Summer is fireworks time in the United States. Getting good pictures of fireworks is pretty easy. There are only two fundamental requirements:  1) a time exposure, and
2) a solid platform for the camera.

1. Time Exposure.
A skyrocket takes time from the moment it's launched until the last burst of its color fades. As the rocket sails skyward, the crowd has time to exclaim “Ooh!” Then as it explodes in a burst of trails of color, the crowd has time to exclaim, “Ahh!” From launch to fadeout takes a few seconds. Your exposure, therefore, should be long enough to capture part, or all, of this time consuming progression. How long should your exposures be? At least one second long, some two seconds, and some even longer.

There’s another reason for a time exposure. As bright as fireworks look to us against a dark sky, they are not so bright that most films can record them in a blink of an eye. If you were to set your exposure for, say, 1/500th, not only will the lens be open for only a moment of the rocket's progression, but the exposure may also be too brief to record any image at all! With 100 ISO or faster film, a one-second exposure should be enough.

2. Solid Platform. Regardless of your camera, the second requirement is a solid platform to hold the camera motionless during the time exposure. This is pretty much a need for all time-exposure photography. The best platform Is a tripod. It provides a solid, easy-to-carry base on which to hold the camera still for an extended exposure. All SLRs and most point-and-shoots have a threaded opening on their baseplate that permits you to attach the camera to a tripod. A tripod is just the beginning. You also want the camera to be as vibrationless as possible during the exposure. Since pressing the shutter button can cause the camera to shake, you avoid this by using a cable release. The cable release enables you to press the shutter button without touching the camera directly.

If you don’t have a tripod handy, don’t give up. Try placing your camera on a makeshift solid platform, such as a fence post, a railing, or a wall. None of them is as steady or convenient as a tripod, but they’re much better than hand-holding.

A word of warning: If you are on a rocking boat, your tripod or the ship's rail or whatever you use as a "platform" will rock along with the boat. Result: In your time-exposure the firework color-streaks will come out rocking and wavy instead of straight. This may be interesting modern art - though we doubt it! - but it's definitely not good firework photography. It won't look right! Our advice: If you are on a rocking boat, don't bother to photograph the fireworks. It's a waste of time. Find crowd shots and other subjects for your lens.

Now to a few specifics:  
Which way should you hold the camera?   If you’re going to capture the rocket’s upward trail and the blast, a vertical orientation is called for. If you’re zooming in for the burst of color, horizontal may work better. In other words, use both, depending on your particular situation and goals.

What focal-length should you use?  If you have a choice, go for a “normal” or slightly wide-angle lens. Since your position relative to the rocket bursts will determine the exact focal length, use this as your guide: You want the frame of your image to extend so that it includes a good bit of the foreground in the bottom (more on this in a moment) and “headroom” above the topmost firework trails. Chances are you'll need at least your normal and possibly a wide-angle setting for this.

What aperture should you use?   You might think that because the sky is so dark you need a wide aperture. Just the opposite is true. Remember, your objective is not to record the dark sky except as background. You want to record the intensely bright streaks of color. Were you to use a wide open aperture during your time-exposure, you would probably overexpose the colors. Result: They would “burn out” and lose coloration. To intensify the color, therefore, use a smaller aperture like f/8, or f/11, or even f/16. Which you use depends upon the speed of your film and the intensity of the color bursts. We suggest you bracket your shots, using different apertures.

Where should you set focus?   Set your lens for infinity. If your camera is an autofocus model, it will work, maybe, but not as fast as you’d like and certainly not as fast as a lens set at infinity in manual mode.

What film should you use?   Any film you ordinarily use will work. Grain is not a problem in this type of image. I recommend that you use 100, 200, or 400 ISO. The important point is that you don't need a very fast film; in fact super-fast films may overexpose the firework display. And very slow films-Velvia, for example-may not be sensitive enough to capture the display. (Remember, while your shutter will be open for a second or more, the actual appearance of the “rockets red glare” will last only a fraction of a second in any one place.)

How many frames should you shoot?   Expect to shoot plenty! Every burst is beautiful and you can't predict which one will be the best. Be prepared to change rolls of film quickly and in the dark. Practice! My advice, burn lots of film.

How do you set your camera for a long shutter speed and small aperture at the same time? On most cameras, switch to the manual exposure mode. Set the aperture to the f-stop you want (or bracket around the one you’ve chosen). Set the shutter speed to the ‘B’ setting, that stands for ‘bulb.’

Now, there's an additional step to consider that can take your pictures out of the ordinary and make them extra-special. The burst of a skyrocket, by itself, is pretty. But it's not particularly interesting. What can you do to add interest? Consider including a statue in the foreground, with the fireworks framing it. Or silhouettes of the onlookers to give a sense of location to your picture. Or a tree. Or a building. Or a bridge. Or a skyline. Or... you fill in the blanks. The important thing is that your image include some interesting foreground objects-perhaps, framed within the fireworks display.

One trick you may want to try is to use flash, built-in or accessory, to light the foreground object. Let's say you want to capture the crowds of people in the foreground, but they are in the dark. How can you add light to the heads during your exposure? Your flash can do the trick. Keep the camera on manual exposure control. Set up on the tripod as already explained. But in this case, focus on the people instead of infinity. With a wide angle lens the fireworks, even at infinity, will probably be within your depth of field. If not, the fireworks may not be sharply in focus, but this lack of sharpness is probably acceptable because the fireworks are streaks of light and color, rather than detailed objects.

There's one more “trick” for you to consider. Why limit yourself to just one explosion? Try keeping your shutter open long enough to capture the glow of a few fireworks, one after the other. To do this, experiment with longer exposures—10 seconds, 20 seconds, and even longer. You can get some dazzling results! Just hold your hat, or some other opaque object, in front of the lens between the bursts of color.

The bottom line(s) at this kind of shoot: have fun, shoot lots of film, and experiment with all sorts of different techniques. you never know what you’ll get; and isn’t that one of the joys of photography?