8 Tips for Taking Pictures of Fireworks

Posted on July 2, 2016

by Abu

Winter (New Years) and Summer (Independence Day) are the best seasons for viewing and photographing fireworks. Almost every major city has a Fireworks show so everyone can do it—all you need are fireworks, a camera and a little bit of planning. Here are eight tips to help you take the best Fireworks pictures:

Location. All you have to do is show up! The best thing about the Fourth of July is almost every city will have a free fireworks show. When you get to the location, look for foreground objects. Fireworks against a black sky are colorful, but not that exciting in a photograph. Reference points—buildings, hillsides, trees, monuments—help a lot. (If you’re thinking about layering your fireworks’ images into other pictures or combining a few into one image, then the blank sky background is the way to go, as you’ll want nothing else but lights and sparkles.)

Use a tripod. Perhaps the most important tip is to secure your digital camera to something that will ensure it doesn’t move during the taking of your shots. There’s nothing worse than blurry fireworks pictures. This is especially important in photographing fireworks simply because you’ll be using longer shutter speeds which will not only capture the movement of the fireworks but any movement of the camera itself. The best way to keep your camera still is with a sturdy Tripod with Professional Ball Head.

Frame your shot. The most difficult part of photographing fireworks is working out where to aim your camera. Scouting out the location prior to the event will give you an idea of where to setup your camera to get the best view. There are two main ways of framing shots in all types of photography, vertically (portrait) or horizontally (landscape). Both can work in fireworks photography but I personally prefer portrait perspective.

Focus and Focal Length. Chances are the fireworks show will be high in the sky. A secret I use is to turn off auto focus and manually set focus to infinity. I generally use a telephoto zoom lens to give me the best range possible. Telephoto lenses enable you to fill the frame to get the best resolution possible.

English: Bratislava; New Year 2005; FireWorks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Aperture. A common question around photographing fireworks displays is what aperture to use. Many people think you need a fast lens to get them but in reality it’s quite the opposite as the light that the fireworks emit is quite bright. I find that apertures in the mid to small range tend to work reasonably well and would usually shoot somewhere between f/11 to f/16.

Shutter Speed. I’ve learned that photographing fireworks in ‘bulb’ mode and using a remote shutter release cable offers the best chance to capture these amazing and colorful bursts of light. Things happen quickly and you don’t want to miss ‘the shot’. Bulb mode is a mode that allows you to keep the shutter open for as long as you press the [remote] shutter button. Using this technique you hit the shutter as the firework are about to explode and hold it down until it’s finished exploding (generally a few seconds). Don’t keep your shutter open too long but by all means experiment with multiple burst shots.