Photographing Fireworks

On today's Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter a subscriber asked this question: "OK, I know it is a bit of a cliche, and there are many articles on the subject, but since the Fourth of July is approaching I thought I would ask if you have any tips about photographing fireworks."
Here is Tim Grey's response:

A fair question! In my mind photographing fireworks is sort of like photographing a sunset. As photographers we tend to enjoy the show, and that often means we want to photograph the show, but it is easy to forget that you can't just photograph the main attraction.

So, my top tip for photographing fireworks is essentially the same as my tip for photographing a sunset: Try to incorporate something other than the fireworks (or sunset, or aurora borealis, or a variety of other subjects) in the frame. Generally speaking that will mean a silhouetted shape in the foreground of the frame, but it could be a variety of things. Fireworks are pretty cool, and fun to watch and photograph. But to me the photos are much more interesting if there is a scene that happens to include fireworks (in a manner of speaking) rather than just being a photograph of fireworks.

That foreground subject could be a city skyline, a person (perhaps holding a "sparkler" if those are allowed in your area), or just about anything else that can be interesting in a silhouette, and that perhaps might provide context for the fireworks themselves. It's also worth noting that the foreground subject I'm referring to doesn't necessarily mean just a single subject in silhouette. For example, if you have a body of water between you and the fireworks then the composition might be as easy as using a wider lens than you think is necessary.

Otherwise I think the basics are pretty straightforward. Use a tripod, ideally use a cable release, and then set the aperture to f/8 or perhaps a little more stopped down, and use a Bulb exposure to capture a few bursts. Then repeat as many times as you can and review later to find the best!

If you search for Fireworks on Flickr.com you will get access to more than 2.3 million images. On the first couple of pages I saw a dozens of wonderful photos. Unfortunately these could not be copied to this blog entry (at least not by me). I suggest that you go to the Flickr site and take a gander.

From Kurt Peterson

Byron