Jenny Marie Photography

Photographing fireworks is not as hard as it sounds. With just a few simple tips you can take pictures just like the pros

1. Use a Tripod

            You need to secure your camera to something to avoid any movement during your shot. If you don't have one I recomended getting one before heading out.

QT-100 Compact Travel Tripod

2. Frame Your Shot

    One of the hardest parts of photographing fireworks is figuring out where to aim your camera.

           *Go early and scope out the area. You want to find a spot without any obstructions, such as trees buildings and lights

           *Think about your foreground you dont' want the tops of peoples heads or a big ugly sign in your photo.

3. Focal Length

    Make sure your camera is trained on the right part of the sky.

    This can be difficult if you are trying to zoom in for a tight shot. I like to zoom out and get a wider shot, you can always crop later to get that tighter shot.

4. Aperture

    Many people think you need a fast lens to capture the fireworks, but the opposite is true as the light that fireworks emit is quite bright. An aperture between f8 to f16 works best. I usually shoot around f11.

5. Shutter Speed

    This is probally the most important item to get correct. To capture fireworks you need a long exposure time since they are in motion. It is best to shoot in "bulb" mode. This gives you control to keep the shutter open as long as you would like.

          Using this technique you hit the shutter as the firework is about to explode and hold it open until it's finished (generally a couple of seconds)

6. ISO

    Shoot with the lowest ISO your camera will go to. ISO 100 is usually the best

7. Flash

    Turn it off, because of the distance and the effect you are going for you don't need the flash