Photographing Fireworks

Have you ever thought of taking pictures of fireworks before? Did you do it? Did they turn out?

I have taken pictures several times but I have never got all that serious about it, that is until this year. So I did a bunch of research and, in the nut shell here is what I learned.

USE A TRIPOD

You will be taking a picture for anywhere between 2 to 8 seconds or so. If you do not have a tripod or at least something sturdy then your fireworks will wiggle all over the place. I do not care who you are or how steady you are, use a tripod.

A SHUTTER RELEASE OR TIMER IS NICE

To further keep from shaking things use a shutter release to take the picture. If you do not have that or if you have a camera that can not have a shutter release than use the cameras timer. Set it to 2 seconds if you have that option. Now using a timer is harder because you need to anticipate when the firework will go off.

MANUAL FOCUS

Auto focus cameras do not do well in dark situations. For the most part they advice to set the camera on manual focus and focus to infinity than back it off just a little bit. Then focus the camera on the first firework and leave it there for the rest of the show. For those Point and shoot you can also set your camera to Landscape or Fireworks if you have that setting.

VERTICAL vs HORIZONTAL

Most suggest to turn you camera vertical as fireworks go and then they float back down. They usually do not move left to right very much. Holding the camera vertical gives you more room to capture the movement of the fireworks. There are advantages of leaving the camera horizontal but most pictures are better served with the camera vertical. I myself will be shooting pictures using two cameras with one turned vertical and on left horizontal.

LEVEL YOUR CAMERA

Especially if you are going to take a picture that shows buildings or shoreline or anything that establishes what is level, you will want to make sure your camera is level. Some tripods have levels build into them. You could use a portable level or just look through the camera, possibly taking a picture, and make adjustments if the camera does not look level.

WATCH OUT FOR LIGHTS AND TREES

Lights will show up and make you pictures either terrible or much less interesting. Try and avoid street lights and other lights that are near by if possible. Trees can just distract from the fireworks or even hide them. Be careful if there is a tree near by.

ARRIVE EARLY, PICK YOUR PLACEMENT

If possible avoid the crowds or at least be a little ways away from them. I giant head in the picture will not make a nice firework photo. Also they can bump you tripod and add a very interesting movement to your fireworks. Also try to be upwind of fireworks. If you are downwind then the smoke from the fireworks will fill the sky and make things less then sharp. Also be sure to get pictures of the first fireworks shot as they will be your clearest ones.

SHOOT MANUAL

If at all possible shoot manual. This will allow you to have better control of what you are shooting. If you can not do that than look for settings on your camera like Fireworks or Night Shot to help set you camera settings. While you are taking pictures be sure to check some of the photos to see how they are doing and make adjustments to make the pictures are more pleasing to you. Be careful not to spend every second checking you photos however because fireworks are suppose to be fun unless you are a pet. They tend to not like all the booms.

USE A LOW ISO SETTING

Set the ISO as low as possible or if you are using film, get as low an ISO speed film as possible. Most of what I saw was based on ISO 100 so lets go with that. If you set it lower you will need to use a larger aperture setting.

APERTURE

For ISO 100 they recommend using an aperture of between F8 and F16 so maybe start out at F11. If you are using ISO 50 you will want to use F8. Be prepared to vary the aperature a little if the fireworks become brighter especially for the grand finally. If that happens then use a higher f-stop number like F16.

SHUTTER SPEED

Here it depends on your taste, also on how bright the fireworks are, how close you are, etc. For the most part they recommend that you have a shutter speed between 2 and 8 seconds. The longer the shutter is open the more the fireworks will rain down yielding a pleasant affect. Also if you do not keep it open long enough you will not get the full affect of the firework. You can start taking the picture as you see the streak as the firework heads skyward or you can wait until just before the initial explosion. Be sure not to leave the shutter open to long or you will over expose the fireworks and no one wants that.

ZOOMED ARE IS NICE BUT

The more you zoom in the more accurate you will need to be as to where the firework actually explodes. Otherwise you may not have it in your frame. I think you are better to be zoomed out a little and crop your picture afterwards. Don't be zoomed back to far. Zoomed in and not being able to get the entire firework in the frame can be interesting however after all variety is a good thing.

SUPPLIES

Bring plenty of memory cards (or film) as you will be surprised how many pictures you take.
Also be sure the batteries are charged and you have spares if possible.

FLASH LIGHT

Bring a small flashlight like those maglights so you can see to make adjustments to your camera.

RESEARCH

There are tons of articles on the Internet about this. That is where a lot of this came from and I kind of blended it. Some of it was from my own experience. Also practice, practice, practice and take notes afterwards for the next time you shoot fireworks. Why listen to what the Internet or I have to say about this. Why not get better based on your own experience.



Well that is most of it. It sounds like a lot but I think a lot of it is setup before you start. After that it should be a piece of cake. Hopefully I will have some nice pictures to post after July 3rd when a nice local fireworks display happens.

Have a wonderful 4th of July or, if you are not in the states, work on having a wonderful weekend.