Fireworks photography is a very special genre. Even though it’s not exceptionally complicated, there are a few rules you need to follow to get the best photos. Let’s take a look at them.

Surely you’ve seen a photo like this before—a night view of a big road in the city, full of light trails from passing cars. It looks like a very long exposure was used. But was it? There’s an alternative approach you can take that gives better control over the results.

This isn’t the first time we’ve written here about photographing fireworks. But it can’t hurt to review the basics and get inspired (with some fiery photos from Zonerama) before New Year’s Eve arrives—by that time you’ll be busy with preparations all day, and you won’t have time to study guides like this one.

Though photographers have a tendency to seek the prettiest sunshine, you can take impressive nighttime pictures too. Join me in exploring some examples, and you’ll get practical advice for getting the best night photographs too.

I can still vividly remember the first time I photographed fireworks. A group of friends and I were leaving from one of the housing high-rise complexes that ring the town just before the fireworks started at the dam lake, on our side of town, and during the first launches, we were standing at the edge of our neighborhood. Even though I had my tripod with me as well as a digital camera with zoom, it was still not enough.