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A Few Tips For Photographing Fireworks This Week
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A Few Tips For Photographing Fireworks This WeekPosted:
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photographer: [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] (not my photograph)
So with some more people getting into photography and 4th of July in 2 days, I thought I would make a guide with some helpful tips on photographing fireworks!
1. What mode should I shoot in?
NEVER shoot fireworks in auto because the metering will be all over the place causing images to be too dark or too bright! Always manual but if your camera has a bulb mode then use it. (B mode on your DSLR's dial). Bulb mode is going to let you select your ISO and Aperture manually and let you hold the shutter button down as long as you want. The longer you hold the shutter button, the longer the shutter speed which is going to let in more light. (You'll capture the tail and the boom of the firework.) Hold the shutter for 2-6 seconds for the best results, if you don't have bulb mode then use manual and set your shutter speed to 2 to 6 seconds.( not 1/2 or 1/6th of a second, 2 to 6 seconds!
2. What settings should I be at for aperture and ISO?
Now you may be thinking that you need a high ISO because you'll be shooting in the dark, but that's the opposite. Your ISO should only be about 100-200 because the fireworks are bright! Keep your aperture around f/11-f/15, this is going to insure you're in focus and you can also adjust it to let it more light or less light.
3. TAKE A TRIPOD
You're going to be holding the shutter open for a few seconds and if you try to hand hold that, your pictures will be blurry and shaky.
4. Shoot in RAW!
Shooting in RAW instead of JPEG is going to save the most image information letting you adjust the settings in lightroom much more than if you shot in JPEG. So if an image is too dark, shooting RAW let's you brighten it up on the computer without losing quality! You should be shooting in RAW always!
5. What lens should I use?
Something in the 24mm-70mm range.
6. What focus should I use?
Set your focus to manual, focus on the first firework and you should be set.
I hope to see some sick shots and if you have any other questions, leave them below!
photographer: [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] (not my photograph)
So with some more people getting into photography and 4th of July in 2 days, I thought I would make a guide with some helpful tips on photographing fireworks!
1. What mode should I shoot in?
NEVER shoot fireworks in auto because the metering will be all over the place causing images to be too dark or too bright! Always manual but if your camera has a bulb mode then use it. (B mode on your DSLR's dial). Bulb mode is going to let you select your ISO and Aperture manually and let you hold the shutter button down as long as you want. The longer you hold the shutter button, the longer the shutter speed which is going to let in more light. (You'll capture the tail and the boom of the firework.) Hold the shutter for 2-6 seconds for the best results, if you don't have bulb mode then use manual and set your shutter speed to 2 to 6 seconds.( not 1/2 or 1/6th of a second, 2 to 6 seconds!
2. What settings should I be at for aperture and ISO?
Now you may be thinking that you need a high ISO because you'll be shooting in the dark, but that's the opposite. Your ISO should only be about 100-200 because the fireworks are bright! Keep your aperture around f/11-f/15, this is going to insure you're in focus and you can also adjust it to let it more light or less light.
3. TAKE A TRIPOD
You're going to be holding the shutter open for a few seconds and if you try to hand hold that, your pictures will be blurry and shaky.
4. Shoot in RAW!
Shooting in RAW instead of JPEG is going to save the most image information letting you adjust the settings in lightroom much more than if you shot in JPEG. So if an image is too dark, shooting RAW let's you brighten it up on the computer without losing quality! You should be shooting in RAW always!
5. What lens should I use?
Something in the 24mm-70mm range.
6. What focus should I use?
Set your focus to manual, focus on the first firework and you should be set.
I hope to see some sick shots and if you have any other questions, leave them below!
Last edited by Nyan ; edited 1 time in total
#2. Posted:
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I've had these problems in the past. ;o Thanks for the advice. =)
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#3. Posted:
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This is a bit off topic, but you do have a guess at what camera was used for that photo?
I have been wanting to get a good camera.
Not to get too into photography, but just to take some nice shots here and there.
I've been wanting one that can take really good quality photos, and good low light photos exactly like the one you posted.
I have been wanting to get a good camera.
Not to get too into photography, but just to take some nice shots here and there.
I've been wanting one that can take really good quality photos, and good low light photos exactly like the one you posted.
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#4. Posted:
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Joined: Jul 23, 201013Year Member
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Reputation Power: 187
Illustrated wrote This is a bit off topic, but you do have a guess at what camera was used for that photo?
I have been wanting to get a good camera.
Not to get too into photography, but just to take some nice shots here and there.
I've been wanting one that can take really good quality photos, and good low light photos exactly like the one you posted.
The photographer removed the exif data from the image so I can't tell you.
I do know that the lens he used is an ultra wide angle lens.
Anything Canon or Nikon DSLR will suit you just fine. If you want to message me budgets I can help you out specifically with picking a camera.
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#5. Posted:
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Thanks for this TuT! I tired to take some photos last night of some fireworks and they came out pretty bad, lol. Now I know why though...
I'll surely be taking some of these tips tonight!
I'll surely be taking some of these tips tonight!
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