Photographing Fireworks: Lights, Motion, Science, and Art
In just a couple days, across the United States folks will turn out for huge public fireworks displays. My hometown of Vancouver, Washington boasts the largest fireworks display west of the Mississippi. Fireworks can make interesting photography subjects, and it is possible to take some great fireworks photos without too much difficulty if you spend a few minutes thinking about the elements involved.
First, you’ll need stability. Because you’ll be taking photos at night, using slow shutter speeds, the camera will need to be absolutely motionless. The only way to get the needed stability is a tripod or other fixed camera mount. Another piece of equipment which can contribute to the stability is a remote shutter release cable, so that the pressure of a finger on the shutter button won’t cause unwanted movement.
The key technical aspect to good fireworks photos is shutter speed. You’ll be using relatively slow shutter speeds in order to let in the light from the fireworks, and potentially to capture the motion of the fireworks as the lights move in the sky. Put your camera in shutter priority mode (often indicated as Tv) and choose a slow shutter speed to capture the light and motion. How long is the “right” length for the shutter? There is no single right answer. The photo shown here was captured with a 30 second exposure. Many fireworks photos are taken with shutter speeds in the 5-15 second range. The best thing to do is experiment. With a digital camera you can use the preview feature and histogram to check out your results and make adjustments in the field.
Use a low ISO to minimize noise and grain in the sky of your photos. Either use a low ISO film, or if you have a digital camera, set it to the lowest ISO possible.
Don’t forget about photography basics when you’re shooting fireworks. You’ll still want to think about composition. Choose a viewing location free of obstacles. Make sure the folks in front of you aren’t going to put up a big umbrella at the last minute. Sometimes you can use a landmark to provide some context for the fireworks. Make sure you have plenty of memory cards or film. It’s amazing how many photos you can snap in a fireworks display, and you don’t want to miss the grand finale because you ran out of storage.
Overall, have fun. Experiment with different shutter speeds and see the results. In the end, you should end up with some colorful photos of an American tradition.
*photo by bobtravis on Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license
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One other point about fireworks — the key items for exposure, since the fireworks themselves are self-limiting in time, is ISO + aperture. The shutter time then needs to be long enough to capture the display in total, but short enough (given ISO and aperture) to not over-expose the sky.
One other thing I always try to do is stay upwind from the fireworks. Otherwise you end up shooting through a cloud of smoke after the first few shells have gone off.