Every July 1st I make the trek from Toronto to Charlottetown to spend Canada Day with my East Coast family. On this festive evening, the waterfront in Prince Edward Island’s capital city is always a pedestrian traffic jam, complete with parents, pets, and tired babies, waiting for the sun to set in order to take in the Island’s biggest fireworks display.
Inevitably, I bring along my point-and-shoot digital cam to capture the colourful explosions of light over the Charlottetown harbour, but the photos are always blurry and lack that certain something.
This year, my photographer husband has finally shared with me his top tips for shooting fireworks like a pro. The secret is to go old school with a DSLR camera that can be controlled completely manually, and follow these five pieces of advice:
1. Use a tripod
This seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people forget that a steady shot is a good shot. Your camera shutter will be open for a long time during the fireworks so any movement will result in a jittery light stream (making your shot will look more like a Jackson Pollock painting than an Ansel Adams photo).
2. Go Manual
Your camera should be set to manual - and even some point-and-shoot models have the ability for manual control. Although there is a lot of trial and error in finding the best settings for your camera, start out on the lowest ISO, about 100, and put your f-stop at about f/11 to give you nice depth of field (apparent focus) without making the image too dark. However, the most important setting is your shutter speed, which needs to be on bulb so that you can control when it opens and when it closes.
3. Frame your shot
Naturally, you won’t get everything right on your first volley of skyfire but there are some things to start you off in the right direction. Place the focus ring at infinity on your lens since you will most likely be some distance away from the show. Next, see if you can place some sort of object in the frame that will show scale. Boats in the foreground, or buildings and bridges in the background work well.
4. Use a remote release
These are often called cable releases as well, which either screw on to your camera or you can use a remote control-like button to fire the camera’s shutter without touching the camera. This helps to ensure that there are no shakes or bumps in your shot.
5 Timing
Finally, when the show begins and you are ready, you're probably wondering when exactly you should start to shoot. The best bet is to open the shutter with the remote cable just as the the fireworks are launched, then keep it open for several other rounds. This will guarantee that you get something in your frame and help you determine the best position for future shots.
This seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people forget that a steady shot is a good shot. Your camera shutter will be open for a long time during the fireworks so any movement will result in a jittery light stream (making your shot will look more like a Jackson Pollock painting than an Ansel Adams photo).
2. Go Manual
Your camera should be set to manual - and even some point-and-shoot models have the ability for manual control. Although there is a lot of trial and error in finding the best settings for your camera, start out on the lowest ISO, about 100, and put your f-stop at about f/11 to give you nice depth of field (apparent focus) without making the image too dark. However, the most important setting is your shutter speed, which needs to be on bulb so that you can control when it opens and when it closes.
3. Frame your shot
Naturally, you won’t get everything right on your first volley of skyfire but there are some things to start you off in the right direction. Place the focus ring at infinity on your lens since you will most likely be some distance away from the show. Next, see if you can place some sort of object in the frame that will show scale. Boats in the foreground, or buildings and bridges in the background work well.
4. Use a remote release
These are often called cable releases as well, which either screw on to your camera or you can use a remote control-like button to fire the camera’s shutter without touching the camera. This helps to ensure that there are no shakes or bumps in your shot.
5 Timing
Finally, when the show begins and you are ready, you're probably wondering when exactly you should start to shoot. The best bet is to open the shutter with the remote cable just as the the fireworks are launched, then keep it open for several other rounds. This will guarantee that you get something in your frame and help you determine the best position for future shots.
Now, sit back, relax, and let your creativity take the lead.