With Independence Day and other miscellaneous local summer celebrations coming up I think this will be timely.

First, this only applies if you camera has manual settings. If it only has a fireworks mode, just slap it on a tripod and let it do its thing, it will pretty much do the same things I discuss here, more or less.

You will need three things:

A camera with manual settings and shutter speeds in the range of 4-10 seconds. (Bulb is best)
A sturdy tripod
A cable release or IR remote. A countdown timer can be a substitute, though it will make timing difficult.

Settings should be as follows:

ISO as low as possible
aperture in the f/8-f/14 range
shutter speed on BULB (or several seconds if your camera has no B setting)

Setup:

Put the camera on the tripod and frame the scene kinda loosely. The explosions will be all over the place and going tight on one means you'll miss the next one. Set the camera on BULB. Hold on to the release and wait until you hear the launch of the rocket, at this point open the shutter. Keep it open through the whole explosion until the tendrils start to fade. At this point, close it and wait for the next round. Take test shots as each camera has different ISO settings, just try to get something you like. Personally, I aim to keep the tendrils form blowing out to white, I like retaining the color in them. My shots below were taken with a D100 at ISO 200, f/11. Shutter was open only long enough to let the explosion develop and drift.

http://www.cmcpics.com/blogimages/boom.jpg

http://www.cmcpics.com/blogimages/boom2.jpg

http://www.cmcpics.com/blogimages/boom3.jpg

http://www.cmcpics.com/blogimages/boom4.jpg

Forgot to mention, include something to give scale to the explosions while groundign the image. Buildings, people, cars, whatever. It adds visual interest.

Thanks Seb! I hope to get a chance to try this out.

Paul

Buildings can add a lot of interest, but making sure the camera is level is important in this case. I've usually used ISO100 and F8. Shutter speed doesn't matter if there's nothing but a dark sky in the frame but in this case I used the above as a starting point and whatever shutter speed I needed to keep from blowing out the lights on the building. Think I metered on the light blue part of the building in the first shot at +1 or +1-1/2. It's on E100VS and shot on medium format - that's why it's square. The other one is digital and I probably used the spot meter on the street at +1 and set the WB on the white area at the building's entrance (lower corner).

Great idea, Seb - completely slipped my mind...

Catching reflections over glassy water also makes for a nice, pleasing image.

Thanks for this thread Sebastian and all that contributed. It's now my next personal photo project. Found a fireworks show in in my area. Looking foward to trying out these techniques on the 4th of July.

http://www.hansen4th.com/location.htm

Question for you Sebastian. You mention using the lowest possible ISO but your samples used 200. Why?

Thanks.

Because that's the lowest possible ISO on the D100.

Because that's the lowest possible ISO on the D100.

Oh, duh, I thought about that but didn't want to assume....my bad.

:D

All good. :)

This is great info Sebastian- can someone please sticky this for a week? :)

At the risk of sounding really stupid - and showing how much I do not know - can this be done w/ a digital slr? I'm here to learn - although I'm finding it difficult to be included.

can this be done w/ a digital slr? I'm here to learn - although I'm finding it difficult to be included.

You bet it can! The photos that Sebatian posted were taken with a DSLR.

Why is it that you find it difficult to be included? Most of the members here are shooting digital now and the principles of photography are pretty much the same with film or digital. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.

I'm here to learn - although I'm finding it difficult to be included.

No one here gets "included," you get out of the site what you put into it. Just like any other online forum. :)

No one here gets "included," you get out of the site what you put into it. Just like any other online forum. :)
I ask questions - they don't get answered. How do you "put into" it while receiving the cold shoulder? I can't make a lot of comments because I don't know alot - so I ask questions which don't get answered.

You bet it can! The photos that Sebatian posted were taken with a DSLR.

Why is it that you find it difficult to be included? Most of the members here are shooting digital now and the principles of photography are pretty much the same with film or digital. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Thank you for answering my question. I've asked questions in the other forums that go unanswered - asked advice, etc. It seems like a lot of people here have 'known' each other for a long time - and I guess it's hard to accept new people not knowing if they are going to stick around or not. I guess I was feeling a bit sorry for myself last night.:cryin: I tend to want all the answers and want them yesterday. So, back to the fireworks thing - I guess I need to get my book out and see if I can figure that whole thing out. I have a RebelXT. Thanks again for taking the time to answer.

You have to realize that unanswered questions are part of being a member of any site such as this one. There are reasons for questions going unanswered.

1) Poor timing: people here come and go, and check on the site in their free time. 99.99% of the people here are here because they want to bee, not because of any obligation. Your question just might have gotten neglected because it was posted in off hours, it happens to all of us. If a reasonable time frame has passed and you still want it answered, try reposting it.
2) Was it something REALLY easily looked up in a manual or a really simple google search? If so, the members here tend to be polite and leave the question be. On other forums you would get flamed to the point of tears for asking something obvious, even if it isn't obvious to you. Once again, wait some time, try doing some research and post it again.
3) Wrong forum. Many times a question will go unanswered because it gets posted in the wrong forum. People might not know the answer and wait for someone else to come along to take care of it, but that person never sees the question. Once again, wait some time and repost.

Those are just some off the top of my head, you questions might not get answered for something totally different or any combination of the above. Point is, try again. You're not being neglected, you're just a part of a mass of traffic, be persistent.

Thank you for answering my question. I've asked questions in the other forums that go unanswered - asked advice, etc. It seems like a lot of people here have 'known' each other for a long time - and I guess it's hard to accept new people not knowing if they are going to stick around or not. I guess I was feeling a bit sorry for myself last night.:cryin: I tend to want all the answers and want them yesterday. So, back to the fireworks thing - I guess I need to get my book out and see if I can figure that whole thing out. I have a RebelXT. Thanks again for taking the time to answer.

Where are you posting questions? I'm the Help Forum moderator, and it's pretty rare that a question goes unanswered there - usually because it's a very specific question about a piece of equipment that apparently nobody else here has... It's really a very friendly place, feel free to PM me if you have any concerns. New people are always welcome here - we all were at one time!

As far as my shots, one was film (square one) and the other was with a DSLR. It is very possible to do it with either - and the techniques are identical.

I'm pretty much going to focus to infinity for this right? Should I set to manual focus so that the lens doesn't try to focus before releasing the shutter?

and

Zoom wide and crop later?

Can't wait until next week! Happy early 4th of July U.S. Americans! :D

I'm pretty much going to focus to infinity for this right? Should I set to manual focus so that the lens doesn't try to focus before releasing the shutter?

and

Zoom wide and crop later?

Can't wait until next week! Happy early 4th of July U.S. Americans! :D


I would suggest switching to MF and focusing to infinity since you are most likely going to be pointing your camera at a big black sky and the AF will hunt for something that isn't there. If you have something else visible in the image, like a building, you might want to focus on that.

...what Michael said. As far as zooming wide and cropping later, it's an option but don't shoot too wide. After a couple of frames you'll be able to tell about what you need for a focal length and adjust accordingly. FWIW, both of mine are full frame... :)

Good point about the focus. The fireworks themselves won't really ever be sharp, they're just blurs of light. If you have something in the frame, a building or some trees, you want those to be sharp if they're static. And with the distances we're dealing with here, you're more than likely at infinity no matter what.

Thank you for answering my question. I've asked questions in the other forums that go unanswered - asked advice, etc. .

I think that your question needs to be clear and you have to provide enough information to make it possible for someone to answer it. Just in cameras for example, there are a variety of film formats, digital point and shoot, superzooms that do video as well, and a range of DSLRs from entry level to professional. There is also a complete range of lens, filters and lighting equipment. Sometimes, we need to know what equipment you are using. Sometimes in order to answer a question, we would need to see a photo example to illustrate your problem. Members may also not want to reply simply to say that they do not understand your question...and by that I mean that it has not been clearly communicated. Still others may be of the opinion that you have not done sufficient 'homework' ...research...reading the manual etc. to understand an answer to your question. Then of course the answer may be in back postings.

Ronnoco

One thing I wanted to add:

You can play with multiple exposures as well. Meaning, instead of capturing one explosion per frame, try releasing the shutter several times on the same frame. You can get huge, beautiful displays this way.

For exposure, I like my 'works a bit darker and more cololrful so I shoot around iso 100 and f11. Though I usually pop a few off at f8 just for good measure.

I wish I had my good shots scanned in. Here are a few mediocre ones from DC. Unfortunately, it's been a few years and I don't remember the settings.

Rick

Good point Rick. For those of us not using film, you can create a multiple exposures with digital files too. This is a combination of 7 seperate exposures from the 4th last year. My towns fireworks display isn't big enuf to have a bunch of fireworks in a single shot. :)

http://gallery.photographyreview.com/data/photography//507/237118Firework6.jpg

Great tips, Sebastian. Maybe we should have this as a tutorial.

Great job, Michael. How did you do it?

Great job, Michael. How did you do it?


Thanks. I think what I did was to crop out the burst that I wanted from another image, pasted it into my base image, and used the lighten blending mode in the layers pallet.

Great tips, Sebastian. Maybe we should have this as a tutorial.

Hmmmmm - maybe we should....

Fireworks Photography Guide >> (http://www.photographyreview.com/fireworksphotoguidecrx.aspx)

:cool: Thanks, Sebastian! :cool:

Thanks PJ, I am happy with the way it turned out. Flair and everything. ;)

Best Thread Ever. :thumbsup:

My towns fireworks display isn't big enuf to have a bunch of fireworks in a single shot. :)

LOL... :lol:

Michael, what you have there is such a simple idea, but it's perfect, especially with fireworks. The images blend nicely, and as we know, with photography the ends justify the means...

On bulb, can I open the shutter by pressing the button, then closing by pressing it again? And should I put noise reduction on?

On bulb, can I open the shutter by pressing the button, then closing by pressing it again? And should I put noise reduction on?


The way the bulb setting works is that the shutter stays open for as long as you hold the button. Once you let up, the shutter will close. If you don't have a cable release, or remote of some sort, you are going to have some camera shake issues using the bulb setting. What I would do to get around this is to set my shutter speed to 4 or 5 seconds and see what you get. You may have to go longer, or shorter but I think that's a good place to start.

I don't think I would worry too much about the noise reduction. I'm not sure how your camera works, but if it takes a second "blank" image after your first shot, then uses that to remove the noise, it could really cut into your shooting time. If you take a 5 second exposure of some fireworks, then have to wait for the camera to take another 5 second exposure, you might miss some shots.

Okay well Tonight I went to try to get some fireworks pictures, but the retards who planned the event made it so all the fireworks were behind the trees. I got some pretty nice pictures after running around a bit. I couldn't really get any foreground stuff :rolleyes:

Caught a heart in the middle:
http://www.specradio.com/firework11.jpg

http://www.specradio.com/firework21.jpg

http://www.specradio.com/firework31.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/Napalm_Fire/_MG_9208.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v347/Napalm_Fire/_MG_9226.jpg

Thanks for the tips!!!! They worked great!

Oh I really like those with the boats.

Tom, your fireworks must have been planned by the same guy who did mine. Mine were all behind trees as well.

I did take photos, and will download them as soon as I return all my calls. First day back from vacation is not fun.

I don't have a cable thingy, so I set the shutter speed to 10 seconds, f/11, iso 100

We'll try again next year. We think those trees are just going to have to come down so we can see better.

These are from my mom's back yard.

Here's my Fireworks Tip: "don't volunteer to be the firework-holder"

Well I dont have any pix of people holding fireworks :(

But I do have this one....I think it's my favorite of the images I got.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/BLS439/_MG_6953.jpg

--Dave

BLS439,

That is an AWESOME shot.

Hi Seb,

Your instructions were so simple I did it with a Holga. :p Actually, that's because it was raining and I didn't want to pull out my D70. My vantage point sucked, so these are cropped...a lot. :D

Paul

Not bad for a Holga Paul. :)

Looks like you could have used this:

http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=20754&highlight=lightware

BLS439,

That is an AWESOME shot.

Sebastian,

Thanks so much. That means something coming from the author of the fireworks tutorial!

--Dave (Striving to be a pro)

Well, since Seb was so damn nice :blush2: here are a few more that I like :D .

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/BLS439/_MG_6959.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/BLS439/_MG_6955.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/BLS439/_MG_6951.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/BLS439/_MG_6950.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/BLS439/_MG_6947.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/BLS439/_MG_6945.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/BLS439/_MG_6944.jpg

--Dave

This is such an awesome thread!
As you probably already know, we have our fireworks in November over here in the UK and I went to a small display tonight.

Slap my wrist if you like, but, like always with me, I think these things are beyond my capabilities because they are out of my comfort zone, so I only do things half heartedly. Y'know, "they probably won't turn out anyway, so I won't bother taking my tripod. I may even find a post or a tree to steady my hand."

Unfortunately there was no tree to rest on and the fence was being shaken by a bunch of excited kids.

Anyway, here are my very first attempts at fireworks, thanks to sebastian's and everyone else's tips, I thought they turned out pretty well for being handheld. I can imagine how they would have turned out had I used my tripod.

And yes, you guessed it...I used my 50mm 1.8mm MKII lens on these.

Now I am on the look out for some more displays. I'm sure there will be some more :D

I read this last year and thought it was an awesome tutorial then and thought I remembered what was in it...
Until tonight when the track that I shoot for had their fireworks night and I realized that I didn't remember nearly as much as I thought... :-(

Anyway, I thought this might be a helpful time to bump this back to the forefront. I know I am pointing several shooters to this thread as many tracks in our area are having "fireworks nights" over the course of the next 2 weeks. This is still one of the best resources I have ever read on shooting fireworks!

Anyway, I thought this might be a helpful time to bump this back to the forefront.

Yes, great idea! It's that time of year again. How about posting your shots too - should we keep it all together or start a new thread with this year's shots?

nice job dirtfreak.......I was hoping someone would bump this.

Good point about the focus. The fireworks themselves won't really ever be sharp, they're just blurs of light. If you have something in the frame, a building or some trees, you want those to be sharp if they're static. And with the distances we're dealing with here, you're more than likely at infinity no matter what.

I use a 28mm lens set on f8/f11, focus on infinity, point the lens about where the burst will emerge and shoot. I use mirror lock-up to eliminate the slam of the mirror. Using a remote I can set the shutter to B and lock it open, then use a lens cap or similar to block till the next one goes up. This allows multiple shots on one frame and gives a good effect. after2 or 3 bursts unlock the shutter and mirror and do it all over again.

I had a job once shooting foreworks for an open house of a lodge on the beach. It was fantastic as I got reflections as well as the real burst. It was harder to shoot as where I had to shoot was lit and hard to get correct exposure. With digital it is easier as you can see what you get after the exposure and adjust.

Last year I went to the military base here and had to shoot over a stadium wall. I carried a step stool and used a right angle attachment. That way I could raise the camera very high and use the viewer to see from below. Felt kinda weird for a while. Once I got it all set up, I used the stool for a seat.

Good luck on the 4th!
Michael :)

This is such an awesome thread!
As you probably already know, we have our fireworks in November over here in the UK and I went to a small display tonight.

Slap my wrist if you like, but, like always with me, I think these things are beyond my capabilities because they are out of my comfort zone, so I only do things half heartedly. Y'know, "they probably won't turn out anyway, so I won't bother taking my tripod. I may even find a post or a tree to steady my hand."

Unfortunately there was no tree to rest on and the fence was being shaken by a bunch of excited kids.

Anyway, here are my very first attempts at fireworks, thanks to sebastian's and everyone else's tips, I thought they turned out pretty well for being handheld. I can imagine how they would have turned out had I used my tripod.

And yes, you guessed it...I used my 50mm 1.8mm MKII lens on these.

Now I am on the look out for some more displays. I'm sure there will be some more :D

Alison, you have to push your comfort zone in order to improve/learn. Take everything you might need so you have no excuse to fail. Just remember that you can do whatever you put your mind to. Be positive and determined. I was 13 when I started photography and no web sites or any schools. I taught me from magazines and books. I don't think I am a genius or anything like that, I was just determined to learn and I learned alot.

Anyone else need help, call Dr. Mike shrink extraordinaire :cool:
Michael :)

Glad this was brought back up. Just a reminder, this has a permanent home in the "Ho<font color=red>w<font color=black>-to's" section of this site. If you ever need to find it, just head there.

Looking forward to seeing what you guys do this year.

oh this is sweet.... thanx for this post, i always wondered what would be the best way to take pics this july 4th.

this has a permanent home in the "Ho-to's" section
I've been trying to figure out how to make a joke out of that, but so far I got nuthin. Where's Asylum Steve when you need him.

Ahem.

If someone could edit that for me, it'd be MUCH appreciated...

BTW Rick, I hate you.

If someone could edit that for me, it'd be MUCH appreciated...

No, I think I'll leave it there for a while :)

That's OK too.

Who needs a tripod:rolleyes:

This was taken hand held because there was no room on the beach to set up the tripod :D 1/8th at F2.8 using a Canon Powershot Pro 1

It was taken at the Battle of Trafalgar celebrations on a beach in Portsmouth back in 28/06/2005 or 06/28/2005.

Roger

Thanks for the tips! I got some decent shots this time around you can check 'em out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/axle81401/sets/72157600611203066/

Great thread, Thanks for the tips Seb
I love that shot Michael.
I'm going to try my luck at Stanford tomorrow. Tues. night show.

Rick

Here's some form yesterday.

Chicago Fireworks - 7/3/2007 (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?p=221979#post221979)