Photographing Fireworks

 No Responses »
Jul 012011
 

The Fourth of July is right around the corner here in the U.S. so I thought I’d re-run last year’s post about photographing fireworks. It rained – a lot – during last year’s fireworks show near my house and I wasn’t able to take any fireworks photos, so I’m REALLY hoping for better weather this year.  

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Photographing fireworks is a lot of fun and can yield some wonderful results but you really have to plan ahead to get some good shots. Here are a few tips.

  • Scope out a location ahead of time if possible. Get yourself all set up, make sure everything works, pre-set as many settings as possible. Fireworks shows happen FAST and once things get underway, you’re definitely going to want spend more time shooting than fiddling with your camera. It’ll all be over before you know it.

  • Try to position yourself so you’re upwind of where they’re launching the fireworks from, otherwise you’ll be likely to get more smoke than fireworks in your shots.
  • USE A TRIPOD. Seriously. I know I keep telling you to use a tripod and then I consistently DON’T use a tripod myself. But I really mean it this time. You really can’t get decent photographs of fireworks without stabilizing your camera.
  • Use a remote shutter release if you can because pressing the shutter release manually inevitably causes camera shake. If you don’t have a remote shutter release, you can try to use your camera’s self-timer function. You’ll need to get real good at anticipating the shots because using a self-timer is pretty hit-or-miss. Set it for just a couple of seconds if possible.

  • Shutter speed – You’re going to need to use a slow shutter speeds to capture the motion of the fireworks. Experiment with shutter speeds anywhere from 2-8 seconds or even longer. Alternatively, set your camera on bulb so you have more control. (That’s the setting where you can hold the shutter open manually until you feel like you got the shot).
  • Experiment with getting double exposures. Set the shutter speed for 16 seconds or longer, trip the shutter to capture a burst of fireworks, then cover the front of the lens with something dark. When another burst is about to happen, uncover the lens to capture the second burst. Make sure you don’t touch the lens in the process.
  • Aperture – this setting is kind of hit or miss. Start at f/8 and experiment from there. During the finale, you might want to stop the aperture down at least a couple of f-stops (and remember, the bigger the number, the smaller the aperture) because things are going to get real bright for a bit.

  • If you have a point-and-shoot camera that doesn’t allow you to adjust things like shutter speed and aperture, see if it has a specific fireworks setting and if so, use that.
  • ISO – try to use the lowest ISO possible, generally 100 or 200. Otherwise you’ll get a lot of noise in your black sky.
  • White balance – tungsten or incandescent will generally give you the most accurate colors, but you might want to experiment with this as well.
  • Charge your batteries ahead of time and have spares on hand. Also have spare memory cards on hand.
  • Take a small flashlight with you so you can see to tweak your camera’s settings.
  • Don’t try to focus on the fireworks – you’ll drive your camera crazy trying to find something to focus on and you’ll end up missing the shots. Put your camera on manual focus, set it to infinity and leave it there.
  • Focal length – I generally shoot fireworks at the wide end of my 18-200mm lens.
  • Filters – If you have a filter on your lens, remove it. This will decrease lens flare and reflections. You might also try using your lens hood if you have one.

  • When the show starts and you start taking shots and any time you change settings thereafter, check your LCD display to see how your shots are coming out, but don’t check after every shot during the show or you’re going to miss a lot of the action. Do check periodically though.
  • Take a LOT of photos. Seriously. A LOT. Just know that most of your shots won’t turn out. Last year I took 300 photos in 34 minutes and just over a quarter of them turned out even halfway OK.
  • Once it’s all over and you’ve transferred your photos to your computer, learn from what you’ve done and take some notes if you have to so your fireworks photos next year will be even better. I first photographed a fireworks display in 2008 and I can truly say that my 2009 photos were MUCH better because I took the time to learn how to improve them after 2008. And I’m confident that this year’s photos will be that much better. :)

Holiday Photography Tip #4

 No Responses »
Dec 232010
 

#4 – SHARING

What’s the point of taking all of those fabulous photographs if you don’t share them with family and friends, right?

There are many ways to share your photos with family and friends: burn the photos to a CD or CDs to share; email them; create and publish photo books; post them on Facebook; invite everyone over in mid-January to relive the memories by viewing the photos on your laptop screen, etc. However, I think the easiest and most efficient method is to upload your photos to a photo sharing website.

There are bunches of photo sharing websites out there, but the ones I’m most familiar with and are probably the most popular are Picasa Web Albums, Flickr, Photobucket, Snapfish, Shutterfly, Smug Mug and Webshots. Most are free, although the free ones generally do have a limit on storage space. Some allow people to order prints of your photos. Some allow you to create movies/slideshows of your photos. There are all sorts of options and variables, so I suggest that you do some investigating to determine which photo sharing option would work best for you.

If you have other ideas for sharing holiday photos, please post your ideas in the comments section!

That’s it for my Holiday Photography Tips. Have fun with your holiday shooting and don’t forget to submit a few of your best shots to me at 39DegN@gmail.com for the HOLIDAY Photography Assignment!

Holiday Photography Tip #3

 5 Responses »
Dec 202010
 

#3 – HOLIDAY LIGHTS

I have to admit that I have not done much holiday lights photography, so when I decided that I was going to head to downtown Denver to photograph the holiday lights on the Denver City and County Building, I really had to do some research. 

Here are a few tips I found that worked for me:

  • USE A TRIPOD or figure out another way to stabilize your camera. This one is really essential to get nice crisp, clear photos.
  • Set your white balance to either tungsten or fluorescent. I got good results with both.
  • Set your mode to Shutter Priority and your shutter speed to about 2 seconds, give or take a second.
  • Use a remote shutter release or your camera’s self-timer so you don’t wiggle the camera when you activate the shutter.
  • Shoot from different angles and try different techniques such as the zoom effect I told you about a while back.
  • One article I read suggested shooting outdoor holiday lights BEFORE it gets totally dark so you can get an interesting sky in your composition. I didn’t have that option last night since it was already totally dark by the time the lights were turned on, but I’d love to try it sometime.
  • For indoor lights, make sure your flash doesn’t fire and pretty much follow the tips for outdoor holiday light photography. 

Holiday Photography Tip #2

 No Responses »
Dec 182010
 

#2 – SHOOTING PEOPLE

This may be the only time you’ll ever get tips on photographing people from me. Anyone who knows me knows that humans are waaaay down toward the bottom of the list of my favorite subjects to photograph. Really, it’s nothing personal. However, it IS the holiday season, after all, and those special family holiday moments really do need to be captured.

So… a few people shooting tips:

  • If at all possible, avoid using the on-camera flash indoors. The light created by your on-camera flash is generally too bright and casts unsightly shadows and doesn’t make ANYONE look good. Get as much light in the room as possible and bump your ISO up a few notches, like to 600 or 800 or so. Use a tripod if possible to compensate for the slow shutter speeds that result from shooting indoors without the flash. If you have a DSLR, use your fastest lens and/or an external flash with the light diffused and bounced off the ceiling or a wall. If you have a point-and-shoot, experiment with the “night” mode. Worst case scenario, use the on-camera flash anyway and hope for the best. Because sometimes that’s really the only option.
  • During moments of high activity, such as gift opening, switch your camera to burst/continuous shooting mode if your camera has that capability. This will ensure that you’ll capture a wide range of expressions and will increase the number of “keepers” that you come up with.
  • Unless the background is integral to the photo, try to cut out as much of the background as possible by getting closer to your subject. You can do this by physically moving closer or by using your zoom lens. Yes, you can always crop out unwanted backgrounds in post processing, but it’s best to compose your photo correctly from the get-go. Don’t try to capture everything and everyone at once in one busy, unremarkable photo. Get close and fill the frame.
  • When taking photos of people, rethink your perspective. Photographs of people are generally better taken from the eye level of the subject(s). For example, the kids are usually sitting on the floor when opening presents, so you need to get down on the floor with your camera too. Another example is the inevitable the dining room table shot. Instead of shooting down at the folks, have a seat and shoot from their eye level. In that situation, set your camera on Aperture Priority and bump the number way up (f/18+) so you can get everyone in focus.
  • With posed group photos, always always always take multiple shots. The more people in the photo, the greater the chances that SOMEONE will be blinking or looking away. A trick that I like to use when taking group photos is to have everyone CLOSE their eyes to start with, then instruct them to OPEN their eyes on the count of three.

That’s all I can think of. If you have any other “people shooting” ideas, feel free to leave them in the comments section.

(Sorry, no example photos on this one… I don’t want to embarrass my beloved family and friends). ;)

Holiday Photography Tip #1

 No Responses »
Dec 072010
 

#1 – BE PREPARED

Holidays can be busy, sometimes chaotic times. With so much else on our minds, so much to get done, and so many other things going on, it’s easy to relegate photography to the bottom of the list. In order to capture quality images of these special occasions, we need to make photography a priority. The first step in making photography a priority is to BE PREPARED to take photos. Following are a few tips that I posted earlier in the year to help you BE PREPARED to capture those special holiday memories:

  • Always have your camera with you.
  • Don’t just have it with you, but have it accessible. If you have to dig your camera out of the bottom of a bag or retrieve it from the back of your car, you will have missed the moment.
  • Don’t just have it with you and accessible, but have it on. Some cameras take several seconds to achieve a state of readiness once the ON button is activated, so be sure to turn the camera on before The Moment arrives. Most cameras have an auto-shutdown feature, so set that for the longest amount of time possible.
  • Make sure you have your batteries charged at all times and keep spares handy. Batteries slowly lose their charge when they just sit around unused so if you’ve charged a battery but haven’t used it in a while, toss it on the charger periodically.
  • Make sure you have a memory card in your camera and that it is either empty or has plenty of room on it and keep spares handy.
  • Give your camera/lens a quick once-over before you start out. Keep your camera/lens clean. Always have a cleaning cloth handy to wipe off the inevitable spots and smudges. Check for anything out of the ordinary about your camera.
  • Check your settings. The settings you used the last time you took pictures may not be the right ones for THIS time.
  • Always keep your eyes open for new scenes and unexpected photo ops.
  • If you’re waiting to take a shot of a specific moment, be patient and stay focused. The second you take your eye off the scene is the second that that once-in-a-lifetime moment will happen.
  • Don’t spend too much time “chimping” (ooohing and aaaahing over the image you just took). You just might miss the best shot while you’re admiring your handiwork. A quick check should suffice, then get ready for the next shot.

The Zoom Effect

 No Responses »
Nov 222010
 

I’ve been having some fun lately experimenting with a photography technique called The Zoom Effect. You’ve seen ‘em – pictures in which a stationary subject looks like it’s moving toward or away from the camera due to the motion lines… like this:
 

How is that done? you ask. It’s really quite simple. 

  1. Set your shutter speed between .5 second to 1 second or maybe a little longer if you like.
  2. Frame your shot and focus
  3. Activate the shutter
  4. While the shutter is open, twist the ring of your zoom lens in or out

 That’s it. It’s really that easy.

 Now here are a few tips for improving your zoom effect images:

  • Use a smooth, even motion when zooming.
  • Use a tripod. This isn’t TOTALLY necessary as far as I’m concerned, but you’ll want to minimize the up and down and side to side motion that is likely to occur while you’re manually zooming and a tripod is a good way to accomplish that.
  • Low light situations work better. Because of the long shutter speed, a lot more light is going to get into your camera. You can try using a smaller aperture, using a high ISO and/or fiddling with the exposure compensation if you’re in a bright light situation, but chances are you’ll still end up with an over-exposed image.
  • If you have a point-and-shoot that allows you to manually set the shutter speed but doesn’t let you zoom during the exposure, try physically moving the camera toward or away from your subject. This takes a lot of practice to avoid camera shake, but it’s worth a try and you just might get lucky. :)

From there, it just takes a lot of practice and experimentation. Try out different shutter speeds.  Try zooming just a little, then zooming a lot. Try both zooming in AND zooming out to see how the effect varies. Experiment with different scenes – the technique works best when there are strong tone or color contrasts within the scene. Try it out with lights, such as Christmas lights, city lights, neon signs, etc. 

The zoom effect can also apparently be accomplished in post-processing, but I’ll have to cover that in a different blog post.

No, Really. Back It Up.

 No Responses »
Oct 142010
 

I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post (Back It Up) the importance of backing up your image files. I found out first hand this week WHY.

My current primary storage device is a 750GB Seagate portable hard drive. When I download image files from my camera to this hard drive, I USUALLY also send them to a secondary device, a 1TB Western Digital My Book desktop hard drive. A while back, my PC was out of commission for a bit and doing the image backups became much more inconvenient. Once the PC was up and running, I started catching up on the backups, but was about a month behind. 

Well, wouldn’t you know it, this week the little USB connector thingie on the 750GB Seagate came loose from its moorings and got pushed inside the enclosure, so I have no way of connecting a USB cord to access my photos on that hard drive. After a couple days of panic, I found out from my IT guru that I can move the hard drive guts to a new $20 enclosure and all will be right with the world. Whew! But it was a huge wake-up call. And now I’m thinking that I really should think about heeding my own advice and back up my images to a tertiary destination. I’ll let you know what I decide on.

(And please forgive me for ending that last sentence with a preposition).

The moral of this story is: BACK UP YOUR IMAGE FILES!!! No, really. I mean it.

Shoot the Moon

 No Responses »
Sep 232010
 

Did anyone see the Harvest Moon last night? I missed because I wasn’t paying attention and due to persistent cloud cover here in the Denver area. It was actually a “Super Harvest Moon” – you can read about it HERE – and I am really REALLY sorry I missed it.

I was actually asked quite recently for tips on photographing the moon. I haven’t done a whole lot of moon photography but there are definitely some specific techniques involved.

  • When attempting to photograph the moon, whether by itself or incorporated into a wider landscape scene, chances are the moon will be the brightest spot in your image. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up with a featureless white blob in every photo. In order to capture the fine crater details, you need to set up your exposure manually as much as possible given the capabilities of your particular camera. The following settings are recommended for starters:
              Aperture – f/11
              Shutter speed – 1/125-1/250
              ISO – 100-200
  • If available on your camera, use the manual focus setting. Your autofocus setting will get very confused when trying to focus on the moon.
  • To get nice detailed images of the moon, you’ll need some sort of zoom capabilty. A minimum of 300mm is best.
  • USE A TRIPOD. I mean it this time. And use a remote shutter release or set the timer so you don’t have to touch your camera to activate the shutter.
  • Try to get away from the city lights if you can.
  • The full moon is big and dramatic, but also try shooting the moon at its various phases.
  • It’s almost impossible to take a properly exposed photo of the moon in a wider landscape with both the moon and the landscape properly exposed. If you see a photograph with a perfectly exposed moon and a perfectly exposed foreground, it’s more than likely a double exposure.

The moon is probably going to be kind of cool tonight too, so go ahead and give “shooting the moon” a try.

Fall Foliage Photography

 1 Response »
Sep 182010
 
What with autumnal equinox right around the corner here in the Northern Hemisphere (September 22 @ 11:09 PM EDT to be exact), it’s time to give some serious thought to photographing fall foliage. I’m heading out for my first fall foliage shoot of the season today (if the weather cooperates) so I thought I’d share some fall photography tips.

  • If you’re going to set out specifically to photograph fall foliage, it’s best to have an area in mind so you’re not wandering around aimlessly looking for nice colors. Here in Colorado, the main draw for fall photography is the aspen trees. Pay attention to what trees look nice in their fall colors in your area.
  • Probably the optimal time to shoot fall colors is during the “golden hour” right before/after sunset. Some say that that the sunrise “golden hour” works too, but I’ve tried shooting at sunrise on more than one occasion and wasn’t all that pleased with the results. You can definitely get some good foliage shots at any time of the day, though. 

  • If you’re out on an overcast day (like today), try to minimize the amount of sky you include in your photographs. Better yet, try to eliminate the bright white, washed out, featureless sky altogether by tightening your composition. 
  • On the other hand, a dramatic-clouds-interspersed-with-blue-sky type of sky can add a lot of interest to your fall foliage images, so do include that type of sky. Just don’t shoot into the sun. 
  • Using a polarizing filter can help to bring out the colors at any time of the day, but especially if you’re shooting outside of the “golden hours.” 
  • Be flexible and alert. Pay attention to details. Look. SEE. Don’t only go for vast hillsides covered in golden aspen trees or entire forests of brilliant red maple trees. Look up. Look down. Look for the “intimate landscapes” that I’ve mentioned here in a previous blog post. Look for a golden leaf trapped in an eddy at the side of a stream or even in a puddle in the street. Look for color contrasts. 

  • Try to include interesting elements in your composition other than just trees and leaves, such as an old barn, an interesting rain fence, a cool rock formation, a trail, a stream, etc. 

  • Look for other things that say “fall,” like dried grass, seed pods, pumpkins, piles of dried leaves with children sitting in the middle of them, etc. 
  • Of course I have to say “use a tripod” because you really should. But I still probably won’t so I can’t very well expect you to either. But you might just give it a try if you have one. I can’t actually say I won’t because I just might. I did use a tripod when I took my favorite fall image of all time, so there you have it. 
  • Try some “shoot from your boots” shots to mix things up. :)  

Tune in tomorrow to see how fall is shaping up in the Colorado mountains. 

Shooting Fireworks

 1 Response »
Jul 022010
 

We’re coming up on the Fourth of July here in the U.S. of A. and you know what that means  – FIREWORKS! Photographing fireworks is a lot of fun and can yield some wonderful results but you really have to plan ahead to get some good shots. Here are a few tips.

  • Scope out a location ahead of time if possible. Get yourself all set up, make sure everything works, pre-set as many settings as possible. Fireworks shows happen FAST and once things get underway, you’re definitely going to want spend more time shooting than fiddling with your camera. It’ll all be over before you know it.

  • Try to position yourself so you’re upwind of where they’re launching the fireworks from, otherwise you’ll be likely to get more smoke than fireworks in your shots.
  • USE A TRIPOD. Seriously. I know I keep telling you to use a tripod and then I consistently DON’T use a tripod myself. But I really mean it this time. You really can’t get decent photographs of fireworks without stabilizing your camera.
  • Use a remote shutter release if you can because pressing the shutter release manually inevitably causes camera shake. If you don’t have a remote shutter release, you can try to use your camera’s self-timer function. You’ll need to get real good at anticipating the shots because using a self-timer is pretty hit-or-miss. Set it for just a couple of seconds if possible.

  • Shutter speed – You’re going to need to use a slow shutter speeds to capture the motion of the fireworks. Experiment with shutter speeds anywhere from 2-8 seconds or even longer. Alternatively, set your camera on bulb so you have more control. (That’s the setting where you can hold the shutter open manually until you feel like you got the shot).
  • Experiment with getting double exposures. Set the shutter speed for 16 seconds or longer, trip the shutter to capture a burst of fireworks, then cover the front of the lens with something dark. When another burst is about to happen, uncover the lens to capture the second burst. Make sure you don’t touch the lens in the process.
  • Aperture – this setting is kind of hit or miss. Start at f/8 and experiment from there. During the finale, you might want to stop the aperture down at least a couple of f-stops (and remember, the bigger the number, the smaller the aperture) because things are going to get real bright for a bit.

  • If you have a point-and-shoot camera that doesn’t allow you to adjust things like shutter speed and aperture, see if it has a specific fireworks setting and if so, use that.
  • ISO – try to use the lowest ISO possible, generally 100 or 200. Otherwise you’ll get a lot of noise in your black sky.
  • White balance – tungsten or incandescent will generally give you the most accurate colors, but you might want to experiment with this as well.
  • Charge your batteries ahead of time and have spares on hand. Also have spare memory cards on hand.
  • Take a small flashlight with you so you can see to tweak your camera’s settings.
  • Don’t try to focus on the fireworks – you’ll drive your camera crazy trying to find something to focus on and you’ll end up missing the shots. Put your camera on manual focus, set it to infinity and leave it there.
  • Focal length – I generally shoot fireworks at the wide end of my 18-200mm lens.
  • Filters – If you have a filter on your lens, remove it. This will decrease lens flare and reflections. You might also try using your lens hood if you have one.

  • When the show starts and you start taking shots and any time you change settings thereafter, check your LCD display to see how your shots are coming out, but don’t check after every shot during the show or you’re going to miss a lot of the action. Do check periodically though.
  • Take a LOT of photos. Seriously. A LOT. Just know that most of your shots won’t turn out. Last year I took 300 photos in 34 minutes and just over a quarter of them turned out even halfway OK.
  • Once it’s all over and you’ve transferred your photos to your computer, learn from what you’ve done and take some notes if you have to so your fireworks photos next year will be even better. I first photographed a fireworks display in 2008 and I can truly say that my 2009 photos were MUCH better because I took the time to learn how to improve them after 2008. And I’m confident that this year’s photos will be that much better. :)

 Older Entries
© 2012 39° North Photography Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha