My simple adviced to all is “grab you camera equipments and give it a try” whenever theres a fireworks displays in and around your area.

Below are some useful tips to help you get started.

Planning

Planning is the most important when photograhing Fireworks Displays and this is what most people tend to ignore. Always get to the location early. Be sure of where the fireworks are being setup and what part of the sky will it be lighting up. Try asking the organisors if possible of what they are planning. Look around the location and take note of the lightings and surroundings. You might want to decide now on what lenses and the focal lengths to use. Remember the first and most important thing in fireworks photography is planning and anticipation.

Framing and Focusing

Where to aim your camera? This is one of the most difficult part in photographing fireworks dislays. You normally need to aim your camera before the fireworks goes off. I normally spend most of my time looking in the sky rather then looking at my view finder so that i could see whats happening around me and also anticipate the moment or the right time to shot.

Always manually focus your camera or put it on infinity. Its quite impossible to use auto focus mode in low light and you may end up missing a lot of shots. So set your focusing in advanced and fix your focal lengths but remember to ajust your focusing if you happen to change your focal lengths.

Shutter Speed

Its not necessary to set your shutter speed to a very low setting. The temptation to keep your shutter open too long is because its dark and you need to do that. The problem is that fireworks itself are bright and you might over expose them and you may end up not having a clean and nice shot. What you may get is too much of the smoke in you photograph.

Aperture

What aperture to use in Photographing Fireworks Dispalys? Many people thinks that they need to open up the aperture in order to capture them right. But remember, the lights that fireworks emit is quite bright. I normally set my aperture between mid to smaller f stop and i find it tend to work well. And again it will also depends on what shutter speed you have selected.

ISO

Shot using the lowest ISO possible.

Capturing the Mood and Surroundings

When photographing Fireworks Displays many people tend to just capture the Fireworks and forgetting the foreground or the background. Remember Fireworks Displays are often relates to celebrations and occasions and I personally feels your picture must relates to the occasions and it must tell you where, what and when. Dont forget to include other elements such as people, landmarks or other perspectives to make your photograph more meaningful and the Fireworks Display looking more spectacular.

Take as Many Shots as Possible and Track Results

Keep taking as many shots as possible and do a quick check occasionally. But remember….. dont check after every shot or you may end up missing the action!!! You might not have enough time. If you are using Digital Camera take advantage of it and keep on taking.

For more photography techniques and tips visit my photography blog: Langkawi Photographer Blog 

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A few years ago, I wrote an ebook to teach beginners the basics of good photography. You know, aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, lighting, composition; the kind of things that are the stock-in-trade of any experienced phogographer. In recent times, I have been amazed at the increasing number of people eager to get their hands on this type of information.

With the internet seemingly taking over the world, and the explosion in availability of books, ebooks and courses on just about every subject, why is it so hard for a new photographer to find out how to use their camera? It’s a mystery for the modern age, but I think I may have found the answer.

If a person has a bad experience, especially if that experience cost them hard-earned dollars, they will tell others. And what they are telling me is that they are NOT HAPPY with most of the photography courses and guides on offer.

Many courses and workshops advertising ‘digital photography’ have little or nothing to do with actual photography. That’s right, you can sign up to learn the skills of better photography and not learn one thing about taking better photos.

Instead, what you get is a workshop on digital imaging, or photo editing. How to fix up your bad photos, how to superimpose rainbows and birds into your landscapes and how to remove freckles and pimples from your portraits. How to use software which, in many cases, the customer doesn’t have, doesn’t want and possibly can’t afford.

Are these useful skills? Of course they are, but they are not photography. At best, they are secondary skills that enhance the creative possibilities of photography, for people who choose to go down that path. This does not include everybody.

The result could be a generation of ‘photographers’ who know more about fixing up their mistakes on a computer than about taking good photos in the first place.

If a customer pays you to teach them photography, they have a right to expect that they will learn how to use a camera. If they want to learn about computer software, they will buy a different ebook, or sign up to a different course. If you take their money, then sit them in front of a computer for three days, you have not given them what they paid for. If your customer asks for their money back – so they should.

I could take a pessimistic view, and think that some photographers have become so lazy, so unskilled, that they really believe digital manipulation is more important to photography than skill with a camera. I prefer to think that the customers I have spoken to have just been the victims of misunderstandings and poorly worded advertising.

Whichever is the case, customers beware! Before you hand over your money, find out exactly what you are signing up for. If you want to learn to be a better photographer, make sure the course, workshop, or ebook is about using your camera, not just a computer. If software is a component of the course, terrific – you are getting a well rounded look at the world of photography. If it is the only component, shop around; there are still people out there who want to teach what you want to learn.

When packing for your memorable vacation, keep in mind these things:

• Camera, batteries + extras, memory card(s), battery chargers

• External flash (if needed), tripod, portable storage device

• Power adapter (if traveling abroad)

• Camera case—waterproof if going to a beach or wet vacation spot (you can also purchase silica gel packs from your camera store to reduce moisture further)

• Underwater camera if traveling to a beach location (even a small disposable one will get those unforgettable shots!)

• Be sure to get a wrist-strap for your camera—you don’t want to lose your camera when you are traversing the rainforest treetops!

Be sure to charge your camera batteries before you leave home, and clear your memory card. It is always a good idea to take an extra memory card with you. Don’t be afraid to shoot lots of pictures of the same subject – a digital camera can hold a lot of pictures and you can sort out the good from the bad before printing them when you get home.

Before you leave home, do a little research on the spot you are traveling to and try to pre-plan some of the shots you may wish to take. Use travel guides, books and magazines to help plan what you may wish to include in your memory album. This may also be helpful not only in planning what type of shot you may wish to take, but may affect when you travel to a certain location. Would you like a shot of the sun rising majestically over the Rocky Mountains? Or how about a shot of elephant feeding time at the San Diego Zoo—or even fireworks over the Eiffel Tower? Make a list of these potential shots and plan your trip accordingly.

PROVE YOU WERE THERE:

When you are taking pictures on your vacation, be sure to remember to include the human element. You don’t want only pictures of the scenery, but this should be a memory experience at the same time. Include pictures of your family and friends, even people you meet at the location. All of these elements ad to the ambiance of the experience.

Try to get at least some pictures with you in it. There is always some passerby around to take a picture of you in front of your cruise ship—just be sure it is someone trustworthy not to run off with your camera. Another good idea for this is to give the passerby a cheap disposable camera instead of your expensive one so that if he does drop the camera or runs off with it you won’t have much to lose. You may not get as good a picture quality, but at least it will be a memory shot.

TIPS ON INCLUDING PEOPLE IN YOUR VACATION PHOTOS:

• Capture the anticipation of your trip by using people. Try photos of packing up the car, arriving at the airport, getting on the plane. This type of picture will lend a great story line when displaying your pictures in an album. The same goes for the end of your trip. Have a shot of your wife sleeping on the plane after a whirlwind European vacation. Personally, I always end our albums with a display of all the things we acquired on our trip—everything from that gorgeous purse I bought in Panama, shells from the beach, to the airline tickets and the Spanish phrase book we used.

• Place your subject off-centre using the rule of thirds. Divide the picture into a tic-tac-toe like grid and rather than placing your subject into the centre square, place them onto one of four lines. This makes for a more interesting picture and is more aesthetically pleasing. A great portrait would be placing a person to one side with the horizon filling the rest of the picture.

• Try to get the people in your pictures to tell a story rather than just standing in front of a landmark. Eating, leaning on street signs, browsing through roadside markets, swimming on the beach are all ways to achieve this.

• Don’t have your subjects stand so far away that you can’t recognize who they are. Get them to stand closer and have the landmark in the distance. You can always take an extra shot of the landmark by itself.

• Sometimes it is good to get a photo of someone in the distance, perhaps with their back to the camera. This comes off as a candid shot and can create great drama in the picture.

• Try to get some action shots. Try taking a candid shot of kids or adults playing on the beach. Or capture someone’s face when tasting that chocolate covered ant. Use the Action Shooting Mode on your camera for a fast shutter speed to stop action so that you can get clear pictures without the blur. The Burst Mode lets you take multiple pictures with one click of the shutter button to catch a sequence of moves—for that Mexican dancing scene.

LANDSCAPE TIPS

• Study the area and plan your photograph. Would the picture be better if taken from the right to include the shadows? How about a different angle? You can crouch or take a photo looking up at the Eiffel Tower instead of straight on—wouldn’t that seem more dramatic? Use perspective to your advantage.

• Think about the distance you are away from your subject. Try to get as close as possible. Sometimes that house in the distance that you like will just be a spot in a 4X6 picture. Use your zoom as much as possible.

• Consider the lighting. The light can be harsh in the middle of the day and less intense in the early morning or late afternoon. Also you can achieve better results with lighting by taking pictures in inclement weather. Experiment by taking pictures at different times of the day. Even the shadows created in a landscape by taking advantage of the early morning light can be interesting and dramatic. Another lighting tip is to use you camera’s flash when shooting in direct sun to reduce effects of shadows on faces or other objects in the picture. If you happen to be in low light, try using a tripod. And experiment…is the light shining in the back or on the side? The placement of light and shadows in a picture can create a great shot.

• If you are taking a picture of a landscape, make sure there are no stray objects that may detract from your composition. Check before you shoot.

• Use colour to your advantage. You can often achieve very dramatic shots of colourful houses, fall foliage or azure beaches to add vibrancy to your photos. If you have a Beach Mode on your camera, use it to capture bright seaside scenes.

• Take advantage of the landscape mode in your camera, which adjusts the aperture so that objects near and far are sharp and clear. To achieve the same effect manually, you need to set your aperture to a high f-number (like f6.3), which will provide a wide range of focus to ensure everything near and in the distance is in focus.

• Panorama shots are very popular and some cameras offer in-camera panorama-stitching which is a feature that uses up to five single shots to create one seamless image right in the camera. Sweeping beach scenes are perfect for the Panorama mode. Tips for panoramic shots: (1) make sure your camera is as level as possible, (2) be sure to stand in the same position for all the shots, (3) overlap you images by 30-50% horizontally. Consider using panoramic shots for breathtaking mountain range shots, sunsets, cityscapes, or even a cascading waterfall.

• Use the Sunset Mode on your camera to achieve ideal dramatic photos of early evening or dawn when the sun in near the horizon. Image that perfect beach with the sun setting in the background.

SNOW OR BLACK AND WHITE SHOTS:

• The key to capturing magical winter shots is in the white balance. To achieve realistic winter scenes, some cameras have a Snow Shooting Mode which will automatically adjust the camera’s white balance to compensate for the snow and lighting conditions. You can also use your camera’s manual controls to adjust the white balance until the snow colour is correct. The image will change on your camera’s screen so you can adjust it up or down until the image appears accurate.

• Black and white pictures accentuate lines, textures and edges making great dramatic photographs. This can be a great choice for beach scenes and coastlines alike.

VACATION PHOTO ART:

• You can turn your vacation photographs into works of art using computer software to manipulate the pictures. If you have an artistic nature this is a great way to display your vacation photographs and receive rave reviews from family and friends.

Another tip on vacation photography is not just to take pictures of landmarks and people. Pictures of birds, flowers, and street signs all add to remembering where you visited.

I hope some of the above tips help in your vacation photography. At home, I love reviewing our photographs and reliving our travel experiences. We always take lots of pictures and share them often with family and friends.