A Fireworks Primer – How to photograph the fireworks on the 4th!

So how are all of those amazing fireworks images captured?

Well here is the skinny…..

I’m heading out for a nice long weekend on the coast so Ill make this brief:

• Use a tripod
• Dig out that cable release
• Look for an interesting forground to bring a little framing and scale to the wide angle shots
• IOS at 100 ish
• F 11 ish
• Focus at infinity (or just shy of it)
• Expose (the shutter silly!) for about 6 to 10 seconds just as the shells head into the sky
• Try to get a few images before the smoke builds up
• Play, experiment, and above all else….have fun!

This shot below was one I posted before from a local show. The following video is one I posted a while ago where I chat a bit more about the process. The audio is not exactly epic and I kind of ramble a bit too much about the process (I tend to do that) but it seems to have been watched quite a bit on my youtube channel (so have cat videos….so…well….)

Anyhow, have a safe and awesome weekend!

Feel free to share your shots here in the comments by the way! I would love to see them 🙂

Here is a quick link to a previous blog post I made about capturing these explosions in the sky!

And just in case none of this made sense, here are a few tips from Joe McNally