motion blur. when the camera sees the firework, it sees a comet. very bright at the head of it, not so bright where it was a split-second ago. With a small shutter speed, you'll see a bright spot where the firework is right at that time and maybe a bit of residue where it was. With a longer shutter speed, the camera sees that bright head all along the trajectory path of the firework which gives you a long, bright, full image.

Now, assuming all that makes sense, let's talk about what I've learned about shooting fireworks at WDW.

For Wishes, I find that if I leave the shutter open too long (usually more than 1.5 seconds), the castle gets oversaturated for me. not blurry, but the details seem to get washed out more than my liking. with the shutter open even longer, you start seeing all the smoke left behind from previous fireworks. even longer than that and that beautiful black nighttime sky starts turning a very muddy brown. So I need to find a tradeoff where I can get bright consistent fireworks without making the castle unappealing.

With Illuminations, the globe really complicates things. if you want sharp images of what's playing on the globe, it's almost the exact opposite of shooting the fireworks simply because the motion blur caused by the video is not desirable.

all this is not to say that your camera can't do a decent job in automatic mode or a fireworks mode if it has it, but if you do that, make sure the flash isn't being used. the camera knows that with the flash, it will have enough light in its field that the shutter doesn't have to be open long at all so there's no motion blur. (a) you WANT motion blur with the fireworks and (b) flashes only go so far and one hazard of shooting a far away object with the flash is that the light won't reach it so not only do you have a very short shutter speed (which means less light coming in), but the only light on the object is what comes from the object itself. believe it or not, this IS sometimes desirable if the subject itself emits enough light, but that's definitely the exception moreso than the rule.

on the flip side, if you're shooting an object closer up with the flash, say christmas lights, the flash can actually overpower and nullify the light emitted by the christmas lights.

and my last sage advice: obviously practice is the best teacher, but that's harder to do with fireworks since you don't have the opportunity to practice as much. go to a photo site and search for fireworks and find photos of fireworks that you like. most sites should allow you to view the EXIF information (if available) which is additional info that most of today's digital cameras include with the image. even if the photo was taken in automatic mode, you'll be able to see the ISO and Shutter speeds along with everything else that will help you decide what your preferred settings might be.

[Nancyspe]

Ok, after all that, I took my tripod, my monopod, I was all set - we never made it to any fireworks shows! My family was too bushed to go back at night and I didn't really want to go alone. Hopefully, next trip I'll get to experiment.

I got some wonderful photos but no fireworks and no parades. Don't ask me how, but we managed to miss both events.

There is just so much to see and do that it's difficult to do it all. At least without running yourself absolutely ragged. I'm still exhausted - at least I have a 3 day weekend to recuperate!

Thanks Dave and Brad for the tips - very helpful information. They have new year's fireworks where I live, so I'm going to experiment with those and see what works the best.

[chezp]

What a shame you didn't make it to the fireworks, but hopefully you'll be able to put the tips into practice at the New Year.

[Tonichelle]

yeah I only got to see Illuminations and Fantasmic... I would have much rather skipped Illuminations for Wishes... but all in all I'm pleased with what we got to see...

[TXBzean]

Dave and Brad, thanks for the tips. Now I know I will sound really amateur-ish...actually I am. But what is an "infinity" setting, when you guys talk about focusing to infinity? Also, I read something about shutter priority instead of aperture priority. I recently learned about aperture priority being the Av setting on my Digital Rebel XTi. What is shutter priority? Other than my Av setting, I have a Tv and A-Dep as well.

Now another question...

As far as lenses go, I have the 18-55 that came with the XTi kit, and I have also gotten myself a Sigma 70-300 lens as well. For an amateur, would those two lenses be a good set to have? I was thinking of adding something along the lines of a 17-85 or 24-85. Would either of those be a good addition?

Thanks all...for tips.

[Tonichelle]

what do you mainly take photos of, and how far do you plan to go with your photography... and how much do you want to spend in the long run?

I have two lenses for my camera (and need more considering I want to make it a living) I have the same you do (save for instead of 300 mine only goes to 200) and they do the job I need them to. Including fireworks shots (which I didn't use a tripod for...should have, but didn't want to pack it around epcot (dumb move I know)

Sitting in a planter box outside of the little Mexican food place at Epcot...


We were half way up in the Maleficent (!!!) section...

[bradk]

Tv is shutter priority which allows you to set ISO and shutter speed. i'm afraid aperture is something i'm rather weak on as i've usually been satisfied with what shutter control gets me

[mattjs]

Infinity is just the longest manual focus setting. Basically it gives you the sharpest focus on "distant" subjects. On my camera, "distant" qualifies as everything further than 10ft away. So, if I set the focus to infinity, everything in the picture from 10ft to infinity.........and beyond ......... will be in acceptable focus).

With fireworks shots, the subject(s) are pretty much always going to be far away. So setting to infinity is the way to go. The added benefit is that it's hard (if not impossible) for my camera's autofocus to find a focus point for something like fireworks anyway. Autofocus would hopelessly hunt around for something to lock onto. Using manual focus solves that problem. To set it, go to your manual focus setting and infinity is just the longest end of the scale (represented by the little figure eight infinity symbol). It also works great for lowlight pictures (another situation where it can be hard for the camera to find focus) when there's nothing in the imediate foreground that you want super sharp.

Three things work together to control exposure: ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture. Like brad said, Tv and Av are both semi auto modes.

* In auto mode the camera sets all three of ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture.

* In Program mode "P" the default is that the camera still automatically sets all three. But, in P mode you can usually adjust two things. You have the option of setting ISO yourself. And you also have the option of using Exposure Compensation. You could think of EC like this. Say you got a new microwave with all kinds of auto settings (one of which is "Popcorn"). But every time you use the Popcorn setting, it comes out a little overdone. If you had an EC option on your microwave, you'd set it to "Popcorn" minus 1 or whatever to compensate for the auto setting not getting it right.

So say the camera selects an exposure (aperture, shutter, ISO combo) that leaves you with a picture that's overexposed. You can compensate for that by setting EC to a negative number (say minus 1/3rd). When you take the picture again, the camera will again read/meter the light and figure out what it thinks is the right exposure (represented by an exposure value of zero). This time though you've set EC to -1/3rd so the camera will set exposure (aperture, shutter, ISO) for 1/3rd less than what it thinks is right.

* In Shutter Priority "Tv" mode, you manually set the shutter speed and ISO to whatever you want, and the camera automatically sets the aperture. You can use EC in Tv mode to compensate.

* In Aperture Priority "Av" mode, you manually set the aperture and ISO to whatever you want, and the camera automatically sets the shutter speed. Can use EC in aperure priority mode too. The one catch in Av is that the slowest shutter speed is probably limited. On my camera, the longest shutter speed available in Manual and Tv is 15 seconds. But, in Av, P, and auto modes it's limited to no longer than 1 second. For a picture that needs over a second shutter though, you're better off using manual anyway.

The nice thing about Av is that I can keep the aperture at the sharpest setting for the lens on my camera. For my camera's lens, an aperture of f4ish gives me the sharpest pics. I can keep the camera at that aperture (especially outside in daylight), and still get the advantage of having the camera set the shutter speed (so I can snap quickly without having to fiddle with the shutter too).

* In Manual mode, you manually set all three of aperture, shutter, and ISO.

Quick explanation of aperture/shutter/ISO here -- http://www.morguefile.com/archive/cl...qjitr4e7c8du90 -- also some exposure stuff here -- GoingManual.com ::

[bradk]

interesting.. as it is, for MK fireworks, i just frame the shot, autofocus on the castle and then switch to manual focus so there are no additional delays for future shots.

[LizardCop]

Originally Posted by bradk

interesting.. as it is, for MK fireworks, i just frame the shot, autofocus on the castle and then switch to manual focus so there are no additional delays for future shots.

That's pretty much the same thing I do too, as far as the focusing goes...

I set the camera in shutter priority mode, set the shutter speed down around 1/20 to 1/30 second and slowly press the shutter for my pictures.

I do not recommend this for everyone without lots of practice, I've spent 30+ years learning to use my body for a tripod and can usually hand hold the camera fairly steady down to some really slow shutter speeds...

[TXBzean]

These are some great tips. Thanks all. I started a trial on SmugMug and posted a few shots I have taken so far. Now I will admit that except for maybe for one or two of the photos I have there, I mostly knew nothing about settings and was just experimenting with different setting combinations to see which ones produced the nicer looking shots.

Bzean4Lyf's photos - powered by SmugMug

[mattjs]

For not knowing what you're doing I'd say you're doing pretty well. Nice pics. In the fireworks pics you got there you can see the beauty of having a DSLR. You're ISO is 800 without it graining up the picture.

When you guys focus on the the castle from a good distance away, the camera autofocus should set focus for infinity right? Unless it finds something it likes better between you and the castle That's what my point and shoot would do but not sure about a DSLR. Then you use focus lock to manually lock that focus distance in? I'm just thinking aloud but in theory it would be the same as manually setting to infinity?

The catch for a point and shoot vs a DSLR might be that I find my autofocus to be less than reliable at night. Unless I'm close enough to the subject, it hunts at night and then sometimes doesn't always give me what I wanted. Whereas a DSLR is a lot faster and probably way more reliable focus in that spot? Setting to infinity myself takes the unreliability of my autofocus out of the equation.