10 Ways to Take Better Photos of Fireworks

The Perfect Firework Photo Checklist

Do you want to take bet­ter pho­tos of fire­works? Make sure you cap­ture the best fire­works shot every time? Click here to get your copy of the check­list I use to take the per­fect fire­work pho­to every time!

How to Take Better Photos of Fireworks…

July 4th is not too far off!! The night Amer­i­ca will light up the sky with fire­works, and if you’re like every­one else, you will be try­ing to cap­ture those fan­tas­tic July 4th mem­o­ries. I’ve put togeth­er some easy tips to help you cap­ture those some­times chal­leng­ing fire­work pho­tos. Do you want to make sure that you nev­er miss out on those fire­work pho­tos? It does­n’t mat­ter whether it’s July 4th, the Fes­ti­val of Lights, New Years, Guy Fawke’s Night, or Bastille Day, use the tips below and watch how much bet­ter your fire­work pho­tos turn out!

1. Use a tri­pod-this will help your cam­era remain steady. You are using longer shut­ter speeds when tak­ing pho­tos of fire­works, so steady is critical.

2. Use a remote shut­ter release. Keep­ing your hands off of the cam­era will guar­an­tee cam­era shake.

3. Think ahead and frame your shot in your mind. Antic­i­pate your shot before it hap­pens to guar­an­tee the best result. 

4. Shoot in man­u­al mode-You can find out more about shoot­ing in man­u­al mode here!

5. Do not use your flash. Shoot­ing with your cam­era flash will have zero impact on your pho­to and will only con­fuse your camera.

5. Use a low ISO-avoid grainy pho­to by using a low­er ISO. 100 is excellent.

6. Start with a mid-range aper­ture. F8-F16 is an excel­lent range, and F11 is a great start­ing point, and adjust from there.

7. And for shut­ter speed, this is why you use a tri­pod. Start at 2–5 sec­onds. Of course, you can adjust if need­ed, but this is a good start­ing point.

8. Remem­ber that you will need to adjust your set­tings as the night gets darker.

9. Tell the whole sto­ry. Tell the sto­ry of what’s hap­pen­ing around you—people watch­ing the fire­works, your fam­i­ly and friends, and the environment. 

10. And last­ly, shoot mul­ti­ple shots. Remem­ber to shoot more than you think you need. The more pho­tos you shoot, the bet­ter your chance of get­ting the pic­ture that you want. 

Use these tips and instant­ly take bet­ter pho­tos of fireworks! 

Have fun, stay safe, hap­py snap­ping, and Hap­py 4th of July!

And remember…if you want to make sure you cap­ture the best fire­works shot every time? Click here to get your copy of the check­list to help you take the per­fect fire­work pho­to every time!