First attempt at shooting fireworks

[MattSepeta]

Had a go at shooting fireworks on Saturday night. Went to go shoot the 2010 Aquatennial Fireworks show with my friend. We spent about 2 hours trying to find the right spot before we settled for our primo location directly at the waters edge by the dam. For my first ever attempt at shooting fireworks I think I did a fair job, but I certainly learned a few things.

-Steadier ground. We were on a pile of wood to get about the shrub-lines and get a more unobstructed view of the water. It was shaky and some of the pictures show it.

-Closer. I would like to be close next time.

-Shorter exposures. I should have kept my shutter speed around 1/2 -> 1 1/2 seconds. Instead I ended up wildly experimenting, shooting from 1 second to 4 seconds. The longer ones are much less strong than the shorter ones.

50D + 17-55 f/2.8.

C&C encouraged!

#1

#2

#3

#4

Snapped this last one while waiting for it to get dark. Funny how my favorite shot of the night was taken BEFORE the fireworks began.

#5

 

[mtbdudex]

suggestion - put #'s on your photos for easier feedback.

I like the colors/reflections, is the boat yours or someone else?
The boat seems to work in #2 well (which I like the best of the series), did you crop it out in the others as comparison to see which shot worked better before posting?

 

[MattSepeta]

Thanks!

Nice call on numbering the images, I edited that. Completely slipped my mind!

The boat is not mine, they anchored directly in front of us, even though there were 2 of us with tripods set up in a blatantly obvious location

Oh well, I think it added to a few of the images. I did try cropping it out in a few, but the cropped photos ended up looking incomplete because of the cut off reflection in the water.

 

[ManhattanPrjct]

I understand it may be been impossible given your location, but it would have been nice to see some of the skyline in your shots with the bridge as well.

I can't see the EXIF data where I am - but things seem a just a little hazy.

Did you focus out to infinity? On Nikon lenses, you can sometimes go past infinity which can create some issues when photographing at night.

Did you use a cable release? You could be bumping the camera when you press the shutter, causing some vibration unintentionally.

It may also be a DOF issue, which is why I'm curious where you set your aperture. I tend to have a lot of success in my night photography at f/13+, but I think fireworks would require something a little wider open.

 

[filmweaver]

Nice call on numbering the images, I edited that. Completely slipped my mind!

The boat is not mine, they anchored directly in front of us, even though there were 2 of us with tripods set up in a blatantly obvious location

Oh well, I think it added to a few of the images. I did try cropping it out in a few, but the cropped photos ended up looking incomplete because of the cut off reflection in the water.

Next time take a bright spotlight and put it on them, then they will see the light- pun intended.

P.S. Great shots, nice work!

 

[MattSepeta]

I understand it may be been impossible given your location, but it would have been nice to see some of the skyline in your shots with the bridge as well.

I can't see the EXIF data where I am - but things seem a just a little hazy.

Did you focus out to infinity? On Nikon lenses, you can sometimes go past infinity which can create some issues when photographing at night.

Did you use a cable release? You could be bumping the camera when you press the shutter, causing some vibration unintentionally.

It may also be a DOF issue, which is why I'm curious where you set your aperture. I tend to have a lot of success in my night photography at f/13+, but I think fireworks would require something a little wider open.

-I used liveview 10X magnification to manually focus on the bridge. It seemed that focusing to infinity resulted in the bursts being OOF.

-I too would have liked seeing more of the skyline, but that would have required us to cross the river, which was not really an option lol

-I did NOT use a cable release. That is a must buy though for next time. I started off by using 2 second remote timer, but it was impossible to get any good shots due to the random nature of the 2 second timer. I braced the tripod and tried to hit the shutter as steadily as I could.
-I had IS turned ON. I figured that the IS would help counter the bump from hitting the shutter, and also could help compensate from the shaking of the surface we were on. Is this a correct train of thought?

-I was experimenting with different F-stops in order to try out different shutter speeds to see which effect I liked best, I shot all the way from f/4 to f/16 IIRC... In retrospect I should have probably shot around f/11...

Next time take a bright spotlight and put it on them, then they will see the light- pun intended.

P.S. Great shots, nice work!

Thanks! Speaking of spotlights, the people in the boat actually HAD a giant spot light that they were shining on the bridge in front of them during the fireworks! I have no idea where they got a spotlight so powerful, as the bridge was lot further away than it looks. I could not believe these guys!

 

[ManhattanPrjct]

-I used liveview 10X magnification to manually focus on the bridge. It seemed that focusing to infinity resulted in the bursts being OOF.

-I too would have liked seeing more of the skyline, but that would have required us to cross the river, which was not really an option lol

-I did NOT use a cable release. That is a must buy though for next time. I started off by using 2 second remote timer, but it was impossible to get any good shots due to the random nature of the 2 second timer. I braced the tripod and tried to hit the shutter as steadily as I could.
-I had IS turned ON. I figured that the IS would help counter the bump from hitting the shutter, and also could help compensate from the shaking of the surface we were on. Is this a correct train of thought?

-I was experimenting with different F-stops in order to try out different shutter speeds to see which effect I liked best, I shot all the way from f/4 to f/16 IIRC... In retrospect I should have probably shot around f/11...

Okay, so you have a combination of things happening here. Working backwards:

- I can't explain the science behind it, but you should NEVER use VR/IS while on a tripod. It will actually create blur, instead of prevent it. The technology behind it needs some motion to work against.

- The $20 (or whatever) you spend on a cable release will have an immediate impact. It is an absolute must for night/low-light photography. It's funny, when I use a tripod even during the day I sometimes find I use it just out of habit.

- Not sure why you'd shoot (almost) wide open, but you're not creating enough DOF to get everything in focus at f/4. Your instinct is correct about f/11.

- Regarding focus, next time, make all of those changes, then focus out to infinity.

Check out this guy's thread and I think you'll see the result of some pretty simple changes!

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/960427/

 

[MattSepeta]

Thanks

Good info. I will surely be picking up a cable release soon, I really should have one by now, I love night photography.

I had heard the same thing about the VR/IS, and I normally never use it on a tripod. I figured since I was going to be hitting the shutter manually I might as well turn it on to compensate for the shutter button hi, as well as the bumps from our surface.

I should really elaborate as to why I used it. We found some stacks of 2x6s directly on the river bank, but they were stacked about 10 feet high so they were not entirely stable. We climbed onto the top of them and the view we got from up there was 100x better, so we decided to chance it. The wobbling was pretty bad, and I did some comparisons with IS on/off based off of some early shot reviews, and I had concluded that the IS on was better than the IS off, but I sure could be wrong, it was very hurried as I did not want to waste any time.

I simply can not wait for another chance at shooting fireworks though,t was fun!

 

[mtbdudex]

Good info. I will surely be picking up a cable release soon, I really should have one by now, I love night photography.

fwiw, I got this for $30, best $ for sharp pictures IMO (combined with decent tripod)
http://www.procameragear.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/422

Wireless remote shutter release

• Line of sight range up to 100m (320 ft.) without obstacles.
• 16 control output channels, dip switch selectable
• Shooting modes:Single/Continuous frame shooting/Bulb
• Low power provides long battery life
• Works through walls and other obstacles using radio frequencies instead of infrared (RF - 433MHz)
• Plug compatible with Canon RS-80N3 - Works on any camera that uses the Canon RS-80N3 remote
• Two stage release. Halfway to focus, fully depress to release shutter
• Battery life - Transmitter (1 year standby, 10,000 exposures)
• Battery life - Receiver (1000 hours)

Compatible camera models:
Canon EOS 5D, 1D, 1D Mark II, 1D Mark III
Canon EOS 1Ds, 1Ds Mark II
Canon EOS 50D, 40D, 30D, 20D, 10D, D60, D30
Canon EOS 1V, EOS 3, EOS D2000

 

[MattSepeta]

fwiw, I got this for $30, best $ for sharp pictures IMO (combined with decent tripod)
http://www.procameragear.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/422

Sweet, I think I need that!

One question: Do you know if that would interfere with a Cactus transmitter and receivers, just in case I want to use it for strobist stuff?

 

[mtbdudex]

Sweet, I think I need that!

One question: Do you know if that would interfere with a Cactus transmitter and receivers, just in case I want to use it for strobist stuff?

Not exactly sure, depends on what part of the RF spectrum they use....
The unit I have is @ 433MHz. Somehow the DIP switches can be used also to help fine tune it if there is interference?? (mine are still at factory default)

• Works through walls and other obstacles using radio frequencies instead of infrared (RF - 433MHz)

[edit] hmmm, looking here http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,514.html I see they are at same RF: # Radio working frequency: 433MHz; need to be careful, good Q for others