photographing the 4th of July fireworks display, New York
Braving the crowds (and insane traffic) in Hoboken tonight, I had a good view of magnificent 4th of July fireworks display on the Hudson River. From this viewpoint, Manhattan is to my right, and barely visible on the edge of the frame. I wanted to include the reflections in the water as well, since the surreal blend of colors helped anchor the intricate fireworks. The photography technique was simple enough – a slow shutter speed, a low ISO … and a tripod and remote release for the camera.
Camera settings for the image above: 1/2 second @ f5.6 @ 200 ISO
but I felt that for this image and several others, the streaks of light became too much. Too ‘messy’ and with less visual impact. So for the rest of the night, I changed my camera settings to:
1/4 second @ f5.6 @ 400 ISO
White Balance for all images: Daylight. Not all images worked since the brightness of the fireworks display varied a lot! But this is where shooting a large number of images, and then picking the best afterwards, really is the best method to ensure some successful images.
I was fascinated afterwards when the display had ended, by the pall of fireworks smoke shifting over Manhattan.
camera settings: 2 seconds @ f4 @ 400 ISO; Incandescent WB
As mentioned, the technique is simplicity itself. You do need a tripod to stabilize the camera, and then the camera should be fired with a remote release (or a cable release) so that the camera doesn’t move even slightly during the exposure.
The technique extends further than this though. While I like these images, for they capture some of the magnificence of the display, what is lacking is the context – Manhattan. The classic shots of the 4th of July fireworks display, usually shows some New York landmark in the image, such as one of the easily recognized bridges. Or, the images show Manhattan’s colored lights in the background.
For this, I was in completely the wrong place – Hoboken. Far too low down on the Hudson to get the necessary perspective against the Manhattan skyline. Weehawken would most likely have been a better choice here. Well, there is always 2012.
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Hello Neil,
great article as always very good.
I did not understand why ‘in the last image you left the white balance to daylight.
Why ‘incandescent WB?
It ‘was your choice or you could shoot with daylight WB?
Follow you on your site to me and ‘like a drug!
Every day more ‘times a day do I connect with you to see the fantastic news’.
Good luck and good day
Edy Trigona Genoa Italy
Comment by edy — July 5, 2011 @ 4:54 am
Comment by Neil vN — July 5, 2011 @ 4:59 am
Hi Neil,
you seem to be far from those beautiful fireworks. Did you use your (favourite) 70-200mm f2.8 lens? Or did your change your viewpoint afterwards?
Great pictures! Thanks again for sharing your technique.
Antoine
Comment by Antoine Dell'Accio Grenoble France — July 5, 2011 @ 7:06 am
The last photo is really nice.
I wouldn’t have thought tripods would be allowed in viewing areas, since there would be a crowd. Some areas have security guards that would not allow people to carry much into the viewing area.
Comment by Stephen — July 5, 2011 @ 8:23 am
Awesome images Neil.
Which camera and lens was use to capture these images?
Comment by Lloyd — July 5, 2011 @ 9:33 am
Comment by Neil vN — July 5, 2011 @ 12:44 pm
Hi Neil,
Great, as usual. What were you focusing on? The water looks pretty sharp so I can’t tell what your focus point was.
Thanks,
Jerry
Comment by Jerry — July 5, 2011 @ 1:17 pm
Comment by Neil vN — July 5, 2011 @ 1:23 pm
I envy folks who have great locations available to them for shooting fireworks. I had planned to do such in my small Ohio community last night, but location selection wasn’t particularly rewarding. Wound up with nothing I wanted to keep.
Comment by forkboy1965 — July 5, 2011 @ 2:26 pm
I have been wondering how this is done. Thanks so much for this blog post!
Comment by Beth — July 5, 2011 @ 3:45 pm
Not sure why, but the fireworks in these shots look blurry to me– as if you didn’t use a tripod. Although, it’s clear that you did, since the landscape content at the bottom of the shots is all solid.
Comment by Chip — July 5, 2011 @ 4:16 pm
Comment by Neil vN — July 5, 2011 @ 4:21 pm
What about using a monopod? Will look forward to your review of the 24-120mm F/4 VR :)
Comment by Arnold Gallardo — July 6, 2011 @ 2:21 am
Comment by Neil vN — July 6, 2011 @ 2:25 am
I shot some fireworks with my D7000 this past weekend, as well as a few weeks ago at our local Riverfest here in Wichita. I found that to get a similar look to yours, I had to shoot at least 2 seconds on the shutter. A half or quarter of a second wasn’t nearly long enough to capture the whole burst. Here’s what I ended up with:
Riverfest 2011
Independence Weekend
Comment by Lance — July 6, 2011 @ 10:32 am
Comment by Neil vN — July 6, 2011 @ 11:33 am
I tried the to capture the fireworks at Chicago navy pier from the North Beach, and due to the fact that the fireworks were small and limited this year , the spot I picked was not good enough. The idea was to capture both the skyline and and fireworks, but it turned out the fireworks were too small in comparison to the skyline. Next time I will be on the other side so the works are closer to the camera. In my opinion if you don’t have nice background or something nice to go with the works your image will be forgotten quickly.
Comment by bart — July 6, 2011 @ 1:30 pm
Comment by Neil vN — July 6, 2011 @ 1:48 pm
Neil, did you consider the new Nikon 28-300 when buying the 24-120? It’s unreasonable to expect top-notch image quality from such an all-purpose lens, but it still intrigues me.
Comment by Chip — July 6, 2011 @ 1:55 pm
Comment by Neil vN — July 6, 2011 @ 6:31 pm
hi Neil, you managed to get the fireworks shot with very very little smokes around it, Is it composition thing or there’s any other way to avoid the smokes, which ruined most of my shot which i took last year.
Thanks
urgyen
Comment by Urgyen Lhawong — July 7, 2011 @ 4:22 pm
Nice job! I was there but on the Manhattan side as a tourist with my g12, also in a “wrong” spot. See https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2182951742886&set=a.2175257550536.2129639.1519743467&type=1&theater
Would have loved to shoot with you in a “right” spot.
Comment by Michele Stapleton — July 12, 2011 @ 11:34 am
Comment by Neil vN — July 13, 2011 @ 5:46 am