@ebiggs1 wrote:"... everything. fireworks"
Fireworks are among the easiest to shoot. Set the Rebel on a tripod. Manual mode. Av to f8 and SS as long as you want. Shoot away.
You make it sound easier than it really is. Most fireworks pictures don't turn out nearly that well.
@joe5-0swoman wrote:Thank you very much... everyone has told me i have a fantastic camera. but its from 2007, wasnt originally what i even wanted, and I have been frustered for 9 years.
Your camera is rather old and less capable than the newer models but there is nothing wrong with using it for night photography. As far as I can recall, your camera does not have live view...I find that live view really makes night photography easy in many cases because in M mode, you will see exactly what you will get after you change various modes (aperture, speed and ISO). Without it , you will need to depend on the Standard Exposure Index in the viewfinder for correct exposure.
For most night shots, you will need a sturdy tripod (one that will not vibrate in the wind) and as others have stated, you will need to get off the auto modes...switch to Manual everything, include focusing. Again, live view plays an important role here also because you can magnify your image 10 times and you can really use it to precise focus (sounds like I'm encouraging you to get a newer model, doesn't it?). In low light conditions, any camera will have big troubles trying to focus and it will either tell you it can't focus (by not letting you take the shot) or worse lie to you that it can focus and give you a slightly blurred image.
So you need a tripod. You also need to be able to work in the dark (using your own light or camera lights) to operate your camera. You will need to be able to manually focus. And lastly, you need to be able to set aperture, speed and ISO to get a correct exposure. Sometimes you need to be able to calculate speed based on aperture and ISO if the speed exceeds 30 seconds--you need to use B (bulb) mode and the camera stops calculating for you. You need to know how long to hold the shutter button down. Lastly, you need a remote shutter release (cable version is preferred) to avoid camera shake when you press that shutter button. Also it will save your finger from pressing on that button for more than 30 seconds...the remote will do that for you.
The technique is rather simple - mount camera on tripod with the remote shutter release. Switch the lens from A to M, switch the camera to M. Set Aperture to f/11 or f/16, ISO to 100 and set the speed to whatever is needed to get the correct exposure...this typically takes multiple seconds but the result could be very striking like this image I took in Saigon, Vietnam a couple of years ago. Your camera is fully capable of taking this kind of shot. This was taken using f/11; ISO 200; 20 seconds. I used ISO 200 to avoid a 40 seconds exposure because I didn't have a watch (remember past 30 seconds you're on your own).
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