An unconventional approach to shooting fireworks.

Three basic things to do before shooting:

• Study your lens and its limits so you know exactly when the focus will be exactly on the fireworks,
• be sure to use a neutral filter so that the bright light of the fireworks at open apertures doesn’t turn all the colors white,
• use a tripod and preferably a remote shutter release in bulb mode.

When shooting: start shooting shortly before the intended explosion of the fireworks and out of focus. When the fireworks appear, quickly refocus the lens on the fireworks so that the explosion is clearly in focus. Then release the shutter.

The thickness of the “petals” of the fireworks depends on the aperture. At f/7.1 you get long and thin “petals”, at f/2.8 on the contrary, thick and very big.

You can get another effect if you use the opposite method: start the exposure in focus and then defocus the lens so that the fireworks blur.

Photos like these require minimal post-processing.