First attempt at Fireworks

Proud2btaff

Proud2btaff

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Name
Darren
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This was a last min attempt at shooting fireworks. I had a lot of fun and know I have a lot further to go to achieve good shots but I thought I would share for some advise anyway.

1. 15sec iso 400 f /29.0 (taken on S mode)

Fireworks 1 by DazJamesPhotography, on Flickr

2. 6sec iso 400 f/10.0 (again on S mode)

Fireworks 2 by DazJamesPhotography, on Flickr

3. 6sec iso 3200 f/32.0 (again S Mode)

Fireworks 3 by DazJamesPhotography, on Flickr

4. 10sec iso 1600 f/9.0 (agin S Mode)

Fireworks 4 by DazJamesPhotography, on Flickr

some advise I would like is how do I stop the sky going a red colour as in most of the shots it is red, also I know that the camera shake has affected the photos but was in a car park that is on a mountain and has no wind shield.

all have been processed in Paintshop pro X5

All CC welcome.
 
Some pointers for starters:
  • You need a good sturdy tripod
  • Use a cable or remote release - or use delayed release to avoid shake when pressing the shutter
  • Work in manual, and use bulb mode to time your shots. You can even keep the shutter open for ages and hold some dark card or your hand over the lens between bursts
  • Set the ISO to something a bit lower to reduce noise and get better control of shutter speeds
  • Perhaps use manual focus - prefocus on something nearby
Sodium glow - the red - is hard to remove. It's worse in big cities and when it's cloudy or hazy, so avoid those. You can compensate a bit by setting an appropriate white balance, perhaps tungsten. If you shoot in RAW you can do this after the event. Just dialling the orange down in post doesn't often give good results.

I like the idea of (4) very much - lots of different firework displays going on across the valley - but it doesn't quite work.
 
I too like the idea of the last one, I've considered doing something similar myself in the past :) your focus looks to be a little off on the second one...most has been covered in the comments above but your settings are a little bit off, for example in one shot you've shot at f/32 and ISO3200 those are rather counter intuitive, opening up the aperture much wider will allow you to use a much lower ISO (y)

I tend to shoot full manual setting the exposure to bulb and an aperture of around f/9 and ISO500 this allows me to vary my exposure for the intensity of the fireworks (y)

If you need help with firework photography please check out my guide to firework photography in my signature
 
juggler said:
Some pointers for starters:
  • You need a good sturdy tripod
  • Use a cable or remote release - or use delayed release to avoid shake when pressing the shutter
  • Work in manual, and use bulb mode to time your shots. You can even keep the shutter open for ages and hold some dark card or your hand over the lens between bursts
  • Set the ISO to something a bit lower to reduce noise and get better control of shutter speeds
  • Perhaps use manual focus - prefocus on something nearby
Sodium glow - the red - is hard to remove. It's worse in big cities and when it's cloudy or hazy, so avoid those. You can compensate a bit by setting an appropriate white balance, perhaps tungsten. If you shoot in RAW you can do this after the event. Just dialling the orange down in post doesn't often give good results.

I like the idea of (4) very much - lots of different firework displays going on across the valley - but it doesn't quite work.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the comments Juggler, i was having to zoom in for them as i was quite far from any of the displays so i think it would have been a little easier i if i was closer with the focus.

I was a bit nervouse of working in Manual as i still don't quite get the aperture settings yet so i shall have to learn. I shot in Fine but normally shoot in RAW so will use RAW next time to see if i can remove the sodium glow.

My tripod is quite steady but the wind was blowing quite hard where i was set up so i think next time i might try and get a little lower to the ground and see if it makes a difference.

I have purchased a remote release but unfortunately it hasn't arrived yet so was shooting on a 2sec delay to try and minimalise shake.

MWHCVT said:
I too like the idea of the last one, I've considered doing something similar myself in the past :) your focus looks to be a little off on the second one...most has been covered in the comments above but your settings are a little bit off, for example in one shot you've shot at f/32 and ISO3200 those are rather counter intuitive, opening up the aperture much wider will allow you to use a much lower ISO (y)

I tend to shoot full manual setting the exposure to bulb and an aperture of around f/9 and ISO500 this allows me to vary my exposure for the intensity of the fireworks (y)

If you need help with firework photography please check out my guide to firework photography in my signature
Click to expand...

Thanks Matthew for the comment, as above i will try and take all advise on board and hopefully see a big improvement for next time. I have also printed out your guide and will keep it in my camera bag for future reference.
 
Proud2btaff said:
Thanks for the comments Juggler, i was having to zoom in for them as i was quite far from any of the displays so i think it would have been a little easier i if i was closer with the focus.

I was a bit nervouse of working in Manual as i still don't quite get the aperture settings yet so i shall have to learn. I shot in Fine but normally shoot in RAW so will use RAW next time to see if i can remove the sodium glow.

My tripod is quite steady but the wind was blowing quite hard where i was set up so i think next time i might try and get a little lower to the ground and see if it makes a difference.

I have purchased a remote release but unfortunately it hasn't arrived yet so was shooting on a 2sec delay to try and minimalise shake.



Thanks Matthew for the comment, as above i will try and take all advise on board and hopefully see a big improvement for next time. I have also printed out your guide and will keep it in my camera bag for future reference.
Click to expand...

Well I'm glad that you've found the guide useful :) it's a crying shame we don't get more opportunities to photograph fireworks :( as I love them :D
 
MWHCVT said:
Well I'm glad that you've found the guide useful :) it's a crying shame we don't get more opportunities to photograph fireworks :( as I love them :D
Click to expand...

Yeah it was a nice change too trying to photograph something in the dark, I will deffo be going to a display next year and trying to see if I can improve on them.

bbg404 said:
Number 4 for me I really like it well done!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks Ben
 
juggler said:
I was recommended to take any camera strap off - they can really catch the wind.
Click to expand...

Really, will have to take mine off next time then.

johnb said:
All I know is that trying to take pics in the back garden of fireworks is a disaster!!!
Click to expand...

Sounds like there's a story behind this then Johnb, I suppose you would need a really wide lens unless you had a really long garden. lol.
 
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