Fireworks
The shots below are all take at ISO 100, f/11, infinite focus, and are mostly 4 second exposures. A tripod was used. Set the camera to manual focus and your lens to infinity. A wide lens (short focal length) is what you want, and you want to position yourself several hundred yards from the action so as to give you a nice wide view. This part of the equation is more trial-and-error than anything.
The f/11 aperture is more about lengthening your shutter speed than it is about sharpness. You want to get 3 to 5 second exposures. You have to experiment here.
I used a remote for these, to minimize camera shake. A wired remote is adequate, as you're going to (initially) be looking at the results of each shot and making adjustments to your exposure until you've dialed in what you want.
As for timing, good luck with that.
Here are some shots from the 2013 Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Nothing overly dramatic, but a fun time.
tganiats wrote: Thanks for the thoughts..... My problem is getting a loud of 'cloud' from the smoke...I don't see that here. Any secrets??
Well, I didn't show you those shots.
Using LR I brought down the blacks a but, which helps subdue some of the smoke. Pushing the contrast is your friend. If I had a shot I really liked, but had a lot of smoke, I'd spend some time masking (and feathering) to remove it was well as I could.
Of course, I don't pretend to be an expert. Just sharing what I've learned since I know the question comes up every year.
tganiats wrote: garyrhook: One thing to add to the instructions...Turn off in-camera noise reduction! I found your ballpark settings worked as a great starting place (and a great ending place for many of the photos), but the 5 second wait for the NR was frustrating a few times. Overall, though, my best fireworks shoot ever. THANKS!
D'oh!
Yeah, I forgot about that setting. I turned it off 2 years ago and then forgot about it. It's also something that gets overlooked in many articles (at least the ones I perused this last week).
Glad to have been of service. Now it's time to share some pics.
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