How to Take Digital Photos of July 4th Fireworks

You've seen all those spectacular photographs of fireworks. Maybe you've even tried your hand at recording your local July 4th spectacular. But it's not easy to pull off with a standard point-and-shoot digital camera.

Here's what you need:

 

• A camera that lets you control shutter speed, ISO settings, and aperture settings of your photos. You'll want to set your shutter speed slow, to between 1 and 16 seconds depending on the amount of background light. You'll want to set your aperture relatively tight (around f/8 or so) to cut down on background light noise and prevent overexposure.
• Some point-and-shoot cameras come with a built-in "fireworks" mode especially designed for this situation.  You'll have little luck if your camera is hard-wired to automatic settings for low light situations that don't include fireworks photo-taking. 
• A tripod.  Even with anti-shake technology,  the long exposures you'll need to get really effective pictures require a steady hand--one steadier than yours.  Bring a tripod, or at least a monopod, to steady your aim.
• Manual focus control is helpful. If you're using a digital SLR camera, use manual focus and set it to "infinity".
• Shoot at a wide angle, so you can get more of the sky.  That way, you don't have to be constantly trying to point your camera toward where the fireworks are.