How to Photograph Fireworks {Simple and Sweet}

Don't let photographing fireworks baffle you...fireworks really are simple to capture. The key to remember is your shutter speed. This is the time when you need to exercise patience and use shutter speeds of several seconds or longer in order to achieve the image you want.

There are a few tools that will make photographing fireworks very easy: a tripod, a cable or remote shutter release, and knowledge of how to change a few settings on your camera. Note that you can take photographs of fireworks without these tools, as there are workarounds for everything, but these tools will make the experience simpler.

Quick rundown of what is explained in detail below:

• choose a location
• use a tripod
• compose the shot
• f/11
• set focus to infinity and switch to manual focus
• ISO-100
• BULB
• open shutter when you hear the fireworks set off
• close shutter when you see the fireworks are fading

Now, here is further explanation:

Location
After you have decided on a location to photograph the fireworks from and have arrived early, it is time to set up your gear. Set your tripod up, giving you enough room that others will not bump it. You will want your camera perfectly still for several seconds to keep your images sharp.

Tripod
After attaching your camera to the tripod, you will want to compose your shots. If you don't know where the fireworks will explode, you will have to do this step as soon as the first few bursts go off.

Compose the shot
Note that when you compose your shot, you may want to include more than just the fireworks in the frame to give a more interesting composition. Look for trees, buildings, reflections, or even the crowd around you to include in the frame.

Aperture
Now it is time for the camera settings. Go to manual. That's right, out of auto and into manual. We will keep it simple, so don't worry. First set your aperture to f/11. This will give you a nice depth of field.

Focus
But, you want to use manual focus, otherwise your camera may take too much time intrying to autofocus for each shot. Those precious milliseconds might mean a lost shot. So focus on the first burst or on the horizon. Then, change the focus to manual. You can also manually focus to infinity.

ISO
Next, set your ISO to 100. You want your images to be free of any grain.

Shutter speed
The shutter speed is next. Fireworks are bright and will literally draw themselves into the image. So, we will need to be able to control how long we want the shutter speed to be. Turn the shutter speed slow...slower...past 2 seconds...past 10 seconds...past 30 seconds...all the way to BULB.

The BULB setting means that the shutter opens when you press the shutter button and closes when you release it...and this is where your remote shutter release comes in handy. Using the remote shutter release means you can keep your hands off the camera, reducing the risk of slight movement if you press the shutter release button on the camera.

Open the shutter
Yep, now it's time to press the remote shutter release button. To get the first trails of the fireworks, open the shutter as soon as you hear the first take off of the shells. Keep the shutter open as the shell bursts and the fireworks sparkle in the night.

Close the shutter
Once the burst has fizzled out, close your shutter. This is usually 2 to 5 seconds. That's it!

I would love to see your results. Post a comment below with a link to your fireworks shots and let me know how it went!

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Shooting the Full Moon

ISO 200, f5.6, 1/640

There is something elusive and mysterious about night photography, most especially the moon.

But the challenges during the dark are no more challenging than situations you come across during the daylight hours. The answer is always the same: balance the exposure with your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

This particular full moon I captured at moonset on Easter morning, which coincided with the sunrise. My ISO was 200, to keep a high quality image. I wanted to be able to take the photo without my tripod, so I brought my aperture down to f5.6, which let more light in so I could have a fast shutter speed of 1/640s.

Note that to get this same exposure, I could also move my aperture to a higher f-stop while slowing my shutter speed. There are many, many ways to get a correct exposure, as the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed work together.

I am sure you have noticed how bright a full moon is. The moon reflects the sun, and at the full moon stage, we see more of the surface reflecting the sunlight. Why does this affect your photo? Well, the above picture was not taken in the dark, even though it looks like it. The sky was not able to be properly exposed at the same time as the proper exposure for the full moon.

The photo below was taken just moments after the photo of the above moon. You can see it was not night, but just about sunrise, with a beautiful deep morning blue hour.

ISO 200, f5.6, 1/640

So, how do you get a properly exposed moon and landscape? You must take the photo before the sun sets.

If you look at the sun/moon tables, you will notice that the full moon doesn't rise until well after the sun sets. Yikes! What do you do? Simple: you take your full moon photo the night before the full moon.

And you know what? Unless you are using a super zoom, you will not notice the small percentage of difference in the size of the moon from the night before to the actual full moon. For example, this weekend's full moon is Saturday night and rises well over an hour after the sun sets. But on Friday night, the moon will be close to full - at 93% - and rise over an hour before the sun sets, giving us plenty of time to capture a properly exposed moon and landscape.

Grab your camera, read your manual so you know how to change your settings, and bring your tripod along to try some longer shutter speeds if you want. The best way to demystify night photography is to practice and play.

A starting point:

photo of Nikon D3100 courtesy of www.ephotozine.com

Set your camera mode to "shutter priority" - this is the S on a Nikon or the Tv on a Canon. By shooting in shutter priority mode, you let the camera figure out the best aperture and ISO for the correct exposure. Warning, though...don't start here if the sun has set and the sky is darkened. Your camera may not adjust the exposure for the brightness of the moon, but instead adjust for the surrounding area.


Now set your shutter speed by turning the dial at your thumb. This is the dial at the back of your camera that disappears into the camera. Begin with 1/100s. You may have to shoot faster, so move the command dial to bring up your shutter speed. Note that if you go lower than 1/60s, you will need a tripod to keep your image focused.

After playing with the shutter speed, move your mode dial to "manual mode" - the M on your mode dial. Don't freak out! You already know that you want a fast shutter speed since the full moon is very bright, reflecting the sun.

You will now want to make sure you have an ISO of 100 or 200 to keep a high quality image. Note that the higher your ISO is, the more likely that you will have noise, or grain, in your image. How high of an ISO you can use without getting a grainy image will depend on your camera.

Next, set your aperture to f8 as a starting point. Now your settings should look like this: ISO 100, f8, 1/100s. Take a few clicks to see how your image is.

Are the shots underexposed (too dark)? Let more light in by first lowering your aperture and take a few more. A lower aperture, or f-stop, opens the sensor, letting more light in.

Maybe the first shots were overexposed (too bright)? Try letting less light in by bumping up your shutter speed or raising your f-stop.

Like anything else, the more you practice and play, the more you learn. And with a full moon, you get that chance every month.

Here is an image I captured just last night. The moon is properly exposed,
as well as the surrounding landscape because the sun had not yet set.