Fireworks displays are amazing to watch and can be really enthralling , many photographers shy away from photographing them as they think it is too difficult to photograph them. In fact, photographing fireworks can be pretty simple, if you follow a few simple tips that are outlined below:
1. Use a tripod:
I know, I know, no one wants to carry their heavy tripod, least of all to a crowded area where the fireworks display is happening. The reality is that you will not get really sharp, crisp and dramatic images without a tripod. For the most part, you will be shooting long exposures (4 – 8 seconds long) at a time, it is impossible to hand hold that!! Secondly, it is a good idea to arrive early and set up your tripod in a good position based on where the fireworks will happen. Get your composition sorted out, and get your camera set up so that when the action begins, you are ready!
2. Use a cable release:
This is another step in ensuring that your shots are perfectly sharp. By using a cable release or a remote release (wireless) you don’t have to touch your camera and so you can be sure that your shots will be sharp if you are properly focused.
3. Pre – Focus your shot:
If you arrive early enough and set up, a good thing to do will be to focus your camera on the scene using autofocus and then switch to manual focus. That will mean that when the fireworks begin, you will be shooting on manual focus and you camera will not be auto focusing on each shot. The reason why this is important is that the scene will be very dark and then very light (when the fireworks erupt) and your camera may struggle to get focused using auto focus. This delay could mean that you could lose shots or even have blurred images.
4. Aperture:
You can use an aperture of anywhere between F 5.6 to F 11, of course, the higher the aperture, the longer your exposure. Be aware that fireworks are EXTREMELY bright and it is very easy to overexpose. So, if you are using F 5.6 you might only need to have an exposure of 2 – 4 seconds, while on F 8 you might need 6 or 8 seconds. Always be aware of you settings and check the results on your LCD.
5. Shutter Speed:
The temptation is to keep the shutter open longer than necessary, but be careful, like I said, it is very easy to overexpose the fireworks. In general, I will stand with the cable release in my hands and have my camera on F 5.6 or F 8 and will set my camera to bulb mode. By doing this, I can determine how long I want the exposure to be. If there are only a few fireworks that go up, I will expose for 5 or 6 seconds, if there is a huge burst, then I will expose for less time. The last thing you want to have in your shot is bright white overexposed images of the fireworks. You know that your exposure is correct when you can see the colours of the fireworks in the shot.
6. ISO
Shoot on the lowest ISO possible, which is ISO 100 for me. Keep your ISO low to avoid having noise in the image, your fireworks are bright enough to light the scene without bumping up the ISO.
7. Track your results:
Throughout the display, take a look at what you are getting and make any adjustments. If the scene is looking over exposed, then do shorter exposures. If the scene is too dark, make the exposures a little longer. Check your composition, is it working, if not, make the necessary changes.
8. A fun trick:
Something that you can try is to bring a black card along with you. When the fireworks start, open your shutter and leave it open for 60 seconds, but in between the bursts, put the black card in front of the lens to block out the scene, remove the card when the next burst begins and you will have some amazing “stacked” images of the fireworks. Be very careful not to overexpose!!
Above all, go out and have some fun. Fireworks are great fun to watch and even more fun to photograph. You will be astounded by some of the shots you will get and thats the rewarding part, so enjoy it!
If you have any tips and tricks, please drop them into the comments box, its always great to hear from other photographers and their experiences!
Thanks Barry. I will make it out one of these days to one of your sessions, but great that you have a blog I can follow.
Great advice, I particularly like the switch from auto to manual before it gets dark. I also didn’t give much thought to exposure time and aperture size. I plan to shoot some fireworks this month at Butchart Gardens. Will let you know how it goes. Thanks Barry
Looking forward to seeing the images Justin, I enjoyed your shots from the Stampede!
You might try shooting a few images just before the sun goes down, while there is some illumination of the surrounding background, and tone-map it onto the fireworks shots later which typically have black backgrounds. It is best not to move the tripod afterwards or adjust the zoom, in order to maintain the same perspective.Of course this creates an artificial image but it can turn murky black skies and shadows into something with more colour and detail.
Great idea, thanks Anthony!
Great article, I will definitely give it a try! Thanks Barry!
Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to try this 🙂
Thank you Barry for the useful inf. What about lenses? Would it be more suitable a telephoto or wide angle?
Hi Marta
It depends how close you will be to the fireworks. If you are on the Burrard Bridge then a Zoom Lens will be good, if you are on English Bay, then a wide angle might be better. Hope this helps!
A tip I once read somewhere for creative fun, was to actually deliberately move your camera slowly, (a circular motion for example) during the exposure, in a way to twist the trails of light into obscure patterns. I’ve yet to try it, but the examples I saw at the time looked pretty cool.
For sure Ged, that would make some amazing images!