Because of the slow shutter speed required to pick up light at night, a tripod will help you get the best, blur-free fireworks photos. If you don’t have a tripod handy, find another way to keep your camera steady. Try using a flat surface to place the camera. Or, when using the fireworks scene mode, brace the camera against your body as best you can to keep it as still as possible. However, this method may not produce good results in manual mode when setting the shutter speed to greater than one second.

Bracing the camera: Hold the camera still using both hands. Slowly inhale as you press the shutter button and exhale afterwards.

• If possible, try to shoot the fireworks so that they are downwind from your position. If you are downwind of the fireworks, you may lose visibility because of the smoke.
• It’s a good idea to have a penlight handy in case you need to replace the memory card or battery in the dark.
• Don’t forget about Movie mode. If your camera supports it, take a movie of the fireworks to capture the exciting finale in its entirety.
• Try using your camera’s self timer to eliminate camera shake when manually pressing the shutter button.

Experiment with your camera’s Night Scene+Portrait* mode to capture amazing photos of light trails. This Scene Mode will fire a flash to illuminate your subject – but it will also keep the shutter open long enough to capture a light trail.

Bonus tip for SP and C-Series owners
Using your camera’s special flash modes can give you even more control over this effect. For more information, view this page.

*If your camera does not have Fireworks Scene Mode or Night Scene+Portrait, your best alternative is to try Night Mode while using a tripod.