Arrive well before dark to scout an unobstructed view of where the
fireworks will be.
1) Make sure you’re in the front so people will not walk in front of you. However for some shots, it’s good to have people or other elements in the photos. The fireworks will illuminate them!
2) Outside lights can ruin the exposure – Stay far away from illuminated signs,
street lamps & parking lots with lighting.
3) Position your camera where the fireworks are bursting. Adjust when necessary.
4) Take a few practice shots early in the show. Check your focus & exposure. Adjust settings.
5) Once the show begins, keep shooting! The more shots you take,
the better your chances of getting that 1 or 2 amazing photos.
Vary exposure
Longer exposure times of 4 seconds will capture 2 – 4
bursts. When the bursts appear more rapidly during the grand
finale, change your exposure time to 1 or 2 seconds.
Must Haves:
- A tripod to steady your camera & prevent shake. (This is a Must!)
- Shutter Release Trigger
- A small flashlight so you can see your camera
settings in the dark. - Extra batteries & memory cards.
Getting ready:
- Use 50mm or wider.
Using a wide focal length is more effective than zooming in
when shooting fireworks. You can crop later for close-up shots. - Set the camera to it’s highest quality settings.
- BEWARE! auto focus doesn’t perform well in the dark, set your
camera to infinity mode, or manually focus to infinity. - To prevent blur due to camera shake, use a tripod for
support. Also use your camera remote to release the
shutter. - Turn off the flash (if you can’t -cover it).
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, and have more detail. - Set camera shutter to bulb.
- Exposure: use between 1 & 4 seconds.
- Use an ISO of 100.
ISO & aperture settings for photographing fireworks:
| ISO setting | Aperture size |
|---|---|
| 50 | f/5.6 to 11 |
| 100 | f/8 to 16 |
| 200 | f/11 to 22 |
Thanks Nick all great info to have for some fun and great shots. I would like to add if you don’t mind something I found out just learned. On a canon lens when going to infinity you need to adjust back the other way just a tad once you go to the end. I discovered this while doing star trails and it worked perfect.
I was wondering about that, Ron. Thanks, I needed that tidbit about infinity!
This is true of some M4/3 lenses, too 🙂
I’m glad to report after reading this, that my approach is/was still good. Only one thing to add that makes a BIG difference. Know where the wind is blowing…you don’t want firework smoke between you and the explosions…Get upwind if possible so the smoke goes away from you…the light gets caught up in the smoke really easily can ruin your shots if blowing right at you. My 2 cents, for what its worth.
Try holding a card up in front of the lens between explosions and pan the camera. Can create some eerie effects.
That and I have used a black baseball cap before! Thanks for the reminder, too!
Awesome tips!!
Here’s one:
Set your white balance on manual and then set it to tungsten. You get nice rich colors because the blackpowder burns at around the same color temp as tungsten lighting.
I have found that f11 or f13 @ ISO 100 works well to keep the bursts sharp. I set the camera to bulb mode and use a tripod and cable release. If there are other sources of light, you will have to adjust your exposures for those. I have shot from the marina at Tempe Town Lake for the past 6 years and the lights on the Mill Avenue bridge will tolerate longer exposures up to about 10 seconds. To capture multiple bursts, I open the shutter, hold a black card in front of the lens, and watch for the trails of the fireworks going up. Just before they burst, I move the card away, capture the burst, then replace it. I will do this multiple times during a 30+ second exposure and get multiple bursts without overexposing other areas. This technique also works well when there are ground effects. Since they are brighter than aerial bursts, I will do a short exposure of the ground effects, cover the lens, wait for them to go out, then expose a few aerial bursts resulting in a nice combination of ground and aerial bursts.
Ooooo
Good tips.
ESPECIALLY the black card
This is post has been a big help to lots of people since it went up years ago! Thanks for writing and posting it Cher.
Stay away from over head lights (like street lamps)they will put a glare in your shot, keep in dark areas, use wide lenses NOT telephoto ones, that way you get a better chance of a nice usable shot.
Have a great weekend and good shooting everyone
Tammy
I hope I get to see some fireworks from my house this year! If I do, I will be sure to utilize these tips!
Thanks for the info Nick. I’ll be going over to Westworld in a little while for their show. I’ll post to the Facebook group as soon as I can.