Tips on shooting fireworks with A200?

[charlie_henss]

Folks:

 

With the Fourth of July coming up, I'm curious to know if anyone has suggestions on shooting fireworks with

cameras in the Sony Alpha line.

 

I have an A-200 with the 18-70 mm kit lens (though I might have a 70-210 mm by the fourth). I'll be about four

Chicago blocks (one-half mile) from the fireworks site--and 10 stories up.

 

I've already discovered I need a tripod. But do I really need to use the camera's manual settings, or can I just

turn the dial to "no flash" and press the shutter button as desired?

 

If I do use the manual settings, what should I use for the white balance setting?

 

(Incidentally, the same organization that will be sending up fireworks on July Fourth did a smaller show on the

weekend to celebrate the summer solstice; I'm going to attach (if I can) the best pictures I got from that.)

 

Thanks for your ideas and comments.

 

Charlie<div></div>

[phule]

You can use the resources of this very site to search for tips on fireworks photography. Almost all of them start with: "put your camera on a tripod."

[ablyth]

There's a tutorial that you can use here: http://www.winjeel.com/photography/how_to_take_photos/fireworks.htm and you're right, tripod, tripod, and tripod... but don't forget a remote shutter release is the other important thing.

[bob_osullivan]

This shot looks a bit overexposed for fireworks.

 

Tripod is a must as is a cable release. Set low ISO 100 or 200. Use manual only. Set aperture to F16. Set shutter to 4 seconds. Adjust aperture up or down one stop or shutter up or down one second as needed. The idea is to have most of the backround just about blacked out, if you really want the fireworks to pop. The images will be shaper if you don't over expose.

 

Check your noise cancelation settings if the delay between exposures is to long due to processing, shut that feature off.

 

Here's an example. http://www.pbase.com/bob_osullivan/image/83096747

[aaron meyer]

Tripod, cable release, manual focus set for infinity, F11 or higher.

 

I used to shoot them with ISO 50 Velvia slide film and the "bulb" setting for the shutter. I'd just guesstimate the shutter speed at 5 or so seconds and they would tend to come out nicely. The trick is finding a location that has no other bright spots to compete with the fireworks, or at least where you can frame the shot to exclude other bright spots. As Bob said, the fireworks will probably show almost no matter what, you just want to remember not to leave the shutter open so long that the background begins to resolve.

 

Most cameras will perform a "dark frame subtraction" for noise reduction. This is non-destructive to detail, but can take a long time so if you want fast shot-to-shot time, disable this feature.