I have been taking fireworks photos for the past 8 years and I have learned a lot over the past 8 years. If you have never capture fireworks before, you first need to know that fireworks photography is trial and error. The first time I captured fireworks It took me a couple of times to get a decent fireworks photo. To this day there is still not a clear way to take photos because different fireworks need different settings.
Tip 1. Finding a good vantage point to create a good compositions for your Fireworks Photography
Creating a good composition is always important in any type of photography and it is as important for fireworks. The first thing you should do before choosing any vantage point is to check the weather. fireworks realise a lot of smoke so if the smoke is rolling your way it will abstract your view and ruin your photos. You should know beforehand where the fireworks will be fired from and scope out a place. Find any landmarks such as churches, historical, buildings, bridges etc and incorporate that into your photo. In some other cases, you might want to use a telephoto lens to get a different perspective of the fireworks.
Tip 2. Choosing the right equipment for your Fireworks Photography
Having the right equipment for the job is very important, this doesn’t mean that you meant that you need the best camera the best lenses etc. When I go out to capture fireworks photos I take with me:
- Camera – Canon 60D is a pretty old camera but combined with the correct settings it always gets the job done.
- Lenses – in my case I use a Wideangle lens Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6, a Telephoto lens Canon 70–200mm f4. The lenses are used depending on the location, If I’m relatively close to the fireworks I use the wide St Sebastian feast Qormi angle if I’m relatively away I use the Telephoto lens Nadur Fireworks.
- Remote Trigger – There are a lot of types of triggers out there some very simple ones and others with a lot of settings. I like to use just a simple one that connects directly to the camera and has a button. I just press the button and hold it to keep the shutter open.
- Tripod – Just like the trigger there are a lot of tripods out there. For fireworks photography, there is no need for any fancy tripod as long as it’s sturdy you will be just fine.
Tip 3. Setting up your camera for Fireworks Photography
When taking fireworks photography, I like to set my camera to Buble Setting “B” on my Canon 60D. This will allow you to set the aperture but not the shutter speed, this will be handled manually through the above-mentioned remote trigger. I like to start up the aperture at F10 and then play with it from F10 to F14 depending on the type of fireworks being shot.
I always prefer to keep my ISO at 100 to try and keep the image quality as high as possible. Since the camera is on a tripod and there is the possibility to play around with the aperture and the shutter speed and keep the lighting correct.
The last thing I do is I set the focus to manual and most of the time I put it on infinity and play around when the fireworks start accordingly. Also if the lens has stabilisation this should be turned off and this is a standard when using a camera on a tripod.
Tip 4. Switch off your flash when taking Fireworks Photography
It might not make sense at first because fireworks are most of the time displayed in the dark. Using the flash, an on-camera flash (or even an off-camera flash) will only illuminate a couple of meters in front of your camera and will not affect the fireworks at all. Using the flash will only drain your battery life faster and if your camera uses a flash metering system it will make your photos darker
Tip 5. It takes a bit of practice to time your shots
Like everything else in life practice makes perfect and so is the case with fireworks photography. To get the timing correct you need a lot of practice. you need to get familiar with the type of fireworks you are shouting. When does the firework open? When do I open the shutter? How bright are the colours? When do I close the shutter?. With time and practice, you will learn how to control your camera and time your shots perfectly.
Personal Note:
From my experience fireworks, photography needs practice. The first time I went out to capture fireworks I took over 50 shots and only a couple of them were useable. Over the years I kept improving my photography by adding new lenses new equipment and even improving my knowledge about fireworks. Learning how to time and what aperture I need to set my camera for the type of fireworks I’m going to shoot.
Recently I also started taking ground fireworks, a type of fireworks which is mostly found in Malta. Ground fireworks are a totally different spectrum, the settings are very different and even the timing is different. As I said before practice makes perfect and at first you might fail but you try and try again until you succeed.
All in all fireworks photography is amazing and is something I truly recommend trying.