How to photograph fireworks - Advanced Night Photography

[@joecerda630]

I appreciate anyone who takes the time and effort to share their knowledge. What stood out on your video from most is that you also share your camera settings and lens size...thank you so much

[@madtical777]

even today 2017, you still have the best tutorial on shooting fireworks. couldnt find / see / observe anything else more informative then this video, thanks !

[@MollyThunderbreeze]

Thank you for sharing. You gave justification for each of your initial decisions, but left room for explained adjustments. The best part is that you made plenty of 'mistakes' to show how to adjust while taking pictures in the field. Great tutorial.

[@jamin1317]

One trick I found that works really well is to shoot in bulb and use black construction paper to cover the lens. Remove the paper to get the exposure, replace the paper until more fireworks show up in the sky and repeat. You can get creative with this and use it to control the amount of streaking as well as getting multiple fireworks when there is a delay between them. Start around f5.6 ISO 100 and play with it from there.

[@neilcreek]

That's an excellent advanced technique to try!

[@justSTUMBLEDupon]

Oh wow maybe that can work

[@johnweddel687]

I, too, wondered why he wasn't shooting in bulb mode so he could control the exact amount of time per shot. I'm going to try the black paper idea.... thanks for sharing that!

[@nelsonchen6949]

You Australians are blessed to have a warm New years eve...OMG I went to Boston for the fireworks. It was in 20ish F. Cant' even feel my toes and fingers after the show.

[@jeankovacs6390]

I absolutely loved this video. Thank-you for your play-by-play as the display went off. It was so helpful. I learned more watching this than the other videos I’ve seen.

[@neilcreek]

Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad you found the video useful, and I hope it helped you to get some wonderful photos!

[@palashchowdhury9969]

This video should be treated as Holy Bible for the firework photography. You showed the every steps in easiest way possible by any professional. Love it. I will try tomorrow. To other viewers, if you watch this video, do not bother to watch other videos on firework. This is the best tutorial on KZbin so far. Love it every second of it. So helpful. Happy New Year 2021 in advance. Thanks

[@neilcreek]

Thank you so much for such a wonderful comment! I wish you the best of luck with your shoot!

[@kfchang413]

Thanks. I took my first fireworks pics during Christmas and it came out great.My interest in photography is gaining momentum.Thanks again for the help.I appreciate it. HAPPY NEW YEAR.

[@natalie_arty7360]

I've only taken a beginner's course for photography, but this, my friend, is truly amazing! I've learned something new here that's for sure!!! Simply amazing!

[@dimoslabrou6377]

The best video in KZbin for learning how to shoot fireworks. Great job. 👌👌👌👌👌👏👏👏👏👏

[@sureshlala101]

Fantastic video Neil, and some great shots!

[@lensbaad6069]

Very helpful. Just happend to jump on to your video which is about 6 years old!! Wow!! Fundamentals don't change.

[@johndoyle2041]

Even with the most well planned photo shoots, things go wrong! I loved the way you quickly adjusted on the fly-- you recomposed the shot, adjusted the f# and ISO, and even expertly diagnosed a problem with the cable release-- thanks for posting your true-to-life experience. I think my D810 has a setting to turn off the autofocus when using the timer or cable release, so with certain cameras you wouldn't have to keep switching to manual focus. Great video, thank you!

[@mainakchakraborty1862]

the best part is that you are very honest..

[@jarodsather]

Thanks so much for putting this up. Helps a lot. Many of the other posts on the topic ignore the importance of position and planning. keep it up!

[@lesmar234]

This video was awesome!!! Going out to shoot the 4th here in the USA today with my new Z9. Thanks for the tips. In Philadelphia.

[@migoi121587]

Thanks so much! The photos amazed me! I'll be employing these techniques tomorrow.

[@charlesSPLC]

That was very helpful, easy to follow and understand :) Thank-you Neil!!

[@TheBnelsonphoto]

Perfect kick-start for tonight's Canada Day celebratoon! Thank you for posting this. I like your commentary and style, so I've also subscribed and will check out your other videos.

[@neilcreek]

Thank you! I hope to publish more videos in the future, sorry that there hasn't been many in a while!

[@kevhaworth5313]

Neil, Many thanks for this tutorial, out of all the ones (Fireworks) I have watched on KZbin, yours is the one that kept my interest and explained things in an easy to understand way. Will check your Udemy courses out. All the best from Liverpool, UK.

[@scottiethegreat74]

On the topic of the smoke on a longer fireworks show, I took photos of around a 25 minute show in China. It was a very still night, by the end, you couldn't even see the fireworks a lot of the time. BUT, I got some amazing photos of the fireworks bursting out of the smoke, with the smoke from the fireworks causing spectacular colours to light up the clouds of smoke!!

[@MrAutodidactic]

Thank you very much for this video. I especially enjoyed you speaking your thoughts as you made changes to your settings looking for something different. Also I commend you for allowing us to see the mistakes and then how you fixed them. That takes courage of character.

[@catkim9583]

Thanks so much for the tutorial! Super informative! Can't wait for the next holiday so I can shoot fireworks! Ta!

[@marksol5888]

Thanks Neil for this useful tutorial. gonna try this on weekend.

[@williampalenikjr8433]

Thanks for a good video of shooting fireworks and showing what it looks like in the settings.

[@stormaurora5536]

Awesome, tutorial!! Amazing display. Thank you so much 😀

[@JennyWoodShangraw]

Fantastic demonstration! Did you use back button focus and then Locked?

[@jamesh.ballard8566]

Amazing work, Neil - Great dialogue and well explained. Would like to know Camera you are using. Would bulb work. Thanks lots.

[@Stuartyh7]

That's the best fireworks display I have ever seen! Loved the purple ones that after they exploded, decided to go their own way. How does that even work!? lol

[@mikejduk]

Thanks for an excellent tutorial, Neil. I must admit to being taken by surprise that you used the 'Daylight' or 'Tungsten' settings for your White Balance. Now I know how to counteract the orange skies I've ended up with in some of my night photography because of light pollution. One additional tip I would include for this kind of photography. Long shutter speeds will often create too much digital noise so if you have the 'Long exposure noise reduction' setting on your camera it might be advisable to have it switched on. You can find it in the Custom Function Menu options on the Canon DSLR cameras.

[@trieugiang9164]

This is so amazing. I've learned many new things from you. Thank you so much.

[@keithboyd3738]

Great presentation Neil. Easy to follow...Thanks

[@freddyacosta2358]

I prefer bulb, you have more control of what you want in the pictures, unlike with 10" or more, you will have to wait for the camera to finish taking the picture.

[@neilcreek]

Using bulb mode is an excellent alternative, especially if you want to have more creative control over which fireworks appear in your shot. If you are including foreground elements in your shot however, you will need to be aware of the affect that varying your shutter speed will have on those elements, which will likely have the same brightness throughout the display. Short exposures will make them darker, and longer ones may risk blowing out the highlights. Definitely something worth experimenting with!

[@JohnGacek]

Bulb with a black card is a great way to go. You can mimic shutter control by using the black card to cover the lens, and only expose for the fireworks you want to keep.

[@stevek7473]

Thank you from the USA... Absolutely loved this Video.... Amazing job. Bravo....Learned much :)

[@frednorman1]

Great video. Thanks. I would be tempted to use two cameras, one with a wide angle lens. And I wonder what you did in post processing?Any composites?

[@mick8586]

very enjoyable Neil and very informative enjoyed it thanks a lot ,all the best

[@kimralls]

Excellent video. I'm curious, though. If you're using a cable release, can you use the lock-off feature for burst mode at longer exposures?

[@ShivapratapGopakumar]

This is an amazing tutorial. Helped me very much. Thanks a lot.

[@jsplinc2000]

@neilcreek Pls create a playlist about "fireworks photography".

[@asharasalah]

Thanks Neil for your effort it is amazing

[@JCDCandme4ever]

I really liked this tutorial! It's nice to see you experimenting there and then as you are shooting the video. What lens did you use?

[@neilcreek]

Thank you! I was shooting with a Tamron 24-135mm.

[@harryrupam01]

The firework in 10:51 and 12:42 were amazing :)

[@touringusa8760]

Thanks so much for the post Neil. Very interesting. I particularly like the still shot at 15:00. Good show mate!

[@garrettmartin2130]

Last shot was so good!

[@matthewcoulter8719]

Great video, Great tips! I love the method you chose to do the tutorial-in the moment! Thanks for the tips

[@auroraasmr1827]

These photos are incredible

[@photosbymoon9375]

Great shots - Thanks for the info.

[@xFearGodx]

Clean and to the point, thank you!

[@razibshahrier3355]

Mate this is great video you have shared. Very inspiring. Thanks a lot. cheers!

[@jimitav]

Excellent video and very informative, thanks!

[@darkmanunknown]

Great video. I've subscribed!

[@nicholaswilhoite8229]

cool shots, thanks for sharing some great info!

[@shahgc7480]

this is great really thankfull noted your all setting i m in dubai and i just came in photography so going to shoot firework i have canon 600d with basic lens 18-55 mm want to know two things how to set camera mm like some time you set 55mm sometime 45mm or some time 99mm how can i set in 18-55 mm lens(like 35mm or 50mm) another thing is this necessary to use the extra cable button to shoot in the night plz advice

[@neilcreek]

If you follow my instructions in the video, it will work for any DSLR. A cable release isn't essential. You can use 2sec self timer as an alternative.

[@nbotelho10]

Nice tutorial! Love how you've explained it all in great detail! Gave me enough to get fired up about going out there and shooting some fireworks! Unfortunately for me, I decided to look this up after the 4th of July celebrations!:(

[@neilcreek]

Bookmark it and you can come back for a refresher every time there's a fireworks show near you :)

[@kencaballero3137]

Good Video, do you think using a Filter will make a difference?

[@neilcreek]

Thank you! It depends a lot on what kind of filter you use. The only one I would suggest for practical use in fireworks photography would be a neutral density filter, which will allow for longer exposures and minimise the risk of clipping the highlights in the brightest parts of the fireworks.

[@sindrekdn]

You can shoot with a big apature and focus to infinity and still get shots in focus

[@MattSchulze]

Cable release not plugged in properly, not watching the tally light, I''m so glad I'm not the only one that that happens to. Great video, thank you.

[@ramihanna9]

Hello, first of all I would like to thank you for such a great explanation! What is the cable that you used ? Is it an extra thing that I have to buy? Or is it replaceable with a feature in the camera itself ?

[@450rider1991]

Its something you'd buy as an accessory for your camera. If you dont feel like spending any money you can simply set your camera to a 2 second timer for each shot. The whole point of using a cable release, or timer, is so that the camera doesnt shake when you press the shutter button because that'll show up in your photo

[@klarab3599]

very nice tutorial! thanks a lot!

[@chargersfan1111]

Using these methods tonight for 4th of July!

[@sunil2pkd]

Great video about Night photography. Thanks Neil

[@natalieli112]

Thank you, this is a very good tutorial!

[@quangtran7082]

Nice video. Thanks for sharing.

[@edmacfarlane9483]

Great looking video and good info too thanks for sharing its bonfire night tonight so i was after a few last minute tips i think i will start at 4-6 second shutter.

[@mcastro2726]

Thanks thanks thanks. it was just I was looking for!. Thanks!

[@thepaintedlady4637]

Ok good to know that you can go as high as f/22. I've previsously shot f/11 in bulb mode for fireworks and got some good results, but sometimes with some of the brighter explosions, the shots were a tad blown out. Finding a spot that is a decent distance away from where they are launching the fireworks is also key. I've been too close before, and not great. It takes some experience to really get good at shooting fireworks. Your first time out you may only get 3-4 images that really work, because you often have to experiment and change settings on the fly in such a narrow time window.

[@lixuannn0444]

wow such a good photo and thanks for your effort

[@adss70]

Hi, I'm not sure if you are still monitoring this channel. Firstly thank you for the video ... it gave me some great ideas that I tried out a few days ago. What I was curious about, where were you located in Docklands?

[@jaiminipatel6283]

I loved your tutorial Neil...!! Keep up...:)

[@sunildutta2023]

Hi Neil, Its an awesome video. BTW what tripod you used.

[@neilcreek]

I use (and love!) the Induro CT314 carbon fibre tripod with the BHD2 ball head.

[@vitorpera5853]

Really useful video, thanks!

[@cliffcarlo180]

I also seal off the viewfinder to stop light entering the camera on long exposures.

[@mikejduk]

As long as you have your display screen off it isn't necessary to cover the View finder; though I would agree, if keeping the display on then it helps to cover the view finder. However, be sure to use the small rubber cover for this. Using your thumb make introduce some camera shake.

[@cliffcarlo180]

Even the pros cover the viewfinder when taking these type of shots. They have a dab of blu tack on the tripod for such occasions

[@neilcreek]

That's a good tip, but personally I haven't found viewfinder light leak to be a problem. I imagine it would only be an issue if there is a bright direct light source pointing at the viewfinder, but I haven't ever seen evidence of it affecting my results. There's no harm in protecting against it though if you don't need to look through the viewfinder! I was changing composition during the show though, so having the viewfinder accessible helped me.

[@olyrojas2225]

Great Video! Thanks!

[@bdm7777555]

Great video! Very Helpful

[@IvanKosovan]

Good video!! Helped a lot!!

[@justSTUMBLEDupon]

Very helpful. The on thing I didn't get is how the camera was set for 10 seconds and you didn't get allot of light trails. I would think you would have gotten light trails for every firework with the camera open that long

[@cliffcarlo180]

I use cloudy WB to warm the colours

[@ChrisAllenProduction]

If you were to shoot a 5 second exposure instead of 10 would you need to increase the ISO from 100 - 200/400 to compensate for the amount of light entering the camera? Cheers.

[@tscholent]

+Chris Allen This is where the ND filter lets you open the aperture and you can use longer exposure times with the same low iso setting.What you have to remember when equating the numbers is that the AMOUNT OF LIGHT reaching the sensor is determined by the LENGTH OF TIME the sensor is exposed to the light.Unfortunately in this digital age and mirrorless cameras with very efficient EVF's (Electronic View Finders)people more often than not reach for the iso dial to make the camera "give them the picture".Iso is determining the sensitivity of the pixels on the sensor. Like the curator of this most excellent clips said...take a picture or two of the scene to get a ball park figure and stop down the aperture...but if you can spare $50 buy a 0.6 or 0.9 (2 or 3 stop) Neutral Density Filter ,you are going to be happier with the results.

[@dminle]

This is good ..I love it ...it make me feel like in real time that I am there doing the photographing ...time he miss it I feel it also ..hope know what I mean ..thank you so much for this video

[@neilcreek]

You're welcome! I try to make my videos as 'real' and helpful as I can :)

[@robertwilley40disneyfan]

Hey if your photographing just the fireworks and maybe some buildings in the background would it be better to put your lens on infinity?

[@neilcreek]

Due to manufacturing inconsistencies and the fine tolerances required for optics, the infinity mark is often not exactly correct and using it to focus on infinity can result in slightly missed focus. This is especially true with wide apertures. I have found that using autofocus gives a more accurate result.

[@iainrumsey7672]

what were the settings on the video camera for those who want to video fireworks? thanks in anticipation.

[@LE-bo4pp]

Very helpful. Thank you

[@chakibabi-saab9203]

Good video thank you... I do however wonder why you use Auto Focus so much.... Would it not be faster to just use manual focus, rather than continuously switch from Auto to Manual? ... That did not make much sense to me. Other than that, fantastic lesson.

[@neilcreek]

Manual focus is surprisingly difficult to achieve through a viewfinder, especially on moving subjects. The brightness and contrast on fireworks is more than enough for accurate and reliable autofocus on a modern DSLR, so I find it faster and easier, especially since I don't have to keep looking through the viewfinder to do it. If you're skilled with manual focus, that might work better for you though! There's no one "right" way to do it. Try both and see which works best for you.

[@christopherbuckley94]

All great tips. It seems that f22, ISO 100 is a good starting point for a lot of time exposure work. I especially like the fact that you can wear shorts on New Year's Eve! That won't work in New York! ;)

[@JamesStonley]

one hell of a firework show. Where was this?

[@neilcreek]

This was at Docklands in Melbourne, Australia :)

[@lonnieclemens8028]

I need to know more about aperture and the color of the fireworks. I noticed last weekend that a lot of the fireworks where not showing their color. What the aperture open too much?

[@yagop1231]

Thanks ! Amazing Video !

[@djjax2641]

I'm going to the same spot but for the winter fireworks 🎆

[@christiemyrrhmalala5476]

Thanks for this informative video 👏

[@Nox665]

A 10 sec exposure too much most of the times. Also anything above F10 is also too much, the ideal aperture for fireworks is around F8, at which they will look sharp but not too thin. If the scene is too bright, drop the ISO instead of lowering the aperture!

[@parthmashrani6283]

Nox665

[@Nox665]

Parth Mashrani

[@Skate247allday123]

i think in F8 is the sweet spot in most general case !

[@stevemaguta]

Great video thanks!

[@skipad4306]

add rear flash and you can include persons in the shot

[@ashrithkamath458]

Neil Creek I noticed that at the later part of the video smoke started accumulating in the sky and it started to hinder the photos you were clicking. By post processing can you remove that smoke? Which software do you use for post processing LR or the photoshop? Neil Creek

[@neilcreek]

Unfortunately smoke is a problem with most fireworks shows, and it only gets worse as times goes on, so you're likely to get the 'clearest' shots early in the show. Smoke is hard to remove in post, unless you directly edit it out in something like Photoshop, but that could be very challenging if the smoke overlaps any other elements. I don't bother to try and remove smoke. I edit all my photos in Lightroom, and only take them into Photoshop if I need to do any photo manipulation.

[@MrRenoman2011]

Great video thanks

[@dpkpatil400]

This helped a lot!!! appreciate your efforts... :) you are awesome.. :) keep it up.

[@rexczi6299]

Ok, i got a Hero5black and was wondering what these settings is in a very dark place? I am doing it at home and was wondering what settings these are in a gopro. At home there is no light, no buildings etc.. (we dont have f om a gopro) thank you We have protune etc so i need EVERY SETTING!!

[@nic12344]

10 seconds is too much! It would be better at 4-5 seconds I think.. I will try it anyways.. Great tutorial by the way!

[@neilcreek]

The shutter speed will affect how many fireworks appear in the shot, and how brightly static elements in the shot are exposed. What shutter speed you choose depends on the look you want for your final shot. I like to have lots of bursts in my shots so I started with 10 seconds. Thank you!

[@henjohn8634]

What tripod are you using here Neil?

[@lootynot]

Thank you!

[@QuantumS1ngularity]

Was a cool video, but why so much blured background at the beginning? It really hurts the eye. I like blurred background in an image, but in a video it is really distracting. Btw why didn't you shoot in Auto WB and after that change it to the pic to see which comes out best ?

[@neilcreek]

I like the narrow depth of field appearance in both stills and video, and I am certainly not alone in that. If it hurts your eyes, then I suggest you make an appointment to see your doctor. I chose a white balance that looked good to me for checking the photos as I was taking them, but if you're shooting in RAW you can easily change it in post if you like, so it doesn't really matter what WB you shoot with. I just chose what I like.

[@DeuceSickle]

That depth of field was not annoying. It's an artistic look. Are you here to learn or criticize? This was an excellent video and thanks to it I'm going to take some fantastic photos tonight.