All about Bulb mode ..

[Peisqo]

Hey guys, with the recent fireworks competition thing in Malaysia, people came up with suggestion on using the bulb mode. Me, now being in Australia is really jealous coz i really wanted to have a chance to take fireworks ...

Anyway, suddenly this question pops out of my mind, HOW TO USE BULB MODE correctly ?

AFAIK, we can only use bulb mode in MANUAL mode right ? How do we know what aperture to use to match up with the xx seconds of shutter speed ? Like u might be pressing it for 10 seconds and suddenly it turn out overexposed then gg ?

I was reading some local ( aussie of coz ) photograph magazine .. some of the pics is taken with like 1 hour exposure :O i was like wtf ? Wouldn't it be pure white then ? How small can the aperture go ? f9999 ? Well maybe tats film but i guess it won't make much difference ?

So yea .. main question .. what aperture to use with bulb mode ? How can we get the right exposure ? Hope the pros can enlighten me :)

[knytan]

Hey guys, with the recent fireworks competition thing in Malaysia, people came up with suggestion on using the bulb mode. Me, now being in Australia is really jealous coz i really wanted to have a chance to take fireworks ...

Anyway, suddenly this question pops out of my mind, HOW TO USE BULB MODE correctly ?

AFAIK, we can only use bulb mode in MANUAL mode right ? How do we know what aperture to use to match up with the xx seconds of shutter speed ? Like u might be pressing it for 10 seconds and suddenly it turn out overexposed then gg ?

I was reading some local ( aussie of coz ) photograph magazine .. some of the pics is taken with like 1 hour exposure :O i was like wtf ? Wouldn't it be pure white then ? How small can the aperture go ? f9999 ? Well maybe tats film but i guess it won't make much difference ?

So yea .. main question .. what aperture to use with bulb mode ? How can we get the right exposure ? Hope the pros can enlighten me :)

Hi Peisqo,

I personally think it depends more on the experience of the photographer when using bulb mode. Those that you read in the magazine where the exposure is set to 1 hour are I believe used in capturing time lapse of stars (correct me if I am wrong) or shorter exposure used in making creative shots like light trails on your subject.

Well you pic won't go "white" unless there is a constant bright light source around. Bulb mode are usually used in dark conditions where you want to open the shutter long enough to enable capture of the light source that you want. I have done 30sec to 60sec bulb before, you just need to learn to control the time and aperture accordingly.
Here is a sample done at 23sec http://flickr.com/photos/knytan/510957897/

Try it, its fun :)

[Peisqo]

Hi Peisqo,

I personally think it depends more on the experience of the photographer when using bulb mode. Those that you read in the magazine where the exposure is set to 1 hour are I believe used in capturing time lapse of stars (correct me if I am wrong) or shorter exposure used in making creative shots like light trails on your subject.

Well you pic won't go "white" unless there is a constant bright light source around. Bulb mode are usually used in dark conditions where you want to open the shutter long enough to enable capture of the light source that you want. I have done 30sec to 60sec bulb before, you just need to learn to control the time and aperture accordingly.
Here is a sample done at 23sec http://flickr.com/photos/knytan/510957897/

Try it, its fun :)

Ahh ... of course trial error can be done with scenery or even the perfume shot you took ( i like that btw ) ... but if events like fireworks .. you only have 15 minutes and there isn't much time to "play around" right ? Haha .. juz wondering if there are any special formula or something like tat

[knytan]

Ahh ... of course trial error can be done with scenery or even the perfume shot you took ( i like that btw ) ... but if events like fireworks .. you only have 15 minutes and there isn't much time to "play around" right ? Haha .. juz wondering if there are any special formula or something like tat

As far as I know of there are no special formula for fireworks photography. The general guide lines are about 2-4sec f12-16 Iso 400. On the time constraint, well like I say this is where the experience comes in. The first one would probably be bad but you will get better as you shoot more and more. :)

Happy shooting :D

[hanuman]

if you can shoot in raw the best. then if you can trust your meter recommendation. most firework shot should be preety bright not requiring expodure over 30 second.. so most dslr should be able to use timer... if not the get a time relase like the tc-80n3 fro the canon dslr series pricey ---- 130USD but have ability to control exposure time , exposure frequency ... tim elaps etc. Short not it's an art form learn and hone with trial and error.
those that show smoke in picyure is actually over expose liao.

[Peisqo]

I see ... learn new stuff again today .. hehe .. thanks everyone !

[easyihzy]

just want to ask, do you guys experience this : when you use bulb mode, the camera will take a long time to process and copy the photo to the compact flash / SD in the camera ?

when i use a 30" exposure during the fireworks, it will show "busy" for quite some time before i can shoot the next photo. when using raw it's a bit faster than jpeg

[hanuman]

One trick when shooting in bulb is to have a black matt card handy, use this to cover the lense in between fireworks. make sure to expose accordingly... again trial and error. A good meter will read the exposure and recommend exposure setting .. 2" ~ 3" at f/16 etc. This technique allow multiple exposure on one frame thus creating better composition. Bear in mind that you are actually painting with the firework tendrils.

[icyages]

just want to ask, do you guys experience this : when you use bulb mode, the camera will take a long time to process and copy the photo to the compact flash / SD in the camera ?

when i use a 30" exposure during the fireworks, it will show "busy" for quite some time before i can shoot the next photo. when using raw it's a bit faster than jpeg

The processing time will be equal (or slightly faster) to the bulb exposure time. Eg, if you set 30" exposure time, camera would take (roughly) another 30" processing time.

[derickuan]

The longer processing time is due to the Long Exposure Noise Reduction set to On...for the case of Nikon DSLR...not too sure about the other makes. :)

[HCN]

The processing time will be equal (or slightly faster) to the bulb exposure time. Eg, if you set 30" exposure time, camera would take (roughly) another 30" processing time.

For me, I tried out using 30 seconds to capture night scene, it does not take so long to process like 30 seconds processing time.

I also still try and error to conclude the aperture value... It's fun. Just make sure the mosquito won't "sing" around you. :D

[ShaolinTiger]

It depends if you have long exposure NR turned on or off, if you have it on any exposure of 8 seconds or something like that, will have an equal time lapse after.

It's done to remove hot pixels from the frame, the camera takes another equivalent picture at the same settings and the same length with the shutter closed.

Then removes any hot spots it finds from the original picture.

As for bulb mode, it's mostly up to experience, it's useful for fireworks as you can control the shutter as you please, especially when using black card technique.

Other times is when the exposure required is more than 30 seconds.