Sunny F11 rule with bulb setting for shutter speed.
Fireworks are bright enough and usually move fast enough that the light which reaches the sensor is correctly exposed at f11, ISO 100. Check your histogram to be sure but that worked for me Friday.
For shutter speed, it depends on what is happening in the show. I generally find 1/2 second to 4 seconds works well, generally shooting at about 2 seconds. Watch the sky at the display and use your judgement about the length of the trails. Bulb setting gives you complete control over the shutter speed - you can keep it open for as little or as long as you want.
I'll generally use a zoom at the display and sacrifice the first few shells to home in on where they usually go off, then lock everything down. This usually results in missed shots (fireworks in the corner) but the tradeoff is that I can follow the action to time the bulb exposures.
The first one or two shells are also used to focus - autofocus generally works well if you aim at the brightest spot. Once you get it focused, turn off the autofocus - otherwise the camera will spend the evening hunting.
The best fireworks images I've seen are in urban environments - downtowns, for example, where you have a background rather than a black, blank sky. Check you exposures with those backgrounds - you don't want to blow out the backgrounds.
Don't be afraid to try things such as zooming, rotating the camera, panning, etc. It usually doesn't work, but when it does, it is worth it.
Discussion
1 repliesFireworks are bright enough and usually move fast enough that the light which reaches the sensor is correctly exposed at f11, ISO 100. Check your histogram to be sure but that worked for me Friday.
For shutter speed, it depends on what is happening in the show. I generally find 1/2 second to 4 seconds works well, generally shooting at about 2 seconds. Watch the sky at the display and use your judgement about the length of the trails. Bulb setting gives you complete control over the shutter speed - you can keep it open for as little or as long as you want.
I'll generally use a zoom at the display and sacrifice the first few shells to home in on where they usually go off, then lock everything down. This usually results in missed shots (fireworks in the corner) but the tradeoff is that I can follow the action to time the bulb exposures.
The first one or two shells are also used to focus - autofocus generally works well if you aim at the brightest spot. Once you get it focused, turn off the autofocus - otherwise the camera will spend the evening hunting.
The best fireworks images I've seen are in urban environments - downtowns, for example, where you have a background rather than a black, blank sky. Check you exposures with those backgrounds - you don't want to blow out the backgrounds.
Don't be afraid to try things such as zooming, rotating the camera, panning, etc. It usually doesn't work, but when it does, it is worth it.