How To Shoot Fireworks With Nikon D3200

How to Photograph Fireworks. Angelica Fun For. Wondering about photographing fireworks on 4th of July, New Year or some other event occasionIn this article, I will provide some basic tips on how to best capture fireworks, what type of equipment to use and what camera settings to use during the process. Although the process is relatively simple, there are some things that might be worth considering, as outlined below. NIKON D7. 00 7. ISO 2. Here is a summary of how to photograph fireworks using the information presented in this article Find the Best Location. Choose the Right Camera. Choose the Right LensesUse a Tripod. Nikon D3200 Cheat Sheet' title='Nikon D3200 Cheat Sheet' />Use Proper Camera Settings. Properly Frame Your Shot. Acquire Precise Focus. Control Shutter Speed. Use Bulb Mode. 1 What to Bring. Although you can certainly photograph fireworks with very minimal gear, you might want to go over the list of the recommended gear and accessories below while packing for a fireworks show Camera any point and shoot, DSLR or mirrorless camera will do, as explained in camera considerations step below. Lenses ideally, you might want to bring two zoom lenses with you, such as a 2. EKiVz.jpg' alt='How To Photograph Fireworks Nikon' title='How To Photograph Fireworks Nikon' />Scottkelby. I got some nice shots this year with a Nikon 70200 on. Heres a fairly easy way to get good shots of a fireworks. How can I take photos of fireworks with a Nikon D3200 Update Cancel. Shoot from a nearby. Tripod a must have piece of gear to take camera shake free images of fireworks. Remote Shutter Release while not required, a remote shutter release will allow you to take pictures in Bulb exposure mode, as explained in step 1. Memory Cards dont forget to pack at least one empty memory card preferably more if you end up taking lots of images. Spare Battery just in case, you might want to take a spare battery, especially if you are going to be shooting in cold weather, since low temperatures drain camera batteries quickly. Flashlight you might need a flashlight not just to see the buttons and dials of your camera, but also to be able to properly focus on a foreground subject. Find the Best Location. The first thing you need to determine is where exactly you are going to stand to photograph fireworks. I would not recommend standing too close to fireworks, because you will be constantly looking up and you might not be able to find a suitable and interesting foreground to incorporate in your shots. In addition, if you are too close, you might need a wide angle lens to fit the action into the frame, which might present another problem you might end up including unwanted objects like buildings and trees into the frame unless, of course, it is your plan to do so. Therefore, the best thing to do is to stand further away in an open area with short or no trees obstructing the view, ideally at a spot that gives you a maximum of 4. The further you stand, the lower the angle and the more focal length you might need. Obviously, each situation is different, so just try to find a good spot with clear views of the sky in an open, unobstructed area that can give you a nice angle to photograph the fireworks. Ideally, you should be at the spot early on. It is helpful to know exactly where the fireworks will be shot from, so that you can frame and compose your shot exactly the way you want. Dont forget that fireworks draw a lot of people, so even if you pre plan and work on your composition, you might need to adjust it later on. Nikon D3200 ManualI personally have found that unless I am standing at a higher elevation, with no potential of anyone standing in front of me, I am always better off excluding the foreground completely. Once the fireworks start, you will have a hard time asking people to move just because they are in your shot. Choose the Right Camera The good news is that you dont need an expensive camera to photograph fireworks any camera that allows shooting in manual mode will work perfectly fine. Many of the point and shoot cameras do, so double check your manual and see how you can switch to manual mode. Another good thing about shooting fireworks, is that you will be most likely shooting at the lowest ISO levels, which means that there will be very minimal amounts of noise in your images. So you dont have to worry about your cameras capabilities, besides being able to switch to manual mode and preferably being able to hard set your camera to a low ISO value like 1. If you have a DSLR or a mirrorless camera, you are all set, because you can do all this quickly and painlessly. Fireworks-with-Moon-960x638.jpg' alt='Nikon D3200 Lenses For Sale' title='Nikon D3200 Lenses For Sale' />Some cameras even have a Fireworks Mode, which works great and does not require you to change any settings on the camera. Choose the Right LensesIf you have a point and shoot camera, make sure that its lens can do at least 5x optical zoom not digital. Optical zoom means that the camera lens will physically move to get more reach, while digital zoom means that the camera will simply cut out the image corners to make it seem like you are closer. Font Navigator 2006 Hacked Game more. With optical zoom, you are not compromising image resolution, whereas with digital you are. If you have a DSLR, you might wonder what lens to take with you. I have shot fireworks for many years and I find that telephoto zoom lenses such as 7. If you are going to be shooting up from a relatively close distance, then a wide to telephoto lens, such as a 2. You dont need a large aperture prime lens to shoot fireworks a zoom lens is ideal, since you can fine tune your framing without having to physically move anywhere. Personally, whenever I plan on shooting fireworks, I typically bring two such zoom lenses with me. NIKON D7. 00 7. ISO 1. The above exposure was pretty long a total of 2. Thats obviously a bit too long of an exposure for fireworks, but the idea here was to start capturing the scene before the fireworks fired, so that I could get some of the foreground exposed. If you are more advanced in terms of your post processing skills, you will be better off taking two exposures one for the fireworks, and one for the foreground, then blend the two together later on to a single shot in Photoshop in order to avoid cluttering up your shot with too many fireworks and potentially overexposing them. How To Shoot Fireworks With Nikon D3200' title='How To Shoot Fireworks With Nikon D3200' />A telephoto zoom lens proved to be useful to have for the above shot. Initially, I captured the image at a shorter focal length of 1. Half Life Source Full Version on this page. NIKON D7. 00 7. ISO 1. Thats why a zoom lens is a versatile option you can try different framing options and have a better control over your composition. Use a Tripod. It goes without saying that in order to properly capture fireworks and frame your shots, you will need to have a tripod. You will be taking shots that will be several seconds long, so having your camera on a tripod is going to be ideal for best results. The good news is, you wont need a fancy tripod to take great shots of fireworks. Since exposure times are going to be rather long, if your tripod is prone to shake, make sure to grab a remote shutter release as well, so that you can keep your hands off your camera. NIKON D7. 00 7. ISO 2. Use Proper Camera Settings. First, set your camera on the tripod and connect the remote shutter release if available. Then, change the following camera settings Flash make sure to turn flash off, as it wont have the necessary power to illuminate the foreground anyway. ISO start out by setting your camera ISO to its base ISO level 1. Auto ISO, if you have it turned on. Image Format if your camera has the capability, shoot in RAW format instead of JPEG. This way, you can make adjustments to your photograph later on and do a lot of highlight shadow recovery. White Balance if you shoot in RAW, set your White Balance to Auto you can change it later in post processing.