cgmulia
2nd August 2005, 06:53 PM
Digital Fireworks Photography
Help and Tips
#1: Use a Tripod
A tripod can make your fireworks photos crisper and more pleasing to the eye.
If at all possible when taking digital photos of fireworks, bring along a tripod and securely connect your digital camera to this device. Although this may seem like a lot of extra trouble, a tripod can greatly increase the quality of your shots.
In low-light situations such as the pitch-black night sky, it is almost impossible to take good photos with fast shutter speeds - there just isn't enough available light for the camera to record an image. Thus, either manually or automatically, digital cameras should be set to take longer exposures. However, it is difficult to keep a camera steady when taking longer exposures. This results in what is called 'camera shake' in that the photo turns out blurry due to the camera movement.
With a tripod, you can take longer exposures in these low-light situations and still result in crisp, clear photographs.
#2: Keep the Shutter Held Down
Remove 'camera shake' by not releasing the shutter button too early.
To help remove blurriness due to 'camera shake', when taking digital photographs of fireworks, as you press the shutter button to take your picture, keep the button held down during the entire length of the exposure. Even though you may be taking photos with a tripod, it is still possible for the release of the shutter button during an exposure to shake the camera a tiny amount, just enough for a crisp photo to become slightly blurry.
#3: Exposure Time
Shutter speed recommendations for digital fireworks photos.
When taking digital photos of fireworks, set your camera to use an exposure time (the shutter speed) of between a half a second and four seconds. The longer the exposure time, the more of the "burst" that should be recorded. Also, longer exposure times compensate for the lack of available light. Depending on your digital camera, you may be able to get by with just a one second exposure time or you may need all four seconds to bring in enough light, so be sure to experiment.
#4: Flash Won't Help
Flash will not help your fireworks photography.
Don't plan on using flash to illuminate the night sky when taking photos with your digital camera. Fireworks are shot a good deal away from where you will be taking pictures, thus the small light on your digital camera cannot reach the fireworks and illuminate the night sky enough to make a difference in your photos.
#5: Find a Good Vantage Point
A good location can make all the difference when taking fireworks photos with your digital camera.
As in any other type of digital photography, when shooting fireworks, composition is critical. Before the fireworks show begins, scout out a good vantage point that provides you with a clear shot of the upcoming show. Try to avoid streetlights that may compete with the brightness of the fireworks. Also important is to find a spot that will minimize the chances of people walking in front of your digital camera. Do not trespass on private property and be safe where you go at night, but look around for an area that can give you a clear shot of the brilliance that is to follow.
#6: Focus to Infinity
Keep everything in focus when taking fireworks photos.
Fireworks explode at high altitudes far away from you in the night sky. To record them in the highest possible clarity, set your digital camera focus to infinity. If your digital camera has a pre-set landscape mode, enable this before shooting fireworks. Check your manual for more information, but this mode is usually symbolized by a mountain icon either on a camera switch or in a menu.
#7: Bring Lots of Memory
Ensure you can take plenty of digital photos.
Due to the imperfect lighting conditions of the night sky, it is difficult for even an accomplished photographer to take perfect fireworks pictures every time. To increase your chances of taking that 'perfect picture', you should plan on taking lots and lots of photos. Thus, make sure to bring along plenty of empty digital memory cards.
#8: Capture a Landmark
A landmark can fill the void of the night sky in your photo.
If possible, when scouting out a vantage point for your digital fireworks photography, try to capture a landmark in your field of view. This can add perspective to your shot as well as localize the photograph. Capturing a bridge, skyline, or national monument can add much to your pictures.
#9: Increase ISO Slightly
Increased ISO sensitivity may allow shorter exposure times.
To decrease the amount of light needed to take fireworks photographs in the night sky, thus slightly reducing the exposure time needed to take pictures, consider increasing your digital camera's ISO setting from 100 to 200 (check your digital camera manual for information). This might introduce a slight level of grain (noise) in your photo, but it should not be too prevalent, and can possibly be removed with digital photo editing software if it is noticeable.
If desired, and if your digital camera can handle it, you may want to consider increasing your ISO sensitivity even higher, but note that except for the absolute best digital cameras, the noise introduced may start to be clearly visible at 400 or above.
#10: Consider Tilting Your Camera
Add variety to your fireworks photos by tilting your digital camera.
To record more of the trails left by fireworks displays, consider tiling your digital camera 90 degrees. This can add variety to your photos, especially if you happen to have landmarks or monuments in your viewfinder or LCD. Note that if you still want to use your tripod, it must come built-in with a swivel head, or you may be able to buy a swivel / tilt head adapter to support vertical format shots.
#11: Use Double Exposure For Impressive Photos
Use double exposure tricks to take even more incredible fireworks photos with your digital camera.
One secret some professional photographers use when taking incredible fireworks photos is using the double-exposure trick. Instead of keeping an exposure open for an extremely long period of time, they may take one photo when fireworks are bursting, not advance the film, and then take another photo in exactly the same location when more fireworks explode. Since the background is the same, the two groups of exploding fireworks are merged in the sky, making a more impressive photo.
You can do the same thing with digital photography. Ensure your digital camera is secure on a tripod and will not move when you take photos. Use the other tips mentioned in the MalekTips digital fireworks photography section. Then, take two photographs of the exact same location when different fireworks are exploding.
After the event, use Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop, PhotoPaint, or your favorite photo editing software to merge the two photos together. To help ensure the ground does not get blurry, you may want to only merge the sky portion of the two photographs together. You should be able to do this by opening both photos, performing a rectangle or freeform selection on the sky of a second photo, copying that as a layer on top of the first photo, then merging the results.
#12: Make Sure Tripods Are Allowed
Before bringing a tripod to shoot digital fireworks photos, make sure it is ok to do so. Or, find someplace away from the crowds to take your photos.
Tripods are not always allowed during fireworks shows, especially if you are on private property or if the crowds are so large that room is tight. For safety reasons, some festival planners may disallow tripods as they could pose a safety hazard if people are close together. Thus, make sure to check first.
Or, you may want to consider other vantage points than where most people are gathering. Fireworks can be seen from a great distance, so look around for places where the crowds are not gathering yet where you can snap some nice photos.
Jie Lea Adra
Help and Tips
#1: Use a Tripod
A tripod can make your fireworks photos crisper and more pleasing to the eye.
If at all possible when taking digital photos of fireworks, bring along a tripod and securely connect your digital camera to this device. Although this may seem like a lot of extra trouble, a tripod can greatly increase the quality of your shots.
In low-light situations such as the pitch-black night sky, it is almost impossible to take good photos with fast shutter speeds - there just isn't enough available light for the camera to record an image. Thus, either manually or automatically, digital cameras should be set to take longer exposures. However, it is difficult to keep a camera steady when taking longer exposures. This results in what is called 'camera shake' in that the photo turns out blurry due to the camera movement.
With a tripod, you can take longer exposures in these low-light situations and still result in crisp, clear photographs.
#2: Keep the Shutter Held Down
Remove 'camera shake' by not releasing the shutter button too early.
To help remove blurriness due to 'camera shake', when taking digital photographs of fireworks, as you press the shutter button to take your picture, keep the button held down during the entire length of the exposure. Even though you may be taking photos with a tripod, it is still possible for the release of the shutter button during an exposure to shake the camera a tiny amount, just enough for a crisp photo to become slightly blurry.
#3: Exposure Time
Shutter speed recommendations for digital fireworks photos.
When taking digital photos of fireworks, set your camera to use an exposure time (the shutter speed) of between a half a second and four seconds. The longer the exposure time, the more of the "burst" that should be recorded. Also, longer exposure times compensate for the lack of available light. Depending on your digital camera, you may be able to get by with just a one second exposure time or you may need all four seconds to bring in enough light, so be sure to experiment.
#4: Flash Won't Help
Flash will not help your fireworks photography.
Don't plan on using flash to illuminate the night sky when taking photos with your digital camera. Fireworks are shot a good deal away from where you will be taking pictures, thus the small light on your digital camera cannot reach the fireworks and illuminate the night sky enough to make a difference in your photos.
#5: Find a Good Vantage Point
A good location can make all the difference when taking fireworks photos with your digital camera.
As in any other type of digital photography, when shooting fireworks, composition is critical. Before the fireworks show begins, scout out a good vantage point that provides you with a clear shot of the upcoming show. Try to avoid streetlights that may compete with the brightness of the fireworks. Also important is to find a spot that will minimize the chances of people walking in front of your digital camera. Do not trespass on private property and be safe where you go at night, but look around for an area that can give you a clear shot of the brilliance that is to follow.
#6: Focus to Infinity
Keep everything in focus when taking fireworks photos.
Fireworks explode at high altitudes far away from you in the night sky. To record them in the highest possible clarity, set your digital camera focus to infinity. If your digital camera has a pre-set landscape mode, enable this before shooting fireworks. Check your manual for more information, but this mode is usually symbolized by a mountain icon either on a camera switch or in a menu.
#7: Bring Lots of Memory
Ensure you can take plenty of digital photos.
Due to the imperfect lighting conditions of the night sky, it is difficult for even an accomplished photographer to take perfect fireworks pictures every time. To increase your chances of taking that 'perfect picture', you should plan on taking lots and lots of photos. Thus, make sure to bring along plenty of empty digital memory cards.
#8: Capture a Landmark
A landmark can fill the void of the night sky in your photo.
If possible, when scouting out a vantage point for your digital fireworks photography, try to capture a landmark in your field of view. This can add perspective to your shot as well as localize the photograph. Capturing a bridge, skyline, or national monument can add much to your pictures.
#9: Increase ISO Slightly
Increased ISO sensitivity may allow shorter exposure times.
To decrease the amount of light needed to take fireworks photographs in the night sky, thus slightly reducing the exposure time needed to take pictures, consider increasing your digital camera's ISO setting from 100 to 200 (check your digital camera manual for information). This might introduce a slight level of grain (noise) in your photo, but it should not be too prevalent, and can possibly be removed with digital photo editing software if it is noticeable.
If desired, and if your digital camera can handle it, you may want to consider increasing your ISO sensitivity even higher, but note that except for the absolute best digital cameras, the noise introduced may start to be clearly visible at 400 or above.
#10: Consider Tilting Your Camera
Add variety to your fireworks photos by tilting your digital camera.
To record more of the trails left by fireworks displays, consider tiling your digital camera 90 degrees. This can add variety to your photos, especially if you happen to have landmarks or monuments in your viewfinder or LCD. Note that if you still want to use your tripod, it must come built-in with a swivel head, or you may be able to buy a swivel / tilt head adapter to support vertical format shots.
#11: Use Double Exposure For Impressive Photos
Use double exposure tricks to take even more incredible fireworks photos with your digital camera.
One secret some professional photographers use when taking incredible fireworks photos is using the double-exposure trick. Instead of keeping an exposure open for an extremely long period of time, they may take one photo when fireworks are bursting, not advance the film, and then take another photo in exactly the same location when more fireworks explode. Since the background is the same, the two groups of exploding fireworks are merged in the sky, making a more impressive photo.
You can do the same thing with digital photography. Ensure your digital camera is secure on a tripod and will not move when you take photos. Use the other tips mentioned in the MalekTips digital fireworks photography section. Then, take two photographs of the exact same location when different fireworks are exploding.
After the event, use Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop, PhotoPaint, or your favorite photo editing software to merge the two photos together. To help ensure the ground does not get blurry, you may want to only merge the sky portion of the two photographs together. You should be able to do this by opening both photos, performing a rectangle or freeform selection on the sky of a second photo, copying that as a layer on top of the first photo, then merging the results.
#12: Make Sure Tripods Are Allowed
Before bringing a tripod to shoot digital fireworks photos, make sure it is ok to do so. Or, find someplace away from the crowds to take your photos.
Tripods are not always allowed during fireworks shows, especially if you are on private property or if the crowds are so large that room is tight. For safety reasons, some festival planners may disallow tripods as they could pose a safety hazard if people are close together. Thus, make sure to check first.
Or, you may want to consider other vantage points than where most people are gathering. Fireworks can be seen from a great distance, so look around for places where the crowds are not gathering yet where you can snap some nice photos.
Jie Lea Adra