Fireworks

[Jill Morgan]

Today is Canada Day here in the Great White North and this evening we will be flooded with fireworks.

 

Any hints and tips for the best way to shoot? 

 

I have a f4-5.6 70-250, my kit lens of f3.5-5.6 18-55 and a prime 50mm f1.2

 

I do also have my tripod.

 

All suggestions welcome. Anything I have tried in the past has been an abysmal failure.

 

Jill

[spacecadet]

I've just had a look back at my only attempts and they're mostly at 1/10; presumably I triggered the shutter when I liked the look of the display. There are some others at up to a second which don't look too bad. it depends on the speed of the individual glowy bits, I expect. A bit of foreground detail, or even colour in the sky, would have been nice but I wasn't in control of that.

Failing that, I have a nice one with the heads of the crowd silhouetted against the glow, but that was a display on a river pontoon, not the usual flying stuff.

[ann]

Do your best to avoid capturing fireworks so wind - and therefore, smoke - is blowing in your direction.

That's it for what I know about shooting fireworks Ann

[Malcolm Park]

I shot the London New Year fireworks diplay for press in 2014/15. I was in a position relatively close to the London Eye, on the Jubilee Footbridge. I used the Nikon 14-24mm, mainly at 14mm on a D3 at 400 and 800asa. Sturdy tripod, cable release (so no camera shake) and mainly shot at f/16 manually focussed and with exposures from 4 secs through to 12 secs. I shot raw only and took some 80 exposures over a 10-15 min display and all were useable.

 

[spacecadet]

On the other hand a little bit of smoke can spread the light nicely. But yes, given the choice I'd be upwind.

[Reimar]

Abysmal failure? Jill, say it ain't so.

Try for an interesting foreground, like Philippe's example.  Make sure you're on solid ground with a good tripod.  In addition to Philippe's finesse of multiple fireworks, you can always add them in PS with a "lighten" layer. 

I usually like a longer exposure time.  Like above, set to manual for about 3 seconds to get a more fullsome shower of light.

[Sultanpepa]

Obviously lens choice will be determined by what exactly you want to capture and how far you are from the action. Focus on something at a similar distance then lock off the auto focus or it will hunt at every press of the button. f8 to f16 seems like a good shout for as much depth of field as possible to compensate for focus inaccuracy. I personally use a wireless remote trigger and expose at around 4 secs or more if it's a large continuous display. Admittedly the timing for individual shots takes a little guesswork and practice especially if the shot is taken from directly below such as a garden display.

[Jill Morgan]

Pulled out my cable release and will bring that too. Although its pretty windy out, so they may cancel the fireworks. But shill a few hours to go.

 

Don't have any black foam core, but I'm sure I can come up with something.

 

Thanks for all the great suggestions.

 

Jill

[spacecadet]

A lens cap held a little away from the front of the barrel, a bit of black card,  a hat, or a black gloved hand.

[John Mitchell]

I don't usually bother with Canada Day fireworks, mainly because the crowds are so thick in Vancouver that it's almost impossible to find a good vantage point. My guess is that you need something recognizably "Canadian" in the images in order to make a sale -- something like this. Otherwise firework displays could be anywhere. They all have a habit of looking very similar.

 

Who knows, maybe I'll brave the hordes tonight. Good luck.

[Jill Morgan]

I don't usually bother with Canada Day fireworks, mainly because the crowds are so thick in Vancouver that it's almost impossible to find a good vantage point. My guess is that you need something recognizably "Canadian" in the images in order to make a sale -- something like this. Otherwise firework displays could be anywhere. They all have a habit of looking very similar.

 

Who knows, maybe I'll brave the hordes tonight. Good luck.

 

The advantage of small town, you can usually get a spot to watch. Be fun anyway to see if I can master them. Can always composite with a Canadian flag lightly burned into the background.

 

Jill