Thank you. Yes you could push in a little puff of fill in flash to lighten the foreground. Works best if you have something within about 10 feet of the camera for it to illuminate or you might just get a light pool on the ground in front of you. It'll be trial and error but give it a go..
The one thing with your videos is enthusiasm ... That's the way I feel when shooting my images, thinking on the hoof . Enjoy you work Mike , your someone to aspire too .. Thanks :-)
You were doing so much settings at the beginning of the video and I thought woah that's too much hassle. When I saw the pictures at the end, it was all worth it.
You’re welcome. I can't say what settings you'll need because I'm not there. These are things that you have to work out at the time. Take a few test shots and see what they look like. If you think they'd look better brighter / darker you can adjust exposure accordingly with the aperture.
Tricky question. In theory I think the answer is yes but in practice it's better to focus the moment before you press the shutter. I probably focus and re-focus several times as I compose a picture. Hope this helps..
Once you lens has been focused to infinity (maximum distance) you don't have to worry about it because everything will be in focus. Because the fireworks are beyond the infinity focus point of the lens I didn't have to worry about it. If you have focus distance on your lens infinity is like a number 8 laying on it's side.
The technique I use is to set camera to Bulb (on Manual mode) ISO 100 and at F8 with a focul length of 70mm@infinity. Focal length obviously varies depending how far away you are situated from the scene. I then use the trigger for opening shutter as rocket up and leaving shutter open until rocket has started to descend. This technique has not failed me yet so give it a try. Thanks Mike & Jane for informative and useful guides. Always enjoy watching them :-)
Well I guess it's thanks in advance Mike. Would never in a million years have come up with these camera setting ready for Nov 5th. Great and informative video, thanks! Hope you continue to get better btw!
Daylight - but I was shooting RAW so can adjust very quickly and easily in Lightroom. You could still do it with Jpeg s and adjust colours to suit in Photoshop.
Thank you. Sorry i should have said it's best to turn off Image Stablising. But it shouldn't affect ALL your photos, maybe 1 in 10 at the most. What you're describing sounds more like slight wobble of the tripod causing camera shake.
Thank you Peter. Please help us spread the word and grow the community by 'liking' 'G+ing', sharing our videos and linking to us on photo forums, Facebook etc
It depends on how much available light there is, this exposure may work in one set of circumstances but not in another all you can do is try it and adjust if necessary.
Hmm - you caught me there. I don't remember. I have tried it but on my old D300 it's hard to tell the difference. Suggest you do some test shots to see what happens with yours before you go to the display.
Subscribed right away ! This is your first video I saw and am really impressed with the way you have covered all the details. Would checkout your other videos as well. Thank you for sharing !
I just realized something that made me laugh out hard, by the time i set all this up and make all the little tweaks, i would have missed every single shot and the show would've been over hahahha. Much respect to photographers who shoot fireworks and lightning and so on, Thanks Mike n Jayne for clearing it up.
Thank you Mike for a great video about fireworks, i think i told you before that i have a russian daughter, so now i have to explane it all to here, thanks again great
The best results I have found is @ 100 - 200 ISO at variations anywhere from 1s to 10s @ F8-F11 - usually around 55-70mm - range - depending upon distance and other ambient lighting in the area - The other critical issue is weather - wind or rain play a big part in the success of your efforts - If wind is present a few seconds will be enough or they will all be "blown away"....and create a colorful "smokey" look to the pics... Your presentations are well done and informative
Love it, all the crap is kept in which makes the payoff so much more satisfying. Just goes to show, the process is as much fun as pressing the shutter. Cheers Mike
My godness, thank you for all the work!!! it is expectacular, i really like your vids, im a new suscriber, i will get an dlsr any time soon, but for the moment i really love your tutorials, very good voice!! Congratulations, you are on the top of my list !!!!!!!!!!!
Great video, as always! One thing I discovered the hard way is to turn off image stabilization. I did well with overall exposure and composition but because I didn't turn off image stabilization off, all the trails of the "flowers" were squiggly.
Very thank you very much for you videos Mike, i just save them to my play list here in youtube to go back again and again to them ^^ About this one i've got one question. Is it viable to avoid mirror vibration by switching to Live View ?
Thank you John Titor good to know they're helping. Please help me make more free vids by ‘Liking’ them and sharing them with other photographers on forums, Facebook etc . If your camera can shoot in Live View mode (not all can) and you use a cable release then yes it's a good way to do it.
Great tips! This 4th of july here in the states will be my first one with a dslr and I am looking forward to capturing some fireworks. I love night photography and long exposures, so hopefully I already have the basics down. Plus my Sony A57 doesn't have a moving mirror (fixed translucent mirror instead), so I wont forget to lock up my mirror....which I would do too. Thanks for the tips mike, keep em coming!
I recently shot my first fireworks and was able to capture some great photos. It's funny to see this video now because Mike is was facing the same problems. The best thing in this video is that at the beginning he did the mistake and exposed the sensor way too long which was the reason the fireworks were blown out. But then he only took shots for 4 or 5 seconds which is the best shutter speed to get the lights moving and spread out in all details. The hard thing ist to press the shutter very quickly and to catch the right moment when the fireworks are starting to burst in the air. In the end you can't control what you'll really get. The best thing I found out for me is to take as many 4-5 second shots as possible because then chances are good you captured serveral useful pictures with the correct exposure.
Thanks for the video its give me some inspiration for shoot in the fireworks of my city!! but i cant go to a dark place for shooting... my question is what configuration i have to use in a realy bright place for my canon DSLR
I like to try and photograph lightning and that works the same way as fireworks. I guess it helps in situations like this to have a mirrorless camera (mine is the Lumix GH2). Also don't forget to turn off autofocus. If it's on, you can miss some good shots :p Very cool video! That last series of pictures, with the reflections in the water, was the best one I think.
excellent video!! will be my first time shooting fireworks and I habe the opportunity to be in the pit with the crew any advice you could offer for being so close to the action ill be basically underneath them where they are being fired from
Nice @JTD Outdoors. You'll be looking straight up and this cauld be a really nice angle because it's different. If there's a stage in front of you use a wide lens and see if you can capture some of bith stage and firework action in one shot, It'll say more about the even than foreworks along. happy shooting pal... MB
Having watched this brilliant video (and part 1) I can't wait to go to my local display tonight and have a go! One question though Mike. Did you turn off "long exposure noise reduction". If no, why? I read elsewhere that this may be a good idea. Thanks so much for all of your work - so inspiring!!!
Just subbed mate. I got a firework display tonight in Perth, Scotland. Being a small city with a smaller budget (trying to be polite lol), I'm not going to have long to get some good shots. I just got a little Nikon D40 with kit lens 18-55mm and a fairly sturdy tripod. I think my D40 has mirror lock-up, but not certain. Would you recommend i use a remote? Thanks.
Love this video! Must have watched it 5 or 10 times to try get the technique right... Just one question, when you was doing the settings why did you have the iso at 200? Wouldn't it have been better at its lowest iso setting or is it important to have it up a bit? :)
great video. im shooting w a mirror-less micro 4/3s (olympus omd em-5) and the manual focus on my zoom lens isnt marked-anyway to tell where "infinity focus" would be?
Was that a Hummingbird at 9:50? Looked like one flew right in front of Jane's recorder. Also thanks for all the great videos made with great enthusiasm and humor.
I stumbled on ISO100 3.5 sec F7.1 and that seems to work well for me. Also I find that during the fireworks if you start the shot as the "bloom" starts and the next fireworks shot starts up you can capture the streak up and the bloom all in one image without over exposing the super hot light from the fireworks...... I can share my images I have on flickr if you wish to see but I can not post the link here
Another way to do it is with the "black card" technique. You hold a black card over the end of the lens with your shutter open the whole time. You are just blocking out light. You count to your self each time you remove the card; once you've accumulated "15 seconds" worth of "card off lens" then you go onto the next frame.
As Mike says, it all depends, not just on the available light but also on the camera. I just posted a fireworks shot on his Facebook page that was shot at ISO 64, 5 seconds, F8.0. As said, depends on light and the camera. The camera could only go to F8.0 but could go as low as ISO 64. Most cameras don't go that low.
The only advantage of using the black card to cover the lens is you can skip a firework and select the ones depending on where on the image they will fall. Could have several fireworks on the same image and be minutes apart. Guess it's just another technique and down to if it works for you then use it
Hi there mike my name is lee i'm interested in photography love watching your videos on tips . I've got a DSLR camera It's a old nikon model nikon d50 I bought it from ebay last year but I'm after a Second camera the nikon d90 and I got a film slr camera nikon f55 what I've not used i've only bought last month just wanted to experiment film as well .for this shot could you use bit of flash for the foreground would that work
is it true that shooting, in the dark like this and keeping the leds open for the light can burn the in the sensor? then every image will have a spot right there.?
That can happen when you are trying to get detail in the foreground. I personally don't mind the foreground (like the trees in the video) being silhouettes.
I think what he means is set it to bulb, set the shutter off and then use a piece of black card to cover the lens between the fireworks only stopping the shutter when your happy with the finished image.
I took a slightly defferent approach to photography fireworks, i set the camera to "Automatic Depth of Field" so that my frame was all in focus then done simular to what you said as in "when you see the light shoot up you can expect when the firework is going to go off" but because the camera was in control of the exposure it would be open long enough to get light trails but not long enough to get over exposed :) feel free to take a look at "Figure 4 Photography" on facebook for my results.
Another hint: the fireworks display will feel like it only went for a minute when you're trying to faff around with settings - just relax and do it at your own pace. One fantastic shot is better than 20 under/overexposed ones.
it appears like that because a lot of photography is trial and error on the day! theres no set way to do it. Although he does have the knowledge to help him judge what adjustments to make on the settings at that specific moment. my mum is constantly repeating this at me when shes out and about taking pictures with her camera. ;)
Thank you. Yes you could push in a little puff of fill in flash to lighten the foreground. Works best if you have something within about 10 feet of the camera for it to illuminate or you might just get a light pool on the ground in front of you. It'll be trial and error but give it a go..
The one thing with your videos is enthusiasm ... That's the way I feel when shooting my images, thinking on the hoof . Enjoy you work Mike , your someone to aspire too .. Thanks :-)
I forgot to add..thanks for your outstanding videos. You have a very entertaining and captivating way of explaining things without being long-winded.
You were doing so much settings at the beginning of the video and I thought woah that's too much hassle. When I saw the pictures at the end, it was all worth it.
Great tutorial. Fireworks are one of my favourite things to photograph. They can be so beautiful.
Thank you, it's so nice getting feed back like this :-)
You’re welcome. I can't say what settings you'll need because I'm not there. These are things that you have to work out at the time. Take a few test shots and see what they look like. If you think they'd look better brighter / darker you can adjust exposure accordingly with the aperture.
That's only 4 days ago i found your tutorials on You Tube
and they are awsome!!!
Greetings from Luxembourg.
Great tutorial! Just got a new D7000 and gonna test that baby tomorrow at a fireworks competition near our place.
Cheers from the Philippines!
Well done! Thx for the amount of time you put into this 'How to" and for posting.
It does help - I'm new to DSLR, so everything helps. Your channel must be the best there is. VERY inspiring. Thanks!
just getting into photography, well stepped up from a bridge to a dslr and your vids are really informative and always full of humour. nice work!!!
Thank you. I've been thinking about that for a while and have a couple of ideas. ...
Love these videos; concise and easy to understand.
Tricky question. In theory I think the answer is yes but in practice it's better to focus the moment before you press the shutter. I probably focus and re-focus several times as I compose a picture. Hope this helps..
Good sound advice - thanks. Mike
Once you lens has been focused to infinity (maximum distance) you don't have to worry about it because everything will be in focus. Because the fireworks are beyond the infinity focus point of the lens I didn't have to worry about it. If you have focus distance on your lens infinity is like a number 8 laying on it's side.
That was excellent and very entertaining. Great stuff Mike
Thank you so much for these videos I have learnt so much and you are fantastic at explaining some very complex areas of photography thanks again
The technique I use is to set camera to Bulb (on Manual mode) ISO 100 and at F8 with a focul length of 70mm@infinity. Focal length obviously varies depending how far away you are situated from the scene. I then use the trigger for opening shutter as rocket up and leaving shutter open until rocket has started to descend. This technique has not failed me yet so give it a try. Thanks Mike & Jane for informative and useful guides. Always enjoy watching them :-)
Great tutorial Mike. Will be putting this into practice very soon. Thanks
Well I guess it's thanks in advance Mike. Would never in a million years have come up with these camera setting ready for Nov 5th. Great and informative video, thanks! Hope you continue to get better btw!
Daylight - but I was shooting RAW so can adjust very quickly and easily in Lightroom. You could still do it with Jpeg s and adjust colours to suit in Photoshop.
Thank you. Sorry i should have said it's best to turn off Image Stablising. But it shouldn't affect ALL your photos, maybe 1 in 10 at the most. What you're describing sounds more like slight wobble of the tripod causing camera shake.
Thank you Peter. Please help us spread the word and grow the community by 'liking' 'G+ing', sharing our videos and linking to us on photo forums, Facebook etc
It depends on how much available light there is, this exposure may work in one set of circumstances but not in another all you can do is try it and adjust if necessary.
Hmm - you caught me there. I don't remember. I have tried it but on my old D300 it's hard to tell the difference. Suggest you do some test shots to see what happens with yours before you go to the display.
Subscribed right away ! This is your first video I saw and am really impressed with the way you have covered all the details. Would checkout your other videos as well. Thank you for sharing !
Way to go Geeluc - Rock and Roll!!
Thank you very much! Hopefully I can shoot some awesome pictures tonight, due to your good teaching skills :)
Thanks Ricardo van Burik
Some nice tips that i will be using tomorrow night at an organised display!
I just realized something that made me laugh out hard, by the time i set all this up and make all the little tweaks, i would have missed every single shot and the show would've been over hahahha.
Much respect to photographers who shoot fireworks and lightning and so on,
Thanks Mike n Jayne for clearing it up.
Thank you Mike for a great video about fireworks, i think i told you before that i have a russian daughter, so now i have to explane it all to here, thanks again great
Thanks Barry Lambert, hope you manage to explain things to your daughter ok. Glad you enjoyed the video - CHRISTINA :-)
Thanks a lot for this video(s), Mike! And Merry Christmas!
Soon it's New Year Eve, and then it's time to put this in to practice! :-)
The best results I have found is @ 100 - 200 ISO at variations anywhere from 1s to 10s @ F8-F11 - usually around 55-70mm - range - depending upon distance and other ambient lighting in the area - The other critical issue is weather - wind or rain play a big part in the success of your efforts - If wind is present a few seconds will be enough or they will all be "blown away"....and create a colorful "smokey" look to the pics...
Your presentations are well done and informative
Love it, all the crap is kept in which makes the payoff so much more satisfying. Just goes to show, the process is as much fun as pressing the shutter. Cheers Mike
Hello Mike, great learning video. Fireworks photos are really difficult and you haven't so much possibilities to make "try and error". Thanks a lot.
lovely descriptive vid! I am inspired! Just bought a canon 500D and itching to use it ! Hopefully will remember your tips when november comes around !
Great Job mate! once again you boomed us away.
Why? If the lens is covered with a cloth you can't shoot pictures, or am I missing something?
My godness, thank you for all the work!!! it is expectacular, i really like your vids, im a new suscriber, i will get an dlsr any time soon, but for the moment i really love your tutorials, very good voice!! Congratulations, you are on the top of my list !!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Mike,
+1 on the light painting!
Great videos btw!
All the best,
~David
Great video, as always!
One thing I discovered the hard way is to turn off image stabilization. I did well with overall exposure and composition but because I didn't turn off image stabilization off, all the trails of the "flowers" were squiggly.
Sorry I'm too late. A remote is a good idea because it makes sure your camera won't wobble during the exposure..
Very thank you very much for you videos Mike, i just save them to my play list here in youtube to go back again and again to them ^^
About this one i've got one question. Is it viable to avoid mirror vibration by switching to Live View ?
Thank you John Titor good to know they're helping. Please help me make more free vids by ‘Liking’ them and sharing them with other photographers on forums, Facebook etc .
If your camera can shoot in Live View mode (not all can) and you use a cable release then yes it's a good way to do it.
Very informative.. thanks... I appreciate the time and effort you took! :)
Great tips! This 4th of july here in the states will be my first one with a dslr and I am looking forward to capturing some fireworks. I love night photography and long exposures, so hopefully I already have the basics down. Plus my Sony A57 doesn't have a moving mirror (fixed translucent mirror instead), so I wont forget to lock up my mirror....which I would do too. Thanks for the tips mike, keep em coming!
I recently shot my first fireworks and was able to capture some great photos. It's funny to see this video now because Mike is was facing the same problems. The best thing in this video is that at the beginning he did the mistake and exposed the sensor way too long which was the reason the fireworks were blown out. But then he only took shots for 4 or 5 seconds which is the best shutter speed to get the lights moving and spread out in all details. The hard thing ist to press the shutter very quickly and to catch the right moment when the fireworks are starting to burst in the air. In the end you can't control what you'll really get. The best thing I found out for me is to take as many 4-5 second shots as possible because then chances are good you captured serveral useful pictures with the correct exposure.
Thank you Professor Besserwisser... MIKE
Have fun...
Hi Adam - my lowest iso setting is 200.
Thank you
Oh - yes I see. I suppose you can do it that way but it seems to be a load of extra work to me.
Thanks for the video its give me some inspiration for shoot in the fireworks of my city!! but i cant go to a dark place for shooting... my question is what configuration i have to use in a realy bright place for my canon DSLR
I like to try and photograph lightning and that works the same way as fireworks. I guess it helps in situations like this to have a mirrorless camera (mine is the Lumix GH2). Also don't forget to turn off autofocus. If it's on, you can miss some good shots :p
Very cool video! That last series of pictures, with the reflections in the water, was the best one I think.
Hello great info gonna watch every movie! A question, why do you often use iso 200 instead of iso 100?
excellent video!! will be my first time shooting fireworks and I habe the opportunity to be in the pit with the crew any advice you could offer for being so close to the action ill be basically underneath them where they are being fired from
Nice @JTD Outdoors. You'll be looking straight up and this cauld be a really nice angle because it's different. If there's a stage in front of you use a wide lens and see if you can capture some of bith stage and firework action in one shot, It'll say more about the even than foreworks along. happy shooting pal... MB
Thank you Sir. Very helpful
Thank you. My D300 bodies don't have ISO 100. 200 is the lowest
Sorry TheTechfalcon - I don't know the camera. Have a search in the hand book or online...
If you're on a stable tripod it's best to switch it off.
Having watched this brilliant video (and part 1) I can't wait to go to my local display tonight and have a go! One question though Mike. Did you turn off "long exposure noise reduction". If no, why? I read elsewhere that this may be a good idea. Thanks so much for all of your work - so inspiring!!!
Hello Mike, it's a pleasure to find photographers as you.
Can you do a tutorial of light painting? will be wonderful!!
Pleasure
Why so less aperture??? you get a lot off defraction this way,just put the ISO down.
Just subbed mate. I got a firework display tonight in Perth, Scotland. Being a small city with a smaller budget (trying to be polite lol), I'm not going to have long to get some good shots. I just got a little Nikon D40 with kit lens 18-55mm and a fairly sturdy tripod. I think my D40 has mirror lock-up, but not certain. Would you recommend i use a remote? Thanks.
Yep that'd work well - Mike
I will try this tomorrow :) But isn't it much easier to take a video, and just take some screenshots afterwards? :)
Why was there so much grain at ISO 200???
Love this video! Must have watched it 5 or 10 times to try get the technique right... Just one question, when you was doing the settings why did you have the iso at 200? Wouldn't it have been better at its lowest iso setting or is it important to have it up a bit? :)
great video. im shooting w a mirror-less micro 4/3s (olympus omd em-5) and the manual focus on my zoom lens isnt marked-anyway to tell where "infinity focus" would be?
By Jove you're right :-)
Was that a Hummingbird at 9:50? Looked like one flew right in front of Jane's recorder. Also thanks for all the great videos made with great enthusiasm and humor.
Ahh - got it - great technique...
I stumbled on ISO100 3.5 sec F7.1 and that seems to work well for me. Also I find that during the fireworks if you start the shot as the "bloom" starts and the next fireworks shot starts up you can capture the streak up and the bloom all in one image without over exposing the super hot light from the fireworks...... I can share my images I have on flickr if you wish to see but I can not post the link here
Another way to do it is with the "black card" technique. You hold a black card over the end of the lens with your shutter open the whole time. You are just blocking out light. You count to your self each time you remove the card; once you've accumulated "15 seconds" worth of "card off lens" then you go onto the next frame.
As Mike says, it all depends, not just on the available light but also on the camera. I just posted a fireworks shot on his Facebook page that was shot at ISO 64, 5 seconds, F8.0. As said, depends on light and the camera. The camera could only go to F8.0 but could go as low as ISO 64. Most cameras don't go that low.
Just got my first dslr and have a question - when i focus on something can i then zoome in and out and not focus again?... Im confused. Thanks.
Very cool! Are you going to try shooting lighting next ? :P
The only advantage of using the black card to cover the lens is you can skip a firework and select the ones depending on where on the image they will fall. Could have several fireworks on the same image and be minutes apart. Guess it's just another technique and down to if it works for you then use it
Hi there mike my name is lee i'm interested in photography love watching your videos on tips . I've got a DSLR camera It's a old nikon model nikon d50 I bought it from ebay last year but I'm after a Second camera the nikon d90 and I got a film slr camera nikon f55 what I've not used i've only bought last month just wanted to experiment film as well .for this shot could you use bit of flash for the foreground would that work
Hi Mike, someone else told me to try these settings, what do you think. f 5.4 1second exposure ISO 400?
is it true that shooting, in the dark like this and keeping the leds open for the light can burn the in the sensor? then every image will have a spot right there.?
I've heard this said but have never had it happen to me - even shooting straight into the sun.
That can happen when you are trying to get detail in the foreground. I personally don't mind the foreground (like the trees in the video) being silhouettes.
Hi mike what exposure metering are you using here...Thanks ..Jimmy
Pleasure :-)
I think what he means is set it to bulb, set the shutter off and then use a piece of black card to cover the lens between the fireworks only stopping the shutter when your happy with the finished image.
Mike I have a Sony a65 which is an SLT do you know if this camera can do the mirror locking that you are doing in this video
Could you please advise how you sorted focus?
help mike can't get my head around whats the difference iso speed and shutter speed.?
Hi ***** Have a look at ISO Explained - how it affects exposure and Shutter Speed
Very nice.
Did you shoot at iso 200 , because thats the lowest your camera could go at the time ?
Yes Ben Cresswell - the D300 only goes down to 200 ISO
Mike Browne thought so mike, just brought my second DSLR, and you will be glad to know i'm a Nikon user , I now use the Nikon D750, and love it !!
Which white balance setting were you using?
All lenses have infinity, unless you are using a non optical adapter to use a non native lens. It may not be marked clearly on the lens.
I took a slightly defferent approach to photography fireworks, i set the camera to "Automatic Depth of Field" so that my frame was all in focus then done simular to what you said as in "when you see the light shoot up you can expect when the firework is going to go off" but because the camera was in control of the exposure it would be open long enough to get light trails but not long enough to get over exposed :)
feel free to take a look at "Figure 4 Photography" on facebook for my results.
Another hint: the fireworks display will feel like it only went for a minute when you're trying to faff around with settings - just relax and do it at your own pace. One fantastic shot is better than 20 under/overexposed ones.
the pictures are so noisy even if the ISO is at its lowest is that normal?
What if the lens does not have infinity
Download magic lantern and use the motion detect. When a firefox goes of it captures it automatic ;) Have fun
it appears like that because a lot of photography is trial and error on the day! theres no set way to do it. Although he does have the knowledge to help him judge what adjustments to make on the settings at that specific moment. my mum is constantly repeating this at me when shes out and about taking pictures with her camera. ;)
:-) - nearly mended now..