With July 1st being just around the corner, some of us may be thinking about trying to capture the holiday fireworks with our digital cameras. If this sounds like you, don't ponder. Absolutely go ahead and give it a try. Why? Not only can fireworks make for beautiful, striking images, shooting them can also be a great learning experience. Without a doubt shooting fireworks is far from being the typical photographic situation. You're out in the dark dealing with a subject that's completely black one moment, then filled with bright, colourful light the next. There's also no automatic mode that will give you the great results you're really looking for. Let's have a look at some of the tools you'll want to have and the techniques you'll need to be familiar with before you head out the door.
What to Bring:
A Sturdy Tripod
Because you'll be shooting in the dark and because you'll want to capture those long trails of light that fireworks produce, your camera will be using very slow shutter speeds. How slow? Full seconds rather than fractions of a second. So unless you like images filled with wiggly, meaningless lines, a tripod is simply a must-have. Also keep in mind that if you're by a lake or other large body of water, it can get windy. A solid, sturdy tripod will always be better than a light, flimsy one.
Memory-Lots of It
For most of us, capturing fireworks will be somewhat of a hit & miss affair. Although capturing a few bursts of fireworks is not difficult, capturing that perfect shot with just the right combination of bursts and colours requires persistence. Also - and very importantly - you don't want to run out of memory before the finale, as it's usually then that the show climaxes and the greatest displays are made.
Plenty of Battery Power
For the same reasons explained above, you'll want too make sure you've got plenty of battery power. You'll be taking quite a number of pictures and each of those pictures will be taken with a long shutter speed - thus taxing your battery a little more than usual.
A Cable Release or Remote Control
Dblespite your camera being on a good, sturdy tripod, pressing the shutter button with your finger can still cause a little bit of a shake. Although minor, this can adversely affect your pictures. For best results, use a cable release or remote control.
Lens of Choice
The ideal lens focal length can obviously be influenced by how far you'll be from the show and what you'll want to include in your images, but generally speaking a lens that covers the 24mm-105mm range (35mm equivalent) should serve most of us well. On the widest end of the range a lens like this will allow you to include the overall view of the scene with some people silhouetted in the foreground. On the telephoto end, it should allow you to fill the frame with just a few bursts.
A Flashlight
For obvious reasons. Avoid pointing the flashlight into your viewfinder (where you normally look through the camera) during exposures. If you got a viewfinder/eyepiece cover with your camera (it may be on your camera strap) this would be a time to make use of it.
Technique & Other Advice:
1) Finding the Ideal Vantage Point:
Get to the site well ahead of time so you can scope the place out. Consider staying back far enough so that you'll see the fireworks in front of you rather than over you. If possible, find a spot where you'll be able to include a building or other landmark in your composition. If the fireworks are over a lake, set yourself up so that the water is also included in your composition - reflections can add that much more to the overall image. Be aware of nearby lampposts or other strong ambient light sources. These can cause unwanted lens flare or a reduction of contrast in your pictures. Also try to position yourself up-wind rather than down-wind as smoke from fireworks can also obscure your view, reducing clarity and contrast.
2) Camera Settings:
The best results are obtained using a camera with manual controls. This means all DSLRs and a number of advanced Point & Shoot cameras. Check your manual if you have trouble finding any of the settings described here. If you don't have the controls mentioned below, look for a 'Fireworks' mode and give it a try. Otherwise you may be out of luck.
Set a low ISO setting (200 ISO or lower);
Shut off auto focus and set the lens to infinity focus or just before infinity;
Disable your flash;
Set your camera's exposure mode to Manual;
Set your camera's shutter speed to the 'Bulb' setting. This will allow you to hold the shutter open as long as you want.
Set your aperture between f/8 and f/11. This will create good depth of field as well as produce firework streaks that are not too thick and fuzzy, nor too weak and thin;
Noise Reduction? This one's your call. Turning a camera's noise reduction feature ON can help reduce the amount of noise in your images, but it will also create a longer delay between pictures-which in turn may cause you to miss an ideal moment. If you're handy with Photoshop Elements or some other photo editor, you can leave the camera's Noise Reduction feature OFF and then apply one of a number of techniques to reduce the noise in your images afterwards.
Picture Quality: JPG compression artifacts can be particularly problematic for this type of subject as they can be quite noticeable in areas where there is high tonal and color contrast - like where the dark sky meets the bright streaks of a fireworks burst. Choose the highest quality jpg setting on your camera or (if you're prepared to deal with it) choose your camera's Raw mode for the ultimate quality and post processing control.
Connect a cable release or get your remote control ready. Ideally you'll be using one of these to click and hold open the shutter each and every time;
Mount your camera on a tripod and compose the scene in your viewfinder.
3) Composing & Shooting:
As mentioned above, consider including any water, buildings and other significant landmarks as a foreground or backdrop when composing your scene,.
Consider including people in the foreground to silhouette them against the fireworks.
When ready to start taking pictures, click down on your remote release and keep the shutter open between 2 and 8 seconds for each exposure. This will depend on what's happening in the sky. The idea is to open the shutter at just the right moment and to keep it open for the right duration. It's all about capturing the best bursts and recording the streaks of light they leave behind.
Alternatively, consider holding the shutter open for longer periods of time (20 to 30 seconds) and using a black piece of material (that, piece of cardboard, etc...) to cover the lens in between bursts. This will help capture lots of bursts or explosions in one frame.
Take lots of pictures. Count on a relatively low success rate - like 2 or 3 good shots every 30.
Keep in mind that the finale of the fireworks display is usually the most intense. Don't run out of memory or battery power before this happens.
And one final point…Don't get discouraged if your first attempt at capturing
fireworks doesn't land you a prize winning image. As with many other things in life, experience usually helps.
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thanks for sharing, jenn.