Lessons learned: fireworksI'm not fan of fireworks, don't really like the noise and I've always avoided crowds, but for the sake of learning how to take pictures of fireworks I decided to attend two major events near Barcelona (Spain) on summer 2010. The first one was the "European Ballon Festival", a ballooning concentration with lots of activities, one of which is "Night Glow", night flying of the balloons taking part in the festival with fireworks. The second one was Blanes fireworks contest, a 6 days contest amongst the major fireworks makers that, on 2010, celebrate the 40th anniversary. This history is just my lessons learned in fireworks photography. Just hope it helps you to achieve better results in your next pictures. 
I'll begin with the first event I attended, Eurpean Balloon Festival 2010.
It is a lot more difficult to take pictures of fireworks AND balloons than taking pictures of fireworks alone, but as novice in fireworks photography, I was not aware of the difficulties. Fist thing to be taken into account: the light from balloons fire varies upon the desire of the pilot, not your according your need for light. Not all balloons are to be lightened at the same time, and they might be lightened just for a very tiny amount of time (maybe just 1 second), as the intention is keeping the balloon full of hot air so it stands up. 
Second thing to be taken into account: balloons do move.
I knew I wanted long exposures for fireworks to show trails and be nice, so I tried with long exposures ranging from 1 second to 3 seconds, and I really had no much time to check the pictures on the camera LCD (fireworks go on for just 10 minutes, and if you pause to check every picture sure you'll be missing pictures). When I arrived home and saw the pictures at the computer I was really disappointed with the results. 
Third thing learned: do not take pictures of fireworks behind balloons if you're in a flat field; balloons do take a lot of frame space and it's not easy to get a good framing for the pictures.
Even if I was a little higher than the balloon's field, it was really difficult to get a good angle to shoot from. I tried to play around with composition, but lightening of the balloons and coordination of the fireworks was really hard. 
Fourth thing learned: a wide angle is always a good way to get at least one picture that shows the context.
I love details (my first steps in photography were on macro photography), and I try to avoid cliché, so I tend to experiment with different framing and point of view, but I've learned that the best bet for a nice souvenir of any event is shooting some few pictures with a wide angle lens and get some correct and context aware pictures, and experiment with other techniques and points of view later on. 
Fifth lesson learned: taking two cameras allows you quick lens and angle changing.
Well this was not strictly a lesson learned there, I've been taking my two DSLR cameras with me since I got the second one. In events like this one I usually fix one of the cameras to the tripod and set it to a fixed and wide angle to get the context, while I experiment and take pictures of details with the other. 
So, few days after the experience with balloons and fireworks, Blanes Fireworks' contest was starting, and I decided to give fireworks a second try.
There is a nice photographic society in Blanes, AFIC, that gave us a quick 20 minutes course and some clues on how to get good fireworks' pictures. Some were really good advice. 
Fist important thing was knowing the wind direction (a clue learned at the course by AFIC). I wouldn't guessed by myself at first try, so I really appreciate those guys giving us that advice.
The fireworks contest takes place at the beach, where a tiny islet with a rocky mountain serves as the placement for the fireworks. This ensures everyone will be seeing the fireworks, even if it puts a restriction on the makers, as they have to design perfect symmetric spectacles. 
We went to see the wind direction and how the guys from Santa Chiara were preparing the fireworks.
There is a condition on the contest: the show must contain low fireworks going to the sea and fireworks coming from the sea, not only high fireworks. We tried to guess the kind of fireworks Santa Chiara were preparing, but after seeing the preparatives we were not able to tell how the show would be. 
After checking the wind direction we went to the marina. The view was nice from there and we had the wind at our back (so the clouds from the explosions would be behind the fireworks and allow us to get better pictures).
Fixed tripods, and waited for the show to begin (we arrived 2 hours in advance as far as it's quite a popular show and it gets really crowded). While we were waiting we could imagine a framing for the pictures. I liked the stones in first plane, and imagined there would be a nice reflection on the water, even if I didn't make it right for exposure on the first shoot (20 seconds, definetively too much) 
After correcting the exposition, I went for some more pictures with the same framing.
Some boats were in between the fireworks and our location, so I also tried to include the silhouettes i the picture. Nice shoot, even if that framing was too wide being really a picture with interest... I'll try cropping and re framing it. 
Well, that is better as a picture, even if now it's clearer that boats, like balloons, do move iwhen shooting at long exposure times.
For this photos I did a raw conversion with digiKam, keeping the images as close to what the camera got as possible, and only on the second versions (when they are) some adjustements are made. In this picture just the framing has changed, as long as I want to show the real output of my settings in the camera, and you're able to see where the picture has been blown by high lights. 
I didn't really knew when to shoot, and I was simply taking pictures every time the shutter was released. As I told at the beginning, I'm not fan of fireworks and did know little about how the show gets on.
I liked this photo, tall fireworks in palm shape are quite common, but this was definitively a different kind of firework and I wanted to give it a better framing in post processing. 
And this is the framing I ended up with.
Nothing, except for the framing, has been changed from the image above. 
When high fireworks took place I wasn't sure of the framing I had decided in advance. It had the horizon in the middle of the frame, and a lot of space was lost as far as the reflection was not as good as I thought before the fireworks started.
I was shooting without knowing the best moment to press the button, and higher fireworks lacked of the bottom trails that gives them the palm shape. 
Blown.
Not all fireworks have the same power and colour, and they need different exposure times. 
Different kind of fireworks. They are also playing with getting high, but the power and speed was different from the ones I saw before.
In this case I also wanted to crop the picture in post processing. 
I like this cropping as far as it shows the reflection in the water while showing better the fireworks.
A pity it's blown in the middle of the fireworks. 
I also had a second camera for experimenting with me. It wasn't fixed to a tripod, and I wanted to try with short exposure times, even if I know they're not showing the drawings made by the fireworks.
To get things more complicated, I used a manual lens, with an open diaphragm (I don't really remember the f number for this particular picture, I had no time to write it down, but it might be 2.8). Not a usual fireworks picture, but I like the boat in the water. The bad news is that it's blured :( 
Time for learning something else: don't accommodate yourself to a close framing when taking pictures of fireworks.
I missed a good opportunity here. This one was only fired once, even if at fireworks more of the drawings go for a while. 
And another lesson for me: fireworks are not all equal in speed.
This was a nice rainy effect, even if I think it doesn't look that good in the photo. I think this kind of firework is better to see than to capture with the camera. 
Here is another rainy effect. This one was slower than the former, and there is no picture of it I like.
And again the fireworks are high but not as high as the ones before, so the framing is not right, it has too much open space.
A closer look shows this firework is blown, the light intensity was high, and a different f number would have been better if I wanted to keep the 3 seconds exposure time.
By this time of the show, fireworks were drowned very quicky, I almost missed the part.
Lucky I was able to get the heart flower, even if there is always room for improvement. 
Like a tighter framing.
Further post processing in GIMP may help to get rid of the clouds of powder behind the firework, and give it a cleaner aspect. 
Again with the second camera, experimenting with slower exposure times.
I really like that Big-Bang in white. 
And if you get your attention to the moment the firework begins it can give you amazing images resembling astronomical pictures, I really like these experiments, even if I know it's my own and particular taste.
Don't look like the universe being created?
This was the end of day 1 at Blanes fireworks' contest. I now knew there were some things you could predict in fireworks and some not really predictable. The main thing I learned was that most of the drawings were going on for a few of them, so if you wait enough you can get a good idea of what is going to be the drawing and how to shoot it. 
So, with the knowledge gained in day 1, we returned to Blanes on day 4.
On the fourth day the wind blow in the opposite direction as it did on day 1, and we were also willing to change location for the pictures, so we choose a new location nearer. On the picture you can see were we where placed: day 1 at the marina (X at the lower part of the map), day 4 near the beach, almost a third of the distance (X at the upper part of the map) 
First thing you have to remember: light varies with distance.
The beginning of the fireworks were gorgeous (in fact that maker won the prize), and I got my images blown just because I didn't take into account that being closer to the fireworks I needed a bigger f number so less light reaches the sensor while maintaining 3 seconds of exposure time (the average exposure time good for drawings to be recorded) 
A pity I didn't make it to go more days to see the contest. I was learning that low fireworks come at the beginning of the show.
And I really love that volcano look for the low fireworks with the cloud. 
Better this framing (a crop from the former picture)
I think next time I will carry two tripods, not just two cameras. One will be for low fireworks framed horizontal, the other for high fireworks framed vertical. 
This one made me doubt about my position and framing.
The shape recalls high fireworks, but it was really a low one, and it didn't full the frame... I was wondering if I should change the framing. 
Fortunately you can always re frame latter with digiKam.
This time I really love the silhouettes of people in the beach (I was in the street right above... we arrived 3 hours in advance to be able to get the place, and there was people there already waiting), and in some pictures tiny lights come from this part as they were taking pictures with their point and shoot cameras. 
For the most of the high fireworks the framing was perfect (except for the lamp post showing up at the upper left corner)
The settings were correct, and the only thing to be taken into account was shooting right after the main explosion of the first firework of the series. Doing it that way gave me time to get the upper part of the fireworks with little or non blown out parts, while recreating the lower part with the fireworks coming from the second group of the series. 
That was really a tight framing, should I have choosen a tighter one, I would have missed some of the fireworks.
This time I only shooted at the fireworks I knew I'd like on photo. Left out the rainy like ones and concentrate in palms and low fireworks.
Almost reaching the end, the series were a lot quicker. That is something I've seen on the other two firework shows these days... maybe that is one of the things to take into account for next time.
Wow, this one was so big, so powerful, that we were afraid it would reach our lens.
Fortunately nothing happened and we were able to take the photo just for having a record when the time comes to tell the story to our grandchildren. As a photograph is not that good. 
And by the end of the show I was rewarded with a gift, a new series of the nice rainbow-like low fires we had at the beginning (and that I couldn't get right at the first time).
I had no time for reframing, but I could concentrate on getting it right, and reframe in post processing. 
And this one is the picture I like most from the pictures I have taken about fireworks (and the one I like most about fireworks right now, as it is not the usual firework)
I worked a little on the picture above to re frame it and get some more contrast in digiKam. One of these days I'll go to GIMP to finish it so it has no trail going out on the left side of the frame, the cloud above the firework is removed.... but that will be some other day.
I hope this story helps you learn from my (short) experiences with fireworks.
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