How To: Photograph Fireworks

I probably should have written this post before the 4th of July, but I didn't think about it until as I was photographing the fireworks here in Whitewater.

As I was watching the fireworks with Devan, there was another person with a dSLR behind me. After the woman voiced her frustrations with her new dSLR and her inability to capture the explosions, her mother, I'm assuming, tried helping by telling her daughter when to press the shutter button. As the firework went up into the sky, I would hear "now" followed by the shutter flapping, only to hear more frustration voiced by the woman with the camera.

The technique the woman was using is the exact opposite of what you should do.

For someone who doesn't know much about photography, it would probably seem obvious that photographing fireworks is all about timing. After all, the best part only last for a few seconds, and it can be difficult to predict where and when the firework will go off. However, photographing fireworks is actually one of the easiest things to do, if you have the right equipment.

The first, and most important piece of advice I can give, is to, under no circumstances, use any type of flash. Your camera is going to assume the flash needs to be fired, because everything around it is pitch black. The problem with this is that the flash is only effective to a few yards, if that. Another problem that might happen, is your camera might underexpose, due to the camera thinking the flash will be compensating for the lack of light.

So how do I photograph fireworks?

Generally, I've found that using an f-stop of 22, an ISO of 100, and a shutter speed of 30 seconds works most of the time. Using an f-stop like f/22 lets me get the shutter speed slow enough that it stays open for 30 seconds, capturing any firework that goes off during that time. This not only exposes the fireworks well, but makes it possible to capture multiple explosions in a single frame. This technique also makes it possible for the photographer to press the shutter button, and then watch the fireworks until the shutter closes again. Then, the photographer simply releases the shutter again, and watches the fireworks for another 30 seconds. I don't know about you, but this sounds much easier than trying to time your shots perfectly, and this technique also produces more interesting images.

It is important to note that a tripod is a necessity for this technique. Before, when I was too poor to afford a quality tripod, I would try to set my camera up on sturdy objects. This would work sometimes, but with fireworks, you generally have to aim up towards the sky. Also, having a tripod makes it that much easier to compose before hand, and a sturdy tripod promises less camera shake and blurry photos than a rock would.

This technique also stresses why manual modes trump auto modes. The majority of the time, cameras can only make guesses as to what the user wants. With a general understanding of photography, the results will almost always be better if the photographer is adjusting the settings.