Paignton Regatta Fireworks 2009
On Tuesday I filled a few rolls of digital film with the Paignton Regatta firework display.
The last time I had shot fireworks was with my Kodak point-and-shoot several years ago, so I seized the opportunity to let the 50D and 24-70 loose :) Apart from some kids mumbling “why duz evrywun av such bloody big camraz?” as I passed by, the evening was quite devoid of both adventure and whimsy. Shame. Still, I managed to claim a good vantage point with the tripod about half an hour before the show.
Something that I’ve noticed time and time again with other people’s firework photos is that they are of… fireworks, and nothing else. I can only assume that these individuals follow their instinct to get as close to the display as possible, only to be forced to shoot upwards against the night sky with no other features in the frame. This is utterly boring in my opinion. Why? Because there’s no reference, no anchor: the fireworks could be anywhere in the world. For this reason I chose to set up on the far side of Paignton harbour, looking inland-
Groovy. An explosion or five is all that picture needs.
Now, correct camera settings are the key to a good firework photo, but once you know what to do it’s very easy. First of all I set the camera to full manual (M) mode, because any in-camera light metering is pretty useless here. I also set the focus manually. I set the shutter speed to BULB, which means that the shutter is open while ever I hold down the release button (I had a remote cable). This is ideal because you can time the exposure with a particular sequence of explosions, typically over a few seconds. All that’s left is the aperture setting, which I guessed as being middle-of-the-road, around f/11.
In reality you have a lot of leeway with camera settings, because the bright fireworks paint the their path onto the image regardless of how long the shutter is open. Since the night sky is pretty dark, you’re not going to overexpose it. My only concern was with the lights on the ground, so I stuck with f/11 and used my judgment with the shutter timing-
Canon 50D + Canon 24-70mm lens @ 24mm 8.0s
The great thing about having a remote shutter release is that I spent most of the time two feet away from the camera, watching the display with my own eyes and pressing a button when it felt right. I soon switched to a portrait view-
Canon 50D + Canon 24-70mm lens @ 24mm 7.0s
Canon 50D + Canon 24-70mm lens @ 34mm 9.0s
Canon 50D + Canon 24-70mm lens @ 34mm 3.0s
Canon 50D + Canon 24-70mm lens @ 34mm 10.0s
I was pretty chuffed with the results. I’m also happy to have discovered a great place to watch next year’s display from – it’s way better than being on the green with a crick in your neck.
Photographic Adventures | 15 August 2009 |
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By Helen, August 23, 2009 @ 5:55 pm
Hi, just toddled over here from Angry (feet). Now I don’t normally comment on these things as I never feel I have anything worthwhile to say but I love these pictures so much I thought I would say so. …So yeah, they’re rather good, umm, bye. x
By Jamie, August 23, 2009 @ 7:12 pm
Thanks Helen! :D
By sam, August 11, 2010 @ 2:14 am
hiya, are the fireworks still going to be on