Photographing Fireworks

Taking a really good firework photo, in my experience, requires only three things....a good zoom lens, a tripod and the ability to manually adjust your shutter speed while the camera takes care of the aperture. This facility is known as the shutter priority and is normally indicated by an "S" on your camera controls.

To begin with I would recommend finding yourself a high vantage point where you are unlikely to have people walking in front of the lens and set yourself up nice and early when it is still light and you are able to see what you are doing without any pressure to get your camera settings right as the display starts.

While it is light you will be unable to test your camera settings, but I would recommend a shutter speed of 10 seconds as a good starting point and then playing from there....you will find anything higher then about 15 seconds will allow in too much light and you will loose some of the "drama" of the shot while anything less then about 8 seconds won't let enough light in and you will just get little specs of light on a huge expanse of black sky.

One of the most difficult aspects of this kind of photograph is getting your AF to focus when the sky is black, my recommendation here is to wait for the flair to go off, track it and hit the trigger....this will take practise as you need to get the timing spot on, too much movement once the shutter is open will result in blur and without the flair your camera will never focus. On your first time out if you get 25% of your shots right that will be great, use the rest to learn what works and what doesn't and just have fun playing around with timing.

On the topic of blur, it is almost impossible to obtain a nice sharp firework photo without a good stable tripod...the tripod needs to be stable enough to absorb your movement on the camera without wobbling and allow you to keep your finger on the trigger constantly - I tend to anchor my tripod with one hand while using the other to take the shot. It is a good idea to use a remote trigger if you have one, but it takes a bit of practise so this probably shouldn't be the first time you use it.


The most exciting thing about photographing fireworks is that every single one is different and no two photos will every be the same, I LOVE this aspect of photography and trying to capture the magnificence of the display....it takes time and practise but for me is so worthwhile in the end and if it is your thing you will get many happy hours playing with your settings.

Compostion 1 - The rule of thirds

When you hear someone say a photographer has "a good eye" they are generally referring to a photographers ability to see the photograph or compose the shot. While I believe the top photographers in the world have an innate ability to do this, for the rest of us, composing a good shot is something which can be learned....I will put together a couple of entries on this over the next couple of weeks - all of course based on things I have discovered which have helped me.

The Rule of Thirds was always one of those design concepts which was way over my head, and for a long long time I simply ignored it. This time it was Tracy Shimper of Scrapkits.co.za and Art from the Heart who finally explained it to me in a way that made sense and that, together with the grid line display on my camera changed my compositions forever.

Simply put the Rule of Thirds involves "cutting" your photo into 9 blocks. Imagine drawing 2 equally spaced lines vertically down the photo cutting it into three equal columns and another 2 equally spaced lines horizontally across the photo - giving you 9 equal size blocks.

To use the Rule of Thirds effectively:

• place the subject as close to the dissection point of one set of lines as possible rather then placing it in the centre of the photo.
  
  
• if you are doing a really close up shot, try and put the focal area e.g. the person's eye on the point of intersection.
  
  
• In landscapes, try to have one element e.g. the sky taking up 2 thirds of the photo while the balancing element e.g. the sea takes up the remaining 1 third - the best photo will then have a subject e.g a boat on one of the intersection points.
  

Many cameras will allow you to apply the Rule of Thirds grid line to your display mode and it is definitely worth it while you are getting used to the concept. Try having some fun and take a photo the way you would normally set it up and then shake things up a bit and apply the Rule of Thirds to the same shot....chances are you will LOVE the second photo.

The thing about cropping

Cropping is a wonderful way to take an average photo and turn it into something spectacular. In the old days of film photography the photographer had to have a superb eye and the art was in seeing the shot, today that is slightly different. With the invent of digital photography and processing software we all have the opportunity to create photos with meaning and if you take a little bit of time with post production you would be AMAZED at what you can achieve....still art and to some extent still requiring a good eye, just at a different point of the process.

There is of course no replacement for a well composed photograph, but sometimes the superfluous "stuff" can be removed with a good crop. Today very close cropping is in vogue and it is common to see people with the top or side of their heads chopped off and photographs of just a babies hand or foot for example, things that would have been taboo 20 years ago.
Cropping can be used to focus the viewers attention on the subject but badly done it can totally destroy the image, I always try to remember these three tips when cropping:

• Until your "eye is in" use your software and (ctrl z) to try a couple of crops before settling on the final, it doesn't hurt to be ruthless to begin with and then slowly work out. Try to imaging the photograph hanging on the wall in your home and keep going until you have something you love. I recommend cropping in standard photo sizes otherwise you may end up with the perfect photo that you are unable to frame in reality - unless you are scrapping of course and then crop away to any size you like :-)
  
  
• Use your imagination sometimes a photograph that has been taken landscape would work better as a portrait crop and visa versa.
  
  
• If you are cropping a photo which may result in a person's arm or legs being cut off NEVER crop at the joint of the limb, this is a tip I picked up somewhere along the line and it has definitely changed my photography. For some reason when you crop on the joint it makes the person appear as if they are actually missing part of their limb and the viewers eye will be drawn to this point rather then the subject. But if you crop just above or below the joint this effect is disappears.
  

What do all the terms mean?

If you are anything like me you will have heard terms being thrown in photography circles that have absolutely no meaning to you at all, but rather then look like a complete fool, you smile sweetly and hope no one notices you aren't contributing to the conversation.

Now I totally advocate listening and absorbing as a way of learning, but hell it is nice to know what your teacher is talking about :-) so in the interest of demystifying some of the most commonly used photographic terms here goes.

SLR camera: Single Lens Reflex Camera - lots of fancy definitions, but it is basically a camera which will take interchangeable lenses.

DSLR: Digital version of the above.

Candid Photographs: Unposed photographs which are often taken without the subjects knowledge.

Shutter speed: The rate at which the shutter opens and closes to allow sufficient light in to correctly expose the photograph...the less light there is the slower this speed will need to be.

Aperture: Very basically, when the shutter opens the aperture will determine how wide the opening is. Always measured in f.stops.

Cropping: When unnecessary background is removed from the photograph - generally occurs in post production and should only be used to enhance the composition. Very close cropping is in vogue at the moment in portrait photography.

Fill Flash: Using your flash to supplement the natural available light and fill in the subject’s shadow area with light in order to reduce contrast. Worth using a fill flash when photographing outside in harsh light.

Contast: The difference between the light and dark areas of a photograph

Backlighting: When the subject is lit from behind...this can result in a warm light on the subject if set at a 45 degree angle, especially effective with sunlight on hair, or a total silhouette which is stunning in landscapes.

Macro photography: Extremely close up photographs normally of plants and insects where the subject is depicted larger then in life. Requires a macro lens which will allow you to focus extremely close up.

Autofocus: Allows the camera to automatically focus on the subject without requiring you to do it manually. It is possible to use all other functions on the camera manually while still having the autofocus on.

Subject: The focus point of the photograph.

Composition: How you arrange the elements in the photograph to draw the viewers eye to the subject.

Exposure: Again very very basically this is how light or dark your photograph appears. Underexposed will mean your photography appears dark and overexposed means your photograph will be very light with white areas "blown out"

ISO: This used to indicate the speed of the film and is still used today by your camera to determine how to behave in certain light conditions. The optimal ISO to shoot on would be ISO100 but in poor lighting conditions you camera may go as high as ISO800. The higher the ISO the more grainy your picture will appear.

Pixel: Think of a pixel as a single small tile in a large mosaic, it determines the resolution of the photograph and is particularly important when cropping or printing a photo. Photographs for print should ALWAYS be at 300ppi or dpi but 72ppi or dpi is sufficient for the Internet.

Portrait and Landscape: These terms generally refer to the orientation of the photograph i.e. A portrait photograph is vertical whilst a landscape photograph is horizontal, not be confused with photographs of portraits and landscapes.

This list is by no means exhaustive and if there is a term you have come across and don't know the meaning of, remember no question is a stupid question so ask away in the comment section and I will find the answer.

Aperture made easy

Sometimes when we talk photography we get bogged down in the technical terms and for many of us "happy snappers" out there it can be terribly intimidating.....but understanding the basics can make all the difference in the world, and you may just find that after reading this post you can look back on one of your "WOW" photos and have a better understanding of how you achieved it and how you can replicate it.

Aperture is one of those "scary" terms and one I know I shied away from for years and years....but it was Kim Thunder of Kim Thunder Photography in South Africa who finally explained it to me in a way that made sense.

For the layman (like me)....your camera lens is basically like your eye, try looking at an object with your eyes wide open - go on, do it now - do you notice that only the item you are looking directly at is in focus and everything else around it is out of focus i.e. slightly blurry? Now try squinting your eyes and looking at the same thing, suddenly both the item and everything around it are in roughly the same focus.

Imagine that when your eyes are WIDE open it is the same as your lens being WIDE open basically a WIDE aperture, this is show as a small number i.e. F1.4 and is brilliant for macro photography and portrait work....this term is also refereed to as a shallow depth of field.

"Dandelion Dreams"
Using a wide aperture to create the shallow depth of field which results in the grass behind the children being in less sharp focus then the grass in front of them.

"Busy Bee"
Taken with a shallow depth of field using a macro lens to ensure the grass behind the bee is out of focus and doesn't detract from the subject

When your eyes are squinting or "smaller" it is similar to small or narrow aperture, depicted as a high number F8 and allows everything to be in focus, exactly what you need when shooting scenery or landscape photography - basically a deep depth of field.

"Daffodil Row"

Taken with a deep depth of field so that both the line of flowers and the background line of trees are in focus

"Children on the Beach"
Taken with deep depth of field so that both the children and the cliffs are in focus

Most modern cameras (unless it is a little point and shoot) will allow you to control your aperture while the camera works out the shutter speed for you and this can be very useful if you are trying to shoot a subject in front of a very cluttered background, this is known as the Aperture Priority and is referred to on the camera as the A mode or Av mode, check out your camera manual for more information on where to find this feature on your camera.

All the above being said, I have found the best way to get to grips with this concept is to get out there and play around with the camera - the beauty of digital is that you can and just discard the photos that don't work.