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5 Tips for Shooting Fireworks

by Gary Hendricks

Here are 5 great tips on how to shoot excellent shots of fireworks in all their brilliance.

1. Be Night Shot ready If you use a UV or Polarizing filter or any other artistic filters for daytime shooting, remember to remove them for your fireworks photos.

2. Set Up at right angles to the wind The best place to set up is at right angles to the wind. This way, as the bursts trail off they will stream nicely across your frame making them more noticeable in your photos than if they are coming towards you or going away. Also, from this position the smoke will be blown out of your frame quicker, giving you cleaner, crisper shots.

3. Please bring your tripod Bring a tripod along for this occasion. It will give you the ability to experiment with longer exposures and thereby catch multiple bursts on the same frame that actually didn’t happen at the same time. To avoid camera shake, use your 2 second delay timer or a shutter release cable for your long exposures. The following ISO and exposure settings are a good place to start: ISO 100 at f/8 or f/11, ISO film at f/16.

4. Avoid regular city lights in the background Set up your shots so you avoid having regular city lights in the background. A pure black background will lend itself to a pure enjoyment of the spectacle.

5. Take the time to focus Go a step better than using your infinity focus setting and take the time to focus right in on the first few bursts. The show will be long enough for you to miss a few at the beginning and this way you’ll get your shots as clear as possible.