Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Photographing Fireworks

Click on image for a better view
Photographing fireworks is fun and surprisingly easy.

As with everything else in life, photographing fireworks has it's MUST OBEY rules and a lot of gray area "should do" rules.



You must have a camera! Absolutely
You must have a sturdy tripod. Don't try to get away with using a dinky $9.95 model you bought at a drug store.
You must arrive at the shooting location at least one hour before show time.
You need to get to the shooting location early so that you will have plenty of time to scout a good location.
Even though I know the exact spot I'm going to be shooting from this year, I will still arrive an hour early just to be sure I'm the one that will be standing there and not someone else.

The nitty gritty of camera settings is simple enough:


Manual exposure
Manual focus set to infinity
ISO 200 or so
f/22 or so
Shutter speed on bulb


Now if you have one of those wireless remotes then you will be way ahead of the game. Second best is a cable release.

Twiddling around with your fingers to trip the shutter is not good but if you have to do it then set the shutter speed to 10 seconds.

Click on image for a better view
If you have a remote shutter release then open the shutter when the fireworks go off and close it when they begin to recede. I vary this and sometimes leave the shutter open for 30 seconds or more in order to catch more fireworks in one frame.
If you don't have a remote shutter  release then you can still vary the time but just setting the shutter speed at 10, 20 or 30 seconds.
Not all of your images will turn out to be masterpieces but you will get some great shots.

I am going to move this blog to a new location with new software. It's going to be a long process.
The new location will be here. This is just for the search engines to get used to the new URL. There is nothing there yet.

If you like the post then please use the provided links for your shopping. Stay safe and have a fun time with your camera.
Don't forget to write me if you have any tips, or news. I like to hear from you!

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