What settings do you put a Nikon D300 on to take an action photo with sparklers?

What settings do you put a Nikon D300 on to take an action photo with sparklers? - 1

This is one of those things that you get to experiment with. First you need to put the D300 on a tripod. Then go to manual focus; or you can use autofocus to make the initial focus then set it on manual focus. Now you need to set the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Start at ISO 100, f/8, and 1 second. Vary the exposure triangle until you get what you want.

Shooting sparklers is just the opposite of shooting action.

An action shot usually required shooting at shutter speeds of 1/500th second or faster.

Shooting sparklers (a form of shooting light graffiti) requires the camera to be placed on a tripod and using a remote shutter release like the Nikon MC-30A (the one I used last night on my Nikon D300 when shooting fireworks. Make sure that you manually focus on the person holding the sparkler

You open the shutter in the bulb mode and when the sparkler has been used to write a message, outline a figure or finishes burning, the shutter is allowed to close

You will need to do some test shots to get the correct exposure, but start with the ISO set to 200 and the lenses aperture set to f/8 or f/11. Open or close the aperture to get the closest to correct exposure.

I shoot in RAW and make any white balance corrections in Lightroom CC

I'm sure you will notice from the answers already given that we can't really give you any settings. We have no idea what the light level is, how much light the sparkler is giving off, we have no idea what lens you will be using, we have no idea how you want the final image to look.

Asking any photographer, over the internet for settings, is like asking a race car driver what gear you should use to drive from your home to work and how many left and right turns you should make. Not trying to give you a hard time, it's just the reality. There's no such thing as constant settings. Learn the holy trinity, the big three, the only three things you need to know. Aperture, ISO and shutter speeds, how they are related how changing one changes the other two and you will never need to ask anyone for settings, ever.

Auto.

If not satisfied, copy the settings from Auto to Manual mode and experiment with the shutter settings.

Depends on the effect you want.

If you want to stop the sparkles dead, use a fast shutter speed like 1/500th

If you want to do light painting with sparklers, use a long exposure like 10 seconds (in the dark), and a tripod and remote shutter release.

If you want something in between with a little bit of motion blur, use 1/50th

If you want light trails, shoot in bulb mode, or shutter priority (using a long shutter speed - up to 30 secs in S mode).

You also need a remote release, tripod and to have the lens in manual focus mode (autofocus won't work in the dark).