Fireworks

Featured in Freeman's The Photographer's Eye Field Guide, this Brooklyn holiday skyline was taken with focal length 35mm and ISO 100. (Photo: Business Wire)

Are you planning to photograph this year's Fourth of July fireworks displays?

Take some advice from international photographer, Smithsonian magazine lead photographer and Focal Press photography book author Michael Freeman. Freeman offers his Fourth of July photography advice below:

1. Anticipate the action: Research when the show begins, ends, and how high the fireworks will be. Secure an unobstructed view by arriving early, and then consider the background and foreground of your shot. Try different zooms or interchangeable lenses, and experiment with buildings to give scale and anchor to your shots. Use the first few bursts to finalize your lens, focal length and framing.

3. No tripod? Find a solid surface at head or waist height with an unobstructed view. Use something soft to balance your camera. A Ziploc bag filled with beans or rice will hold your camera steady once you've pressed it down firmly. Read more