Suggestion on Firework photography

[karthick_ganapathy]

Hi all,

 

Could you please suggest me the ideal setup for night sky fireworks..I have 55-250 mm IS/ 50 mm 1.8 and the

kit lens mounted on my 400D.

 

I know this is not the best gear to get pic perfect but still would like to attempt as i am still only an

enthusiast.

Thanks in advance..

 

Cheers,

GK

[bobatkins]

Try an exposure of 2-8 seconds at f8 using ISO 100. Open the shutter when you see the rocket go up, NOT when you see the burst.

 

Some examples here - http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/tutorials/fireworks.html

 

Obviously you need a tripod for such long exposures. You should also focus on infinity and set the focus mode to manual. You'll likely want to use the wide end of your zoom, or your 50mm lens. Somethgng even wider might be useful too. Take lots of shots since they won't all work out well.

[karthick_ganapathy]

Thanks bob.Excellent article which is st forward and really helpful..Missed out the tripod in the list i mentioned.

[JDMvW]

You need wide angle, unless you're a long way away from the display.

 

I personally found, after some experimentation (digital makes this easier to assess), that ISO 800 at f/16 at 2.5 seconds at a 20mm setting seemed to work best for me. Try lower ISOs for more detail, though, as Bob suggests.

 

One folder in my portfolio has a few of these pictures (http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=751984).

[JDMvW]

Oh, and a remote shutter release is almost a necessity at these speeds, as well as the tripod. There are inexpensive clones of the Canon release that work just fine.

[milton-chris]

I actually found that I got great shots with my 70-200/2.8 one year, and then this year, got entirely different shots with my 17-70 Sigma. A lot depends on what sort of fireworks pics you want - clear shots of what the eye sees, or distortions that show the trails in the sky. They require different techniques.

 

If you want lots more info, there's been quite a few discussions on the topic over the last 18 months.

Just search for shooting fireworks.

 

 

HTH

[sattler123]

Here's one I took this summer: Canon G9, ISO100, 4 sec f:/4.5

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/7941293<div></div>

[tibz]

last time I tried was with a handheld TLR medium format camera loaded with velvia 50 on bulb exposure but most works. If I did it again i'd try f8 or so with iso 50 so go figure. If you're shooting digital stop asking questions and go try it yourself.

[karthick_ganapathy]

Hi all thanks you all for the excellent suggestions...I most of the times avoid asking questions and experiment myself but this time around I dont have the option of experimentation as i just get one chance in the near future for such kinda photography..

 

Thanks again..ill try out all as u suggested..

[ryepixels]

Or, if you're somewhere that frowns on tripods (or there's just too many people such as nightly fireworks at a particular "mouse" theme park) then a lamp post and a bandana tied off and looped in a figure 8 with an IS/VR lens can let you do 2 or 1 second exposures (or faster) at f4. If I didn't think I'd be set upon by a surfeit of lawyers I'd post some pictures that I took using this technique last week in Hong Kong ... their display was very bright so trial-and-error saw me slip up to ISO400 so as not to blow out the frame. Used a Canon 24-105 f4L IS at 24-28mm.

 

Simply couldn't afford to do this on film as probably had ~40% success rate