Taking Firework Pictures

Photographing fireworks can be a very frustrating venture, but here are some tips to make the experience a little better.  The first thing is you need to have a tripod, set it up in a location where it will not be bumped during your session.  I also use a remote shutter release so that I do not shake the camera during shooting.  After you see where the fireworks will be located, take a minute and set up your camera and frame your shot.  Setting up the camera:  use manual mode; set your aperture at f8 or higher, then set your shutter speed to 2-5 seconds (depending on the effect your looking for);  also set your ISO as low as you can, this will reduce Noise in your picture.  If your camera has Noise Reduction (most do), enable that as well.  Take a few test shots, play around with the shutter speed to see the light effects you want.  Keep in mind that freshly charged batteries are important, shooting long exposures will drain your camera quickly.

 

 

 

During this photo shoot I also set up my Contour HD video camera, I got some interesting shots that I was able to put into a video for the production crew that put on the firework show, Roadkill Productions. Follow link below to view video.

 

Beaver Lake Blast Video