017- May 28, 2010 -- Fireworks! Picture That!
It’s that time of year to enjoy the excitement of fireworks displays; how could we get through a summer without seeing at least one – and maybe thinking of taking some photos for the family album. Maybe you’ve already attempted fireworks photos and found them disappointing. With a little planning, photographing fireworks is not difficult, but you can’t leave your camera set on “AUTO” and expect good results; and, sorry to say, some consumer level cameras cannot be set up to photograph fireworks successfully. Let’s examine the subject (fireworks) to understand how to do it.
First, the obvious: it needs to be dark for fireworks to be successful – back to that in a minute. A sky display is created by firing a rocket – usually from the ground – up to a large open area of sky. When the head of the rocket explodes, it throws out pieces of burning material - probably made of black powder with some extra chemicals mixed in for color. As the burning pieces move across the dark background, they don’t actually leave a trail of light; the eye retains the image of the bright light, so the viewer perceives the effect of streaks of light suspended in the sky.
If you try to photograph this event with the camera set on “AUTO”, the camera tries to set exposure for the dark sky; it tries to find a focus point; the flash fires, lighting up anything within 10 to 15 feet. What do you get? IF the camera would let you take the picture and IF your timing was superb: you would probably have a picture out of focus – it can’t find a focus point in the dark sky; points of white light in the sky – AUTO with flash on probably set the camera for 1/60th of a second exposure and the pieces of burning powder didn’t travel very far during the exposure time; a photo of the foreground objects - if there was anything in the foreground to light with the flash. That sure doesn’t sound very exciting!
If your camera will allow it, these are settings you’ll need to apply.
First – use a tripod. The exposures need to be long enough to record the movement of light in the fireworks display. There is almost no way that you can hand-hold the camera and keep it steady – even using a dead-rest.
Next – the camera needs to be set manually to get a good exposure.
- As a starting point, set your camera for largest file size and RAW file type (if your camera will record RAW format and if you have the software to process RAW files – otherwise, leave the camera set for largest JPG file ) – this will allow the most possible applications for any super-good photos you produce.
- Set the ISO between 100 and 200 - to record the least noise in the exposures.
- Set the f-stop for f-11. Keep in mind, fireworks are bright (-- very bright!); by closing down the lens opening, less light gets to the camera sensor. Especially with the first exposures, monitor the results on the camera’s LCD screen; turn on the histogram to see if the pict is over-exposed; if the color of the fireworks is blown out to all white, close the aperture down to f-16 or even f-22, or, change the ISO to a lower number – either method will allow less light to be recorded.
- Set the shutter speed for 2 seconds; when you press the shutter button, the shutter will stay open for 2 seconds recording any light that comes through the lens. Experiment with shutter speed setting between 1 second and 8 seconds. For more control, set shutter speed for “B” (bulb) and use a remote shutter release cable. This setting allows the shutter to stay open as long as the shutter button is held down. The shutter release cable allows you to avoid contact with the camera and the resulting camera shake.
- Manually focus the camera for the fireworks. It’s dark, so the auto focus can’t lock onto anything for a sharp photo. When in doubt, set the focus for infinity – this should place anything beyond about 50 feet in sharp focus.
Keep in mind, some luck is involved in great fireworks photos – more so if you use a set shutter speed instead of remote cable release and Bulb setting. Timing the exposure to happen when the fireworks explodes will depend a little on luck; not vibrating the camera when tripping the shutter will depend on a steady hand. If you’re not using a remote shutter release, consider using the delay timer – you know – the one that allows you to click the shutter button and then run around in front to the camera to be in the picture; a two-second delay allows the camera to stop moving after you press the shutter button.
Typically, when photographing fireworks, only a few of the picts will be really good ones; so take lots of pictures, planning to discard most of them and only keeping a few.
Tip #1 – Watch the display to determine the center where most of the fireworks are exploding and center your camera on that point.
Tip #2 – You can zoom in and out for different effects – even zooming while the exposure is being recorded.
Tip #3 – Consider setting up your camera and tripod with objects in the foreground. These will appear as silhouettes in the photo and add depth and perspective to the photos.
Tip #4 – If you watch the fireworks launch point, you can see a trail of sparks as the rocket climbs into the sky; this can help you time the shutter release.
Tip #5 – It’s dark – so know how to turn on the camera’s display light and even bring a small flashlight.
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