Originally posted by Jed
Yup the black card isn't really necessary for Singapore fireworks
IMO, the black card is necessary to take good fireworks pictures here.
Our fireworks tend to go off too quickly, and in too high an intensity to make good pictures. From the non photographer, it looks really good, but on film, we get too much smoke, and scatter that causes distractions.
Thus the black card is needed to cover the lens once the initial burst of the firework is over. Usually, just 2-3 bursts are enough to cover the sky, number varies according to the type of firework being released.
In preparing for a fireworks shoot, first take an exposure reading of your foreground. Leave your aperture around f8 or f11 if possible. I will aim to adjust ISO, followed by aperture to achieve a 2-3 second exposure for the foreground. This minimises the time I need to exposure for foreground thus I can take more shots / pay more attention to the fireworks.
Set to bulb if possible. Otherwise, use about 6-8 seconds exposure. First 2-3 seconds, exposure full frame. Then cover the foreground with black card thereafter.
Cover the entire lens if:
1. The firework explosion is really huge, too bright.
2. You don't really like that particular pattern.
3. There is no firework (short pause / break)
Another method would of course be to combine pictures...