This was my first attempt at fireworks. Not that difficult but I did learn a few lessons.
  • You need a wide angle lens or perhaps a super wide angle lens or you have to have the ability to move back. This way you can frame the pictures better. It is not easy to predict how high the fireworks will go. As you can see I missed quite a few. By moving back you are giving yourself more room to play.
  • Get some landscape or landmark in the pictures. This is tough to do when you are close to the fireworks for then your camera is pointing up.
  • Shutter speed and timing . What the human eye sees is one explosion after another. A 7 second exposure on your camera however sees several explosions superimposed one on top of another thereby resulting in a over exposed or just a very overcrowded picture. So time your exposure well.
I used a Sigma 28-70 at 28mm. Full manual mode, focus on infinity, shutter on bulb mode using a remote control for shutter release. Exposures were beteween 3 to 7 seconds. But see the EXIF information displayed with each image.
Equip Make NIKON CORPORATION
Equip Model NIKON D80
Exposure Bias -0.66667
Exposure Prog Manual
Exposure Time 8.0
F Number 16.0
Focal Length 28.0
ISO Speed 200
Keywords Fireworks
Light Source unknown
Metering Mode Spot
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