FIREworks

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

It was "Merdeka51" i.e the 51st Malaysian National Day. During the last two weeks there were at least six spectacular fireworks during Putrajaya International Fireworks Competition were held in front/near of Putra International Convention Center [PICC].

Team Australia [Aug 29th] - ZD14~54mm f2.8/3.5 @104mm EFL f22 6seconds ISO100

Q. How to capture fireworks?
Taking pictures of fireworks is easy and straight forwards by following simple rules that I'd imposed to myself. Now I would like to share with all fotokakis.

Rule #1: always use a TRIPOD

Team China [Aug 12th]- ZD 70-300mm f4.0/5.6 @380mm EFL f22 6secs ISO100

Rule #2: use the LOWEST ISO setting [ISO100 or less]

Team Australia [Aug 29th] - ZD14~54mm f2.8/3.5 @104mm EFL f22 6seconds ISO100

Rule #3: use MANUAL mode with aperture opening at f8 to f22, generally best around f11~f16, [Just like taking pictures with flash units, shutter speeds will no longer determine the exposure of the fireworks itself other than used to capture the trails length and the exposure of the background/foreground, generally anything between 4 to 16 seconds is good enough, I found that the best shutter speed is between 6-8 seconds]

Team Australia [Aug 29th] - ZD14~54mm f2.8/3.5 @104mm EFL f16 6seconds ISO100

Rule #4: Use MANUAL FOCUS lens or set auto focus to MAN [if u r using autofocus lenses]

Team Australia [Aug 29th] - ZD14~54mm f2.8/3.5 @104mm EFL f22 6seconds ISO100

I suggest to use a moderate telephoto lens to keep shooting distance further away from the 'action' and crowds. All of my pictures were taken about 2km away from launching pads.

Team China [Aug 12th]- ZD 70-300mm f4.0/5.6 @140mm EFL f11 6secs ISO100

Team China [Aug 12th]- ZD 70-300mm f4.0/5.6 @140mm EFL f22 6secs ISO100

To start with, I would suggest the following settings:
MANUAL mode, Camera on TRIPOD
Aperture: f11
Shutter: 8seconds
ISO: 100

And the results as shown below [all of them were taken by my son, K.A Wan] were not disappoint me at all...