Many people have asked how I take my fireworks shots. Rather than respond individually, I thought I’d put together a little bit of a guide.

It’s important to realize that I’m not the originator of ANY of these tips, I’m pretty much a noob myself, but I’ve managed to get a few shots and more importantly gather some lessons learned. At the end of this, I’ve included a list of some resources I’ve found helpful.

The right camera

The first step to taking good shots of fireworks is the right camera. You need one that at a minimum allows you to shoot in manual exposure and focus mode and one that can be secured on a tripod. This unfortunately counts out many point and shoot and cell phone cameras. In addition, you need one with pretty good low light performance. You can get shots with some point and shoots, but I think it would be much harder.

Since I shoot with a Nikon D90, this guide assumes you’re using a DSLR, but you might be able to get your point and shoot to do the same things.

I think you should be pretty good even with inexpensive DSLR cameras, such as the D40 or some of the fixed-lens “Psuedo-DSLR” cameras. Obviously, as with many things, higher quality sensors will give you more range and flexibility, but you can get some pretty nice shots even with the less expensive sensors, so don’t let that deter you.

Finally on this, what’s really important is that the best camera is the one that you have with you, so even if all you have is a point and shoot, now’s a great time to figure out how to work all the settings and give it a shot!

Things you need to bring

• Camera (Well, duh.) Maybe more than one
• Charged camera battery
• Lenses (You can never be sure of exactly where you’ll set up, so bring a wide angle and a decent zoom)
• Tripod and mounting shoe (I had my whole kit except for the mounting shoe for the tripod, so I wound up using a bungee to mount the camera… I would not recommend it)
• Remote release device (with a fresh battery)
• Pocket flash light with fresh batteries
• Clear memory cards (at least 2, just in case)
• Lens cloth and blower

Camera Stability

Tripod

You’ll be making exposures that are MUCH longer than you’re used to, so keeping your camera still is essential. There is simply no way you can keep your camera still long enough to get clean exposures without a tripod, and the heavier, the better.

You might be able to get away with one of the Joby Gorilla Pods, depending on your camera and the location, but a real tripod is going to be better.

Here’s a shot I took with a 2.5 second exposure. Neat effect, but not what you’re going for, most likely.

Remote

One other thing to think about with camera stability is the use of a remote release. It might not seem like it but your camera moves when you press the shutter release even just a little. Check out this shot. See the squiggles at the start of the trails? That’s me pressing the shutter release button.

Most DSLRs have an optional remote release, often it is infrared. Use these. =)

Mode

I think you pretty much have to have your camera in full manual mode. You’re going to be telling your camera to do things that it doesn’t expect, such as using a narrower aperture when you have a very little bit of light.

Obviously, you’ve got no need for any sort of flash, so don’t bother.

Exposure

The hardest part about photographing fireworks is that the exposure settings are (to a novice like me) unexpected. One thinks of fireworks as the ultimate low light photography event, so you would expect to use wide apertures, long exposures and high ISO settings. With the exception of the exposure, that’s completely backwards.

ISO

One of the first things to set up on your camera (once you’re in manual mode) is the ISO setting. You want it to be low. I shot mine on 100 and 200 ISO. That’s right, the same ISO you’d use for daylight shooting. The lower ISO will limit the noise in the shot and since some of the post processing we might consider can emphasize luma noise, we want to reduce that.

Aperture

Fireworks are big, so we want a pretty nice depth of field. I’ve heard suggestions from F8 up to F20, though I think (and have found) that F11-F16 is a pretty good range.

Shutter Speed

Here’s where your common sense will prevail. You want a nice shutter speed to capture the long trails and blooms of the fireworks.

I like to use the camera on the “bulb” setting, which essentially opens the shutter when I press the release once, then closes it when I press it again. That way, I can control the exposure for each shot and not worry about it shutting off too soon or staying open too long. It’s a “Play with it and see” sort of thing.

One neat trick is to get a (non-reflective) piece of cardboard (paint it black if you can, but as long as it’s not white or glossy, you’re good) and hold that over the lens. Then open the shutter and manually expose the shot multiple times. You can get some neat effects.

Don’t over expose

One thing to remember is don’t keep it open TOO long. A few seconds is enough, especially during busy times like the finale. You will only be adding light to exposed areas and making a big white mess on your shot.

Focus

In addition to having the exposure on manual, you’ll want your focus on manual also. A good practice is to pre focus before it gets dark. You want to focus on the skyline or tree line and then not change it. Focus is important because once you take the shot you can’t go back.

Here’s one where I misjudged the focus. I took about twenty shots before I reviewed them and realized I was out of focus. Tighter apertures will help with focus, but not as much as pre-focusing and reviewing your focus (yay for LCDs!) after a few shots.

Which Lens to use

Mostly here, we’re talking about focal length. I like shooting with my 55-200mm, because it allows me a reasonably wide view while still getting in close for some tight shots if I like. Alternately, if you’re very close to the show, you might wish a wider view. Just remember, with fireworks there’s often no visual clues to combat lens distortion, so if you get too wide, the distortion might be distracting. (It might also be artistic, so go for it!)

Composition

Where to set up

You want to be close to the action, but not so close that you lose the ability to shoot the whole scene. Often, the best spots are where people gather to watch.

Try not to be in front of or behind anyone. Remember that your tripod is likely going to be as tall as an adult standing up and most people like to sit or lie on the ground to watch the show. Off to the side is good, because you won’t have worry about being in someone’s way. You can also get reaction shots, if you do it right. =)

Skyline

In addition to not getting people in your shot (unless that’s your goal), consider what else might be in the shot. Are there buildings or trees or mountains in the background. If you will be doing long exposures, you very well might get enough reflected light on the buildings and environment that it can show up, and that makes for a very cool effect.

Crop & aspect

Wide sky shots of fireworks are very striking, but remember that the best photographs are ones where the photographer exposes you to something you otherwise wouldn’t have seen or changes the context. Context can be the aspect of the shot (vertical tends to imply upward movement and height, while horizontal can suggest a grand expanse),it can also simply be how tightly cropped a shot is.

Don’t forget you can change aspect and crop in the computer later, so it’s more important just to get the shot in the first place and play with it later.

Here are some examples. The first shot is the one that came out of the camera.

Second is the shot cropped with a vertical aspect, which has more motion and drama.

Third is the same shot cropped and offset. This would make a good postcard or poster.

Other things in the shot

Finally, think about showing things other than the fireworks themselves. Remember, you’re trying to show the viewer something they might not otherwise have seen. Maybe it’s the cityscape lit by the glow of the fireworks, or perhaps it’s the crowd in silhouette.

Shoot a LOT (Digital is free)

Remember, there’s no cost for messing up so take a LOT of shots. You can always delete the bad ones and pretend they never happened.

Things to think about

Wind & Smoke

If there’s no wind at all, the smoke from the fireworks is going to hang in the air. That means your best shots will likely be near the beginning of the show, so be ready for them.

Similarly, if there’s too much wind, you will find that the explosions look lopsided. If there’s really too much, they might cancel it all together, so again, just be prepared for anything.

Timing/Trails

This is something that can take practice, but in general you want to catch the shots just as they explode and stream outward. This allows the trails to be long and graceful.

Color

One of the best things about fireworks is they produce such vivid colors, Your best shots will often be of the bright blues and pinks, and sometimes the sparkling golds. Some of the best shots I’ve seen have one dominant color with other complimentary colors supporting it.

Post Processing

Remember that once you get the images out of the computer, you can crop and color correct to your hearts content. Just remember the #1 rule of digital image manipulation: WORK FROM A COPY!

You may find you need to reduce noise. If you shot with a low ISO, that’s not as much of a problem, but one easy way to do this is to actually lower the exposure. You’ll darken the image, but in so doing, you’ll reduce the noise. Of course many image programs can reduce noise as well.

Try to lighten the sky some so that the fireworks seem like they are at dusk rather than full night.

Color correct so that the colors are brighter and more saturated for a more electric feel.

Try reducing the saturation of all but the strongest color for a neat effect.

And don’t forget to adjust crop and aspect for the right shot.

Finally

Have fun and play around. Unless you’re counting on these shots to feed you (and seriously, don’t do that…) it’s more important that you enjoy yourself and learn from the experience than that you do it perfectly. And don’t forget to share your shots and pass on the knowledge you gain. Next year, you can teach others how to do it!

-Brian

Other Resources

Here are some websites I’ve used to learn from:

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-fireworks

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=303639&src=1 (Neat tips on using a P&S camera!)

http://photo2.si.edu/firew/firew.html (This one has great discussion of positioning)