Last night, I joined thousands of other Coulee Region folks streaming down to the Omni Center in Onalaska, Wisconsin to view the Salute to the Fourth fireworks display. I didn't want to sit down there too long so left late, knowing I'd have to park some distance away. I would rather walk than sit and wait, so that was fine by me. Plus, I thought I'd have the added benefit of being on the outskirts of traffic when it came time to leave.
I settled in to a nice spot at the back of the field where I could stand by the camera and not bother anyone. I was surprised that I actually had a decent amount of space around me; it wasn't quite as crowded as I expected. Though I could have used some more space from the two teenage girls who insisted on shouting out the color and type of Ever Single Firework. Ugh.
The show started right on time at 10pm, and I got to work trying to capture it. I've only tried fireworks photography a couple of times before and still have a long ways to go to get the timing down right. For those who haven't tried fireworks photography, here's the basic idea:
Getting set up:
- Use a tripod. This is essential because of the long shutter speeds.
- Make sure the flash is off. It won't do a bit of good unless you are trying to photograph people against the fireworks, and that's a different technique all together.
- Set the camera on "bulb". This lets you keep the shutter open as long as you want. If you don't have a bulb setting, choose the longest shutter speed you have.
- If you have a cable release, use it. Holding your finger on the shutter button on the camera will jitter it slightly and can result in blurry photos.
- Have ready something to cover the lens. A cut off bottom of an oatmeal container with the inside painted black works great.
- Use the widest lens you have. The fireworks will fill the sky.
- Be careful of what you have in the foreground. If there is something that makes a great silhouette, you may want to put that in front to add interest. Otherwise, try to have a clear view of just the sky, above the horizon.
- Set the focus on manual. A setting close to infinity works well.
Taking the photos:
- Watch the thin line of light that follows a shell going up. Open the shutter to catch it exploding and then leave it open.
- When it starts to fade, cover the lens with your oatmeal container to block out light.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you have a variety of fireworks on the frame.
- Close the shutter and get ready to do it again.
Getting the timing right is the trickiest part and I'm still struggling with that. The fireworks come fast and furious. You need to be careful to not get too many of the white ones that light the sky because they will wash out the picture. Getting a few of the bright colored ones at their peak without getting any streamers going up through them is very hard. I took 64 exposures last night and ended up with 9 that I thought weren't bad, but none of them are competition worthy. This is a hard hobby to practice, given that the fireworks only come once a year. We'll see what next year brings.
