I know many of us will be watching the brilliant blooms and bursts of fireworks tonight. They look so beautiful and symbolize celebration to people around the world. But how do people get those perfect fireworks pictures. It's not easy to take pictures of fireworks. They are bright, fast, and it's dark outside for cryin out loud! Here's a down-and-dirty lesson on how to get a great fireworks picture with your run-of-the-mill digital camera.

Fireworks Photography 101

• FOCUS! - Many digital cameras want to autofocus everything. So try using the Landscape mode (usually a mountain symbol on your camera).
• Quality Control - Use the highest quality setting, so "High Quality". Also use the highest megapixel setting you have so you can get all the detail.
• Tripod Tripod Tripod - This one is key. Your hand movements, no matter how slight, can ruin a great picture. Especially when you are photographing things that are so far away and happen so quickly. Bring it and use it or your fireworks shots could turn out to be big blurs of color.
• Exposure - Here's where things get complicated. If you have aperture settings you can really dial things in. I defer to the experts at the New York Institute of Photography...

You'll need to be able to control how long the shutter is open. For fireworks photos, I expose anywhere between 1 and 4 seconds. Shorter exposures don't always capture the full burst and longer exposures tend to produce washed-out results. Since the shutter speed must be long enough to record the explosion of the shell, I control the exposure by choosing the correct aperture size.

If you have a B (Bulb) shutter speed setting you can use it to control exactly how long your shutter is open. This is always my choice. The trick is to open the shutter right at the beginning of the burst and close it when it reaches its peak. Anticipating the explosion can be difficult, but not impossible. If you don't have a B setting you can choose a fixed setting, such as 1 second.

Using one of the suggested apertures listed below, you can use your preview to test and then compensate the aperture accordingly.

The aperture you use will be based on the ISO setting of your camera or film.

This chart will work with most digital cameras that allow you to set shutter speed and aperture. Most digitals are pre-set to an ISO of 100.

Good luck with the pictures tonight. Don't forget to sit the camera down for a minute and enjoy the show!

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