Taking great photos of fireworks

Fourth of July is just about here, and I suspect many people will be attempting to take photos of fireworks. If you’ve tried this, I suspect your photos have been pretty ho-hum – mainly because most people don’t know how to take photos of fireworks correctly.

Here are some tips for shooting great photos of fireworks.

The first thing to know is you really shouldn’t use the camera on your phone. You need a camera that will allow you to set the shutter speed and an iPhone camera just doesn’t cut it.

Get a true DSLR and set the shutter speed to the “B” or bulb shutter mode. The bulb mode means that the shutter is open as long as you hold down the shutter and closes when you release it. You want a longer shutter speed to get the entire motion of the fireworks from start to finish.

Because you will be using a longer shutter speed, it is essential that you put your camera on a tripod. Set the camera on the tripod and point it at the sky. You will want a lens with a wide angle so you can see the entire sky. Otherwise you may potentially miss some of the sky that is showing the movement of the firecracker. Set the focus to manual and focus on the sky.

Then, when you hear the initial sound of the firecracker, hit the shutter release. It’s actually best if you use a remote trigger because touching the camera with your finger to open the shutter risks some camera motion, and you need the camera to be totally still to get a good photo.

If possible use a wireless remote trigger to open the shutter, and don’t close the shutter until after the firework has completed its show. If you do it right, the result will be a beautiful and colorful photo showing the entire streak of the firework from start to finish.

This Fourth of July, I encourage you to give it a try.