July 4th is Independence Day in the United States and celebrated with fireworks. With the addition of my new camera and lenses this year I decided to try some fireworks photos. This was my first time shooting fireworks and it was a blast (Pun intended)!!!
We celebrated in the street with our friends on this special day. In order to capture the firework trails it was important to shoot long exposures. Due to the intense light from up close fireworks, you don’t want the exposure too long. Three to four seconds turned out to be my magic timeframe to capture good shots.
My equipment used for these photos:
Camera settings for the phots below:
- Focal Length = 35mm
- Exposure Time = 3 seconds
- Aperture = f/8
- ISO = 400
- Focal Length = 20mm
- Exposure Time = 4 seconds
- Aperture = f/8
- ISO = 400
Summary
After taking many photos, changing settings and reviewing on the computer now, I learned the best settings for me. When I shot 5 seconds at 400 ISO the fireworks overexposed the photo too much. The best settings for me were between 3-4 seconds, aperture f/8 and ISO 400.
For fireworks that are farther off it would be wise to use a telephoto lens to get a closer view on the fireworks. I feel good about these photos and I learned good settings when I shoot fireworks next time.
Have you shot fireworks before? If so, did you use the settings I used or different? Let me know in the comments below. I hope you found this article useful. Also, be sure to rate this article with the stars below. Thank you!