In The Photo Pit

This was my first attempt to shot fireworks. Simple set up, a Gorillapod, above a prop post box in the Magic Kingdom’s Main Street, and a Nikon D5100 with a kit lens (18-55mm). I tried to attach it to a pole, but that doesn’t work, so I had to find a spot that wouldn’t shake and with no people blocking the camera.

                      (3,6 sec @ f / 22, ISO 100)

The first shot I was just playing around with long exposure, to capture the sunset. 

The second one was a few minutes before the show starts. Again, with long exposure.

                    (3,0 sec @ f / 10, ISO 250)

I was using a wireless remote control to trigger the shutter and set the camera to bulb mode. I set the ISO to 200 and the aperture in f 13 (for all the fireworks photos) and controlled the shutter speed with the control. Since the trails are really bright, you don’t have to worry about shooting with a high aperture and low ISO.

For the focus, I put the camera on the live view mode and zoomed in the castle, to make sure that it would be in focus.

I only started the exposure when the fireworks extended and stopped once the trails started to disappear.

                  ( 2,5 sec @ f / 13, ISO 200)

Guess it works. Hope to have more opportunities to do this kind of photography.

Here are some videos that I have watched to get the basics: Jared Polin’s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Te05VFQpc Ed Gregory’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pfDjdR