Tutorial: How to Photograph Fireworks | Salt Lake Photography July 19, 2010
Posted by Emily in : Photography, Tutorial , trackbackI’ve wanted to photograph fireworks for a while now, and with summer in full swing, fireworks nearby have not been lacking.
First off, you absolutely HAVE to use a tripod. As a general rule, you should use a tripod when your shutter speed is shorter than your lens. For example, anytime I use my 18-200 mm lens, I need to use a tripod anytime the shutter is less than 1/200 second. This will help you to avoid camera shake, and will create nice crisp pictures.
At night you need to use long shutter speeds, (one second or longer) and obviously this requires you to use a tripod. At night, when I’m photographing scenery, I like to set my ISO to 100 or 200 to avoid digital noise that comes with using a higher ISO.
This shot was one of my favorite from the shoot:
The tip of the temple is a bit overexposed, but all in all, this one turned out nice. I shot this image at ISO 200, F 10, and 10 seconds.
This next picture was one of my first attempts that night:
It’s pretty clear I had no idea what I was doing. I shot this at ISO 200, F 5.6, and 1/10 seconds. Clearly, I needed a longer shutter speed (this image is very underexposed) to capture the light trails of the fireworks.
I really love the fireworks in this next image, but I must point out a messy mistake that can happen even when you shoot on a tripod . . .
Do you see the double shadow on the temple? Yuck. I know. Bummer for sure. I shot this one at ISO 200, F 20, and 10 seconds. When using long exposures, you should use a remote to trip the shutter instead of your finger to avoid movement of the camera. Well, I have a remote and use it all the time, so I don’t know what I was thinking . . . I used my finger. Also, you should turn your vibration reduction off on your camera when it’s on a tripod. The VR feels for vibration and if it doesn’t feel it, it can create it by feeling for it. (This is from the manual and I’ve tested it and it’s true.)
I really like this next image:
It’s too bad the fireworks shot up higher than I anticipated, and I cut off the fireworks on the top. I could use Photoshop CS5 about now . . . the content aware fill could fix this little problem in one click. Yes, I think I need CS5 ASAP. I shot this image at ISO 200, F 20, and 5 seconds.
This last image was shot at ISO 200, F 20, and 5 seconds.
What I learned from this shoot:
- You need to experiment with f-stops and shutter speeds because there isn’t one perfect combination.
- Turn off the VR on your camera and be sure to use your remote or cable release.
- Don’t crop too closely in-camera. This will allow for fireworks that shoot off higher or wider than expected.
Try this out! You are going to love your fireworks pics!
Comments»
Emily – these are beautiful! And thanks for the tutorial! I can’t wait to try it sometime. I just have to figure out a remote for my camera… I had one for my old medium format & 35 mm cameras, but I don’t think this one has the same type of place to attach it…