New Year's Eve fireworks

Joshwain

Joshwain

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I've just though, there's going to be loads of fireworks on Saturday night / Sunday morning begging to be captured. So, I was just wondering what lens, exposure ect. you guys would use? :)
 
Here's one of my first attempts at fireworks:

carnavalfireworks.jpg

Shot at 2011-12-29

I set the ISO to its minimum setting (100), stopped the aperture down as far as it would go (F/25) and opened up the shutter with remote release for a good 6 seconds and used a piece of black card to place over the front of the lens in between the explosions....By using card like that you can add different explosions to the scene....I'm sure others can offer more proffessional advice.....Don't forget your tripod!!!
As for the lens...This was taken with a Nikon 55-200 lens set at 62mm
 
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Great photo! This is going to make me seem extremely 'nooby' but never mind because that's what I am at the moment. I'm currently still shooting with auto turned on almost everything so I think it might be best I experiment with all the manual settings first and actually memorize them so I don't have to look them up each and every time they are mentioned :o
 
Joshwain said:
Great photo! This is going to make me seem extremely 'nooby' but never mind because that's what I am at the moment. I'm currently still shooting with auto turned on almost everything so I think it might be best I experiment with all the manual settings first and actually memorize them so I don't have to look them up each and every time they are mentioned :o
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Ah yes talking of manual, I forgot to mention that you will have to manually focus the lens on infinity before you shoot!
I was convinced that I would come away from this firework display with nothing worth printing but I took my time preparing beforehand by doing what your doing...asking advice.
I purposely chose a spot well back from the scene as I knew the sky would fill with colour and of course it meant I didn't have to fight with the crowds!
I also disciplined myself into not trying to capture everything......I have a dreadful habit of wanting to capture the next shot before I've even finished taking the shot that I'm presently on with....It doesn't work.
I've learnt to accept that to concentrate on obtaining one or two good shots is far more rewarding than capturing dozens that I'm not pleased with......not always easy when all around are moments that you want to capture!
Be sure to post some of your efforts on here....regardless of how 'nooby' they appear to you....People will be only too glad to help you learn from any mistakes you may have made....There again there is every chance you will get that "perfect" firework shot that we will all be envious of :)
 
I'll give it a try and throw what I take on here when I've done :) Thanks for your advice! :D
 
Hope the good old british weather falls right for you....good luck!
 
Fireworks are not as hard as you may think to capture :thumbs: it's all about being prepared :thumbs:

This is one of mine from this year :thumbs:


309/365 by mwhcvt, on Flickr

This was actually made up of 3 exposures one from earlier in the evening for the lighting on the castle, and then two different exposures for the fireworks one for the lower and one for upper fireworks :thumbs:

But it's more than possible to capture nice fireworks in a single exposure, I would recommend f/8-11 / Bulb / ISO100 then set up on a tripod get the focus and composition right and then run the exposure for as long as you feel right, realistically no more than 5-10 seconds should be in the right ball park :thumbs:

It may take you a couple of exposures to get things how you like :thumbs:

As to lens I would suggest something that is nice and short on the focal length eg 17/18 mm depending on what you have available to you :thumbs:

edit: also try and get something in frame to give the fireworks a sense of scale, such as in mine I had the trees and the castle :thumbs:

Matt
MWHCVT
 
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Thanks Matt :D I'll try to bear all that in mind when I'm there :p

I need to either go out and buy a tripod from somewhere or buy one online with next day delivery and hope it turns up, hmmm...
 
Joshwain said:
Thanks Matt :D I'll try to bear all that in mind when I'm there :p

I need to either go out and buy a tripod from somewhere or buy one online with next day delivery and hope it turns up, hmmm...
Click to expand...

I believe a certain well know chain of stores with a blue sign with white writing and a name beginning with J has a sale on all it's tripods at the moment :thumbs:
 
MWHCVT said:
I believe a certain well know chain of stores with a blue sign with white writing and a name beginning with J has a sale on all it's tripods at the moment :thumbs:
Click to expand...

I better find out where my nearest one is and get myself down there today :D

That's actually a great shot Luke to say you didn't use a tripod :D
 
It's looking like the vast majority of England will be dry (cloudy and damp however) for midnight, a close affair for any London photographers wanting to catch the display along the Thames but up here in the Pennines i'm hoping a short walk on the hillside and a low cloud-base will be fruitful to see in the New Year.
 
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Take lots, try different exposures.. you can always composite something together later ;)

It's very useful to have a suite of clean firework bursts in your archives that you can return to when you want/need them.
 
I take it if its a big one you and you time it just right you can get away with a quick snap at 1/50 or faster but a smaller one should be taken longer?
 
My feebile attempts at trying to image some of the fireworks in the Village from atop the local hillside. Battling gusting wind and low clouds, these two were the only (relatively decent) shots I managed to salvage. Still it makes for good practise.

02-1.jpg


03.jpg
 
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