Article: 5 Tips for Photographing Fireworks

[gary_hendricks]

Here is an article I published on my website about fireworks photography. I hope it'll be useful to some of you in this forum.

5 Tips for Photographing Fireworks
by Gary Hendricks

Imagine you’re at a celebration event, camera in hand, waiting for a fireworks display. There’s a certain excitement when you shoot pictures of fireworks. Maybe it’s because the lights move so fast. Maybe it’s because shooting these pictures require tricky exposure settings. In any case, I find shooting fireworks to be one of the most interesting types of photography. To help those who are new to this genre of photography, here are some good tips to follow.

A spectacular display of fireworks

Tip 1: Remove UV or Polarizing Filters
This is always my first tip to photographers shooting fireworks. Remove the UV or polarizing filters from your camera before the fireworks display. I have, on many occasions, forgotten to do this and the results were often disastrous. By the time I got the lenses off, I’d have missed several minutes of the fireworks display.

Tip 2: Right Angles to the Wind
Try to position yourself at right angles to the wind. Positioning yourself in this manner ensures that the light bursts in the fireworks streak across you as you snap pictures. This creates the interesting fireworks streaking effect you see in so many photos out there. The other advantage is that smoke will be blown out of your frame faster, giving rise to nicer, cleaner shots.

Tip 3: Bring the Tripod
Fireworks (and night photography in general) require long exposures. As such, always remember to bring your tripod along for the occasion. Ensure that you set up the tripod and try out some sample exposure settings way before those fireworks come on.

Tip 4: Focusing
As the fireworks display comes on, I think it’s pretty important to focus on the first few bursts of fireworks. Taking the time to do this will ensure that you have nice, well-focused shots subsequently. Many amateurs tend to get excited once we see and hear the fireworks, and forget about focusing altogether.

Tip 5: Background
Another thing to look out for when photographing fireworks – check the background of the picture. Ensure that there are no city lights or moon in the background. The presence of these lights will diminish the impact of the fireworks display.

Conclusion
In summary, fireworks are a beautiful thing to photograph. However, they do present a special challenge in that the lights come out for only a short time. Moreover, the exposure settings can be tricky. If you keep practicing though, I’m sure that one day you’ll become an expert at photographing fireworks.

[Rhys]

My tip here is to put a tripod outside a fireworks event. No point in paying to go in - what you're really after is the air bursts. I suggest getting as close as possible under where the fireworks will be exploding. Check wind direction and strength for this. Then use a reasonably wide lens such as 50mm, locked down to f8 or therabouts and set on infinity. Then keep the shutter open for a few seconds at a time using the lowest possible ISO. I've got some super fireworks photos that way, using 35mm.

[gary_hendricks]

Yes Rhys, I agree. The best position to place the tripod is in a pretty high ground area that has a good view of the fireworks. It won't do much good if you're in the event itself. Hence, I usually scout around the area to find good vantage points before positioning and setting up the tripod.

[Rhys]

Yes Rhys, I agree. The best position to place the tripod is in a pretty high ground area that has a good view of the fireworks. It won't do much good if you're in the event itself. Hence, I usually scout around the area to find good vantage points before positioning and setting up the tripod.

Oddly enough, my best fireworks photos came from the car park outside the football stadium in which the fireworks were being displayed. Ground displays are never worth photographing. Air bursts are far better.

[gary_hendricks]

Oddly enough, my best fireworks photos came from the car park outside the football stadium in which the fireworks were being displayed. Ground displays are never worth photographing. Air bursts are far better.

Hey, thanks an idea. I'll be sure to check out the carpark as a vantage point in future. The last time I took fireworks was during the Singapore National Day celebrations, but I was perched on a building that was pretty far from the action.

[wall7760]

Does anyone have any more general tips for shooting fireworks, like what general shutter speed to use.