Fireworks in Ouray, CO

I was in Ouray, CO for the 4th of July this year. They have an awesome fireworks display at the end of the day in this beautiful town nestled in the valley of the San Juan Mountains.

If you’re trying to photograph fireworks, here are a few tips.
1. Tripod use is a must! To get the trails of light, you need to leave the shutter open for a long time. Any camera shake will ruin the sharpness and look.
2. Along the same lines, use a cable release to trigger the shutter. This will keep your hands off the camera and minimize camera shake.
3. Set your camera to BULB mode so you can leave the shutter open for a long time. When you start seeing the trails of light go up, hit your cable release and don’t let go until the blasts are done. You’ll usually have the shutter open from 4 to 20 seconds.
4. Keep your aperture in the f8-f11 range and your ISO at 100-200. This will ensure you are getting enough light in (fireworks are bright!) and not blowing out the colors at the same time. Experiment a bit at your location as you might have slight differences.
5. Shoot wide. Some fireworks will go higher than others. To ensure you don’t loose them, make sure you’re wider than where they are and you can crop in later.
That’s it! All of these photos are basically straight out of the camera with some cropping applied.

For a full gallery of full sized photos and to order prints, visit this page:
http://photos.ryanmillerphoto.com/Misc/Fireworks-Ouray-CO
July 6th, 2011 | Ryan | No Comments |