Camera Tripod Reviews

How do you photograph an explosion?  Well, when it comes to a fireworks show, it takes plenty of planning and anticipation of what you will need.  Despite the fact that a fireworks display is a preplanned event, that spectacular moment when the fireworks explode in the sky is still a split second when everything has to work right for you to get the perfect photograph.  

Now obviously, there are some equipment issues that have to be prepared to have your camera not only set up and ready but at the proper settings to capture that moment when all glory cuts loose in the sky.  So from an equipment stand point…

.    A tripod.  The activity of the fireworks is so dramatic that unless you stabilize your camera, the shot will be blurred and unacceptable to you and to whoever you may wish to sell it to.  The tripod should be easily transportable and adjustable so you can make adjustments on the fly.

.    A shutter release that functions externally.

.    Equipment to work at night as that is when your subject is going to occur.  You can get a head mounted flashlight at any camping store so you can direct the light at the camera and still have both hands free to handle your equipment.

.    A portable chair as there will be some waiting.  Anything else that will help you ride out the wait such as food, water, music etc. should also be part of your preparations.

Because the fireworks explosion is sudden and fast, you need to be able to adjust the shutter speed and have the camera set up to react to manual focus so you can use your eyes and ears to know exactly when to snap that shot.

The key to a great or a series of great fireworks photographs is location.  You want a location that has an outstanding vantage point view of the piece of sky where the most action will take place.  This means you may need to take a position on a bridge, on top of a building or on a hill away from the crowds that come to see the show.  This is not going to be easy to find so start early.  It is not out of line to “scope out” your location days in advance and arrive hours in advance to secure that spot as yours.  

Experience is going to be one of your best teachers as to not only the right location but how to set your camera focus and shutter speeds and how to position the view from the secured location so you can capture the rocket at the moment of explosion.  So find ways to do some practice shoots at other fireworks displays before you set out to do the “keeper” shot.  Many times minor league baseball clubs have fireworks shows and they would happily let you take photographs of the show in exchange for a few free shots.  Here you can experiment with your experiment and get your bearings before setting up for a larger show.

Once the show gets underway, anticipate the explosion that you want to capture.  Don’t snap the first five minutes of the show but use that time to confirm that you have the right sky location scouted.  The best times to capture the shot are right before the explosion which you can time by the sound of the rocket going up and the expected time before eruption.

With some experience you will get your sixth sense about where and when to snap that perfect photo and when you are done, you will have some spectacular shots to include with your portfolio or to display proudly.  And this will lead to even more work photographing explosions in the sky.

Shooting fireworks on July 4th with a digital camera is difficult, yet most photographers find it is the most exciting shoots they have ever done, in addition to Halloween and Christmas. One major explanation is the fact that normal film cameras are not sensitive to the infrared, while digital cameras are. When sensitive to infrared light – there is over exposure of the CCD.

To avoid some problems, most photographers will agree there are only two fundamental requirements that will make or break shooting the firework scene – time exposure and a solid platform for the camera. A one-second to four-second time exposure should be sufficient, if using ISO 100 or faster film.

Some key points in preparing for a fireworks shoot will allow the photographs to be taken, without rushing or setting up in a hurry. When you arrive a little early, check out the location where the fireworks will be set off, trying to avoid obstructions (trees or tree branches) and weather elements, such as lots of wind that blows smoke. Stay completely away from streetlights or even city lights, as they may cause lens flare in the shots.

On flat grounds, getting the tripod set up in a good position takes some time, as finding the right angle and direction in which the fireworks will streak through the sky is important. To further eliminate the possibility of shaking the camera you should use a cable release. This will allow you to release the shutter without touching the camera. This is very important, as we need long exposures to get the best light effect.

Remember to put the camera on landscape mode, or the icon that looks like a mountain range. And if the camera is equipped, set it to fireworks mode. And be careful about the exposure, as short exposures will not capture the exploding fireworks properly, while long exposures will produce a blurry effect. Try to open the shutter when the fireworks explode in the sky, and close it when they peak – usually from one to four seconds.

Some small things to keep in the back of the mind is the precaution of carrying a flashlight. Remember, it’s going to be dark, and you will not find sufficient light to set your camera controls. Batteries are also important as a back up, and don’t forget the memory cards. Keep half a dozen as this will not be a time to run out of space. Do not use JPEG to store the images. Instead, go for eps or tiff format. These images take more space but there is no loss of pixels because of compression.

The thing to remember when shooting fireworks is use the highest quality settings of the camera, for high quality images. Using a shutter remote is advisable, if it is available. It may be hard – and it may be challenging – but it will be worth the wait.

When sky is illuminated with fireworks, one may get excited and try to capture the instantaneous moment. Often it ends up with failure due blurred or foggy or mixture of lights which does not depict the fireworks which we saw. This means shooting fireworks display is a challenge to a amateur photographer and the professional too. Shooting fire works display is simple if you follow few simple tips as given below by www.reshade.com excellent online photographic store.

1.Have the Right Exposure.

In order to get the unique looking fireworks photos, it has to captured at the exact moment when it occurs.

If your shutter speed of your camera is set wrongly, it may not snap at the precise time resulting in blurry or smoky images. It is important to set your camera to manual mode and the shutter speed to be set to snap in 1.6 seconds. Manually set your camera to snap in 1.6 seconds. Under these settings, you are certain to capture precise colorful fireworks go off which you wanted.

2. Use a good Tripod.

It is better to use a Tripod when taking Fireworks photos.

The reason is fireworks display not only display vibrant colors in the sky but also shows different arrays of lights moving fast at different directions. Hence, the handheld camera may not be able to hold without shaking to capture the fire work in its natural way. Using a tripod, the camera could be kept very still so that you could get the fabulous image of fire display.

3.Get Rid of the Flash.

Many believe use of flash during fireworks photography will assist them. The flash will not add any value to the fireworks photos. Hence, always keep the flash turned off during photographing fireworks displays. This means, its better to use the manual mode if you are using the digital SLR.

4.Use Low ISO setting

It is important to note that photographing fireworks is not similar to other photo sessions. Since most of the fire works displays are done during night, the vibrant colr displays instantaneously, the light sensitivity of your camera has significant importance. For example, the ISO setting of your camera has to be low.

What the experts say is you have to keep the ISO to be kept at 100 so that you could get fantastic photos depicting the fire display which you were shooting.

5. Less Dependence on Automatic Features

Since the fire works photos are all to do with lighting, When you set the camera to auto mode and use for fireworks shooting, it will not capture the lighting properly resulting blurry or overexposed images. Always set the camera to the manual mode when shooting fireworks photos, you are certain to get clearer and dramatic pictures.

So we hope by following the simple steps above, you are sure of getting amazing fireworks photography. Make use of the digital camera’s many settings to take many fireworks photos that will give you excellent pictures which may have an interest to many people. In conclusion, fireworks photography will give any photographer the opportunity to explore his talent and creativity.

During this celebration period as Christmas, New Year, there will be many firework shows in many places. Therefore, there are a lot of opportunities to photograph firework photos.

What do you need for taking firework photos?

Camera: the one that has “Bulb” shutter speed is preferable.

Wide and normal zoom lens: 10-22 mm, 16-35 mm, 18-55 mm, 24-70mm, etc. Zoom lenses have more flexibility to frame your photos. However, there are no solid rules which focal length should be used because it depends on how far of you and fireworks, how big of the fireworks are, etc.

Tripod: You really need it because of long shutter speed while taking firework photos. You must keep your camera still otherwise your photos will be blurred.

Remote switch: It helps you to keep your camera completely still while photographing firework shots. When you use “Bulb (B)” shutter, you should not press directly to a camera shutter button because it causes the camera to be unstable. Therefore, you can not get sharp and clear photos.

There are some optional things that you may be able to consider as listed below:

Black cap: It’s used for protecting lighting when you want to photograph many fireworks in one shot.

Food and drink: You may wait for awhile before fireworks will be commenced. Therefore, you may need food and drink.

Flashlight: It helps you to find anything in the dark.

Small chair: In case of wait for a long time

Umbrella: In case of raining

Where and when you should go for taking firework photos?

The best place to photograph fireworks should be any tall building around the fireworks area about 0.5-1.5 km from where the fireworks will be shown. You must be able to pan your camera without any obstructions in your viewfinder. Moreover, it should be upwind direction too.

You must go to your location as early as possible because there will be a lot of photographers and speculators. You must remember that the location is everything for taking fireworks photos. The better location you are, the better photos you will get.

How to photograph fireworks?

What you should prepare prior to taking firework photos as follows:

1. Be on location as early as possible and select the best location. The best location is the location where you can see the fireworks without any obstructions and there is interesting foreground or background as buildings, bridges, river, lake, etc.

2. Set your camera on Tripod firmly

3. Set the parameters in the camera as follows:

Mode: M, Manual

Auto focus: Off or Manual

ISO: 100

Shutter speed: Bulb, B

Aperture: vary from F5.6 to F11

Focal length: Infinity

File type: Raw file is preferred because you have more flexibility to process your photos after.

Memory Card: 2 GB at least so that you will not lose your opportunity to take photos due to memory full.

WB: Auto

4. Set good composition by including nice foreground or background as building(s), pool(s), lake(s), bridge(s), river(s), etc. Use rule of third to get the nice composition. There are 2 ways to frame your fireworks photo which are horizontal or vertical. It depends on how your fireworks look like. If your fireworks are one big and long shot, you may need to frame your photos vertically. In other words, if you want to capture wide angle of fireworks, you may need to flame your photos horizontally.

5. Set your remote switch with your camera and test its function.

Let’s photograph fireworks:

1. Once you hear explosion, you start to press and hold a remote switch button. Then you look at the fireworks showing their magic until it disappears and then release the button. Normally, it takes about 5-9 second depending on how long of each firework shot is.

If this is your first shot, please check a photo shown on your LCD and see how the composition and lighting look like. You may need to adjust the camera, the focal length and aperture in order to get the nice composition and lighting. Please do in quickly and continue taking fireworks photos.

2. If you would like to take many fireworks in one shot, please use the following tips:

2.1 When the first firework is shot, press and hold the remote switch button. Then when the first one fades out, put the black cap in front of your lens in order to prevent light coming to your photo while you are still pressing the remote switch button. You must not touch any part of your camera so that your photo will not blur due to camera being moved.

2.2 When the second firework is shot, take the black cap out and wait until the second firework fades out. After that you put the back cap in front of your lens again.

2.3 When you do not want to add any fireworks in your photo, you just release the remote switch button. You can repeatedly use these techniques in order to take many fireworks in one shot. However, you should be prudent with this tip because if you try to take too many fireworks in one shot, your photo will be too over exposure and your photo will be the flashy shot. Normally, I use this tip to get only 2 to 3 fireworks in one shot.

3. Check your photos periodically. You may have time to check your photos because the fireworks are shot periodically. You may change the composition and/or delete some bad photos in order to reserve the memory space.

These are guidelines to help you to photograph fireworks. Let’s try and have fun with fireworks.