What equiptment do I need to catch lightning and fireworks shots for a Nikon D5100?

I want to learn how to take lightning and fireworks shots with my Nikon D5100 Camera. How do i do that and do i need any equipment added to my camera?

You have most of what you need. A tripod is very helpful. A remote, like the Nikon ML-L3, is helpful for lightning shots, but not absolutely necessary.

Lightning: Set ISO to 200, aperture to f/11 to f/13 and use the bulb shutter speed. Lightning shots should be taken at night. Aim camera at area of the sky where lightning is happening, open shutter and leave it open until a strike happens. After the strike, close the shutter. Review the image and adjust your aperture accordingly.

Fireworks: You will want to experiment with shutter speed. Something in the 1 second to 1/60 seconds, depending on the effects you want. Adjust the aperture to something which gives you a correct exposure. You can start out with an aperture around f/8 at ISO 200 and adjust as necessary. Beware, overexposing fireworks images will wash out the pretty colors. You can hand-hold your camera for shutter speeds faster than 1/20 seconds if you learn how to hold a camera on your left shoulder. Otherwise, use a tripod.

Edit: for lightning shots, if you don't get a lightning strike within 30 to 60 seconds, close the shutter and start anew.

Here is how I shoot fireworks:
* place the camera on a tripod
* use a remote shutter release (optional)
* place the lens in the manual mode and focus it to infinity
* set the ISO to 200
* place the camera in the manual mode and set the shutter to bulb
* aim the camera toward where the fireworks will be diplayed
* open the shutter and keep it open for three to four bursts.
* look at the cameras LCD and make adjustments of the lens aperture to provide the best colour saturation.

Here are two samples using this technique.

When shooting lightning a similar technique is used.

The only difference is that you need to make sure that there's no artificial lighting in the foreground that will be overexposed while you are shooting the storm. Aim the camera toward the storm and again open the shutter and hold it open for two or three strikes.

A tripod and remote shutter release for sure.

And you may want to experiment with and filters. A 2~3 minute open shutter with 20~30 bursts is pretty spectacular.

However, you can also do this with a black piece of cardboard (just get a piece of cardboard and paint it black).By leaving the shutter open and holding the cardboard over the lens between fireworks bursts accomplishes about the same thing as using and filters.