If there’s one thing I absolutely love about summer and local celebrations, it’s photographing fireworks. There’s just something about them that brings me great joy.
Finding a way to capture them more creatively is a fun challenge-adding to the challenge that capturing fireworks already can be.
As I’m gathering up my gear to head down to our local minor league ballpark to photograph tonight’s post game show, I thought I would share a few tips with you to help you get some great images of your own.
Scout your location ahead of time
- Know ahead of time where the fireworks will be set off from, then find a safe location to shoot. Look for street lights or anything else that might interfere-including power lines, trees, etc.
- Also try to find an interesting foreground-like amusement rides, lit fountains, buildings, bridges or a city skyline. This makes for much more interesting images
Camera
- Any that you can set the exposure manually and focus manually
- Shoot in RAW format for more latitude in editing images. They WILL need some editing!
- Make sure you have a fully charged battery
- Also ensure you have a memory card in the camera!
Lens Choice
- Depends on how far away you are from the show, and what you might want in the foreground
- Usually a mid-range wide angle zoom does the trick, such as a 24-105mm
- My shots of the fireworks over the Reading Pagoda called for a longer telephoto lens, as I was shooting from about a mile away
- Make sure your lens is free of dust and smudges.
- Use a lens hood to minimize lens flare from any nearby bright lights
Day of Show-
- Arrive early-in plenty of time to set up or call an audible if something unforeseen in your scouting is taking place
- For the image below, arriving earlier in the day, made me aware of the MOPAR show that was surrounding the stadium. This gave me time to come up with a different location than I had originally planned,
to now include the lighted cars-which added a little extra something to the images!
Use a Tripod
- Using a tripod is the best way to get sharp images
- A sturdy tripod that extends as high as your eye level without using the center column is the best option
- It also allows you to keep the shutter open for longer exposures that would be impossible to hand-hold.
- Also use a cable release to trip the shutter. They function better than wireless remotes for fireworks, IMO
Camera Setting Suggestions
- You want to set your camera completely manually. Your camera’s meter cannot meter accurately for fireworks
- ISO set to lowest recommended by camera manufacturer-such as 100 or 200
- Start with f/11 as your aperture. Open up more if your bursts are under exposed or close down a stop if over
- Use Bulb Mode. This allows you to keep the shutter open (by holding the button down on your cable release) to capture several bursts in a single frame
Composition-
- Unless you are far away from the fireworks, vertical or portrait orientation works best
- Make sure your camera is level
- Leave plenty of room up in the sky to capture bursts shot off at varying angles
- After a few bursts, compose tighter if you find you are leaving way too much room
- Watch out for power lines, trees etc, that may be blocking your view
Other Tips-
- When you hear the burst go off-get ready to press your cable release and open your shutter. Make sure you let go of the button when you want the shutter to close
- Keep the button pressed in to get more than one burst in the image
- Decide how you feel about the “tail” – the white streak that is recorded as the burst goes up in the air. If it seems distracting to you –which IMO it is, then wait until the very last moment before the burst opens to open your shutter
- The fireworks should be colorful-not washed out. If they all appear white, you are over-exposing
- Have highlight alert turned on so you can see “blinkies” in areas that are pure white.
- If there is a breeze, try to be upwind from the smoke. Smoke ruins images quickly
- Bring a Flashlight so you can find camera settings quickly and safely see to move around in the dark
Extra Credit-
In order to mix it up a little with my images, I try not to shoot the same way over and over again. For the images below, I used what is known as the Focus-Pull technique. You start with your lens out of focus, and then as the burst is about to open, you quickly turn the lens into sharp focus. It’s crazy challenging! This creates some very unique images-some even look like sea-urchins! What do you think?
And the Most Important Tip…
- Once you get to the finale-stop shooting and enjoy the show!
- Tons of bursts will be going off at once-overlapping one another. It is nearly impossible to get any good shots at that point. You can try, but listen for my voice saying, “I told you so” ☺
My Gear…
For those who may be interested, this is the gear I am currently using for my fireworks images. (Note: these are affiliate links, and will help support my endeavors with a small commission.)
When choosing a cable release, make sure you specify in your search, the exact model camera you own.