Ground Burst

This year, we got to enjoy 4th of July fireworks with our 2-year old grandson, who was watching a fireworks show for the first time. His squeals of delight as the fireworks burst high in the sky reminded me of how awe-inspiring fireworks can be.

The pictures here were taken this year, starting with a picture of the fireworks at ground level. You can see the crowd in this picture, as well as the silhouette of the trees in front of the main area where the fireworks took flight.

I shot all of these pictures with a wide angle lens – a Sigma 10-20 mm lens, which provides a wide expanse of sky for capturing the fireworks.

Spider Burst

And, as I described in my previous post, I used a tripod for all of my pictures, and set my camera on ISO 100 with an aperture of f/8.

I varied the shutter speed from about 3 seconds to 8 seconds. The shorter shutter speed is good for isolating a single fireworks burst, as in this picture.

Using a longer shutter speed (8 seconds) results in capturing multiple bursts. Rocket trails are also longer with a longer exposure.

Color Burst

Since I was using a wide angle lens, most of the pictures I took were then cropped in post-processing – which fills the frame with the actual burst of light, ensuring that the fireworks are the center of attention.

My favorite pictures are those that capture the multiple and diverse colors of the light as it explodes from the shell.

For more pictures of this year’s fireworks display, click here.