Fireworks: The why and the how. Part1: The basics.

Well, a week ago was the fourth, and we all love the fourth!  Fireworks, and fireworks galore!  Here in the SAV, there are about eighteen different times and dates to watch fireworks, depending on where you want to go.  Tybee Isl. is an ever popular choice, as is River St.  But even the smaller surrounding communities have fireworks that are popular, and more importantly, the events are somewhat tame.  When you've got 3 young kids, a rowdy fireworks crowd doesn't make for a pleasant evening!

We did our fireworks this year in Richmond Hill @ JF Gregory park..  We've done them there before, and while the show isn't as spectacular as some I've seen, it's nice for the kids, and it's a pleasant locale. Here's a pic from the show:

Photographing Fireworks:

Technical Difficulty: 2/5
Equipment Required: 2/5


Taking pictures of fireworks is actually not that hard, but it does take focus, as each exposure is often luck of the draw.  You may go through an entire show with only a couple dozen exposures, but with a little "pre event" knowledge, you can adjust on the fly and hopefully will get great results.

The Equipment:  I gave it 2 stars out of five.  You'll need a DSLR, or a P&S who's exposure settings are fully manually adjustable.  Pretty much the minimum you'd be expected to have and still be reading this.

Camera
Tripod
Wide angle Lens (or capable of zooming out to at least 28mm)

 So how do you set it up?  Well that's pretty easy.  I'll tell you what you need to do, and, given your camera, you'll have to figure out how to do it.
Initial Camera Setup:
1) Set your camera to 'manual'.  Many cameras actively prohibit you from mucking around in any of the 'modes' other than that.  Since you'll be mucking around, change it.
2) Set your iso pretty darn low.  ISO 100 or 200 is a reasonable setting, and I wouldn't go much higher.  The higher the iso setting, the more sensitive to light the camera is, but the more signal noise gets left in the image.  Since most fireworks are against a dark backdrop, noise is going to be VERY apparent .  Noise = bad.
3) Adjust aperature.  You need to maximize DOF (depth of field).  f11 to f16 are as high as you can go without diffraction starting to affect sharpness.  The difference in DOF between f8 and f11 is pretty significant, I wouldn't ever recommend shooting fireworks below f11.  Below is an example of f8 vs. f11:

Both are from the same camera, lens, setup, and fireworks show.  The only significant difference is that the left image was taken at f11, and the right was at f8.  The exposed lines tend to blur, and that affects the impact of the whole image because of the contrast.  Here is the whole image (the f11 one of course :-) ):

4) Setup up your tripod.  Put your camera on it.  Point the lens at where the fireworks will be (in the sky usually).
5) Preset the exposure time.  Start at 2 secs.  Be prepared to adjust up to about 10sec.  How long each exposure is should (ideally) be governed by two important aspects.  a) how many fireworks are going off, and b) the positioningof the fireworks.  If, for example eight blooms are going off in the same place in each exposure, you'll end up with one single mass of light.  The detail will be lost, and the exposure will kind of suck.  See the example:

What is important to remember is that the exposure records everything that happens while the shutter is open.  So, hopefully, the bursts aren't overlapping, and there aren't so many that you lose the detail.  The next, while still a little tight, and a bit overexposed, isn't nearly as bad as the first.  Both are 10sec @ f11.

Of course, both were really to long, given the methodology of the people setting off the fireworks.  If they'd spread out the blooms a bit more, This one might be a keeper.  Of course, this is always something to keep in mind while you are shooting.  I guess the key word is 'density' --  too dense = bad.  And you control that with the length of your exposure.


6) Set the delayed exposure.  You know, the timer.  unless you have a remote release, you want a delay otherwise the shake from you pressing the button could affect the image.  In fireworks, this isn't a huge issue, but it can affect your image if there are fireworks ongoing when the shutter actually opens.


7) Take pictures, enjoy!  That's the nuts and the bolts of it!

Thanks for reading, and check back for Section 2, where we'll go into 'flash' for fireworks, and composure, and equipment specifics.

Marcus

www.marcusianphotography.com
marcus@marcusianphotography.com

An introduction: Photography in The SAV

As a local professional photographer, I've come to love living in the Savannah area.  Even though I shoot almost entirely people, and the events in their lives (mainly weddings), I've come to want to expand my capabilities, and through this, I hope to help teach a bit as I teach myself.  I intend to use as basic equipment as reasonable, and to prove that one doesn't require thousands of dollars of equipment to make unbelievable imagery.

Thanks! and look forward to more soon!
Marcu

www.marcusianphotography.com
marcus@marcusianphotography.com