Fireworks Photography Step #1...

Choosing your
Set-Up Location

The fireworks show is about to begin...

The first thing you feel like doing is rushing right out and stake your claim to enough space on the grass for your entire family and half your neighborhood. ROOKIE MISTAKE!

You must resist this temptation! Not more than 20 people in the entire mass of fireworks viewers knows what you're about to know.

The real first thing you need to do is to focus on "Choosing your Set-Up Location."

If you aren't sure what to take, check out "Tip #1" in Tips For Everywhere. And for this trip, pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaassssssssseeeee take the tripod! And, because of the long exposures you'll be doing under night time conditions, there are 5 additional pieces of critical equipment to have (most of which, along with tripods, can inexpensively be found at on-line merchants):

1. An external shutter release (a.k.a. a "cable release")

2. A piece of cardboard that is black on one side. It should be large enough to easily cover your lens

3. A tiny flashlight so you won't be fumbling around in the dark trying to move camera controls

4. Make sure you have more than the usual amount of extra batteries

5. A pair of binoculars

Remember, the best fireworks are generally at the end of the show, so if you run out of batteries too early, the loud explosions you'll be hearing will most likely be from hitting yourself on the head with your own tripod.

Check your owner's manual and see what it says about the following:

• Nighttime Mode

• Low-Light Settings or Mode

• Maximum Exposure Length

• Bulb Setting

More than likely you'll be able to produce long exposures. That's the good news.

The bad news is... what if your manual has nothing about these four topics, and an examination of your camera doesn't reveal anything hopeful either?

At this point, we go to the photographic equivalent of our "backup chute." For all you non-sky divers, that means your main chute has failed to open, and the only thing you can do is try your backup. So, what do you do with your camera?

You already have the camera aimed in the proper direction with the focus set on infinity (covered later on this page). The sky is pretty dark. You see a rocket streaking up, and before it explodes, you cross your fingers and press the shutter button.

Your camera will be trying to figure out the correct shutter speed (time for exposure) for the F-stop you're using, and whatever F-stop happens to be set, there won't be enough light to take the picture. Therefore... the aperture will remain open.

When the fireworks explodes, your camera will sense the light and close the shutter according to it's electronic brain. In effect, you have outsmarted your camera's brain and caused a longer exposure than the camera was designed for.

However, before you start giving strangers "high fives," check the LCD screen on the back to see if you really got the shot! Did you get it? Find out how to capture all types of outstanding night time pictures, not just fireworks.

MAJOR ROOKIE MISTAKE. But, how many ways did I mess up? Oh, let me count the ways...

1. I fell victim to the "herd mentality" of going where everyone else was, naively assuming this was the best location.

2. It never occurred to me that gazing up at a 60 - 90 degree angle was not the "optimum" viewpoint for fireworks.

3. The ground, which fluctuated in height by 1-3 inches with every step, was the exact opposite of a nice level platform.

4. If I had a dollar for every time a "neighbor" walked in front of my camera in the midst of a long exposure, I would have at least... oh, 8 or 10 dollars.

5. Trees that were not in the way, suddenly became silhouettes as the location of the launching area turned out to be different than expected.

6. The glow of nearby streetlights became very competitive with the fireworks display.

7. Landmarks that would look excellent if combined in the same photograph with the fireworks, were just too far away. And it would take way too long to move them "just a bit to the left."

8. The beautiful pond located just 100 yards from our "base camp" would have looked so good with the fireworks reflecting off the water. But, unless I could change the laws of physics in the next 5 minutes, it was not going to happen!

So, how does one find the best vantage point? You spend 15 - 30 minutes before the fireworks show begins (the time could be spent the day before or the day of) scoping out the following things:

• Locations that would provide unique perspectives of the show. Drop the notion that the best place to photograph fireworks is from exactly below them.

• There are numerous wonderful perspectives from which to view and photograph fireworks. Form a 30 degree angle between the ground and the fireworks, and you will need to be a good distance from them.

  However, with a reasonable telephoto lens, you can capture the bursts against a background of recognizable buildings, skylines, monuments, and all sorts of magnificent structures.

• Have you seen a daytime photo of the sky and mountains reflected on a still lake, resulting in a stunning mirror image effect? The same is possible with fireworks... IF you can find a suitable body of water in proximity to a fireworks display, and position yourself to take advantage of it.

• If you get to the fireworks show and simply don't have the opportunity to begin finding a good base camp, here's a seldom-used, but effective technique to get you started. Take out your binoculars (you did bring binoculars, didn't you?), and start scanning an area up to 400 yards in all directions from ground zero.

  You're looking for a small group of 1-15 people, with the same number of tripods set up. On the tripods are mounted cameras larger in size than yours, which have lenses that could be anywhere from 4-15 inches in length. Most likely, these photographers know what they're doing, and if you go join them, I'll bet you will have a very good vantage point.

• Consider locating a base camp where you can photograph fireworks at eye level. This provides a completely different perspective, and affords you the opportunity of capturing fireworks against a city skyline, for example.

• Stay away from any street lights or other light sources.

• If there's a wind, position yourself upwind unless you would lose optimum positions by doing so. Fireworks produce a lot of smoke, and you don't want one burst to ruin a photograph of the next one.

Proceed to Step #2

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