Photographing Fireworks: The Settings That Change Everything

Fireworks photographed in automatic mode almost always give the same disappointing result: blurry light trails or an overexposed, shapeless blob of light. A few simple settings, prepared before the show begins, are enough to change the outcome completely.

The tripod, non-negotiable

An exposure of several seconds is needed to capture the full trajectory of a burst — impossible to hold steady handheld. A tripod is therefore essential, set up and adjusted before the fireworks even start, with a remote shutter release or the self-timer to avoid any vibration when triggering the shot.

Manual mode, so you don’t depend on the scene

A medium aperture (f/8 to f/11), a low ISO (100-200) and a slow shutter speed (2 to 6 seconds depending on the effect you’re after) make a good starting point — a longer exposure captures several successive bursts in the same image, a shorter one isolates a single shell. Automatic mode, by contrast, reacts to every flash of light and changes the exposure with each shot, giving inconsistent results from one photo to the next.

Manual focus, before night falls

Autofocus struggles to lock onto a subject this brief and contrasty in the dark. Focusing manually on infinity (or on a fixed point of light in the distance) before the show begins, then leaving it alone, avoids blurry photos that can’t be salvaged once the display is over.

Compose before the first shell goes up

Scout the exact launch point in advance and frame with room above for the height of the bursts, ideally with an element of the landscape (a monument, a silhouette, a reflection in the water) that anchors the image — fireworks alone in a black sky, with no context at all, often say less than an image that places them in a recognisable location.