How to take Fireworks Pictures

For those of you Canadians out there, this post is coming a little late, but to you Americans out there, it is just in time for the 4th of July Fireworks.

Fireworks are one of those tricky things to capture, especially if you're using a DSLR. However, it's quite a simple process once you got the hang of it.

If you're using a point and shoot, they often have a fireworks setting. If your camera has that, then use it.  The general firework setting will leave your camera's shutter open for a second or longer to capture the complete light trails from the fireworks. Since the shutter is open for such a long time (the average photo is 1/50th of a second or faster) you'll only get one shot per explosion. It's important to click the shutter at the right time to get the image You'll want to click it just as you see the firework head upwards. You'll be too late if you wait until you see the actual explosion part.

Too late

Now, if you're using a DSLR or a camera that doesn't have a firework setting, but lets you manipulate shutter-speed/aperture/ISO (some of the higher end point and shoots will), you'll have to create your own firework setting.

Here's the setting I used when I last took firework pictures:
Shutter-speed: 3.2 (aprox. three seconds)
Aperture: f/20 (no blur, mostly everything is in focus)
ISO: 200 (no grain/noise in the photo, less sensitive to light)

That setting produced these pictures:

Of course you'll have to alter the setting to fit the scene of where you're shooting, but that's a good place to start at. Keep manipulating your shutter-speed to get the look that you want. This was my progression of settings:

1/100 second

I kept my aperture at 20 and ISO at 200 for the whole time and just changed my shutter-speed. The first shot was taken at 1/100th of a second. I only captured a little bit of light. This was way too fast to get that firework look. 

1/13 second

Then I went way down to 1/13th of a second and that was a little bit better. You were starting to see some light trails. However, I wanted more drama to the shots. How slow your shutter-speed is up to you and how you want your shots to look.

1/4 second

This was more what I was thinking. If you want a simpler firework picture, then keep your shutter-speed around 1/4 of a second. This is also the threshold for getting fairly straight light lines without a tripod. It doesn't really matter if your hand shakes for these types of pictures, but if you'd like your firework pictures to look like they did in real life (without the squiggly streaks) then don't go higher than this. 

0.4 (4/10) seconds

More drama, but you can see the hand shake. I decided to take it up a few more levels to see how if I could get a fuller look.

2 seconds

There really isn't much difference between 2 seconds and the 3.2 seconds photos shown above, so this is where I decided to stay. This exposure will give you the fullest looking shots. 

There is also another way that I've taken firework pictures in the past. This isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's a fun experiment with abstract images. Behold the bokeh fireworks:

This is an easy look to achieve with both point and shoot and DSLR.

If you're using a point and shoot make sure you're off the fireworks mode and onto a faster shutter-speed mode like action or sports. Press your shutter button halfway down and let it focus on something really close, like you hand. While keeping the shutter button halfway down point the camera in the direction of the fireworks and press down completely. It should give you a similar look.

If you're using a DSLR then you'll need to make your aperture as low as it will go and shutter-speed a lot faster then it was for the other firework photos. Keep your ISO at 100 or 200. I took those pictures above with 1/30 of a second and f/1.8 aperture. 

A few helpful tips to send you on your way:

-look for other lights, through the view finder or LCD screen, that won't move (e.g. street lights) close to where the fireworks are being set off so you don't end up pointing your camera in the wrong direction. It can be hard to tell when it's so dark. Look for a set up like this:

Two street lights at the bottom

 You don't want a photo like this because you couldn't see anything through the viewfinder:

-Crop your images. It's better to use a wider focal length and then have to crop the picture, then a longer focal length and cut of part of the firework. The four images I showed at the very beginning have all been cropped to make a stronger image. Remember those street lights we were just talking about? Crop distractions like those out. They've done their job. You can simply use MS Paint to crop the picture or you can download free editing software like Google Picasa. 

Have you taken successful/unsuccessful firework pictures? Do you have a great technique for fireworks pictures? Let me know in the comments.