07/03/2026
With America’s 250th celebration, many will attend fireworks displays. Here are some tips to help you capture better images. The settings I’m giving you are a starting point. You will probably make adjustments as the night goes on.
It is a good idea to get your camera out before you go out for the night to get familiar with changing the settings.
Location: Frame your photos so the background will add to the image. Look for buildings in the background and make sure they look good. If you’re just shooting up to the sky it may not matter as much.
Focusing: I’ve found that the fireworks display will fire them over a certain area, so you can focus on the fireworks hand-held or while the camera is on your tripod.
Once your camera has ‘found focus’, set the lens to manual focus. This will lock your focus at the spot where the majority of the fireworks will explode. This is important; otherwise, your camera is going to try to refocus every time it clicks, and you will miss shots. Look at the images you take from time to time to make sure you’re focusing at the right spot. You may need to change your camera back to autofocus to refocus – don’t forget to switch it back to manual.
Mount your camera on a sturdy tripod. If you hand-hold your camera, you will have camera shake, and you probably won’t like the results.
For the sharpest photos, use a shutter release cable or remote trigger. You’re going to use a long exposure, and you’ll want to avoid camera shake. It will be best if you avoid touching the camera. Putting your finger on the shutter button on your camera will move it slightly.
Use Manual mode (don’t be scared)! You can use the following settings as a starting place.
· Aperture F8
· ISO 100
· Shutter 1-second
· Shoot wide; start by using a wide angle until you find out where the fireworks explode. They may explode in different spots in the sky. You may find that you want to zoom in for tighter shots.
Set the shutter speed to 1 second as a starting point. Depending on your distance from the fireworks and how bright they are, you may adjust the shutter speed faster or slower. Changing to a 4-second exposure will give you long streaks, but you may need to raise your F-stop if the image is too bright; also, it may be too long for your taste. If so, shorten the exposure time. If that makes the fireworks too dark, change the aperture to 5.6, or change your ISO to 200 or 400.
You can use the bulb mode and hold down the remote trigger for any length you want to if you want to experiment.
If you have Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop with Camera RAW, boost the Clarity and Dehaze; it will reduce some of the smoke and make your fireworks look better. Boost the Whites to make the fireworks brighter.
You’ll also want to crop in tight to avoid extraneous objects and blank skies.
Have a great 250th celebration, and remember, it is the 4th of July everywhere, but in America, it is Independence Day.
