Fireworks Photography Tips
Getting Ready
When you are going to photograph fireworks, be
prepared. Make sure you have enough memory cards and extra batteries.
You will need to take a tripod, a wide-angle or a telephoto zoom lens,
and remember to arrive early. Place the camera on a tripod, and turn the
mode dial to M (manual) mode; we want f/8 - f/16 for a greater DOF
(depth of field) and a long exposure anywhere between 1-10 seconds. Use
your camera’s self-timer or a cable release to take the photo with
absolutely no blurring. For dramatic effect, try to capture multiple
fireworks trails across the sky.
Include People
Position yourself in a good spot at the center of the
action. It’s a great idea to include the heads of other visitors, as it
gives a sense of perspective and dimension. Place you camera on a
tripod and choose a large aperture to keep things fairly sharp. Set your
ISO at 100 to keep the digital noise at a minimum. Wait for multiple
fireworks to go off, and use a cable release to take the photo. Don’t
use flash because it could ruin the effect in the image, and take a
longer exposure to catch various stages of breathtaking fireworks.
Use a Slow Shutter Speed
When it comes to shutter speed, you should pick a
slow exposure, anywhere between 1 - 15 seconds in order to capture the
light trails. The longer the exposure, the more lines will appear and
the longer they will look. Any faster would not catch the extended
moment of the fireworks exploding. You should take the image using the
camera’s self timer or a cable release so that you avoid touching and
jiggling the camera. If you don't have anything to hold your camera
steady, increase your camera's sensitivity to light by increasing the
ISO. This will give you shorter exposures without blurs, but be prepared
for more grain or ‘noise’ in your fireworks pictures.
Click Away
Snap up the action, but avoid shutter lag (the time
it takes between pressing the trigger and the camera taking the picture)
by keeping the shutter button pressed halfway. When the right moment
comes, press all the way down to instantly capture the desired image.
Let the smoke clear away before taking your next shot, so as to reduce
the need to edit the fireworks photos with software later.
Shoot from a Distance
Mount the camera on a sturdy tripod and position it
so that the bridge, the water and buildings can be seen; we want
interest in the foreground and background. Set the mode dial to AV
(Aperture Priority) mode, set the ISO at the range of 100 to 400 and
choose an aperture of f/16 or more. Ideally we want a long exposure
anywhere between 1-30 seconds for a silky water effect. Use a wide-angle
lens (10mm - 42mm) for a broad perspective. You’ll want to disengage
the autofocus on your lens, and set it to Infinity (the sideways 8 on
the lens barrel); this isn’t always apparent on some digital lens, so
you have to figure this out for your given lens. Use your camera’s
self-timer or a cable release to take the photo with absolutely no
blurring.
Recommended Settings
Use the lowest ISO possible to keep the image high
quality, and a slow shutter speed to capture the light trails. You don’t
want to be any faster than 1/15s, though some shots may require even
longer shutter speeds if you use a small aperture. If you are finding
that the camera is not recording enough light for the fireworks, reduce
the ISO down to 50 and choose the smallest aperture, at around f/32.
This will force the camera to give you a slower shutter speed, while
giving you a very high quality image.
Recommended Equipment
Always take a tripod – there’s no other way to use a
long shutter speed without getting camera shake. Use a telephoto zoom
lens if the fireworks display is far away from you or a wide-angle lens
if you want to capture the surroundings or the people at the event too.
Remember to use a low ISO for a high quality image and you can also
choose a small aperture for a sharp picture, although your camera must
be on a tripod for this. Use a shutter release cable or a remote to take
the picture – you can’t use self timer as you can’t predict exactly
when the firework will go off.
Conclusion
One of the most important things when it comes to
shooting fireworks is timing. Always keep an eye out and get used to
predicting when a firework will burst - you don’t want to capture it
taking off or when it has finished. You want to photograph a firework as
it makes its colorful burst. W
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