tommy2 Loc: Fort Worth, Texas

The city parks department conducted a brief fireworks warm-up last night in preparation for the annual fourth of July celebration. Having never attempted to photograph fireworks I read a little, set up the camera on a tripod with remote shutter release, then started twisting knobs and clicking away. I'd really appreciate a comment or more on how to do a better job of setting up the camera. Thank You, Tommy (The final camera settings are below. The only one that seemed good was the focus - in the viewfinder anyway.)

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

While everyone will have their own way of doing it, I set the camera to manual . . . everything. Set focus first. You can do this by focusing on the fireworks coming before the ones you capture. Set aperture to f/8 to f/11. Set your shutter on 'Bulb'. When you hear the 'thump' of the launch of the next firework, open the shutter, and leave it open until the firework has dissipated (maybe 3-5 seconds). Chimp to see if you have focus correctly, then just sit there and fire the manual shutter for each launch.

tommy2 Loc: Fort Worth, Texas

grandpaw

What works for me 100% of the time are these settings. I let the camera auto focus on something at the same distance as the fireworks or on the first set of bursts and then turn OFF auto focus, you DO NOT want auto focus on during the show but do double check your focus for acuracy. Shoot on MANUAL MODE at ISO 100, F16, with a ten second exposure. All of this on a tripod. When the fireworks begin I press the shutter and at the end of the ten seconds I repeat the shutter again, over and over until the end of the show. The smaller F stop will give you more detail in the steaks of light and better colors. Using a ten second shutter will allow for multiple bursts giving you a more interesting image. This allows you to actually enjoy watching the show at the same time you are photographing it. Wide F stops with large openings will give you wide fuzzy streaks instead of nice sharp detailed ones. I have found these settings to work EVERY TIME. If you think there are too many bursts in you image cut back to maybe 8 second exposure. Hope this helps, Grandpaw

tommy2 Loc: Fort Worth, Texas

This is exactly what I needed to hear, I was thinking I'd get my f2/8 lens out to be able to clean up the image - ha. Ignorance is rampant here - joining this group and getting great suggestions is even much better than what I had hoped, THANK YOU!

grandpaw

A lot of people think you need a high ISO and fast lens but nothing is further from the truth. Remember you are taking pictures of fireworks and they ARE light. Anyone with a kit lens and a manual mode camera should be able to nail fireworks with no problem at all if you use these settings. No fancy camera or expensive lens needed to get great pictures. Just remember to check your focus, because that can really mess up your photos. You will get great pictures, Grandpaw

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Tommy, welcome to the Hog!
Here’s a post I did a few years ago on fireworks.
Lots of examples with settings.
Hope this can help. Good luck
SS
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-216114-1.html

tommy2 Loc: Fort Worth, Texas

Going to read and think about these suggestion for about 7 hours then go out and try again!

grandpaw

Well, we are waiting to see the results from last night.

tommy2 Loc: Fort Worth, Texas

Hi Grandpaw,
The results were really good. My camera needed much more expertise with twisting the knobs and pushing the buttons - thank you for your help! The wind was blowing around 20 to 25 mph which gave the images an interesting look. Three images out of a double handful of "keepers" are included below: (Hope you like them.)

grandpaw

Looks like you did pretty well. Always set up your camera when it is light out so you can easily see the dials and buttons and take along a flashlight just in case you need to change or check your settings.

tommy2 Loc: Fort Worth, Texas