Shooting fireworks: Provide me some tips

Hi Friends, I want to try shhoting fireworks in this month end (Diwali is the biggest fest in India and its on this month

end). D40 is my equipment with 18-200 sigma lens (HSM), also with Tripod and SB600 speedlight. Please provide

me some technical tips to shoot fireworks with this setup.

Thanks in advnce

Ananda, it all depends on the result you like best. I prefer to see them like this rather than the streams of colour

from longer exposures. Hand held, high iso, 200mm focal length and shutter speed around 125th sec or faster.

Check them out <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/13748023@N00/sets/72157601406064092/">here</a> if you like:

I experiment as soon as the fireworks start so I can use the same shutter speed (one to two seconds) and aperture, I can then zoom in and out for different compositions. I like the lowest ISO possible and always use a tripod. Good luck and have fun.

Thanks for the suggestions. One more question: do I need autofocus or MF is ok?

You're welcome, Ananda. I think you'll find manual focus much easier to deal with. Enjoy the festivities and post some results. :-)

100 ASA film, set the camera at F/16 and the shutter-speed to 'B' (you'll need a locking cable release). Open the shuter and wait a couple of minutes, close it, wind on and repeat.<div></div>

Chris, are you serious, a couple of minutes?

Ananda, you can also shoot multiple shorter exposures with fewer fireworks in each, and combine them in postprocessing.

 

Remember that the fireworks towards the end will be lighting up a cloud of light smoke. That's a different appearance from the cleaner light trails of the earlier fireworks -- not better or worse, just different.

I wrote a short guide which you can find here - http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/tutorials/fireworks.html

 

Basically, set focus manually, set ISO to 100, set aperture to f8 and use a shutter speed around 4 seconds (try 2-8 seconds too). Open the shutter BEFORE you see the firework burst (as the rocket goes up).

Thanks for the tips.

Bob, I red your article after posting this thread and searching in PN. It is very useful.

ISO limit is 200 in D40. I enjoy MF and yes f8 is the right aperture. May be I need to concentrate on "when to open the shutter".

 

Rick: I will post my results after my experiments.

Chris: I shoot digital may be 100ASA is equivelent to ISO100. However, in my case ISO 200 is the minimum limit and couple of minutes ? I go with Curtis.

Sarah: Thanks I will consider your suggestion.

Sorry, did someone suggest leaving the shutter open for two minutes? I find that a tad nuts... My suggestion is, use a tripod, a cable release or timer, slow-speed color film, and manual focus; and take lots of pictures. The trickiest thing to shooting fireworks is capturing an interesting, well-exposed background, while paying attention to how many fireworks have been set off (you should be careful not to end up with one big, bright mess in the sky). Good luck, and happy Diwali.

Thanks for the tip and happy Diwali too.

Yes, that shot of mine was one of several with an exposure time of around 2 minutes. So was this:-<div></div>

Thanks, its a good shot indeed.

I will keep this in my mind. Thanks again for visiting the thread.