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Andrew Darlow shares his thoughts and offers tips on how to produce captivating fireworks photographs with Tamron’s 11-18mm F/4.5-5.6 Di II zoom lens.
AF11-18mm Di II
by Tamron Staff Writer

Andrew Darlow has been drawn to wide-angle photography and fireworks for as long as he can remember. "The first time I peered through a wide angle lens, I was hooked. Combine that with my fascination with the beauty and magic of fireworks, and you can probably understand why I love photographing them." For more than 15 years as a photographer, consultant and writer, Darlow has utilized his passion for photography to educate others around the world. And for many of his wide-angle images, Darlow has trusted the Tamron 11-18mm F/4.5-5.6 Di II zoom lens on multiple DSLR bodies, including the Canon EOS 20D digital SLR. "The Tamron 11-18mm Di II is a fantastic lens. When I first picked it up, I was surprised by the weight of the lens–just 12.5 oz. However, it feels very solid and professionally made. The zooming and focus rings are constructed of textured rubber, which makes them very easy to adjust. It's also surprisingly small (just under 3.5 inches in length)."
Capturing fireworks effectively with a camera is not exactly easy. Darlow has been shooting fireworks and night scenes for many years and offers this advice for those getting started. "The most important part of fireworks photography is to stay safe. I have never liked handling fireworks myself and in many states all fireworks sales are illegal. The best looking fireworks displays are organized by towns and cities, and they are often announced weeks in advance. I recommend finding those displays instead of producing your own. Most people expect to see fireworks on July 3 in the United States, which is when most of the photos in this article were taken, but you can often find fireworks displays on New Year's Eve, and also during the Chinese New Year in some cities. Some theme parks, like Walt Disney World or Six Flags, have impressive fireworks shows on a regular schedule."
One of Darlow's mottos with regard to fireworks photography is to "arrive early and experiment often." He explains, "People sometimes arrive at fireworks displays when the sky is already very dark. I recommend arriving about 30 minutes to an hour before the fireworks begin. This will give you an opportunity to see what the scene will look like when the fireworks light up the sky. By finding very interesting subjects, such as people, monuments, or buildings to place in the foreground, your images will take on a more dramatic and historic look and feel. An example of this are the photos of the couple on a blanket in Pennsylvania, which I photographed at about 11pm on July 3. The first image was shot at 12mm, F/4.5 at 13 seconds, and ISO 200.
© Andrew Darlow  © Andrew Darlow  © Andrew Darlow
With regard to experimentation, turn your camera from vertical to horizontal at times to get different looks, and if your lens has zoom capability, I recommend experimenting by photographing subjects at various levels across the whole zoom range."
Darlow describes some of the other reasons why he chose to use the Tamron 11-18mm lens for these photographs. "I like the fact that the glass of the lens does not bulge out like a big bug eye, as I've seen with some other wide-angle zooms. Also, people photographed with the lens (even toward the edges) don't look as distorted as with other wide angle lenses I've used. This makes the lens more useful when including crowds in the image. Overall edge-to-edge sharpness and lack of light falloff on the edges is also excellent. In addition, flare and chromatic abberation are virtually non-existent, even with super-bright fireworks illuminating the frame."
Getting great shots also means taking a lot of pictures and looking closely at your results. Darlow explains: "I recommend shooting a lot if you want to bring home good images. Bring at least one extra battery and experiment with shutter speeds from about 1/4 second to about 10 seconds, F-stops from F/4.5 to F16, and IS0 200-400. I shot one series of fireworks images near my home in New Jersey with my car illuminating the grass in front of the area where fireworks were being displayed. (PHOTO 4 and 4B) The first image was shot with the Tamron 11-18mm lens at the 11mm setting, F/5.6 at 3 seconds, and ISO 400. The second was shot at the 18mm setting, F/6.3, at 6 seconds, and ISO 400. I was amazed at the difference that the zoom can make with even relatively small adjustments. The 11-18mm lens enables me to capture a variety of images from the same exact camera position without having to change lenses, which can be a challenging task in the dark. Cars, flashlights and any other light can add to the drama when photographing fireworks.”
© Andrew Darlow   © Andrew Darlow
“Shooting with a wide angle lens also allows you to crop in later on specific bursts of color, which is demonstrated in a series of images that I’ve prepared. I normally suggest filling the frame with your subject, but if you zoom too far into a scene while shooting fireworks, you may miss a lot of the fireworks because they are so unpredictable. Most of today's 6- to 10-megapixel digital cameras allow for significant cropping, especially if you are creating slide shows for the web. You can produce a captivating movie by cropping all the images to the same size, then showing them quickly fading into each other in a slide show format. Just add some dramatic music and you're ready to go!"
© Andrew Darlow   © Andrew Darlow   © Andrew Darlow   © Andrew Darlow   © Andrew Darlow   © Andrew Darlow
Darlow adds this important bit of advice: "As much as I love taking photographs of fireworks, I think it is also important to enjoy the whole experience (instead of just looking at the back of your camera during a spectacular fireworks show). There is nothing like being there and experiencing the night sky alive with color with your eyes and ears, especially if you are with family and friends."
Andrew Darlow is the Editor of The Imaging Buffet online magazine and podcast. For more tips, interviews and reviews, visit his web site at www.imagingbuffet.com. His forthcoming new book, 301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques (published by Thomson/Course Technology), covers a wide range of printing topics.


Tip Box

Tip 1:
Use a sturdy tripod. A stable tripod with a sturdy tripod head can help to make your fireworks images tack sharp, and you can generally shoot at lower ISO levels when you use a tripod or monopod (for example, from ISO100-400). A tripod also allows you to combine long exposures of foreground elements, such as the photos of the people on the blanket that I took with the Tamron 11-18mm Di II lens, with bursts of fireworks as they go off.

Tip 2:
Shoot in RAW mode. There are many reasons to shoot in your camera’s RAW mode (as opposed to TIFF or JPEG). The main reason is image quality. Shooting in RAW mode allows you to retain highlight and shadow detail that might have been lost if you had shot in JPEG or TIFF modes. It is also easier to adjust the color temperature of your photographs when you shoot in RAW mode, which allows for dramatic color effects.

Tip 3:
Use foreground elements for scale and impact. When you use foreground elements, such as people, buildings, trees, etc., as I've done in many of the photos shown in this article, the images tell more of a story compared with just shooting fireworks by themselves in the sky.

Tip 4:
Use manual focus. I've been very impressed by how well the Tamron 11-18mm lens focuses in low light situations. However, as it gets very dark outside, any camera and lens combo will have a difficult time focusing on objects using autofocus. If you are shooting into the sky, it is especially important to switch your camera to manual focus mode. Make sure your diopter is set correctly.

Tip 5:
Use manual exposures. Fireworks are very unpredictable, so experiment with various exposures, set to Manual mode until you see what you like on the histogram. Every shot will be different depending upon when the fireworks go off.

Tip 6:
Use Mirror Lockup. Mirror lockup is a feature on many DSLRs and other cameras. By engaging mirror lockup (often through a custom menu setting), you can reduce vibration inside the camera because the mirror does not have to flip out of the way to expose the film or sensor. This can result in sharper images when you have the camera on a tripod.

Tip 7:
Use a Cable Release or Self Timer. A cable release allows you to keep your hands off the camera during an exposure, which can help to further reduce movement during a shot. A self timer is often more convenient to use, but it’s not nearly as easy to get a shot at a specific time. Some cameras have multiple self-timer settings, including short durations of about 3-4 seconds.

Tip 8:
Bring portable lights. I recommend bringing at least one small flashlight along when shooting in low light. It can definitely come in handy when you are trying to switch from autofocus to manual mode on a lens, or when you are searching for batteries or memory cards. Also, some cameras don’t have a backlit function for their LCD display, so a flashlight is a life saver when you want to adjust your shooting mode, aperture, ISO or shutter speed. A flashlight can also add a beautiful dappled effect to a scene with or without fireworks when you have your camera on a tripod. A car’s headlamps can also be used to light a scene in interesting ways and there are multiple intensities that can be used on most cars, from parking lights to high beams. One example using the Tamron 11-18mm Di II lens on my camera in front of my car can be seen in one of the images above.