Camera setting for fireworks? D5100 nikon?

I recently bought a D5100 Nikon from my cousin and we haven't had a chance to get together for her to explain to me all the fancy buttons and settings. Tonight being Canada day, I'd love to take some pictures outside and especially of the fireworks so if anyone can tell me what setting would work best I would really appreciate it.

ISO 100, aperture about f11 and shutter speed to B - try exposure times of 5 to 10 seconds. If you don't have a tripod, make sure the camera's resting on something solid.

This is NOT a good time to try and find out, but maybe your camera has a subject programme for this, consult your manual.

While you can get some guidelines, you will have to experiment for yourself. Here are some discussions of fireworks photography.
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/...search.htm

Unless you have a Tripod, you will be better off enjoying the fireworks with your eyes than trying to capture them on a camera.
I tried twice and… Found that it is not worth it without a tripod.
Tips anyways.
Set your camera to Fireworks mode which has factory optimized settings for capturing fireworks. If your camera doesn't have Fireworks mode, use Landscape mode.

If your camera has manual settings:
■Set focus to infinity.
■Use an aperture of F5.6 or smaller (higher number). Using smaller apertures will help ensure that the fireworks trails are sharper, containing more detail.
■Set the shutter to bulb.
■Exposure: use between one and four seconds.
■If possible, use an ISO of 100.

Enjoy Canada day.

There's no "single best setting".It depends how you want to capture the fireworks.

Option 1: Use a fairly fast shutter speed so when the boom happens, you aim, focus, and freeze the image.

Option 2: Mounted to a tripod, use a fairly slow shutter and point the camera in the direction of the fireworks explosions. Press the shutter release. The shutter opens, the fireworks go boom, the shutter closes.

The beauty and fun of using dSLR cameras with manual settings is learning to use the camera different ways. And if you plan to capture video, Please use a tripod or other steadying device.

* Tripod
* Camera set to bulb
* Set ISO to 200
* Start with aperture set to f/11
* Manually focus the lens at infinity.
* Open the shutter long enough for two to four bursts.
* Adjust the lens aperture to provide the best colour saturation

Sample shots.html? Sort=3&o=2.html? Sort=3&o=40

There are several popular techniques. The one I use isolates individual fireworks bursts - which can provide dramatic results. It does not work so well for multiple-burst photos.

My technique is to put the camera on a tripod, then set exposure to Manual, ISO to as low as it will go, shutter speed to Bulb, and Aperture to f/8.

In my technique, the f/8 aperture is a starting point, and the aperture is the sole adjustment for the proper exposure.

I then use a wired release (a wireless release will also work). Then I depress the shutter release (to open the shutter) as soon as I see the rocket go off for the firework, and keep it open until the burst is over.

Here is an example of the results, plus more discussion on several techniques I have used:

http://www.althephoto.com/tips/fireworks.php