Firework Season is Back in Town

With the wind, the rain and the cold also come the Gluhwhein, the merry songs, and the FIREWORKS!!! So be ready with your camera to capture the moment, in this post I’ll try to help you get the best results.

I took the image above during last year’s Switch-On in Manchester. I’ve received many nice comments and lots of views, here I tell you how to get something similar.

Find a Good Spot

Every year I see lots of people trying to get to the very front, what’s the point? If what you really want is to get good firework pictures then you want to be farther away. You really need to give some space between you and the fireworks so you can catch’em.

Carry a Tripod

I know, I know, I also hate lugging stuff around. However this is a time where the tripod is your friend. You will need long exposures to get the fireworks and give them time to spread-out in your frame so, don’t be lazy for once ;¬)

Get a Wide-Angle Lens

If you are using a DSLR get a wide-angle (10mm), you really need a lot of space to make the fireworks fit on your frame. If you are using a P&S or a compact camera then don’t worry, your lens is already wide enough.

Avoid Touching the Camera

Chances are that it will be dark enough and the movement you generate while pressing the trigger (even when using the tripod) will be unnoticeable. However, it is best if you are using a cable or ratio trigger (if you have a DSLR), or just set your camera on the timer. Even P&S now have an option for a 2sec delay, that will do.

Long Exposure and Aperture

As I said above, you need to give time to the fireworks to explode and spread in your frame, so you need to work with long exposures. How long? to be honest it is trial and error. For  the image above I used 4 seconds. You also want to get a good depth of field. I won’t get into details but try to increase the number in the aperture as much as you can without getting ridiculously long exposures (you don’t normally want to get above 10secs).

Remember the long exposure will give you a better chance to capture the fireworks. But the longer it gets the more fireworks will get cramped in your frame so it is a matter of taste and it will depend on how big the area is and the firework programme.

A Starting Point

If you like the image above and you will be facing similar conditions, then this are all the settings I used. They could be a good starting point for your first frame :D

Exposure:       4 seconds Aperture:       f/16 Focal length:  10mm ISO speed:      200

Now go out and shoot and don’t forget to share with me your results. I hope you find this helpful.

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What do I love about photography?

Since I am not particularly good at drawing -or writing as you can witness here- photography gives me a way to express myself. Through photography I can express my views, feelings and ideas. That is why I opened a Flickr account long before thinking of having a blog.



It also gives me a escape from daily problems, close contact with other people and even some power when I'm directing someone else. Even though I like landscapes and cityscapes...



... that is not really my thing (my cuppa tea as they say here). Too lazy to wake-up in the early hours to go find the perfect place at the perfect time - not me - I much rather deal with people so portraiture is what moves me. Wish I were more creative though, a portrait is not just the mere sum of someone sitting/standing/jumping/contortioning (you get the picture, no pun intended) and someone pressing a trigger. All the planning, camera equipment and models are worth nothing if you cannot convey YOUR idea. I will talk more about portraits in some other post let's stay with the phtography discussion.



My approach to portraiture is simple, whatever it works! I've heard lots of people moaning about film vs digital and straight from the camera vs Photoshop (here some disasters), and even among portraitists natural light vs strobes. I believe it all depends on your vision. In my case I embrace digital mostly because I couldn't afford buying film and develop it back in the day. About Photoshop I can say it is a great tool if you don't play too much with the sliders, and why limiting yourself if you have at hand such creative freedom. In terms of lighting, sometimes natural light is enough some others (especially here in Manchester) you need some help from external flashes -by now I have a nice collection of them - I will show you all my kit some other time ;¬)



As you can see from the previous image, photography is an excellent way of documenting what is going on with my life and what is important to me like my daughter and family.

Well this is it for now but I promise to get more into photography and into how I work and what I carry to my photoshoots. Hope you can come and read my blog from time to time.
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