Seasonal & Holidays

12 Tips for Great Fireworks Pics

For almost as long as fireworks have been around, photographers have been taking bad photos of them. Here are some tips to make them better.

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Wendy Ann Mitchell, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
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By Rick Uldricks (Patch Staff)

People love fireworks, but fireworks can be a tricky subject to photograph — you’re shooting in the dark, your subject keeps moving and disappearing, and it’s hard to get a good location.

To take better photos, find a scheduled display and get there early to find a good location. Pay attention to the background, look for for things that will enhance your photos and avoid obstacles such as trees or light posts that might interfere with your photos.

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Patch asked photographer Alex Belisle for some tips on equipment and technique to get the best fireworks photos possible. Here's what he suggests:

  1. Use a tripod
  2. Turn off your flash
  3. Use a cable release or wireless remote to trigger the shutter if you have one.
  4. Turn on Long Exposure Noise Reduction.
  5. Shoot the highest-quality file you can. NEF (also known as RAW on some cameras) is ideal.
  6. Set the camera to a low ISO, such as 200.
  7. A good starting point for aperture is f/11.
  8. Instead of choosing a shutter speed, set the camera to Bulb (B), which allows you to keep the shutter open as long as you want. Expose for the entire fireworks burst. You can even keep the shutter open for multiple bursts.
  9. Turn off the autofocus, otherwise it might have difficulty locking onto focus. Manually focus your lens at infinity. (Belisle's preferred lenses for his DSLR are 24 - 70mm, f/2.8 and 70 - 200mm, f/2.8)
  10. Then there's the really simple way — shoot video (now you get sound, and video can be easily shared on social media)
  11. Some of the point and shoots have a separate "Fireworks" mode where the camera will figure it out for you.
  12. iPhones have a burst mode, and they shoot also great video.

Check out these opportunities to shoot fireworks:

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Alex Belisle is originally from New York and is now retired in Ohio. Belisle was a HS English teacher for 36 years then a professional photographer for 4 years with the NYCNG (New York Community Newspaper Group - part of Newscorp) WSJournal, NYPost, Bronx Times.

[Image Credit: Alex Belisle,@abelisle]

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