taking pictures of fireworks

bismarck SG

any idea how to take ? i using a digital camera. first attempt at such stuff...later screw up then sia suay.....my dad dont allow me to take his FM2..yak yak yak yak....

sianz

sillyme SG

can your cam manually adjust aperture size and shutter speed?

bismarck SG

nope. i wanted to take my dad's Fm2 so that can adjust aperture and shutter.

sillyme SG

hmmm.. that's quite tough.. but maybe still possible.. your cam should have a "night scene" mode.. use that.. and perhaps a tripod..

be alert and loook for tell-tale signs of the firework shooting up.. once it burst.. snap!... take plenty since it's digital..

jOhO SG

hi bismarck!

if i'm not wrong u have a Panasonic Lumix dmc-fz1 rite?

the min shutter on that is 1/8s.. which means u have to be SUPER zhun to catch the fireworks. hit the shutter button just when it explodes, and even then u might not get the full trails of the fireworks..

but if u do manage to catch some good shots, feel free to post them up here. all the more challenge to get the shots! good luck! Wink

bismarck SG

hey joho,i love photography for the skill it needs for a great shot.the need for excellence.

yeap yeap. i do have that camera. but the night shot mode for that camera says the subject is best within the camera flash range.

i am choosing the following settings.what do u think?
cloudy sky mode.
ISO 50 or 400?
natural picture setting( there is a standard and vivid,manual advices natural setting)
night shot mode.

anyway i experimented with the night shot mode and i managed to achieve a shutter speed of 1.3 sec( funny speed)...f6.5 and 0.5sec at f6.5.
of course lah, the cloudy sky mode was on. wonder if that would lead to the extended shutter speed and smaller aperture?

anyway i think i know what settings to use liaoz.
anyone got any comments?

can?

jOhO SG

bismarck,

u will need to keep ur shutter open for longer than that.. 1.3 seconds? eheh well if that's the longest u can go for, then use that setting.

as for ur iso and aperture, it's hard to tell. typically u won't really blow out fireworks since it's pretty instant. still, a mid range aperture would be safer (f5.6?), and plus u don't wanna over expose the stadium on the ground. iso200 to keep the noise levels down.

btw.. ur cam can choose aperture settings meh?

alamak actually aitaiyuan should ans ur questions.. he's the one that's taken so many fireworks shots!! Twisted Evil

bismarck SG

waht u mean blow out the fireworks since it's,,,,

erm, my camera cannot select aperature 1.
which is why i say i am trying to trick my camera into opening that big.

jOhO SG

er blow out, meaning over-expose..

well u need to lengthen ur shutter not becos it's dar, but becos u wanna record the fireworks' trails right. so the longer the better, but the aperture and iso be adjusted accordingly so the surroundings dun get over exposed..