Halloween Advice - Newbies In Mind

Gumbo

Ok guys, sorry if this is the wrong section, but with Halloween approaching alot of newbies.......well er, em, me want to try get some shots of the fireworks :d

Just wondering what advice you would offer to anybody thinking of doing this?
So far i have :

Equipment
Canon 550D
18-55 Kit Lens (this is all i have at my disposal unless my 50mm 1.8 arrives)
Tri-Pod

Location
Need to pick location (my area or my mams area depending on the night)

Settings
This is where the advice is required, i was thinking
Tv mode, long exposure and high F number, and then simply play around with the exposure times until the shots i like start appearing? Would ISO come into it or should i leave it in auto?

Thanks, and i know it can all depend on the night, light, weather etc but i was thinking of maybe a starting ground and start adjusting from there?

thanks for listening and again, i hope im not banging on about the same sh1t that all newbies do

Never shot fireworks, but my head tells me that to catch the bursts of light, you'll be needing a long enough exposure that the camera sensor can capture the whole burst.

With this in mind, if I were setting up, I'd shoot with ISO100, f/8 (most lenses seem to be at their sharpest around this aperture) and use bulb mode (preferably with a remote if you have one, to avoid shake) to trigger your curtains.


The camera is an inanimate object, so it's up to you to be able to anticipate when the fireworks will go off and hope to have your sensor open for them. Presuming you'll be doing this at night in a place with no erratic lighting, you should be fine with really long exposures.


Tripod or solid surface is essential for long exposures at night, and here's a cheap ass shutter release if you don't have one;

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Shutter-Release-Remote-Cord-Canon-550D-600D-RS-60E3-/250820953170?pt=Camera_Camcorder_Remotes&hash=item3a66180452


Hong Kong post takes weeks though, so may be too late for that option. Try the same search for a UK seller and hope for the best, is an option, though (you could use 2 second delay, either, but im not sure if that works on bulb mode, also not sure how to access bulb mode on a 550D).



Again though, never shot fireworks, so that's just my presumptions. I'm sure someone with practical experience will be along soon enough to help though hopefully.

Gumbo

Thanks KKV,

Your comments are apreciated and very much taken on board!
Ive read about Bulb mode, but what does it do?

and the shutter release button, does it still operate as like the cameras button, ie. press half way to focus and fully to take the shot?

PCPhoto

Bulb mode = the shutter is open as long as you keep the button pressed.

the downside to this (if you are not using a remote release) ...you risk camera shake.

shooting fireworks is really trial and error - depending on what else you are shooting (if you have something in the foreground and want to get the fireworks to make the scene look fancy)

Gregor Samsa

kceire wrote: »

Ive read about Bulb mode, but what does it do?

and the shutter release button, does it still operate as like the cameras button, ie. press half way to focus and fully to take the shot?

Bulb is a mode where the shutter will stay open for as long as you have the shutter release pressed. Obviously, this isn't much good if you have to have your finger on the camera's shutter release, as your finger will get tired, and you'll invariably add shake to the camera.

Shutter release cables usually have a shutter lock ion them, that all you to to press the release button, lock it, and thus leave the shutter open for as long as you want (seconds, minutes, hours, whatever). To end the exposure, you just release the lock. Since the button is on the end of a cable, it doesn't add any shake to the camera.

Any shutter release cable I've ever used allows you to half press for focus.

Gumbo

PCPhoto wrote: »

Bulb mode = the shutter is open as long as you keep the button pressed.

the downside to this (if you are not using a remote release) ...you risk camera shake.

shooting fireworks is really trial and error - depending on what else you are shooting (if you have something in the foreground and want to get the fireworks to make the scene look fancy)

thanks PC, yeah was thinking about the content of the photo alright, but to be honest, if i come away from it with learning how to shoot the light shots at night, then next year i will conentrate on the phote contents and make them nicer

thats why im preying that i will be free to go on the photo walk on Wed evening.

pixbyjohn

Fireworks at Greystones Harbour by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

Camera
Nikon D700
Exposure
0.3
Aperture
f/2.8
Focal Length
43.6 mm
ISO Speed
1250

pixbyjohn

Culture Night at Greystones Harbour by pixbyjohn, on Flickr
Camera
Nikon D700
Exposure
0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture
f/2.8
Focal Length
70 mm

Bruncvik

I've been shooting fireworks for quite a few years, and here's what I found to work best for me:

Film speed: ISO 100 (I still shoot on film - Fuji Velvia 100 most often)
F-stop: f/5.6
Shutter speed: 2-4 seconds
Equipment: Tripod and remote release

The range is not really important for the light quality. If you find a nice dark place where you don't get any nearby light interference, anywhere between 2 and 4 seconds will get you enough light, but not too much. However, the shutter speed is absolutely essential for your final composition: it determines how much of the light trails you'll have in the picture. If you want multiple bursts filling your frame, go for 4 seconds. If you want to isolate just portions of a single burst (either at explosion time or later, when it dissipates), 2 seconds should be short enough. I personally found the grand finale to be good with 4 seconds and f/8, to get a lot of chaos but isolate all light trails.

As for the number of shots, limited to film I usually shot two rolls (72 pictures) per half an hour of fireworks. Now, mind you, I've limited myself to July 4 fireworks in the US, and I haven't been living in Ireland for long enough to have any experience here. I don't know the intensity and duration of a fireworks display.

Oh, and one more thing I learned the hard way: Stay upwind from fireworks. Even if you can't see the smoke, it will hide the fireworks light trails from the camera if it gets into your way.

pixbyjohn

I wouldn't use a long exposure for fireworks because the photo would be far too overexposed

Bruncvik

Not at 100 ISO.

pixbyjohn

Culture Night Fireworks, Greystones Harbour by pixbyjohn, on Flickr

Exposure
0.067 sec (1/15)
Aperture
f/2.8
Focal Length
27 mm

Hope this helps

AnCatDubh

Tripod, Bulb mode, Shutter release cable, Dark sky (seriously, not polluted by street lights etc...), oh, and fireworks (your place or your mams). The good thing is the fireworks most likely will be going on for some time so you've lots of time to practice. Manual focus set to infinity. Point the camera at the sky and experiment with how long the shutter will be open using the shutter release. Essentially in bulb mode, the shutter will remain open as long as you hold the shutter release button, so you get a manually controlled exposure time. Thus its very non exact. Get a sense of it and work it out to try get results you will be happy with. Do a little research and find out what kind of fireworks will be set off and think about what images you'd like to get before the event. I'd guess in terms of focal length (with the kit lens you've stated) you'll probably get better results at about the 50mm end of the range. Try keep it near to the full available zoom (of 55mm) but not at its extent which hopefully will improve the resulting image quality a little - though i'm not familiar with that particular lens. At 18mm you will lose a lot of compression of the image - the distance between the subject (fireworks) and your vantage point in the image will have the fireworks appearing very far in the distance. At 50mm it will shorten it somewhat but again get a feel for it and sense your way with what works as all settings will be dependent on your individual situation. See John's samples at 70mm.

I think that's the gist of it. Good luck and have fun.

Gumbo

Thanks guys, John photos are fab!
Looking at your settings, the exposure times seem shorter than i was expecting, did you hand hold?


also, on another note, how do you get at all your settings for a particular shot easily?

pixbyjohn

kceire wrote: »

Thanks guys, John photos are fab!
Looking at your settings, the exposure times seem shorter than i was expecting, did you hand hold?


also, on another note, how do you get at all your settings for a particular shot easily?

All hand held, I honestly believe a tripod for fireworks would be a hindrance. I usually shoot aperture priority and the camera sets the shutter speed. Just my opinion but I think it works well for me. I can watch the firework soar into the sky and still have time to lift my camera to my eye and take the burst of light.

kceire

kceire wrote: »

the exposure times seem shorter than i was expecting, did you hand hold?

His ISO was 1250 according to the first photo, so that'd knock the exposure time down a fair bit (but result in noisier images).

pixbyjohn

Deleted User wrote: »

His ISO was 1250 according to the first photo, so that'd knock the exposure time down a fair bit (but result in noisier images).

On some cameras I would agree with the noise bit.

Gumbo

thanks guys, for the sake of €2.50, i ordered that shutter release button. Got an email this morning to say it has been dispatched already.