Fireworks!! :)

[sdwfx]

Hi all,

I have a 4x5 Shen-hao field camera, a 90mm/f8 Schneider lens and a pack of Fujicolor Pro 160S film (I know, a Provia or Velvia would be better, but I got what I got )

What's a good shutter speed to record multiple bursts in the same film?

Any tips, tricks, advice, personal experiences, what-not-to-dos, etc. for fireworks?

[Ash]

THE way to do it with any camera is to set it to B (in most shutters for LF you're talking T) and use a piece of card or a hat or a hand over the lens.

With LF I guess you could use B and a cable release to avoid any unnecessary shake or movement near the camera. You open the shutter, record for as much of the burst as you like (how long you want the lines to be, the initial dot or the whole stream) and then close the shutter again. This would allow multiple exposures on the same film.

Your shutter speed will vary between 1 second and 20 seconds depending on the explosion.

[Ed Richards]

You also want to stop down a bit - try google for info - because the bursts are very bright. I would try several f stops. You can also record more than one burst, which might be handy with the 90, because you are going to get a lot of sky.

[Walter Calahan]

f/16 and time.

Bombs bursting in air will be f/11 or f/16 depending how many you include in the frame.

A LF fireworks example I did with a 6x12 roll back on an Arca-Swiss: http://www.walterpcalahan.com/Cheers/Fine_Art.html

If you include something lit in the scene, take a spot reading of it at 160 ISO, look at f/16 on your meter scale, and opposite it you'll see the time you'll need for your exposure.

My image of fireworks on the link was f/11 at 15 seconds, because that's that the monument spot meter reading was.

[sdwfx]

Nice tips, thanks guys.

Walter, that's a really beautiful fireworks photo.

Any advice on how to know that I'm on infinity focus when there's nothing in the sky to indicate that?

In your shot, Walter, the monument is probably far enough to be considered infinity, but where I am going to be is in a field where there's no point of reference other than probably some house lights around the field.

[Ash]

Well if I were you, make a mark on your camera during the daytime. Either a tiny lil notch in the focusing rack, or a bit of tape or something, a pencil line.

That way at night you can use it as a quick reference.


That, or focus on the moon.

[Robert Ley]

According to the the Kodak Professional Photoguide circa 1975, the proper f stop for 160 film is between 11 and 16. I have shot fireworks in the past and have gone with Kodak's recommendations and got pretty good results. Fireworks are fun to shot in that you never know what you are going to get. Depending on your location in relation to the bursts you will probably want to use a 150 or 135 lens. Use T or B and I would encourage you to leave the shutter open for multiple bursts.

The exposure for the Niagara Falls shot was about 20 seconds as that was the proper exposure for the falls at f:11.

[Jim Jones]

When Kodachrome was King I usually set the lens to the square root of the film speed and opened the shutter long enough to capture a good composition. Perhaps one more stop exposure would be better for color negatives, and two stops more for B&W. The exact exposure for 'chromes can be optimized for the ultimate use of the image; more exposure for projecting in a fairly bright room, less exposure for publication. Also, the amount of sky light can limit the exposure. Often I left the shutter open and capped the lens with a sheet of black mat board between bursts. The mat board can also be used to block bright lights in the frame.