Photographing Fireworks

Introduction:

Fireworks can be a fun but difficult subject to photograph. In this tutorial I will go through some of the settings and methods you can use for capturing the perfect fireworks scene.

Keeping Your Camera Still

One of the most important things to think about is a way to hold your camera completely steady. It is surprising how obvious even the slightest movements of your camera will become. The lines of your firework will become wonky and jagged which is probably not the desired effect. A tripod is the most obvious idea but if you can find something steady to place your camera on you may be able to cope. Whatever you do, keep the camera still!

Camera Settings

Another very important thing to think about is what settings to use on you camera. If you just use a regular point and shoot camera it is easy enough to set the camera to “Night Mode”. Some cameras even go as far as having a mode specifically for shooting fireworks but either mode will do. Just make sure that you haven’t accidentally turned on the flash and you are not in macro mode.

If you don’t use an SLR you can probably skip the rest of this section. It is important to choose the right settings for shooting fireworks before actually beginning. Although experimentation is needed and the settings will be different for different locations and displays it is good if you can set up a custom function (not available on all DSLRs) with the exposure set to “Bulb”, the aperture set to around 7 and a low ISO (I use 150). The bulb exposure will let you keep the shutter open for as long as you hold down the shutter button. A cable release can be very useful for this because it will stop the camera from shaking and also allow you to keep away from the camera and let it do its thing.

If there are lots of intense fireworks you will have to be cautious as to how long you leave the exposure or you may end up with big white patches (see below) although the length is really up to you. It will determine whether you end up with one firework or many.

Composition

Sometimes taking photos of fireworks with nothing else in the picture can be interesting (see below).

Usually the photo will be more interesting if you have more included in the frame, like people watching the fireworks or some kind of landmark (see below).

However you are going to compose your shots make sure you know roughly where the fireworks are going to be coming from so you can set up your camera and also where things are in the area that you might want to include in the photo.

Other Tips

When using an SLR auto-focus will work in most circumstances but you can use manual focus if you are used to it or do not fully trust your lens/camera’s autofocus.

Watch out for smoke coming in your direction. It can ruin your photos. The more photos you take earlier the better.

Always be ready. Fireworks displays can be unpredictable. Have your finger on the trigger at all times, and don’t start packing up before the end!

Remember that creativity is the key! Don’t be afraid to try something new, like not focusing on the fireworks!

Please leave any questions, comments or your own tips below.

DSLR!

I now have a Canon EOS 40D with an EF 17-40mm f/4L USM. Here are some photos from my first day shooting with a DSLR.

Panoramas In Little Burra

Yesterday for Christmas I went up to Canberra for lunch with my relatives at some fancy restaurant. Afterwards we went back to my cousins house just outside the ACT in a suburb known as Little Burra.

Seeing that I had received CS4 Design Premium (Photoshop and things) on Christmas eve as a very late birthday present I thought I would try out Photoshop’s panorama creating abilities. In some cases this worked well so below are some of my examples.

Just as a note, these were my first attempts photoshopping panoramas and they are not all that good.
Click on the pictures or download them to enlarge them.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Slow Sync Flash

Slow-sync flash is the name given to long exposure photography where a flash is used. This can create various effects but basically freezes the photo while still allowing for motion blur. This cannot be replicated realistically in photoshop (unless you are a photo editing ninja) so have your camera at the ready.

On a point-and-shoot camera all you need to do is switch your camera to “Night Portrait” mode or just the normal “Night” mode but with the flash turned on. This will cause the camera to fire the flash but still maintain a long exposure.

Below I will show you some of my examples of slow sync flash photography and explain to you how I achieved each effect. Please post any questions or feedback you might have in the comments below.

Note: Because the flash is at the beginning of the exposure, sometimes the subject will look like it is moving backwards because the motion blur is in front rather than behind. This can be fixed by moving the subject backwards (instead of forwards) or setting your camera to use the flash at the end of the exposure (known as Rear sync curtain) although this cannot be done on many cameras.

 

 
This is my favourite slow sync photo that I have taken. To achieve this effect I held the Joker card in front of my chair. When I pressed the shutter button I swung my hand from right to left creating the blur that you can see. I then put up the contrast, saturation and sharpness in iPhoto.

 

For this effect (which I think is reminiscent of the dementors in Harry Potter as they suck the life out of people) instead of moving the subject I moved the entire camera across. As you can see the image is frozen at the time the flash fires and any other movement is blurred across the photo if it is lit well enough. I had a desk lamp pointed at my face so the blur was more visible.

 

This is another favourite of mine. It was more of an experimental photo with the cards on the floor and instead of moving the camera or subject across I moved it towards the floor and closer to the cards. It was hard to get the right lighting so a few test shots were needed. Obviously I then made it black and white and also put up the contrast a bit.

 

I was taking long exposure photos of my slot car track (beneath) when I decided to see how the photo would look with the flash on (top). The result was not the best of photos but nonetheless it was another unique example of slow sync flash photography. You can still see the trail of the headlights of the car even though the rest of the track is illuminated (unlike my other similar photos).

 

This is not really a good photo but I thought I’d show you anyway because it is funny. All I did was point the camera at the guy, waited for the flash and then waved it around at some lights. He did not find it funny.

 

That is all I have for you right now. If you know anything I should add or have any questions please comment below.

The Illawarra Community Carols

Tonight was the Illawarra Community Carols, located around Figtree Anglican Church. It featured James Morrison, Dean Geyer, Colin Buchanan and the Liam Cooper Band (and fireworks)!

I had lots of fun trying to take photos of the fireworks using a friends head as a tripod (bipod?) and also listening in on the security people with my walkie-talkie.

One thing I found funny was that the core learning principles at Figtree High is to learn your bus and train times and that in order to be respectful you must sign in and out as required. If that’s all it takes to achieve success I think I might move schools.

I also tried a little long exposure photography but could barely find anywhere to hold my camera still. Here is my one ‘successful’ attempt.