Photography - equipment, help hints

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

What are the odds that a fishtank would be captured by a fisheye lens?

Looks like some real fun, Eric!

Fisheye, Fishtank, who knew?

 

[GrauGeist]

The subject came up in another thread about photographing fireworks, and I thought I might post a little info that may help the next time some fireworks are in your area.

What I have found to work best for me, is glass in the range of 50-200mm or 70-300mm and setting up bout a mile or so from the firework's launch site. Most public displays produce some big reports and you want to be able to catch all the action. Being in a place that is elevated sure helps, too. Scout the area before hand and have a few alternative locations in mind, and be aware of the wind direction before heading out. You don't want to get set up and then discover the wind will be blowing the smoke towards you...this will ruin the quality of your shots. Also, will there be bright lights in your background or anything else that may detract from the shots.

Now, as for the settings, most DSLRs have similar function selections, for my captures, I set my Pentax to TAV which is shutter and aperture priority. I set the aperture to f/8 and the shutter speed to 1 second, but I may adjust that during the display, dropping the delay during the finale when the light gets intense. The ISO is set at 200 (or 400 on occasion), I rarely run the ISO up higher, as it will develop unwanted "noise" in the night sky (although a higher ISO is great for starry night sky captures...but we'll leave that for another post). You want your fireworks to be sharp with no distractions.

So, now that your camera is set up on a tripod, in a good location with the settings at TAV, what's the best focal length for the lens? Well, that's something that you'll have to decide for yourself as it's a matter of personal preference. I adjust mine during the first few fireworks, but typically in the range between 55mm and 75mm depending on the type of fireworks (and location, etc). This makes sure that I have plenty of area available for the differing size of reports. Also, I always have the focus set to infinite ∞ as I would when shooting sunsets/sunrises and related landscapes. *Note* some newer lenses do not have infinite, and if this is the case with yours, set it at the maximum range as you would for a landscape shot.

My Pentax K100D produces an image that is 3008x2000 in size and my Pentax K-5 produces images that are 4928x3264 in size. Once I'm home, I will review the photos and crop them to show the details.

One final note: when using a tripod, be sure to have your image stabilization switched off and of course, be sure to have autofocus disengaged. Make a few test shots beforehand to make sure everything is set the way you want it, because once the fireworks start, it sucks to make emergency adjustments!!

Ok, now let's see some examples!

f/8 - 1 second - 63mm

f/8 - 1 second - 58mm

f/8 - 1 second - 58mm

f/8 - 1 second - 58mm

f/8 - 1 second - 58mm

f/8 - 1 second - 58mm

f/8 - 1 second - 58mm

f/8 - 1 second - 58mm

f/8 - 1 second - 58mm

f/8 - 1.3 seconds - 63mm

f/8 - 1.3 seconds - 63mm

f/8 - 1.3 seconds - 63mm

f/8 - 1.3 seconds - 63mm

All the above images were reduced to 720x477 for posting online (I never post full-res images) and when you reduce your images, always remember to use the "sharpen" or "sharpen edges" filter in your program after resizing and before saving.

I hope this has been helpful and remember, you can use my settings as a guide but always go with what suites you best!!

 

[Gnomey]

Good tips! I await the starry night tips as well.

 

[Shinpachi]

I now await the chance to practice too
Nice lecture, GG.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

EXCELLENT TUTORIAL DAVE!

 

[vikingBerserker]

...and awesome pics!

 

[GrauGeist]

Thanks guys!

 

[ontos]

Great tips and shots Dave, thanks for posting.

 

[GrauGeist]

Here's a mixed bag of good and bad news.

The bad news is that it will disrupt air traffic and mess with weather patterns. And the good news is, spectacular landscape opportunities, like the exceptional red sunsets like we had in 2010!

History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian

 

[evangilder]

Nice technique, Dave. That is a good way to catch them. As with anything, there are many ways to do it. I have used a similar technique for the fireworks here in my neighborhood for the 4th.

I tried a different approach as an experiment as Oshkosh this year. I was without a tripod and had a choice between the 200-400mm lens (at 7.5 lbs) or the 18-200mm (at 19 oz). I can hold the 18-200 pretty steady, but the 200-400 is a beast, and after carrying it all day long, my arms were like rubber.

I used the 18-200mm hand held at 18mm to get as many of them in the shot as possible. Depending on the camera sensor and firmware, you can up the ISO. I can go down to ISO 3200 with minimal noise (the D300 noise reduction is really good), but most cameras will start to get considerable noise at higher ISO. I set with at shutter priority at 1/100 shutter speed.

As I said, there are different techniques with different results. With your, Dave, the images are really crisp, and you get some great light streaks from the fireworks. With the technique I used above, I get less of the streaking of light. But without a tripod, holding the camera steady for a full second or more is not something in my capabilities. Here is the result I got. Your mileage will vary and the ISO capabilities of camera bodies is quite varied. I have the D80 and the D300 (Nikon) and the difference between these 2 at high ISO is pronounced. The D80 ISO tops out at 1600 and is noisy and pretty much unusable. The D300 got up to "high 1", which is about ISO 256000. at 256000, it is crap. But ISO 3200 gives some nice shots.

It is always a good idea to experiment with low light before going out to find the best balance of high ISO/good quality before trying fireworks shots to get the best bang for your buck. I made it work, but Dave's technique is the better way to go, and you will get some great images at lower ISO and shutter speed with the tripod.

One more thing on tripods. depending on the weight of the camera, and the sturdiness of the tripod, you may get some tripod movement when pressing the shutter. So when you press the shutter, be as smooth as you can. I have also done the shutter with a remote shutter and with the timer function. The timer function is a crap-shoot as you may not get the shutter to open when you want. Remote shutters are great, but again, it depends of the cost. My D80 remote shutter, which is a small remote control, was about $5. For the D300, it runs around $20-30.

 

[Shinpachi]

Masterpiece of firework photo, Eric

 

[evangilder]

Arigato, Shinpachi-san.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice hints Eric! That is the way I've normally shot fireworks as I don't have a tripod, though I use a slightly lower ISO.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Nice shot Eric, I have tried the hand held in low light and it can be bear. Yours looks great!

 

[Shinpachi]

I had no chance to go to firework this summer regrettably but -
when a low altitude cloud happened to pass through a building nearby, it had shown me great phenomenon.
Yes, it was firework for me

 

[evangilder]

Wow! It almost looks like it's on fire. Cool shot!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

I was thinking the same the thing Eric. Very interesting shot Shinpachi! Excellent capture!

 

[Shinpachi]

Thank you, Eric and Aaron for enjoying
The building has many beam lights on the top floor though we hardly notice them when the sky is clear..

 

[GrauGeist]

Geat tips and excellent shot, Eric!

And Shinpachi, what an awesome shot! It makes that building look mysterious.

 

[vikingBerserker]

I agree, that really is a cool shot Shinpachi!