Fireworks displays are mesmerizing and make for spectacular photographs. I love the variety sizes, styles, and colours.

Have you ever seen the smiley face fireworks? Definitely one of my favourites.

Capturing the brilliant bursts of light in the night sky, however, can be challenging. It’s so different than almost everything else.

To help you take stunning photos of fireworks, here are our top three tips for getting great pictures of fireworks.

1. Use a Tripod

Fireworks displays often occur in low-light conditions, requiring longer exposure times to capture the burst and trails of light effectively. Using a tripod helps stabilize your camera and prevents motion blur, ensuring your images are sharp and clear.

Pro Tip: If you don’t have a tripod, try stabilizing your camera on a steady surface like a wall, bench, or railing. You can also use a beanbag or any soft, moldable surface to help keep your camera steady.

That being said, if you do a lot of photography, it doesn’t hurt to purchase an inexpensive tripod for your specific needs. Your future fireworks photos will thank you!

2. Frame Your Shots

Including foreground elements in your shots can add context and scale to your fireworks photos, making them more interesting and dynamic. Look for buildings, trees, water, or other elements to frame your fireworks and provide a sense of place.

Our pictures of the fireworks from the National Mall in 2019 would not look the same if we cropped the Lincoln Memorial out of them!

Pro Tip: Arrive early to scout out your location and find the best vantage point with an unobstructed view of the sky. This will help you plan your composition and set up your equipment without rushing.

3. Set the Right Exposure

To capture the vibrant colors and intricate details of fireworks, set your camera to manual mode. Use a low ISO (100-200) to reduce noise, an aperture between f/8 and f/16 for a broad depth of field, and a shutter speed between 2 and 10 seconds to capture the full burst of the fireworks. Experiment with different exposure settings to find the perfect balance for your shots.

Pro Tip: Try taking a few test shots before the fireworks show begins. This way, you can adjust your settings based on the available light and get a feel for the correct exposure. Keep an eye on your histogram to ensure your shots are well-exposed without blown-out highlights.

Be prepared to make adjustments as you go, especially if the fireworks begin before the sky is completely dark.

Bonus Tip: Use Bulb Mode

Bulb mode allows you to keep the shutter open for as long as you hold down the shutter button, giving you more control over the exposure duration. This is especially useful for capturing multiple bursts in a single frame or adjusting to the timing of the fireworks display.

Pro Tip: Use a remote shutter release in bulb mode to avoid camera shake and maintain sharpness. Experiment with different exposure lengths to find the perfect timing for capturing the most impressive bursts.

My favourite is to start the exposure as the firecrackers are being detonated and all the way until they fully explode. This allows me to get the trails of the fireworks in addition to the explosion in one single image.

Additional Practical Tips

• Manual Focus: Autofocus can struggle in low light. Switch to manual focus and set your focus to infinity to ensure the fireworks are sharp and clear.
• Image Stacking: If you want a picture with a sky full of fireworks, it might be better to take several pictures of individual fireworks and then combine them into one composite image later (a tripod that doesn’t move during the show is especially helpful for this technique). Some people might think that waiting until the grand finale is the best way to obtain this type of image, but the grand finale usually does not make good images because all of the fireworks at one time blow out the exposure and look like a big mess.

Conclusion

Some people just like to watch the fireworks and enjoy them. But I’m a photographer, and I have to take pictures 🙂 I can look at them and enjoy them later!

If you’re like me, one of the weird ones who has to “work” during fireworks shows while other relax, hopefully you find these tips helpful.

With a little bit of knowledge and a little extra work, you can capture stunning photos of fireworks that dazzle and delight.

Remember to be patient and practice different techniques to find what works best for you and your style.

Do you have any tips that you would add to this list?

Great composition is perhaps the one thing that separates great photographers from average picture-takers.

Composition is essential for creating visually appealing and impactful photographs.

Composition is the reason I set my camera up on a tripod before asking someone else to press the shutter button for our family pictures.

So I want to take a look at three concepts that can drastically improve the pictures you take. These few key principles can transform ordinary scenes into extraordinary images.

1. Use the Rule of Thirds

The rule of thirds is one of the most fundamental principles in photography composition. It involves dividing your frame into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines. The idea is to place your subject along these lines or at their intersections.

Another variation of this rule (and the one that I use the most often), is to place the subject in the left third or the right third of the image rather than directly on one of those dividing lines.

This creates a more balanced and engaging image, as opposed to centering your subject, which often results in a static, less interesting photo.

Pro Tip: Many cameras and smartphones have a grid overlay feature that can be activated in the settings. Turn on this grid to help you visualize and apply the rule of thirds more easily while composing your shots. You should only have to do this for a short while before you naturally use the rule of thirds without thinking about it.

2. Incorporate Leading Lines

Leading lines are lines within a photo that guide the viewer’s eye through the image, often towards the main subject. These lines can be roads, rivers, fences, architectural elements, or anything else. Leading lines not only add depth and perspective to your photos but also help create a sense of direction and flow.

When composing your shot, look for natural or man-made lines that lead toward your subject within the frame. Position yourself and your camera in a way that these lines start from the edges of the frame and lead inward, drawing the viewer’s attention to the subject.

Pro Tip: Practice finding leading lines in everyday settings. Start with obvious ones like roads and paths, and then challenge yourself to find more subtle lines in less apparent places, such as shadows or patterns in nature.

3. Frame Your Subject

Framing involves using elements within the scene to create a “frame” around your main subject. This technique draws attention to your subject and adds context to the scene.

Frames can be found in nature (such as tree branches or archways) or can be man-made (such as doorways or windows). Framing can add depth and layers to your photo, making it more visually compelling.

To utilize framing, position yourself so that the elements in the scene form a natural border around your subject. This not only focuses attention on the subject but also gives the viewer a sense of the environment in which the subject is located.

Pro Tip: Experiment with different types of frames. Try using foreground objects like leaves or architectural features to create a frame within a frame, adding an extra dimension to your photos.

Summary

Here’s my challenge for you. Take one of these three compositional elements and try to incorporate it into your photography for a while. Then try another one.

Once you know how to apply these techniques, you will also know when it is appropriate not to use them. For example, you can break the rule of thirds and place your subject right in the center of your frame if you have leading lines that would draw your attention to the center.

Eventually, these things become natural. In fact, it’s amazing how many times I will take a picture, set my camera down, and then pick my camera up and take the same picture with the exact same framing, depth, etc. It’s because I instinctively apply these concepts to the extent that I know what I want and can do it over and over again without thinking.

Practice these techniques regularly to develop your own compositional skills and take your photography to the next level!

Which of these techniques were you already aware of, and which ones do you need to practice?