[Zig]

Sad but true: I've never taken pics of fireworks.
How do you guys do this?
Am guessing so far, tripod, full manual, wideangle, f5.6ish, bulb, hope...or try 8, 15, 30secs?
?

[enviroguy]

I haven't photographed fireworks since using Kodachrome. I still have those slides. But your guess is pretty much right on. Some trial and error and lots of luck required. You never know what pattern or colours will burst into the sky next.

Regards.....Dennis

[aine-caitlin]

Zig, I have found about 5-7 seconds to be the magic number, F/8, ISO 100, and then it's really just see-what-you-get after that. (see link) I press the shutter just before I think they're going to burst.

http://www.shuttertalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9234

[Keith Alan]

Try various white balances--I usually prefer tungsten but it depends on what else is in the shot and how it's lit.
Anywhere from 1.6 to 5 seconds--the shutter speed controls how long the "trails" are--much longer and it gets messy.
You can hear and see the mortars firing, so it'd easy to time when the shutter should open.

And try to involve something else in the photo, like a building or bridge or water or children etc--otherwise you end up with a boring photo that's not much more than a technical exercise. You can use rear-curtain flash on people in the frame.

[Zig]

Ta guys.
I think I'm fine with composition Keith

[NT73]

With a little stick?

I use 1/4-1/2 sec, any more and the flash/explosion in the middle gets blown out. But the trouble is you want to see the display as well.

[Keith Alan]

Something I forgot--if there isn't anything close to you in the frame, going to manual focus and cranking it out to infinity (or hyper-focal distance) will keep you from getting some very badly out-of-focus shots.
AF gets unreliable in the dark, after all.

[Zig]

Many thanks all!