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Shooting fireworks - on a dinner cuise?


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I've been browsing sites for shooting fireworks. The advice they give is #1 - use a tripod!

We're going to Vancouver, BC next week and have a dinner cruise scheduled to watch the 150th Canada Day fireworks (I'm hoping we won't have to fight the crowds this way). We are up on the top deck with no roof.

So, do I take my tiny gorilla tripod? I'm hoping the boat won't be maneuvering during the actual fireworks, but you never know.

I just bought the 18 - 105 mm lens (should be here today, oh boy) for my Sony a6000 - is this the right lens?

 

They suggest ISO 100 or 200, manual exposure, F5 - 8, shutter 2 - 10 secs.

 

They also say turn noise reduction off, turn off your screen to save the battery, turn off auto focus and (the one I liked), shoot early before it gets too hazy.

 

We will be home by the 4th of July and our neighbors put on some fireworks for the little ones. I'm hoping to get some shots there too, but it will be a whole different type - more of the crowd, less of the fireworks.

 

Any suggestions, hints, tricks?

 

Thanks to all of you masters!

Vic

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I have some nice fireworks photos, taken hand held on a "Hornblower Cruises' Fourth of July dinner cruise,

 

I was using a Panasonic FZ-50 fixed lens camera, with very effective optical image stabilization. Looking at the EXIF information, some of the nice shots were over once second - but fixed objects [lighted windows on background buildings] were still sharp [not blurred by camera shake]

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Yep, manual exposure, ISO 100, f/8, 5-8 seconds depending on taste, WB set to daylight, image review set to off, NR set to off, IS set to off (it's hopeless when you get to 5 seconds). I'd also recommend a remote trigger so you don't have to touch the camera. At 6 seconds per shot, you'll be able to do pretty well with three out of every four fireworks launches.

 

My folks live on a lake, and the lake does a great professional show for July 4th. Last year I took two cameras, one at 24mm the other at 17mm, one on a tripod and the other on a "floor plate" (super low) and carefully arranged some kayaks in front for visual effect. I kinda alternated between the cameras since the 6 second exposure tended to be a little slow for their launch pace. Here's the results:

 

Honestly, I've gotten to a point where I feel like shooting fireworks is EASY. The only work is thinning the herd to a manageable number to throw up on Flickr.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, as I suspected, the boat I was on was never really still. There was also light because of the silly safety code which won't let the captain turn out all the lights. Even so, I used my tabletop tripod, a remote control and experimented with different settings. I got some reasonable pictures, learned a lot, had a good time and avoided a million people!

 

_DSC2038_zpsw8dcridk.jpg

 

_DSC2021_zpsjkstkyui.jpg

 

I cropped this one.

7d2b5cdf-7d0e-456b-8d99-3de15b517b00_zpswjlzfnim.jpg

 

We were really close to the action, which was good, because most of the fireworks seemed really low.

 

Happy Canada 150 Day!

 

Vic

 

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