These shells that look like spiderwebs are actually ring shells, seen through their entire performance.

These shells that look like spiderwebs are actually ring shells, seen through their entire performance.

Dr. Paul Marriott

The next three photos are courtesy of Dr. Paul Marriott. They are from the 2001 Hull Casino Fireworks Competition in Canada. This photo has the deepest blue I think I have ever seen in a photo. A blue shell is the hardest to make well, because it must burn very cool to have a rich deep blue.

Silver gerbs and red mines

Now these are REALLY pretty. Silver gerbs and red mines look superb together, in a display that featured all types of low level display fireworks.

green star barrages

For color contrast, these green star barrages fits nicely.

Here is a very bright horizontal silver wheel with silver gerbs on top

Here is a very bright horizontal silver wheel with silver gerbs on top. From atop a sturdy post, it spreads silver fire for quite a distance.

Soestduinen

These next four photos are courtesy of F.W. de Goede. They are from a corporate party display in Soestduinen, Netherlands. Very beautiful gold gerb fountains and headlight stars.

Japanese word for fireworks

This really does look like flowers on flower stems. Flowers of fire. The Japanese word for fireworks, HANABI, means flowers of fire.

Shnaper

These first three photos were provided by Vonda Shnaper, from a display in Jefferson, Texas. Hey Vonda, how about some more, these are wonderful !!!!!!!

anger

Fireworks

It is generally recognized that fireworks originated in China during the Sung dynasty (960-1279). A cook in ancient China discovered that a mixture of sulphur, saltpetre, and charcoal was highly flammable and would explode if confined in a small space. This discovery was first used for entertainment. The technique was soon adapted to weaponry and used to shoot rocket-powered arrows. In the 7th century the knowledge spread west via Arabia, reaching Europe in the 13th century where pyrotechnics developed with the invention of the gun in the 14th century. It was not until the 19th century that fireworks became as vividly colourful as we know them today. Brilliant colours are achieved by combining potassium chlorate and various metallic salts. These salts produce a variety of colours: strontium burns red; copper makes blue; barium glows green; and sodium produces yellow. Magnesium, aluminium and titanium give off white sparkles or a flash. Every firework show is a fantastic display of physics. The pyrotechnist has to take into account the relationships between vectors, velocities, projectiles and their trajectories together with the explosion forces behind burst patterns.

Don't Flash The Fireworks

Don't Flash The FireworksTurn off your flash. If you can't turn off the flash, black it out with electrical tape. If you've ever seen photographs taken from the 78th row at a rock concert with the flash left on, you know exactly how poorly low light long distance flash exposures turn out. If your camera doesn't have a manual mode that allows you to turn off the flash, try out Landscape mode which almost universally turns off the flash to avoid washing out the foreground in landscape photography. The only exception to the no flash rule is when you want to expose the foreground to highlight objects or people. In the photo above, the young women in the corner are properly exposed because of a flash. Without the flash they would have been dark blurs against the background. Photo by Jon Åslund.

Get Better Fireworks Photos This Fourth of July

When you snap pictures at the fireworks display on Friday, you'll either wind up with immensely rewarding photos or frustration that makes you wish you'd left your camera at home and just enjoyed the show. The outcome has everything to do with the preparation and knowledge you take to the event. Before you go, arm yourself with a few tips and tricks that will prepare you to capture fireworks in all their brilliant glory. Photo by jonrawlinson.