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Wannabe Photographer
- Thread starter Zipadeelady
- Start date
Well, If anyone is still reading this and wanting to get into photography, don't. 
I'm just kidding. I took my camera out for some Fourth of July fireworks and they were horrible. I was expecting with my experience of two whole months to have fantastic photos but was surprised that I still had no clue what I was doing. Luckily my photography class starts next week.
With my busy schedule I'm not able to get out and take pictures and learn as fast as I'd like. I say all this so that anyone else in my shoes won't get discouraged.
Anyway, here are the best of my crappy Fourth of July pictures.
f4.5 ISO 12800 1/4
f6.3 ISO 8000 1/4
f4.5 ISO 20000 1/4
F4.5 ISO 12800 1/4
I'm just kidding. I took my camera out for some Fourth of July fireworks and they were horrible. I was expecting with my experience of two whole months to have fantastic photos but was surprised that I still had no clue what I was doing.
Luckily my photography class starts next week.With my busy schedule I'm not able to get out and take pictures and learn as fast as I'd like. I say all this so that anyone else in my shoes won't get discouraged.
Anyway, here are the best of my crappy Fourth of July pictures.
f4.5 ISO 12800 1/4
f6.3 ISO 8000 1/4
f4.5 ISO 20000 1/4
F4.5 ISO 12800 1/4
Last edited:
I would love your input on the settings. I'll have to wait until later to get those though. My camera is the Sony A6000, I used the 16-50mm lens (i was afraid to switch out half way through the fireworks for fear of taking to long with making the changes), mistake on my end I think. I don't have a tripod but my son bought me a monopod/walking stick and that helped keep me somewhat steady. I was really all over the place trying to adjust the shutter speed and aperture. Maybe doing some research first would have been good. When I'm able i'll edit my previous post and add the settings that were on the camera.
Jahona
Well-Known Member
Shooting fireworks is a trick. You're photographing something very bright in a dark environment. The camera want's to typically over expose the image unless shooting on manual. It looks like you were fairly close to the action so using the lens at it's widest or moving the camera back will help a bit. It's been a while since I last shot fireworks but my suggestions would be as follows. Set up on a tripod for sure. Hand holding isn't going to net you the best results. Set the camera to a lower ISO 100 or 200. Set the F-stop to around f/11. Place the shutter speed to several seconds or bulb mode. With bulb mode you can hold the shutter open for how ever long you want to capture several explosions in a single exposure. It's a bit of trial and error to find the right settings but this should get you in the general direction.
Thank you! Sounds like good advise, everything I didn't do. I need some of you guys to come along with me when I'm shooting. It would be so much easier.
Your kit lens should work fine for shooting fireworks. A tabletop tripod will work fine too as long as you can find a stable spot to put it and still frame the shot as you want. At Disney that's a bit trickier. If you're serious about fireworks photography, you really need a tripod of some sort (even if just tabletop) as opposed to a monopod. It's a key piece of the puzzle.
The goal is to have a fairly long exposure so you can capture several bursts. So here's my approach:
1) fairly small aperture (somewhere between f/11 and f/22 depending on the shutter speed you want to accomplish.
2) lowest ISO your camera can do (many are 100 ISO).
3) focus to infinity, then back off just a smidge.
4) turn your auto focus to manual focus so you don't have to refocus for every shot.
5) remote shutter release (so you don't move the camera even slightly when you release the shutter).
6) bulb mode so you can do whatever shutter speed you choose. With this I typically end up around 5-7 seconds.
It's a lot, but really not that hard. It's a lot of fun to try. Even amateurs can do this with good results.
The goal is to have a fairly long exposure so you can capture several bursts. So here's my approach:
1) fairly small aperture (somewhere between f/11 and f/22 depending on the shutter speed you want to accomplish.
2) lowest ISO your camera can do (many are 100 ISO).
3) focus to infinity, then back off just a smidge.
4) turn your auto focus to manual focus so you don't have to refocus for every shot.
5) remote shutter release (so you don't move the camera even slightly when you release the shutter).
6) bulb mode so you can do whatever shutter speed you choose. With this I typically end up around 5-7 seconds.
It's a lot, but really not that hard. It's a lot of fun to try. Even amateurs can do this with good results.
fractal
Well-Known Member
Well, If anyone is still reading this and wanting to get into photography, don't.
I'm just kidding. I took my camera out for some Fourth of July fireworks and they were horrible. I was expecting with my experience of two whole months to have fantastic photos but was surprised that I still had no clue what I was doing.
With my busy schedule I'm not able to get out and take pictures and learn as fast as I'd like. I say all this so that anyone else in my shoes won't get discouraged.
Anyway, here are the best of my crappy Fourth of July pictures.
View attachment 213860
View attachment 213861
View attachment 213862
View attachment 213863
Pretty good handheld shots.
Next step is using a tripod so you can keep your shutter open longer and get the trails. Follow the advise here. Aperture at least F/8 or smaller, ISO 100, around 4 or 5 seconds shutter speed. You can experiment with the shutter speed and the focal length on your zoom. If you use "bulb" on your shutter speed (scroll to the slowest speed), it will start the exposure when you hit the shutter, then end it why you hit the shutter again which gives you control over how long it's open.
If you don't have a remote shutter, you can use the 3 second timer on your shutter (but that makes it harder to time the shot). I bought a remote shutter online for around $15. google "a6000 remote shutter".
We have a fireworks show here on Saturday that I hope to make.
Well @drizgirl I added my settings to my fireworks pictures and it looks like I did opposite from what everyone says I should have done. That's ok...Next time I'll know. I took this next pic last night and made sure I lowered my ISO. I've started posting some of my better (my opinion) pics on Instagram under zipitidoda if anyone is interested. That way I don't keep clogging up this thread.
Attachments
Very nice shot! I'd love to see your settings on that one as well.
And one thing to keep in mind on the fireworks shots is that the approach is very different if you're using a tripod and a long shutter speed, versus trying to shoot handheld.
While a monopod will help some... you will still get some movement you don't want but given you were doing short times of 1/4 second that isn't a real problem here. Your biggest problem was the ISO setting was way to high. I saw the lowest ISO was 8000 set it at 100 or 200, the f stop might not be too open if you are going for shorter shutter speeds, this kind of just depends on what type of shot you want. You've go the shots that are more of what you see vs. the other type which use a very long shutter speed and get you a more dream like burst of light... You might try both and see which you like next time... but whatever you do don't use a fast ISO for fireworks is the worst thing you can do.
Thanks for the input! I will definitely remember this for next time. What would you suggest for ROL? We're going to AK in September.
RoL is a different problem and the solution isn't cheap. You are going to basically be shooting the equivalent of the Main Street Electric Parade so only you will likely be further from the parade than if you were doing the parade so unless you want wide shots you'll need a lens with some zoom to it... but you also need it to be faster than the kit lens. A f2.8 would be the best option but in zoom form that is going to be expensive. Your other option is getting an older telephoto lens that isn't made for your Sony and using an adapter. Say an old Canon 135mm 2.8 with an adapter would give you the equivalent of about 200mm 2.8 lens which would probably be a cheap option but would require you to manual focus. But if you went that route you would probably use iso of 200 go full open on the f stop and adjust the speed from there probably around 1/100 would get you close but it all depends on what part of the show you were shooting because some are brighter than others.
since you can see instantly on the display what areas are overblown, use that as a guide on taking shots in the dark where there are bright lights. You can never bring anything back to a overblown area... the flames in your hot air balloons are overblown such that you can't see much color of the fire or the flames.... In a situation like that shoot for the brightest area in your photo and then use some software later to bring back some of what you think is too dark. The trick is to shoot in RAW and then use some good software like Phase One's Capture One which is one of the best piece of software I've ever found for tweaking the exposure after the fact. And while the software is pricey, you should be able to use the light version for free since you are using a Sony a6000. I suggest you go take a few photos tonight and purposely underexpose them, then down load the Capture One and adjust the exposure... or if you have a scene with light and you only need the dark areas brightened use the "shadow" slider below the exposure sliders and try that. To get the results you are looking for you are going to have to spend a little time in post processing as the digital camera you are using just doesn't have the dynamic range to get great results in some of the more difficult situations.
I would like your post but I don't
. I won't be purchasing any lens before my trip. I have the kit lens, F1.8, and 50-200 zoom. (I don't even know if I'm saying that right) My f1.8 doesn't zoom, at least I don't think it does,
. I hate to sound like an amateur but I am. If I'm walking around AK for the day and can only take one lens, which would you recommend between the 3 listed above?
Thanks for the reply on the Balloons. I never even noticed that the flames where overexposed until you pointed that out. I agree that having more color in the flames would have made the pic much better. I need that sort of input. Software will be out of the question for awhile. I still need to learn more about my camera and the settings and definitely the "triangle". I do appreciate all your input.
Not knowing what you mean by f1.8 lens, I'll assume it is the 50mm and the 200mm is the 70-200mm since you are using a Sony. Assuming that is correct it really comes down to what you are trying to capture on your day. If you plan is to get animal shots on the safari then you need the 70-200mm.... But that lens will be kind of pointless for everything else in AK except maybe RoL though you will need to boost the ISO to level that aren't recommended to make it useful there.... If you really do only want to have one lens the whole day then I would say use the 50mm f1.8 (assuming you are going to be there at night as well)... If you knew you were only going to be in the park during the daylight hours then I would say take the kit lens.I would like your post but I don't
If I'm walking around AK for the day and can only take one lens, which would you recommend between the 3 listed above?
fractal
Well-Known Member
Looks good. My only bit of advise would be to crop out the port-a-potties.
Thanks fractal! They may be gross but they sure did come in handy.
For the Balloons my settings were ISO 500 F5.0 1/5.