July 4th Fireworks in Edmonds, WA.

[Bill Anderson]

My aunt and uncle invited me over to their house to photograph our town's annual Fourth of July fireworks show from their back deck. Since I only get to do this once a year, I am always starting from scratch. Hopefully I can remember what worked and what didn't for use next year.

At my latitude, it does not get dark enough for fireworks shows until after 10:00pm PDT. Until then, some residents light off their own illegal fireworks. I took advantage of this heinous criminal activity to get an idea of what camera settings to use for the official fireworks show.

From the legal, official fireworks show; sponsored by the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Some more. I'll keep the photos in my computer so I'll know what camera settings to use next year.

 

[Terry O]

Nice. I like the very first post that includes the sunset, Bill. These are tricky shots. Its taken me a while (like a few years) to figure out that slow shutter speeds work the best.

 

[BobH]

Those are pretty good. The settings are tricky, and can vary from show to show depending on the distance and how big the fireworks are. (i.e. pro fireworks are brighter than the ones you buy at the reservation...)

One thing I figured out over the years if that shutter speed is pretty much irrelevant. How is that possible? Well, the typical fireworks burst only lasts for say 5 or 10 seconds. After that, the sky goes black again. So it's almost like the fireworks choose the exposure duration for you. That leaves two options you can modify, iso and aperture. I set one and vary the other until I get something I like.