Fireworks/music festival

dave.turley · September 28, 2011

Hi,
I've been asked to take some photographs at a night time music festival/fireworks display and I'm wondering if anyone has any tips they could give me.
My camera is a Nikon D5000 and I also have a Nikon D3100 (which handles noise a little better I think)
I've got the 18-55mm kit lens which I like a lot, a 50mm f1.8 and a 70-300 Tamron zoom.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Dave

MarkR · September 28, 2011

Tripod. Set your exposure to manual. You want to keep a fairly low ISO, and exposure times of 2+ seconds are ideal. I prefer a wide angle lens so I don't have to aim my camera as much.

Here's a link to some fireworks I took recently (they start ~ page 6, depending on your browser:) http://markrouleau.smugmug.com/Out-and-About/Country-Museum-Fireworks/18918993_7PtfdH#1467851951_QZst8zF (Most taken with exposures ranging from 2-6 seconds. I tried a few 30 second exposures, but they mostly came out way too busy.) Oh, and shoot raw, too. That'll give you some headroom to tweak your exposure if you don't nail it.

A remote shutter is always nice for longer exposures, but for these I just used a sturdy tripod and a gentle hand.

Here's an example: F4.5, ISO 400, 2.0 seconds, 35mm (52mm equiv.) lens:

PhotoDavid78 · September 28, 2011

I would also add to that, the photo makes more of an impact when you include buildings or people watching in them.

I keep my ISO on 100. F/12-F/16, 2-4 seconds

MarkR · September 28, 2011

Also, you have to have a Pentax camera ... :lol

pathfinder · September 29, 2011

I tend to shoot at f8, be there, ISO 100, and anywhere from 2 t0 8 seconds depending on how fast they are lobbing mortars into the air.

Tripod, cable release.

You can skip mirror lockup with exposures greater than 4 seconds or so. Make sure you are on solid ground, last time I shot from a heavy bridge, and found traffic still caused it to shake when cars rolled across.

MarkR · September 29, 2011

I think we're all pretty much saying the same thing-- the key to great fireworks is a long exposure, and that means tripods and techniques to minimize any camera shake. (Cable releases, etc.) Wide to normal lenses will give you a bigger field of view to work in. I'm not sure that small apertures are strictly necessary-- depth of field with non-telephoto lenses shouldn't be an issue unless you are scarily close to the fireworks.

In a pinch you can photograph fireworks without a tripod-- wide angle lens with the slowest shutter speed you can hand hold (with IS I can usually get a keeper or two at 1/6 handheld on a 35mm lens)-- but the results aren't nearly as satisfying.

Tonto · October 14, 2011

Hi Dave, one method I have read about recently but not yet tried myself is to get a nice wide angle with ground features in the shot, ( as your shooting a music festival there will be a stage / crowd ) then without moving the tripod take 2 second shots of each individual mortar burst you can capture, then later in photoshop you can overlay each shot as a layer and blend the bursts through to create an image with a sky full of activity, do this from several different angles throughout the display and by using different bursts in different blends you will get quite a few variations.

I'm looking forward to trying it out myself next month, good luck.

dave.turley · October 25, 2011

Thanks for your reply and apologies for taking so long to get back to you. Your idea of blending shots in layers is a great idea and I think I'm going to enjoy the shoot and I'll post some of the results when I can.

Fireworks/music festival

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