Living in San Diego, there are times where you can see fireworks every night in the summertime since Seaport Village, Coronado and Sea World are all within view of each other. Since they are such a commonplace, I typically ignore them and go about my business, but I can’t help but feel committed to them on New Years Eve and 4th of July. The one issue with fireworks shows in general is dealing with the immense crowds so several years ago my step dad Jeff had an idea on 4th of July to do something a little different for the fireworks show in Coronado.

There are the usual places to view fireworks; out in the open, sitting on the bay with tens of thousands of people, or you can get creative and find your own little spot all by yourself. Jeff’s decision this night led us down to the Coronado Golf Course. He did some planning to find the best private view by taking in to consideration where the boat would be anchored in Glorietta Bay that was launching the display. He then carefully considered the foreground. There are few places as lush and beautiful as golf courses and Coronado’s 8th hole green is set up perfectly for a fireworks display over Glorietta since it has everything, palm trees and lush vegetation, a nice clearing, and best of all: a tranquil pond right in front for some nice reflections.

So we hauled our chairs and photo equipment down on to the links and setup at our location (right off the green of course as not to damage the dance floor.) Within a few minutes we realized how rewarding this private little location was. Are there better locations? Probably, but there’s something about large crowds I try to avoid if possible.

So here’s a checklist of things to consider when shooting fireworks:

What you’ll need

A SLR or any camera you can put in manual mode to adjust aperture, ISO, and shutter speed.
A sturdy tripod
A remote shutter release
Creative thinking for your location

ISO

Use a low ISO like 100-200. This will give you the cleanest noise free images.

Shutter Speed

Since the beauty of fireworks are the light trails they make, it’s best to use a longer shutter speed. Think somewhere around a couple seconds, but because fireworks all vary in size and duration, the best technique is to use Bulb Mode so you can have the shutter open for precisely the time you want. That way you can start the exposure right before the fireworks burst and stop it when the trails disappear. For this you’ll want a remote shutter release which explain later.

Aperture

A good aperture for fireworks is between f/8-f/16.

Manual Focus

Set you focus to manual and make sure it’s set to infinity.

Focal Length

Typically you’ll want to shoot at a wider focal length, but there’s nothing wrong with cropping it in a little tighter with a longer lens in an artistic and abstract way.

Use a remote shutter release

This helps for shooting with Bulb Mode and keeps you from having to touch your camera causing shake during long exposures. You don’t need an expensive one, just make sure it’s compatible with your camera. I think I paid $12 for mine and it works like a charm.

Use a sturdy tripod.

This is an absolute must for long exposures unless you have something else you can set your camera on, but you have a better chance for shake and damage to your beloved equipment by setting it on something not meant for holding cameras.

Creative thinking for your location

Shooting just fireworks is kind of boring. Add a nice foreground or something to tell a story. Be creative.

That’s pretty much it. Remember always to practice respect when using locations for your shoot and leave everything the way you found it. Especially golf courses.