Article: 5 Tips for Photographing Fireworks

[Marshal]

Thanks Gary.  

A question though. I can understand why you need to remove a PL filter for fireworks, but why a UV? It's essentially a clear filter with little or no filter factor. What effect would it have on a fireworks shot?

I'm hoping the D2X CMOS sensor & long exposure NR will allow me to take long exposures of fireworks, etc up to 30 seconds with little or no hot pixel noise. Back in the day of film, I most always went for 20-30 second exposures around f16-22 to get the maximum # of fireworks bursts with distant buildings/landmarks in good focus also. Worked very well with Provia. The hot pixel noise of the D1X ruled that out for anything beyond 3-4 seconds, but maybe I can get back into fireworks again with the D2X.

[DiaAzul]

Tip 5: Background
Another thing to look out for when photographing fireworks – check the background of the picture. Ensure that there are no city lights or moon in the background. The presence of these lights will diminish the impact of the fireworks display.

I would tend to disagree with this statement. A good firework photograph quite often has some sort of context to it, which in many cases is the city skyline. The most important aspect is to get a balanced exposure between the background and fireworks. This can be achieved by doing some test exposures before the fireworks go off to determine an appropriate aperture and shutter speed for the background and then using this as a basis for the duration of exposure when fireworks actually start going off (keep aperture constant during the firework display).

My best experience with fireworks is to set aperture and then use the bulb mode (with cable release) to open the shutter prior to a burst of fireworks and then close the shutter after sufficient light has been captured (i.e. before the image is totally blown out). As the amount of light generated by fireworks is dependent upon the specific burst, the duration of any capture will also change. It is possible, after a bit of practice to get a decent exposure using your own judgement of the scene rather than fixing the camera to take a fixed shutter speed.

Jonathan's point with respect to focusing is also important. The camera should be pre-focused in manual mode and auto-focus should be avoided at all cost. If you are far enough away from the fireworks and using a sufficiently small aperture then there will be no focusing problems. Your own results may vary, but I find that turning off the Image Stabilisation also improves the image for long duration shots.

[Peter McLennan]

Nice shot indeed.  An image like that takes good equipment, years of experience, careful planning, and lots of dedication, creativity and skill.

[David R. Gurtcheff]

I found the article. Popular Photography, June 2005 issue, page 154. It states to set the camera on "B", and for ISO 50 use f5.6, ISO 100 use f8, and for ISO 200 use f11, etc. I will try it this July 4th.
Dave

[wolfnowl]

I found the article. Popular Photography, June 2005 issue, page 154. It states to set the camera on "B", and for ISO 50 use f5.6, ISO 100 use f8, and for ISO 200 use f11, etc. I will try it this July 4th.

Okay, so I fail to see the relevance of this.  Exposures are an f/stop-shutter speed-ISO combination.  Shooting at f/5.6 at ISO 50 for 4 seconds is the same exposure as shooting at f/8 at ISO 100 for 4 seconds since ISO 100 is double the 'speed' and f/8 is one stop/ half the light  of f/5.6.  Since you're using 'B' on the camera, the exposure length is up to you anyway.  The only difference is in depth of field, and unless you're standing close enough to get yourself singed, that doesn't matter a whole lot.

Mike.

P.S.  As Johnathon said, I can't see being able to shoot from a boat - maybe a flat bottom pontoon boat or a SWATH ship in dead calm water, but any movement is going to create blur with those exposure times... maybe an artistic effect if you're lucky.

[Jonathan Wienke]

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[gary_hendricks]

Here is an article I published on my website about fireworks photography. I hope it'll be useful to some of you in this forum.

5 Tips for Photographing Fireworks
by Gary Hendricks

Imagine you’re at a celebration event, camera in hand, waiting for a fireworks display. There’s a certain excitement when you shoot pictures of fireworks. Maybe it’s because the lights move so fast. Maybe it’s because shooting these pictures require tricky exposure settings. In any case, I find shooting fireworks to be one of the most interesting types of photography. To help those who are new to this genre of photography, here are some good tips to follow.
 


A spectacular display of fireworks
 
Tip 1: Remove UV or Polarizing Filters
This is always my first tip to photographers shooting fireworks. Remove the UV or polarizing filters from your camera before the fireworks display. I have, on many occasions, forgotten to do this and the results were often disastrous. By the time I got the lenses off, I’d have missed several minutes of the fireworks display.
 
Tip 2: Right Angles to the Wind
Try to position yourself at right angles to the wind. Positioning yourself in this manner ensures that the light bursts in the fireworks streak across you as you snap pictures. This creates the interesting fireworks streaking effect you see in so many photos out there. The other advantage is that smoke will be blown out of your frame faster, giving rise to nicer, cleaner shots.
 
Tip 3: Bring the Tripod
Fireworks (and night photography in general) require long exposures. As such, always remember to bring your tripod along for the occasion. Ensure that you set up the tripod and try out some sample exposure settings way before those fireworks come on.
 
Tip 4: Focusing
As the fireworks display comes on, I think it’s pretty important to focus on the first few bursts of fireworks. Taking the time to do this will ensure that you have nice, well-focused shots subsequently. Many amateurs tend to get excited once we see and hear the fireworks, and forget about focusing altogether.

Tip 5: Background
Another thing to look out for when photographing fireworks – check the background of the picture. Ensure that there are no city lights or moon in the background. The presence of these lights will diminish the impact of the fireworks display.
 
Conclusion
In summary, fireworks are a beautiful thing to photograph. However, they do present a special challenge in that the lights come out for only a short time. Moreover, the exposure settings can be tricky. If you keep practicing though, I’m sure that one day you’ll become an expert at photographing fireworks.

[Jonathan Wienke]

You kinda missed the most important part: the need to find an aperture/ISO setting that results in decent exposure. If you get that right all you have to do is open the shutter shortly after launch, and close it when it starts fading out. A tripod is good, and bulb mode is indispensible. Also tip #2 is off base. The best shots are when the wind is blowing directly away from you. And if you're going to pre-focus on the first few displays, make sure you don't have your camera's AF trying to re-focus every shot. You'll miss shots as the AF tries to find something to lock on to in the darkness, and then the camera probably won't be focused on anything when it does go off.

[Marshal]

Nice shot DiaAzul!  

[David R. Gurtcheff]

I recently read (I think in Pop Photo) an article that gave suggesterd lens openings based on ISO, and assuming bulb exposures. I'll try to find it. I agree with Jonathen....the most important aspect of fire works photography is getting the proper f stop, and "guessing" how long to leave the shutter open. I have used a black card in front of the lens, to cover and uncover it to get several bursts. Some (digital) exposures were good, some over exposed, some underexposed. When I was shooting color neg, this was pretty easy, as it's almost impossible to over-expose color neg film, especially if you are printing them yourself (I was).
Dave

[hamertime1]

I am shooting with the Mamyia 645afd and P25. I am going to try out the fireworks display this fourth of July also but I was wondering do I need to be completely stable. I shoot from a boat in the water which could be a little rocky. Also does anyone have a prefered lens size

[Jonathan Wienke]

You're kidding, right? Shooting fireworks from a boat is totally impractical. The motion of the boat will ruin the shots, as exposure times involved are measured in seconds, not fractions thereof.

[boku]

I found the article. Popular Photography, June 2005 issue, page 154. It states to set the camera on "B", and for ISO 50 use f5.6, ISO 100 use f8, and for ISO 200 use f11, etc. I will try it this July 4th.

Okay, so I fail to see the relevance of this.  Exposures are an f/stop-shutter speed-ISO combination.  Shooting at f/5.6 at ISO 50 for 4 seconds is the same exposure as shooting at f/8 at ISO 100 for 4 seconds since ISO 100 is double the 'speed' and f/8 is one stop/ half the light  of f/5.6.  Since you're using 'B' on the camera, the exposure length is up to you anyway.  The only difference is in depth of field, and unless you're standing close enough to get yourself singed, that doesn't matter a whole lot.

Mike.

P.S.  As Johnathon said, I can't see being able to shoot from a boat - maybe a flat bottom pontoon boat or a SWATH ship in dead calm water, but any movement is going to create blur with those exposure times... maybe an artistic effect if you're lucky.

Err...

I think you are missing the point here. A firework display is a moving constant source of light. The instantaneous effect is goverened by the aperture, film speed, intensity of the light source, and apparant rate of traversal of the fireworks - not the shutter speed. The transit of the light through a point on the frame establishes the equivelent of a shutter speed.

Really!

[wolfnowl]

I think you are missing the point here. A firework display is a moving constant source of light. The instantaneous effect is goverened by the aperture, film speed, intensity of the light source, and apparant rate of traversal of the fireworks - not the shutter speed. The transit of the light through a point on the frame establishes the equivelent of a shutter speed.

You're right, Bob... I was missing the point.  It's the equivalent of taking a flash picture in total darkness.  Since all of the light is coming from the flash, exposure becomes determined by ISO and f/stop and the 'exposure time' comes from the light provided by the flash.  An exposure of 1/60 second or 3 minutes wouldn't matter if the flash was the only source of light available.  Got it now...

Mike.