firework photography

[andy owen]

I recently went to see the Halle orchestra where they had some fireworks. I had all the timings correct for the light bursts but unfortunately some of the shots were out of focus. Can somebody help me with settings for fireworks please? I will be attending Southport Fireworks to music in the next coupleof months and I want a spectacular set of shots. I will be using my 50d with 17-85mm, tripod and remote shutter. I also have my 10-22mm. Which would you use?

 

[-Rob-]

As you'll be shooting in the dark from a reasonable distance away from the fireworks it is usually recommended to switch to manual focus and set it to infinity and use a small aperture to increase the depth of field and allow for long exposure times. Also keep the iso at about 100 or 200 to keep the noise to a minimum.

 

[Gordon Scott]

You seem to have most of it all right... did you use manual focus and what aperture?

 

[ChrisGaskin]

Are they slighty out of focus or grossly out of focus? could they be photoshopped to create bokeh bursts?

 

[mrtoad]

wide angle...slow speed
the guys have mentioned manual focus but you can focus on something with highlights far off...50m is enough and at f8...use av...you will get your shots
as for speed....if you set for manual set the aperture at f8 and the speed at say 1/15 and then try out varying speeds to get either long streaks or frozen displays

next time i go to fireworks... i will try these techniques as well

cheers

 

[itsdavedotnet]

I tend to go in bulb shutter setting (ie how long you hold down the shutter for), f8ish or so, shoot wide, and try to get a context to the photos - just a firework exploding in black is a tad boring, whereas all the people watching is a much more interesting photo.

A tripod is good if you want to get a higher % of good photos, but from a decentish length show, and usual steadying tricks, you should be ok handheld and get a few decent shots.

 

[Mike Jackson]

I had a play recently and ended up with a narrow aperture, ISO 100 and 10 secs exposure. It made the fireworks look a lot better tahn they really were because I got multiple fireworks in one shot.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_jackson/sets/72157621860946691/

 

[Paulie-W]

My firework shoot was iso 200 0.8 @ f18 http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=154566 If its any help

 

[chameleon]

Well the big end of festival fireworks concert in Edinburgh is this Sunday. I'm trying to think of a good vantage spot as viewing is very restricted this year with Princes Steet still a cratered warzone (people versus the trams) Calton Hill is a good spot but it'll be mega busy this year cos of the restrictions. Inverleith will be the same. I'm open to suggestions for a good spot.