Lightning and fireworks

The photo of thunderstorms and fireworks are almost identical. Not only because the favorable period is in summer, but also because the shooting technique is very close.

Thunderstorms

Even if the technique between the two is very close, it must be remembered that storm photography is a very random discipline, the results of which depend on many factors that you do not control. It is therefore possible that you go completely empty-handed, even with the advice.

Some precautions

It is obvious that shooting storms can be dangerous. So practice at your own risk, but above all use common sense:

Stay in the immediate vicinity of a car, which is an ideal protection against a storm (it is impossible to be struck down if you are inside the cabin). If your hair gets on your head or you feel tingling, immediately drop the shot and take refuge in your car. This is a precursor sign that a lightning will fall very close to you. It is better to lose your equipment than life...

Stay away from what could be struck down and fall on you (isolated trees, old buildings, electricity pylons, ...).

In some areas, severe thunderstorms can cause extremely sudden floods. So avoid the proximity of streams.

The place

You have to be in the right place at the right time. And that's the difficulty...

A storm remains unpredictable, but some tools can help you. There are sites (Chasseurs d’orages, Lightning Maps, ...) or apps that provide more accurate maps that will help you determine where the lightning will fall. This can allow you to visualize the trajectory of the storm and to be able to estimate where the lightning strike could be within an hour.

It is necessary to be extremely reactive to move in an ideal place to photograph the storm (slightly in height with an unobstructed view and located a few kilometers). Do not make the mistake of placing yourself in the storm.

The technique

A flash will only last for a fraction of a second. Its exposure on the sensor will therefore not be influenced by the exposure time, but only by the ISO sensitivity and the aperture. So do not try to capture it on the spot, it will be absolutely impossible. It will be necessary to use a long exposure (if possible at night, it will be simpler and more aesthetic).

Since you never know when a lightning will fall and where it will fall, it will be necessary to maximize your chances to have one of the image:

• Be constantly taking a picture (not to miss the right moment)
• Use a wide-angle focal length, to have the maximum of the landscape (even to reframe later)

Regarding hardware and settings:

• Take a rain cover to protect your camera and a microfiber cloth to wipe drops of water on the lens
• A flashlight may be useful to help you make and check your settings in the dark and store your equipment at the end.
• Place your device on a sturdy tripod (you can get windy)
• A trigger with or without wire. Not essential but I highly recommend it to avoid vibrations due to triggering but especially for use with the BULB mode. If you have the possibility, activate the mirror lock to limit vibrations (consult your manual)
• Disengage the autofocus and set the focus to infinity (MF button on the side of the lens in general)
• Set Manual Mode M: ISO to minimum (max 200), medium iris (f/8 or f/11), and Bulb Mode (or 30s pose)
• Disable the flash, unless you want to illuminate a very interesting foreground. In the majority of cases, it is useless for this type of shooting. Start from the fact that lighting up the light does not make sense...

We have seen that the exposure of the lightning is only influenced by the opening and the ISO, but that of the setting will be influenced by all the settings. So it will be necessary to take a first shot to estimate the settings that allow to properly exposing the landscape (if you want to see it). This will depend mainly on your environment:

• in town, you will not be able to pose too long without overexposing
• in the countryside, conversely, if there is not too light pollution, you can do much longer poses.

So does a first test shot: try 10 to 20 seconds in town, 30 seconds and more in the field, and adjust to have a good exposure.

Unfortunately, to photograph the lightning of a storm, there is no perfect setting ready for use. These settings are a starting point, but you may need to adapt them. Indeed, it is difficult to predict the light intensity of lightning. The closer it is, the brighter it will be: if you have 3 overexposed images in a row, close the aperture with one or two values. To compensate for the landscape exposure, multiply the exposure time by 2 or 4, respectively.

If your ideal exposure time is less than 30 seconds, rather than using the Bulb mode, the most practical is to set the exposure time and set the take of 5 or 10 photos in a row, which will maximize your chances of success. To have a flash. Remember, you must be taking a picture all the time! It obviously involves a lot of photos taken that will be without lightning (so missed), but it is the only solution to succeed to have one.

Use

On the screen, set the desired aperture and ISO, then position the slider according to the ambient brightness you have and the intensity of the flashes (from distant flashbacks to near-city flashes).

Fireworks

The place

Knowing where you will be before the show starts is important. If you are misplaced while the show started, you will not have time to move to another location.

In order to have better photos on the night of the fireworks, I advise you to arrive early enough to spot the perfect place where you will have to settle. The ideal would be to locate when it is still a day. It is important to know where the rockets will be launched. Then look for a place with an unobstructed view of the place.

As you know, the pyrotechnic shows are generally packed with people, so it is better to stay quite far away, which will allow you in the process, to integrate more easily some elements of the landscape in your images and not to risk having sheaves outside the frame.

You must also beware of the wind. Indeed, from the first launches, the fireworks produce smoke that may alter the colors and sharpness of your photos if the wind comes to you from the front.

The technique

First of all, you should know that the brightness of a fireworks display varies depending on:

• The more or less steady rhythm of the rockets that explode in the sky
• The sheaves that overlap
• The colors of the sheaves. The brightest colors will be white, then green and finally red and the less bright will be blue, purple and gold.

Regarding hardware and settings:

• A flashlight may be useful to help you make and check your settings in the dark and store your equipment at the end.
• Place your camera on a tripod
• A trigger with or without wire. Not essential but I highly recommend it to avoid vibrations due to triggering but especially for use with the BULB mode. If you have the possibility, activate the mirror lock to limit vibrations (consult your manual)
• Disengage the autofocus and set the focus to infinity (MF button on the side of the lens in general)
• Set Manual Mode M: ISO Minimum (Max 200), Middle Aperture (f/8 or f/11)
• Disable the flash, unless you want to illuminate a very interesting foreground. In the majority of cases, it is useless for this type of shooting. Start from the fact that lighting up the light does not make sense...

The exposure time will be used to capture a maximum of sheaves and its impact on the exposure of fireworks streaks will be less preponderant compared to the opening and the sensitivity. It is not by changing the shutter speed that the exposure of the fireworks is corrected. It will have a direct influence on the exposure of the ambient lighting. Everything will be a question of dosage depending on the environment.

I advise you to set a time of 4 seconds to start but it may vary depending on the number of sheaves and the pace of the fireworks.

For better control of the exposure time, I advise you to use the Bulb mode of your camera with the help of your remote control.

As soon as you hear the fireworks rockets leaving, you will press and hold the shutter button on your remote control to keep the shutter open for a few seconds and release the button when the light trails have finished their descent.

Only be careful, too long exposure time may overload the photo and overexpose the sheaves that are superimposed over the fireworks. To avoid this, between launches, you can place a piece of black cloth in front of the lens without moving it. You will be able to act in sequence and include or not certain luminous elements on your photo. You can do this too in post-processing by superimposing several snapshots.

Finally, to conclude, do not stay glued to your viewfinder. Have an overview to anticipate and be responsive at the right time.

Use

On the screen, set the desired aperture and ISO, then position the slider according to the brightness of the sheaves (from faint to very bright).