So what's the best way to take pics of fireworks?

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Camera settings: At least F8 or F11, F16 or higher if the fireworks are bright. Remember that you want the sky to be black so you should be intentionally under-exposing slightly. Set the lens to infinity for focus. I would not use anything longer than a 50mm lens unless you are very far away from the display. You might even want to use a 35mm or wider lens.
ZV

hmm...I wonder if my 35 f/2 would be wide enough, or should I just stick with the 17-85?

Nate

Depends on how close you are. Set up the camera and sacrifice the first few fireworks to check your framing. If they are filling the frame of the 35mm, you're golden.

Still, I'd use the zoom. You're not going to notice the added distortion given the subject matter and the zoom's slower speed isn't going to be an issue since you'll be shooting at F8 and above anyway (at which point the zoom should look nice anyway since lenses get better as you stop them down). That lets you make adjustments faster.

ZV

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: jonessoda
Camera settings: At least F8 or F11, F16 or higher if the fireworks are bright. Remember that you want the sky to be black so you should be intentionally under-exposing slightly. Set the lens to infinity for focus. I would not use anything longer than a 50mm lens unless you are very far away from the display. You might even want to use a 35mm or wider lens.
ZV

hmm...I wonder if my 35 f/2 would be wide enough, or should I just stick with the 17-85?

Nate

Where the heck did that quote come from? I see it nowhere in the thread. :Q

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: cherrytwist
I would recommend to sit back and enjoy the display, rather than trying to snap pics of it.

But that's me.

BTW it's a great one :thumbsup:

Oh I've been thinking of that. I'll probably only take pictures for a couple minutes and then sit back and enjoy it. That's why I'm hesitant to buy a crappy tripod just to use for a couple minutes.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: jonessoda
Camera settings: At least F8 or F11, F16 or higher if the fireworks are bright. Remember that you want the sky to be black so you should be intentionally under-exposing slightly. Set the lens to infinity for focus. I would not use anything longer than a 50mm lens unless you are very far away from the display. You might even want to use a 35mm or wider lens.
ZV

hmm...I wonder if my 35 f/2 would be wide enough, or should I just stick with the 17-85?

Nate

Where the heck did that quote come from? I see it nowhere in the thread. :Q

I screwed up the quote when I erased part of it 😱 . It's from ZV.

Nate

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

Originally posted by: NTB

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Camera settings: At least F8 or F11, F16 or higher if the fireworks are bright. Remember that you want the sky to be black so you should be intentionally under-exposing slightly. Set the lens to infinity for focus. I would not use anything longer than a 50mm lens unless you are very far away from the display. You might even want to use a 35mm or wider lens.
ZV

hmm...I wonder if my 35 f/2 would be wide enough, or should I just stick with the 17-85?

Nate

Where the heck did that quote come from? I see it nowhere in the thread. :Q

He was quoting me when I quoted jonessoda, but he didn't delete everything in the BB Code so the quoting markers were off. I've corrected them in this reply.

ZV

 

[Sukhoi]

Ah, gotcha. 🙂

 

[BoomerD]

http://olympusdigitalschool.com/photo_l...300_Shooting_Firework_Shows/index.html

http://www.calphoto.com/firework.htm

http://www.nyip.com/tips/current/firewks.php

http://photo2.si.edu/firew/firew.html

 

[Sukhoi]

Good articles!

 

[EGGO]

Originally posted by: keeleysam
I do ISO 100 or 200 with my Rebel XT and an exposure of a couple seconds.

That's what I'm shooting for. 2 seconds should be plenty. When the finale happens, I may or may not change that.

 

[ucdbiendog]

Originally posted by: jonessoda
You need a tripod or they'll be blurry as anything. I'd suggest an ISO 50-200 high-color-sat slide film, or a really high quality neg film. Kodak Portra or Pro Ultra (both neg) or Fuji Provia or Velvia (slide) if you can find it, or go with Kodak Ektachrome (slide) or Gold 100 (neg).

Edit: Get a good tripod; they're a great investment. I suggest Bogen or, for something less expensive, Slik.

very good advice. as far as exposure, i usually go for 1-2 sconds, much more than that and its just a bunch of white in the frame. get the kodak vivid saturation slide film (iso100).. pretty amazing stuff