viewing was from the beach. But if you were
going to shoot the fireworks display at the county
fair on the Fourth of July, you likely need to get
permission to set up a tripod on the fairgrounds.
It is best to find out beforehand so you are not
prevented from setting up for the shoot.
Composing fireworks photographs is harder than
it sounds, as there is nothing to look at before the
display starts and many times the entire show
only lasts about 15 minutes (even the big shows
rarely last more than 30 minutes). Here are some
ways to compose the image to get the best shots
from the short time available:
ABOUT THIS PHOTO During the finale, a lot of fireworks all went off at the same time, and the wind started blowing the trails to the left.
Taken at 5.2 seconds, f/14, ISO 320.
7-21 ■ Watch for the first burst. The fireworks will
usually start with a nice volley of color bursts
to set the tone of the show. Watch where the
shells are launching from and where they are
bursting. This is the best time to make sure
focus is set to manual and the distance is
correct.
■ Ground the show. Include an element that
gives the show a context. For example, in
Figure 7-22, I was photographing on the
beach and made sure that the other viewers
and the launching point on the pier were
included in the frame.