Tips for Photographing Fireworks
If you are planning to take some shots of fireworks happening this weekend for the 4th of July celebration, read on and there maybe these tips I’m about to share might be helpful if you are a DSLR owner. Well even if you don’t own a DSLR, these might still be applicable. To really get some nice detailed images of fireworks like the images below, here are a few key things to consider, at least from my own experience. Let’s get on to it!
Stability – Consider bringing a tripod or monopod to really get that steady shot. Because we try to have control over your image instead of the camera thinking for you, your exposure will not be snapshots. We generally have to aim to get a bit longer exposure time than usual so getting the camera steady is key. Plus, you can get to relax instead of having the camera and lens to your neck hanging the whole time. A remote release trigger will come in handy as well to set off the camera while avoiding the shake that could come from just pressing the button.
Vantage point – The shot gets more interesting if you can include a nice skyline to the overall image. So you may have to scout for some cool spots to achieve a nicely framed image. And get there early to secure your spot. 🙂 Don’t forget to bring snacks.
Long exposure – To capture the fireworks trails nicely, you have to at least let the camera sensor see the duration of the fireworks setting off. So your exposure must at least be, I’ll say half a second to a few so you might want to shoot at manual settings or bulb mode. No need to use flash. You might need to pre-focus on something that is way off the distance and turn off the autofocus on your lens (usually most DSLR lenses have that switch on to the side.) We are getting a bit technical here. But don’t worry, just with the first two tips I’m pretty sure you can pull off some nice shots already.
Lens selection – This part is a bit more technical, so you can skip this if you only have a kit lens or such. But if you can, bring a wide angle lens with you so you can get more of the sky and your background if you choose to include that element in to the frame. Also have your aperture at a high around F8 to F11, so you can have a nice depth of field. Shoot in RAW so you can tweak your white balance later. Again that’s more of a technical aspect that you shouldn’t worry too much if you’re just starting off.
There you go. Down and dirty tips. But wait, now that I am photographing weddings, how can these be applicable? Well These tips came in handy for me at a wedding which you will see soon enough! Stay tuned!