How to photograph fireworks!

Fireworks are awesome.

I will tell you how to get great pictures of them. 

The beauty of taking pictures of fireworks is that you don’t have to fumble with settings, just set your camera on what I tell you, and shoot. 

First, you need a tripod. Without a tripod, it will be near impossible to hold your camera perfectly still. A shutter release cable or remote would also help, but is not necessary. Next, put your camera in the “M” mode. This is full manual mode (don’t be scared.) Since there are so many cameras, the next set of instructions will vary depending on the model. If you do not know how to do something, simply do a Google search for “how to change _(ISO, shutter speed, aperture)_ on _(Nikon D3100, Canon Rebel, etc…)_ and just put in your camera model. 

-Set your ISO to the lowest default setting (100 or 200)

-Set your shutter speed on 5 seconds

-Set your ISO on F/8

-Put your camera on manual focus and turn it all the way to infinity (either all the way to the right or left, it should be focused on things reallllly far away)

-Mount your camera on the tripod facing the fireworks.

-Plug in your cable or set your camera to remote mode (if you have one)

If you take a picture before it is dark, it will be super bright. Don’t worry, when it gets dark, you will be fine. When the firework first shoots off, hit your shutter button, your shutter will stay open for 5 seconds, capturing the entire flight and explosion of the fireworks. Experiment with different shutter speeds. If you change it to 30 seconds, you will capture every firework fired off within a 30 second time frame! 

 Try not to move your camera when pressing the shutter button. If you want your picture lighter or darker, change your aperture (smaller number=brighter picture)