How to photograph firework?

There will be a firework display at Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong on Oct 1 to celebrate the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. I have a ticket to one of the harbour front buildings and would like to take photos of the display.

What is the optimal lens and settings for taking firework display? Any other tips on firework photography is appreciated.

I like to evaluate a setting during daylight and select my lenses based on that. It's a question of how much you also want to frame into the photograph. You need to know pretty accurately where the fireworks will be launched from and their trajectory, but this scouting allows you to get really creative. An obvious possibility is to include iconic landmarks in the photo, but also look for creative opportunities from reflections such as the surface of the harbor and buildings with lots of glass. Silhouettes of people and buildings are good too.

After that it's a question of exposure settings, exposure duration and shooting strategies. I like to have at least two exposure combos preselected- a longer one for periods when fewer bursts are occurring and a shorter one for really active periods such as the "grand finale." It's easy to have too few or especially too many bursts in a single image. Too few and the image can look pretty staid, but too many and it will turn into a washed out smear. I like aperture/shutter speed combos that are just long enough to show some detail in the landscape, which not only aids in providing a "setting" for the shots, but also creates a better opportunity for the bursts to provide main illumination on the landscape while your base exposure "fills" the shadows. That starts with a conscious choice of ISO for the background exposure you want with the exposure combo you select.

All the while you want camera manipulation to be easy. My experience has shown that the easiest and surest way to account for all the extra illumination is to leave your aperture and ISO settings the same and use the B setting and remote shutter release to control how many bursts occur during an exposure. Since you're coming from no experience, watch your screen early on to get a feel for the effect of more or less bursts, and make adjustments in your exposure duration as you go along. You'll know right away when you're getting too many bursts, and in the case of few bursts you should be able to tell how your base exposure on the landscape is working out.

Hope that helps. One more strategy can provide really fascinating photos, but usually in a more controlled and known setting than you'll be dealing with- certainly something to watch for in anticipation of a repeat opportunity in the future. For large weddings and other contract events I'll carry a strobe with a remote trigger and its own tripod, then gel the strobe red. I place a subject, whether the newlyweds or my client or product in the setting in profile to where the bursts will occur. Then I shoot with the strobe set to illuminate the subject "watching" the bursts in profile while my overall setting and framing expose for the bursts. Depending on the contract and the desires of the client, I'll also move the strobe to a point in front of the subject but out of sight to augment the "rim" light on their silhouettes as they watch the display. It's all based on predetermined locations and careful setup, but results are worth the effort.

Thank Hank. Will go along and give this a go. This is very different to my usual close up work on insects and flowers.

Here is the firework display from tonight.

Nicely done! It's hard to get the blues, and you nailed it. I particularly like the way the display overlays the city, and you have just the right exposure for the city details.