Raymond Photography

Here are a few of my tips the next time you want to shoot fireworks!

1. ISO should be set anywhere from 400 or 3200 depending on how much ambient details you would like to add to your composition. In the shot above I used ISO 3200 because I wanted to include some color in the sky and the detail in the trees. Be prepared to change the ISO on the fly.
2. Lens choice again depends on the amount of ambient detail you’d like to include as well as how close you are to the fireworks. For the shot above I had “front row seats” so I used my wide 28mm lens (a true 28mm) to capture the fireworks in the sky as well as the reflection in the water. If I shot with an even wider lens, I would have captured more of the reflection as I was literally a few feet away from the water.
3. Tripod tripod tripod! Enough to say it’s essential. Ball heads are nice or even a pan head.
4. Your camera should be in Bulb mode so you can alter the amount of time the shutter is open according to the “show”. I find that when I’m shooting fireworks, after the initial set up, I just enjoy the show with my finger on the shutter. I just keep clicking away to time the shots with the fireworks display. That way I can enjoy the show too! BTW, the memory above took 1 second to capture.
5. Aperture should be set anywhere from f/8 to f/11. The memory above was captured at f/9.
6. Look at the back LCD screen every few shots to make sure you’re getting what you want and adjust as necessary.

Hope that helps and keep safe when enjoying fireworks my friends!