[MrEarle]

Hi,

Can anyone help out a newbie with basics step by step to set camera automatically take an exposure every few seconds with a long open shutter time for shooting fireworks?
I "think" I would want to set the ISO to 100 and mount on a tripod and automatically shoot on an interval for about 20 minutes, with enough time between shots to not lag on writing to SD card.

Can anyone tell me the steps to set it up? I am a bit overwhelmed by the 'flexibility' of the K-3

[stevebrot]

I can give a quick summary with a few tips:

• It is probably best to work out the details in advance of the show
• Remember that interval is time from start of last exposure to time of start of next exposure. Strange things happen if the total time until ready is longer than the interval (i.e. maybe only half as many shots as expected). The clock does not stop just because the camera is not ready.
• Fireworks are very bright and long exposures are needed for the proper effect. The ideal is dark sky, colorful fire, and streams-not-spots. Don't try to balance exposure to show the ground and crowd...ain't gonna happen in a single shot.
• Remember to turn AF OFF. Determine focus ahead of time and tape the focus ring if there is any chance of it getting knocked.
• Remember to turn long exposure NR OFF
• Guard the area around your tripod to protect against children tripping over it in the dark
• Consider using a wired or wireless remote and manual shutter execution. Interval might sound cool, but you will miss most of the action. It is fairly easy to see the flash of ascending bombs and to time the shutter action to match.
• Set up before it gets too dark and when it is still light enough to determine focus distance
• My last successful efforts were done using...
  • Pentax K-3
  • IR wireless remote
  • 20mm lens
  • 5s exposure
  • f/8, f/11, and f/16 aperture (all three were fine)
  • ISO 400 and ISO 800
  • Scale focus (AF OFF) to somewhere between the hyperfocal and actual distance of the launch site. You won't be able to focus in the dark. If unsure, use f/16 and double the ISO.

Good luck and have fun!


Steve

[AstroDave]

When calculating time intervals, don't forget that the shutter speeds are not exactly as written. A "30 second" exposure is really 32 seconds long, and you need another second or two for the camera to catch it wind and reset for the next shot.

See True Shutter Speeds compared to Nominal Shutter Speeds - Actual Measurements - PentaxForums.com and Actual shutter speeds versus "standard" values - PentaxForums.com for some details.

[MrEarle]

I can give a quick summary with a few tips:

• It is probably best to work out the details in advance of the show
• Remember that interval is time from start of last exposure to time of start of next exposure. Strange things happen if the total time until ready is longer than the interval (i.e. maybe only half as many shots as expected). The clock does not stop just because the camera is not ready.
• Fireworks are very bright and long exposures are needed for the proper effect. The ideal is dark sky, colorful fire, and streams-not-spots. Don't try to balance exposure to show the ground and crowd...ain't gonna happen in a single shot.
• Remember to turn AF OFF. Determine focus ahead of time and tape the focus ring if there is any chance of it getting knocked.
• Remember to turn long exposure NR OFF
• Guard the area around your tripod to protect against children tripping over it in the dark
• Consider using a wired or wireless remote and manual shutter execution. Interval might sound cool, but you will miss most of the action. It is fairly easy to see the flash of ascending bombs and to time the shutter action to match.
• Set up before it gets too dark and when it is still light enough to determine focus distance
• My last successful efforts were done using...
  • Pentax K-3
  • IR wireless remote
  • 20mm lens
  • 5s exposure
  • f/8, f/11, and f/16 aperture (all three were fine)
  • ISO 400 and ISO 800
  • Scale focus (AF OFF) to somewhere between the hyperfocal and actual distance of the launch site. You won't be able to focus in the dark. If unsure, use f/16 and double the ISO.

Good luck and have fun!


Steve

Thanks for the suggestions - unfortunately no remote and little time to get one - I was hoping for the steps to set the camera to interval mode, but acknowledge you are correct in that I will probably miss the best shots. Not having a remote led me down this path... Maybe I'll just do video and be better prepared next year...

[stevebrot]

unfortunately no remote

Do you have a smart phone with IR blaster? If so, there are apps that nicely allow its use as a wireless remote. I use DSLR Remote for Android. It was free and works great.


Steve

[MrEarle]

do you have a smart phone with ir blaster? If so, there are apps that nicely allow its use as a wireless remote. I use dslr remote for android. It was free and works great.


Steve

brilliant!!! Thank you!!!

[SSGGeezer]

Or even use 2 second delay and hit the shutter button at launch. The high fireworks easily take two or three seconds before detonating.

[jbinpg]

This was taken at last night's Canada Day fireworks. K-3, S-M-C Takumar 28/3.5 @ f/11, ISO200, 8 seconds, IR remote release, tripod. The old Tak 28 ended up being too wide for the event so this is a stiff crop. Better too wide than too long, though. Eight seconds will lead to blownout detonations as seen here but gives you longer fireworks traces. It also gives you more leeway if you are a bit too quick to open the shutter. - Jack

[UncleVanya]

I don't bother with timers for fireworks normally.

I'm lucky to live close to a nice display and be able to be lying down on grass (golf course & blanket). Multiple shots in this flickr album: Single In July 2016 (FA 35) | Flickr Most are around 1/30 of a second. Black powder is fast to burn but burns for a long time in these mixtures. You can usually just react and get good shots.

Granted I'm shooting at ISO 3200... so if you want ISO 100 um.. er... yes a timer and a tripod. LOL.

[AstroDave]

I "think" I would want to set the ISO to 100 and mount on a tripod and automatically shoot on an interval for about 20 minutes, with enough time between shots to not lag on writing to SD card.

ISO 100 sounds about right (but 20 "minutes" - NO NO NO! - did you mean seconds?!):

Here are a couple of fireworks bursts shot with my K1 and D FA 28-105 lens (WR - great for when we rode around on the Maid of the Mist and at Cave of the WInds!) when we were at Niagara Falls back in September 2016. We were on the Canadian side and I rested my camera on a rock which was part of the railing system along (high above!) the river bank. A tripod would have been better, but it was not along for the trip.

I started out with 6-second exposures at ISO 400 and f 8. For the background, this is fine - the background is not overexposed. However, the bursts were generally overexposed.

As the show went on, I worked my way down to less and less exposure. The first two pictures here were taken at ISO 200 and f11. The first image is a cropped, downsized shot showing a launch and burst. The second image shows the center of the burst in the first frame at a 1-to-1 crop. The center of the bursts and the initial burst streamers are quite overexposed.

The last picture shows a downsized crop shot at ISO 100 and f 16, and this exposure seems about right for showing the intricate details at the center of a burst.

You will almost certainly want to experiment to find your own set of ISO and f-stop. Remember that underexposure can be pulled up in post processing, but blown out highlights are impossible to reconstruct.

These fireworks were coming fairly fast and furious. As I recall, I pretty much just kept shooting my 6 second exposures almost continually (by hand). Your exposure interval will depend on how rapidly the fireworks are launched. I would pick an interval such that you get only 1 or 2 or 3 bursts per frame. I think more bursts than that in a frame is overkill, but that’s your artistic call.

[MrEarle]

Nice work, thanks for the suggestions. Uh, no, not twenty minute exposures, the show is probably about 20-30 min. I meant overall sequence at intervals. I acquired a wired remote, so I'll try bulb mode with 1-200 ISO and vary exposure times.

[pakinjapan]

My setting when shooting series of photo like this one or this one. (from what I remember).
ISO100 | f8 | shutter speed 3 - 6 sec some 1 sec | remode control shooting mode

I use remote control rather than let the camera shoot on interval mode because it gives me a bit more control.
I used interval mode on an earlier event and I found out I got a lot of black sky with small firework because of the mismatched timing.

[stevebrot]

so I'll try bulb mode

That should not be needed. A wired remote acts the same as shutter press. You can use the shutter speed wheel.


Steve

[aaacb]

In my experience timing is important, so I'd suggest triggering the shutter yourself instead of setting up interval shooting, assuming you will be able to operate the camera. What I do is watch for the trails going up, and try to time it so that I release just before they go off.

[stevebrot]

What I do is watch for the trails going up, and try to time it so that I release just before they go off.

Me too. The cool part is that it is actually quite fun.


Steve