Why did my fireworks photo turn into short streaks instead of bursts?
Asked 7/5/2018
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2 answers
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I photographed fireworks with a Canon Rebel T6 in manual mode, and the bursts came out looking like short "pegs" or streaks rather than fuller fireworks shapes. It was my first time shooting fireworks manually. What causes this, and what settings or focusing method should I use next time?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
8
There are two things happening here.
Firstly, they're out of focus. That's why the lines are so wide. It's asking a lot of a camera to auto-focus on fireworks. If you want the fireworks to be sharp, either use manual focus and a bit of trial and error; or auto-focus on a static well-lit object at the right distance and then switch to manual focus. Of course, you might well make the artistic decision not to have them sharp: focus blur sometimes works quite nicely with fireworks if your lens has good bokeh.
Secondly, I understand your reference to "pegs" to refer mainly to the length of the lines. This is down to exposure time. If you want something looking more like points than lines then you need to drop the exposure time by three or four stops, and compensate with aperture and ISO. If you want longer lines, you need to increase the exposure time by a few stops, again compensating with aperture and ISO.
Originally by user47295. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user47295
8y ago
0
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Two things likely caused this.
First, focus was probably off. Autofocus often struggles on fireworks because they’re bright, distant, and against a dark sky. For sharper results, pre-focus on a distant, well-lit object, then switch to manual focus and leave it there. You can also use manual focus with test shots.
Second, your shutter speed was likely not ideal for the look you wanted. Fireworks are moving points of light, so shutter time mainly affects how much of their motion you record. A shorter exposure gives shorter streaks or more point-like bursts; a longer exposure records more of the firework’s path and makes fuller trails.
A good approach is to keep ISO low, use a moderate aperture, and adjust shutter time based on whether you want short streaks or long burst trails. A tripod helps a lot. In short: lock focus manually, then experiment with shutter length to control the shape of the fireworks.
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