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Archive for June 28th, 2007

The big light show is just a few days away and taking shots of the fireworks is something I’m hoping to accomplish this year. To help with the process I’ve been looking through the web to see what settings are recommended (ISO and shutter speed especially).

The information I’ve gathered is informative but also seems to be contradictory. Some sites recommend low ISO settings, while others say ISO 400 or 800 is optimal. I see mention of shutter speeds at ¼ sec all the way to 4-8 seconds. I guess as with anything, this is one of those times where you really have to experiment to see which set of results you like the best. The longer the exposure will make longer trails, while conversely, a shorter shutter will freeze the burst.

• There are a couple of things they all agreed on.
• Remote Trigger – If you have the ability to trigger the shutter without touching the camera, all the better. (I knew that gizmo would come in handy one day!)
• Tripod – To minimize the blur and shake.
• Turn off the flash – Since its dark most cameras will want to trigger the flash.

In some cases, the advice is very similar to taking pictures of a stream. What effect do you ultimately want? Do you want standing water, or the frosty look of the water running over the rocks or crest?

But here are several recommended websites with plenty of advice and examples of what to expect.

Tips for Shooting Fireworks

Tips from Popular Photography
Tips from Photobird
Tips from New York Institute of Photography
Tips from About.com
Tips from BetterPhoto.com