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A few years ago I found myself at a baseball game with fireworks. I did not plan to take photos of them. But I did. Afterward I wrote an article for the Pioneer Woman about how we sometimes “break the rules” when it comes to photography. Since this upcoming weekend is the 4th of July and Canada Day, there will be lots of firework displays in North America. There are hundreds of articles on photographing fireworks the right way. But for today, we are going to cover what I did, break the rules.
Who decided the rules anyway? If you do a Google search online for “photographing fireworks” you will find a few common tips in every article.
- Use a tripod: You CAN NOT photograph fireworks without one! Period!
- Shoot manual and at a slow shutter speed: Allow for long exposures of many seconds to 30 seconds, even try bulb settings
- Use a quick release trigger for the camera if at all possible
- Shoot at a low ISO 100-200
So rewind back to summer of 2009 – we were at a Detroit Tigers Game. We won a special package through a Silent Auction for a charity included going on the field for batting practice and watching the fireworks show from the visitors’ dugout.
My twins were in awe as this “relatively small” fireworks display started. They wanted me to take pictures of the fireworks. So here I was with no intention of shooting fireworks, completely unprepared to follow any of the basic rules, and aware that I have no tripod or tools to steady the camera. Even if I had planned on it, I do not think I would be allowed a tripod at a Major League Baseball game. So I had two choices. Forget it or break the rules. I chose to break them.
As you will see, these fireworks photos look completely different than if I followed the rules.
* I hand held the camera (no tripod or monopod or even good place to lean)
* Release the shutter with my own fingers
* I tried various speed settings ranging from 1/8 of a second (remember I am hand holding here) to 1/250 too. I experimented with a bunch of speeds in between.
* I was mostly at ISO 800.
The results of breaking the rules:
- The background was pitch black.
- I did not capture long trails and fall off with the light that you normally get with fireworks pictures.
- It made my twins happy.
- The results were artistic and fun.
In conclusion, if you are able to prepare, do so. If you can follow the rules, do so. But if you are not able to or just did not prep yourself and do not have the right gear; do not hesitate to photograph those fireworks anyway. You may just surprise yourself and get some interesting shots despite your rebellion.
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This is how I usually photograph the fireworks. I don’t like the pictures with all the smoke in them and so prefer the quicker speed. Yes, quite a few are not ‘good’ but the ones that I do get are quite fun! This was one of my favorites from last year. ISO 1600, 1/80, f5.6, handheld.
I hate the smoke in the photos too and I think your shot is perfect.
WOW!!! I think this is beautiful! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I don’t have a good tripod, and I really like holding my camera…just get a better feel. I’m no where near professional level but when in Hawaii, you gotta take pictures of the fireworks!! I did and love the results….not all are great but those that are are pretty good!! Thanks for your article…it makes me feel better because I don’t even know all the rule!! lol Attached a pic. Be kind, I’m not a professional just a hobbyist!
Here is one of mine-straight out of my …cell phone! I want a “real” camera, but I love that I can also capture cool stuff I would have missed without carrying one on my pocket 🙂
That’s a VERY cool shot! I’ve never seen one like that. Way to go!!!
Thank you so much for the tips — and ways to break them. This will be my first fireworks with a DSLR, so I am very excited.
I love to watch Fireworks and so try to spend as little time behind a viewfinder and thinking about rules as possible.. especially as we only get them once a year. Also, I generally need my hands free for candyfloss, burgers and warm tea! I hope you get to enjoy some excellent displays on your July Fourth celebrations.Here is a picture that I took on Bonfire night 2010
Nice!
I love all of these photos! hopefully I will have a chance to try my hand at this this weekend. Thanks for the tips!Barbara
Here’s one I got at a baseball game. There’s just something about I love. 🙂
I love photographing fireworks. I have done so for the past three years. Each year, my shots get better (and my husband gets more patient). I also found that I could use ‘overlay’ in PSE to put more than one shot in the picture. Happy 4th to you all?
oooo Rhonda! I have to try that!
Thanks so much for sharing. This is perfect!
Another fun thing to try that is fun is to shoot with a wide open aperture. If you’re going for the ‘fun’ and ‘experimental’ thing.
Here are a couple pictures I was lucky enough to get last weekend. This was my first attempt ever taking pictures of fireworks and these are the only ones that, I think, turned out pretty good. I took these in bulb mode.Looks like I can only upload one at a time, so I’ll post two more. 🙂
Number two
Last one 🙂
These are wonderful!! What settings in bulb mode did you use?
Thank you!! :)I used f/16 to f/18 and ISO 200. No tripod, I positioned myself in my chair and balanced my camera on my leg.
what shutter speed did you use?
Happy 4th of July! Happy Canada Day too! Great advice! My thoughts…when I’m in a crowd I just set my small Lumix point and shoot on a tripod…change scene mode to fireworks and hit the shutter while watching the fireworks. Works great for me every year! Good luck!
Here’s another…straight out of camera!
Here’s one more! Simple and easy!
This was a great post as always. I experiment with shooting fireworks every 4th of July when we have our big party. Here’s what I got last year!
This is so cool! Thank you for sharing. My family and I are going to a soccer game tonight and they will be having a fireworks show. I can’t wait to try this out :)Oh, and I LOVE the results you got!!!
This is one of my favorites from the fireworks show at the soccer game we attended. I can’t wait for tonight’s show to get more. 🙂
And I like this one because it shows the crowd watching the show. The purple sky is pretty too! 🙂
Bravo and Kudos to everyone that posted! The results are great! I will try my hand at capturing fireworks tomorrow night — I can’t wait!
You inspired me to go ahead and try it. I think I got some decent ones for not following any rules. I have seen ‘bulb mode’ show up on my camera but I don’t really understand it yet. I need to go do some research on that. I actually don’t mind the smoke in the shot. It’s what I see in real life and it reminds me of the whole experience.Here’s one of my favorites from last night.
fireworks from last night as we watched on the dam of waurika lake, ok
This was my first time with fireworks in 09, here my favorite. Exposure 0.125 sec (1/8)Aperture f/4.5Focal Length 75 mmISO Speed 400no tripod
I have a blast last night at my in-laws farm. Here is my fav of the night!!
I take it back . . .this one is my fav!
yeahhhhh – this one’s beautiful!
or you can also fake it in photoshop, make a composite of your best shots by layering and using screen or linear dodge to blend them together! :Dhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/laurohunt/5900335193/
F/51/60ssISO800Hand held50mm f1.4 lens
My first real attempt at photographing fireworks. I had tried before with a point and shoot, handheld with less than so-so results. Got lucky on a few. Bought my first DSLR just 11 months ago (have already upgraded since) and have fallen in LOVE.D7000 on tripodTamron 17-50mm 2.8 VC (17mm, VC off)Shutter set to Bulb – 4.1 sec.ISO 100Aperture f16
Happy Independence Day Everyone! God Bless
I took these last year in northern California. And much to my surprise, they came out great. I hand held my Nikon D80 w/55-200 zoom…I did the 800 iso and I can’t remember what the f stop was. I actually won 2 ribbons on this shot. Not bad for an amature.
I had just read the “rules” yesterday then didn’t follow any of them last night.This one is with my 70-200 2.8L ISO 500 f/2.8 1/50 hand held
Multiple exposures ranging from 1/250 to 12 secs. F/16. Breaking the rules is fun!
I took fireworks for the first time this year. I love how they turned out but after reading your blog, I’m going to experiment some tonight. 🙂
I took these at the Detroit/Windsor fireworks this past Monday. It was my first time shooting fireworks in a big city, and I was overjoyed. Mostly hand-held shots.See the rest at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.895014396972.2347791.16106811&l=cdae2a20a1
I have a basic point-and-shoot, now over 3 years old.Apparently, I have always broken the rules.Here is a post from my 2010 Project365Blog:http://debc-debc.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-else-day-after-4th-of-july-but.htmlGlad you are letting others know how easy it is to take fireworks photos.
took these last night in bulb mode
thanks for the advice! It’s always fun to break “the rules” and get creative in our own ways!!
I love the results you got from handholding the camera. I did that last year and got a few decent shots. This one was ISO200, Tamrom 18-270 set at 42mm, 1/5 sec @ f14.
When you’re taking pictures for family fun, sometimes it’s not practical to be so rigid about the rules, concentrating more on the fun. I handhold my camera, break all the rules and get little surprises in the pictures. Plus I use my iPhone too 🙂 Those pictures make us happy and that’s all that matters to me. Plus you can get very creative with the images too, collages especially. Happy 4th of July everyone!!!!
First time I shot fireworks were at disneyworld in Florida at epcot. I found myself a nice location and I used my 70-200 at ISO between 320-800 and shot mostly between 2.8-5.6 and the photos came out very nice. Some of the lower shots had some smoke because there are so many fireworks going off. I was able to sit on a curb with my lens steadied on a raw iron fence. I also did some long exposure but photography is all about creating art and following the rules all the time sometimes doesn’t give you the most creative flow.
My fave
beautiful!
Total amateure here, hope that’s okay.Canon Rebel TSino tripod :(f/1.8ISO 50
D700ISO 200f114 sec
Tried the “Bulb Mode” for the first time last night…didn’t even know I had one! It was alot of fun trying something new!Robin
I love these photos and wish I had a chance to capture shots on the 4th. Sadly it was POURING, not that it stopped us from firing off fireworks. Just from the camera being out there with us.
I had fun breaking all of the rules! Thanks for the push! I even went so far as to move my camera around for a few which made for some fun “light painting” shots. Here’s one where I kept as still as I could.
I take fire works photos every chance I get.. I just stay really still and hold my breath.. lol
Fantastic shots everyone!I am a rule follower here, lol. I cannot hand hold very well! Even with my little point & shoot I used a tripod (only past couple years), and last year I had a remote to use with my camera, which was great! Just aim, set my settings up (i was low iso, other settings I can’t remember), and push the button, lol. Last year ended up with alot of smoke in the shots but it wasn’t windy at all. But here’s one of my faves