Bonfire / Guy Fawkes Night

As the UK gets ready at the end of October and early November, as it does every year, to have Bonfire Night, its amazing that some traditions like this still have such a hold.

From 1605 to the 21st Century. Thats 500 years and still going strong.

A proper Guy Fawkes night is cold and clear. There's a huge bonfire, kids have sparklers, and most people go to organised displays, although since you can still buy fireworks for personal 'consumption' many folks have a party in the own gardens. Before the advent of the large organised display we always used to have our own fireworks.

After some trial and error, my preferred setting for taking photographs of fireworks is

ISO 200
3s
f/5.6

The 3s exposure gives you nice trails. Go to manual focus, set to infinity, and set the aperture at f/5.6 or f/8. If the image is too dark then increase the ISO. I made the mistake of thinking I needed a small aperture, and also left the camera on auto-focus. Well mistakes are there to be learned from!

I used a timer device on the Nikon. Camera on B (bulb) and the timer set for 3 or 5 seconds. Take picture after picture. You cannot predict when you'll get something nice, so take as many as possible!

Here's some from a couple of years ago

Fireworks Nov 2009