Fireworks in a Flash

Summer is the season for viewing and photographing Fireworks. The most popular time is on the Fourth of July. The Fourth of July is a very special time for my family, because it is my husband and I's wedding anniversary. We have always enjoyed viewing fireworks but I have never had much luck in photographing them in the past. Although, after learning more about the capabilities of my camera and strengthening my skills, I have learned that anyone can do it.

So, here it was the Fourth of July, there were going to be fireworks, and I had a camera. I thought to myself, "I can do this!" I grabbed my camera bag and tripod as we headed off to the marina to watch the fireworks. The weather was not great and it stormed for an hour before the fireworks began. This caused me to not be able to set up and use my tripod. However, even though it continued to sprinkle, they went on with the fireworks show. My family and I found an overhang in front of a gift shop at the marina to wait out the rain and view the fireworks. I decided to try to shoot the fireworks even if I had to do it hand held. I pulled my camera out, set my camera to the correct settings, and started snapping in a flash!

It may not have been the perfect conditions, but we enjoyed the firework show and it all worked out. I was able to get several decent shots. I really like some of my images that have layers of depth in them. I tried to photograph the boats of the marina in front of the fireworks view. In a few of the photos it resulted in a silhouette of the boats. I think they turned out really nice. I may even take it a step further and edit the dark sky firework images. I can use the layering technique found on my Nikon D3300—it’s usually found in the camera's Retouch menu. This is called Image Overlay which will allow me to take my firework photo and any other image that may have a skyline, buildings, or other reference points in it. This will overlay the two images together adding interest to my photos.

*Here the settings and tips that I followed in order to get my firework photos:

• I shot in RAW (high res NEF file)

• I set the camera to a low ISO of 200.

• I used the Aperture f/11.

• Instead of choosing a shutter speed, I set the camera to Bulb (B) this allowed me to keep the shutter open as long as I wanted.

• I manually focused my lens to infinity.

• I turned off my camera's flash.

...and just like that, I snapped fireworks in a flash!!!