How to photograph a fireworks: the complete tutorial

You will catch magnificent fireworks in no time.

Capture the dazzling red of a rocket should not necessarily be extremely complex. Photographing fireworks can be very funny and is one of the easiest things to photograph. While going out with your camera the day before the new year (or any other celebration, by the way), prepare to return home with beautiful photos. You will definitely get there if you keep these some useful suggestions in mind …

1. Choose the right place

Choosing the right place is essential if you want photos of fireworks that make a feeling. An urban horizon line, a natural element of the landscape or a ruin illuminated by the water can help give a set and scale impression, while providing a useful structure.

If you take photos in an urban or enlightened environment, light pollution will give a hot yellow shine to everything that is exposed. To get rid of this problem, adjust the white balance on the tungsten (sometimes called incandescent) in the camera to make sure that the warm colors of your image come from the fireworks rather than the fireworks. However, if captured in raw format, you can still correct the white balance in Adobe Raw Chamber.

2. The essential material

A tripod is a must to be ready to keep the camera against something stable, but there is also another useful kit to help you take «the photo.

A remote trigger is essential for fireworks because it allows you to start every shot without you being forced to hurry up. It also allows you to block the shutter for as long as you want.

If you want to include a series of explosions, keep the shutter open during the series and place a piece of black cardboard in front of your goal between the gusts to prevent the extinction of what is happening in the background.

Even if the camera settings are displayed on the rear LCD screen, it can be difficult to identify pimples and keys in the dark. For night work, it is therefore advantageous to invest in an LED torch lamp, such as Petzl Tikka.

Finally, unless you arrive at a fireworks in advance, it is difficult to avoid the crowd. Until your tripod extends quite high, a way to get around this is taking a stool or steladder to provide an additional height.

3. Know the fireworks

The best fireworks are those that produce an explosion of clean stars, so keep an eye on (and an ear) attentive to the rockets when they go up and start exposure near the top of their trajectory. Try not to include too many fireworks in the same plane, because the result could quickly appear too disordered.

4. Use manual mode

Taking a photo of the fireworks can be similar to the lottery, but a way to improve your possibilities is to keep your settings consistent.

A tested and approved method consists in the selection of manual mode, therefore in the regulation of an ISO of 200 (for relatively exempt grains shots) and an opening of about f/11 (when it comes to sharpness, the weak point of most of the objectives is between f/8 EF/13). You just have to think about the shutter speed («shutter speed»). It is worth taking tests with different speeds, but almost all of 1 and 4 seconds should make makeup; This will ensure that the sky remains beautiful and dark and that the fireworks are not overexposed.

5. Manual adjustment

One of the keys to the success of the photos of fireworks is the development of fireworks. To make sure that your goal does not start to focus when shooting, focus on something bright and located on the ground at the same distance of the place where the fireworks are located, then put the goal over manual to block it in place.

6. The choice of the objective

One of the major challenges when photographing the fireworks is to be able to frame them all, because as long as the show is not launched, it is often impossible to determine the height of the fireworks and determine if they will be straight.

It is therefore advisable to use a large corner zoom lens set at maximum focal distance, then cut out if necessary, during the display or when the photos are developed.

7. Take advantage of post-elaboration

Post-elaboration of the photos of fireworks is one of the simplest aspects of creating a dramatic and vibrant composition.

You could just need Make the sky darker By improving the contrast or making the display more vivid by increasing saturation.

Do you want to create the appearance of the grand finale without all the smoke and the blur? Combine several shots in one. Choose some surprising images, clone the slightest imperfection, then cut them and combine them on different levels to be able to move them.

You can put them on each other and reveal them as if they had been taken simultaneously using a mixture mode. In short, put one layer on the other so that the explosions join. You can enlarge or reduce some to create an additional appeal.

Do you have a nice photo of the full moon? Then add to this composite. If you catch fireworks on July 14th, try to replace the black background with a French flag.