Shooting Fireworks, any advice?

[NgaiHill]

It will be Guy Fawkes night on Friday and I have family and friends coming for a BBQ and to let off our fireworks in the backyard when it gets dark enough. I've never tried shooting fireworks before and wonder if anyone has any quick tips for me. I've had a look at the very helpful tutorial about photographing fireworks so hoping for any tips based on personal experience.

Cheers
Lisa

[OsmosisStudios]

Fairly large aperture, camera on a tripod, manually focused to infinity (or hyperfocal), manual exposure. Try a few shots before you get into the real fireworks.

[dbevisjr]

I tried fireworks for the first time this past summer. One thing I learned is that where you would normally go to view them (not taking photos) is probably too close. When comparing my images to the images taken by others I think one needs to be a little farther away for the best images. (Or use a wider lens.)

[AnonymousKiwi1]

I'm going to a Guy Fawkes night on Friday too, and had the same questions. Good tips, expecially about setting up further away. Thanks for bringing this one up, Lisa.

(I'm a Lisa too!)

[jml79]

I have found a good place to start is setup for some flash work. Often fireworks can be treated like a flash, control the fire work intensity with aperture and the back ground with shutter. I usually shoot free hand but a tripod could work as well. The bigger the show, the easier it gets... More flashes to light up the world. I don't like to crank the ISO too high ever and again you don't usually need to with fireworks.

[NgaiHill]

Thanks for the advice guys. Just one more question Dan, how far away do you need to be? We'll be shooting them off in the backyard, I have a 1/4 acre section but I'd only get about 30-35 m away at most.

Lisa - are you going to a public display or shooting your own? The nearest public display for us is about 40 min drive away, easier just to stay at home

Cheers
Lisa

[AnonymousKiwi1]

Originally Posted by NgaiHill

Lisa - are you going to a public display or shooting your own? The nearest public display for us is about 40 min drive away, easier just to stay at home

My hubby's a member of the local fire brigade. Every year we have a BBQ get-together with the familys, everyone brings along a box full of fireworks, and one or two of the guys set them off. Fingers crossed for fine weather on Friday night.
This will be my first attempt at shooting fireworks with my 'big' camera, I'm looking forward to it!

[theosus]

Originally Posted by AnonymousKiwi1

My hubby's a member of the local fire brigade. Every year we have a BBQ get-together with the familys, everyone brings along a box full of fireworks, and one or two of the guys set them off. Fingers crossed for fine weather on Friday night.
This will be my first attempt at shooting fireworks with my 'big' camera, I'm looking forward to it!

I miss the thrill of the little ones. I was a licensed shooter for ten years, and the thrill of lighting a six-inch shell, and then kick in the chest as it pops out of the tube four feet away from you cannot be equalled (unless youre building pipe bombs or something illegal). Unfortuantely you're so busy lighting and reloading you dont get to see most of them. The state changed the rules recently, and it was going to cost more for my license than I make shooting, so I dropped it.
I've done lightning a lot, but only shot fireworks a couple of times. Two suggestions - get upwind if at all possible so the smoke blows away from you (good advice ANY time with fireworks) and doesnt obscure them, and turn off "long exposure noise reduction", so you dont have to wait if using shutter speeds longer than 1 sec.

[NgaiHill]

Originally Posted by AnonymousKiwi1

My hubby's a member of the local fire brigade. Every year we have a BBQ get-together with the familys, everyone brings along a box full of fireworks, and one or two of the guys set them off. Fingers crossed for fine weather on Friday night.
This will be my first attempt at shooting fireworks with my 'big' camera, I'm looking forward to it!

A BBQ at home and our own fireworks is what we have planned too. A friend that is coming is a member of the local fire brigade too but after the rain we just had last night I don't think there'll be a problem. And after a week of sunshine and temps in the mid 20s the forecast for tomorrow is for cold southerlies, rain and snow on the hills! Not BBQ or fireworks weather

[dbevisjr]

Originally Posted by NgaiHill

Thanks for the advice guys. Just one more question Dan, how far away do you need to be? We'll be shooting them off in the backyard, I have a 1/4 acre section but I'd only get about 30-35 m away at most.

Lisa - are you going to a public display or shooting your own? The nearest public display for us is about 40 min drive away, easier just to stay at home

Cheers
Lisa

Hi Lisa, I honestly don't really know exactly how far back you should be. I have only tried once and figured out while processing that I was too close. If I were only there to watch the show I would have been in the perfect spot. But I had the 18-55 on and had it set to about 50mm. The photos were ok but I compared mine to others and saw that a bit of landscaping that gets lit up during the explosion make the image MUCH more interesting. You will need to be behind the normal viewing crowds so small changes in shooting location during the show shouldn't be very challenging. If your weather clears up so you can carry out your plan please post so we can see your handywork.