Abstract Firework Photography

Abstract Firework Photography

The new year is right around the corner, making this an optimal time to brush up on your firework photography skills. However this time, lets do something a bit different, lets focus more on ‘Abstract firework photography’, where you are not trying to show exactly what the fireworks looked like, you want to be using them as raw material to create shapes, textures, and motion that feel closer to painting than photography.

A Different Approach

Most people shoot fireworks trying to be precise, so perfect timing, as sharp as possible, frozen motion etc. Abstract firework photography flips that completely. You want to embrace things like blur instead of sharpness, motion instead of precision, overlap instead of isolation, colour and rhythm instead of clarity.

Core Techniques That Make It Abstract

Defocusing on Purpose

This is a technique I already wrote about a few months ago. Instead of focusing at infinity you pull focus slightly (or a lot) out of focus (if you haven’t read my detailed guide, just google ‘‘defocused firework photography’’ and you will find great in depth explanations).

How to do it (a quick recap/introduction):

• Switch your lens to manual focus

• Start focused normally at infinity

• Slowly turn the focus ring back toward closer focus

• Watch the fireworks in live view as you do this

You will see a clear progression:

• Slight defocus means → fireworks look soft but still readable

• More defocus → the bursts turn into glowing discs

• Heavy defocus → pure colour blobs and overlapping shapes

Also keep in mind that every lens behaves differently, so if you have multiple, test early in the night.

An advanced defocusing technique:

→ Pull focus during the exposure. So, you start sharper → slowly defocus; Or you start defocused → slowly bring it closer to sharp

This creates shots that feel like they are melting or morphing as the burst expands.

Long Exposures with Multiple Bursts

With this technique you let multiple fireworks happen inside the same exposure and then stack on top of each other.

How to do it:

• You want to be using bulb mode or a fixed shutter between 2–5 seconds

• Open the shutter just before a burst starts

• Keep it open through multiple explosions

• Close it once the frame feels “full enough”

A couple exposure control tips:

• Use f/8–f/16 to avoid blowing out highlights

• If things get too bright, stop down instead of shortening the exposure

What this will give you:

• Overlapping shapes

• Colour interactions between bursts

• And most importantly, fireworks stop being individual events and become a collection of texture

Intentional Camera Movement (ICM)

Another technique I covered in the past (but that was quite a while ago + not specifically for fireworks). ICM works with fireworks, because they are already isolated points of light against a dark background, meaning they respond incredibly well to camera movement.

How to do it:

• Use a shutter speed between 1–4 seconds

• Start the exposure

• Move the camera deliberately (in different motions) while the shutter is open

Different movements will give you different results:

• Vertical movement → long streaks, looks like light rain or energy beams

• Horizontal movement → smeared layers

• Circular motion → spirals and vortex looking shapes

• Diagonal movements → gives more aggressive, chaotic energy

You can also:

• Move for the entire exposure

• Move only at the start or end

• Pause briefly and then move again

→ Each variation will change the results.

Zoom Blur

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