Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Looking for advice on firework photography. Shutter speed etc. thanks!!

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

Others will no doubt have better advice, but for me, exposures of one or two seconds, or less. Just experiment to see what settings to use. One of my shots was ISO 1600, F-5.6, and .6 of a second, so it depends on the effect you want. Digital photography is great because you can take a shot, look at it, and make whatever adjustments and shoot again. Plenty of fireworks and plenty of time to get it right!

Ava'sPapa Loc: Cheshire, Ct.

I should think that you can get some great tips from the internet. I'd go there first.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Isn't that where we are now?

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

YouTube!

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

I start at ISO 100 f11 and adjust after a couple of bursts have gone off -- adjustment is often needed due to distance. Set your shutter to bulb. If you are close they are quite bright. A tripod is a must. If you have one, use a remote. Set the camera to manual focus and maximum distance. At 24 to 35mm everything from a hundred feet to infinity will be in focus. Make sure you don't have autofocus engaged. You will see the rocket trail when they fire off and sometimes I will press the shutter button at that time and sometimes I will wait a second or two to just get the burst. If you capture all the rocket trails, all your shots will look like illuminated palm trees. I will also hold the shutter button down for a couple of bursts at times and at other times just try to capture a single burst. I find a 24 to 35-mm lens to be the best option. If you want to get multiple bursts onto one frame, one technique is to take a piece of non-reflective black cardboard, hold the shutter button down, and put the black card in front of the lens between bursts. If you hold the shutter button down too long you will end up with just a blown-out mess. I shoot anywhere from 4 to 6 fireworks shows each summer. All my shots are done between ISO 100 and 200, f10 to f13, and as I said, will use different release points to get a variety of results. If you do not have a remote shutter release, set the camera for 2, 3, or 4 seconds and use the delay (set it for 2 seconds). When you see the rocket launch, press the shutter button and take your hand off the camera to avoid shaking it. Here are a few shots I took. Another thing you could look for is something in the foreground that would add to the shot. I've taken shots of people silhouetted and in the last shot, I found a tree that worked well. Good luck and get some good shots. One other point -- the end of the show -- they usually fire all rockets at once making a grand exit. If you try to shoot this, you will most likely end up with a blown-out glob of white light. I found that if I press the shutter button as fast as I can, I will get some good multiple bursts. This will result in 15 to 20 shots of which some will be good while others will just be too overexposed. I usually get three to four good shots by doing this.

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Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

He is on the internet as are you and I!

Ava'sPapa Loc: Cheshire, Ct.

dlmorris said it best (YouTube) which is what I meant. Tough room!!

Orphoto Loc: Oregon

Settings will vary depending on the setup of the show you are attending. You will want manual everything including white balance (5000k). I suggest base iso, vary aperture to taste but try starting at f11, and bulb shutter speed. Use the bulb setting by allowing a few bursts to populate the frame and then move onto the next exposure. Results are a crap shoot but improve with experience. Dont be sad if only 10% are wonderful. Do look at led screen and modify aperture as needed.

Many of my best results are 6 to 10 secs long, but that is driven by pacing of the show. By the way an over the top furious finale is extremely hard to capture well.

If you have a neat backdrop like a city skyline try to get additional exposure time in between bursts so it shows up closely balanced with the fireworks brightness.

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Thanks so much! Your photos are beautiful!!!! I will give it a try….

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Thank you! I will give it a go!

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

The 5th is spectacular! All are wow!

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

Here's the advice I will be using that I received from my Oly Newsletter for taking fireworks photos;

SET THE SCENE
Your first step in taking great pictures of fireworks is to simply select the Fireworks Scene Mode*. The camera will then slow the shutter speed value and set the focusing point to infinity (∞).

Here’s a rundown of common adjustments made in the Fireworks Scene Mode:

Shutter speed is set to four seconds, which helps capture the streaming trails of the fireworks.
Sets the ISO to base/100/200 or a similar lower setting and the f-stop to f11 or a similar higher aperture value.
Sets the White Balance to 5300K.
Sets the exposure compensation to -1.0 EV. This is a full 1-stop underexposure to keep the firework highlights from burning out.
Sets the color to Vivid, the Saturation to High and the Contrast to Hard, all of these changes help enhance color.
Sets the Sharpness to Soft, which uses minimal sharpening in anticipation of post-processing.

* Exact settings may vary by camera model.

Naturally some of the settings may also vary according to weather and lighting conditions....Cheers, good luck and Happy 4th!

TerryVS

Well I do believe you're right, this is the internet! I appreciate you responding to the OP, I learned a couple of tips myself. Have a great day!

MosheR Loc: New York City

This IS the internet. LOL