Australia Day brings festivals, crowds, and fireworks to cities and towns across the country. It’s an excellent opportunity for photography if you’re prepared for the challenges. Here’s what I’ve learned from years of shooting these events.

Planning Your Day

Scout locations before the event day. Fireworks viewing spots fill early, and you want to know exactly where you’re setting up before crowds arrive. I check locations days in advance, noting viewpoints, backgrounds, and potential obstacles.

Arrive early—much earlier than you think necessary. For major fireworks displays, I’m setting up 2-3 hours before the show. This seems excessive until you see prime spots taken 90 minutes before the first rocket launches. Bring something to sit on and be prepared to wait.

Check event schedules and adjust your plans accordingly. Festivals, citizenship ceremonies, and community activities happen throughout the day. Knowing the timeline lets you capture diverse moments rather than just showing up for fireworks.

Weather forecasts matter more than usual. Wind direction affects where smoke from fireworks will drift. Clouds can either enhance or ruin fireworks shots depending on height and density. Check forecasts and have backup plans.

Daytime Event Photography

Crowds and celebrations present challenging shooting conditions. Bright Australian sun creates harsh shadows and highlights. People move constantly. Backgrounds are usually cluttered and distracting.

I shoot in aperture priority mode, f/4 to f/5.6, with Auto ISO. This combination provides enough depth of field for groups while keeping shutter speeds fast enough to freeze motion. ISO might push to 400-800 even in daylight, but that’s preferable to motion blur.

A 24-70mm zoom handles most daytime situations. It’s wide enough for environmental shots showing context and tight enough for candid portraits. I rarely change lenses during busy events—too much risk of missing moments or getting dust in the camera.

Capture reactions and interactions rather than just staged photos. Kids’ faces watching performances, families setting up picnics, volunteers running activities—these moments tell stories that generic crowd shots don’t convey.

Look for elevated positions. Even standing on a park bench provides clearer views over crowds. Shoot from stairs, hills, or raised platforms when possible. Perspective changes can transform ordinary scenes into interesting compositions.

Flag and Decorations

Australia Day brings out flags, face paint, and patriotic decorations. These elements add context and colour to images but can easily look cliched if that’s all you photograph.

Use flags as foreground interest or background elements rather than main subjects. A flag waving in front of a sunset or crowd works better than just photographing flags themselves.

Face-painted kids are cute but photograph them doing something interesting rather than just mugging for the camera. Capture them watching an event, playing with friends, or interacting with family. Context beats straight portraits.

Fireworks Photography

Fireworks require completely different techniques than daytime photography. You’re essentially shooting in near-darkness with brief, intense light sources.

Camera settings: Manual mode, f/8 to f/11, ISO 100-200, shutter speed 2-4 seconds. These settings capture multiple bursts in a single exposure while keeping individual explosions from blowing out.

A sturdy tripod is absolutely essential. You cannot handhold multi-second exposures. I use a cable release or 2-second timer to eliminate shutter button vibration. Every bit of stability matters.

Focus manually to infinity before the show starts. Autofocus won’t work in darkness, and you’ll miss shots fumbling with focus. Set focus on distant lights or the moon, then tape your focus ring in position with gaffer tape.

Use a wide to moderate zoom—16-35mm or 24-70mm. You want to capture substantial portions of the display, and fireworks fill more of the frame than you expect. Tight shots of individual bursts rarely work as well as wider compositions showing context.

Composition for Fireworks

Include foreground interest—cityscape, water, landmarks, or silhouetted people. Fireworks alone against black sky lack context and look generic. The best fireworks shots combine the display with recognizable location elements.

Water reflections double the visual impact when available. Sydney Harbour, Melbourne’s Yarra, Brisbane River—these locations offer spectacular reflected fireworks. Position yourself to capture both actual fireworks and their reflections.

Leave space in your frame for fireworks to burst. Start composing before the show begins, determining where bursts will likely appear. Fireworks typically launch from one location but spread across the sky as they explode.

Shoot vertical and horizontal compositions. Vertical frames work well for tall bursts and reflections. Horizontal frames capture wider displays and more foreground context. I shoot both and decide later which works better.

Advanced Fireworks Techniques

Multiple exposures or long single exposures create layered fireworks effects showing several bursts in one frame. Keep your shutter open for 15-30 seconds, covering the lens with a black card between bursts, then uncovering it during explosions. This technique requires practice but produces spectacular results.

Zoom burst effects during long exposures create dynamic streaking. Start zoomed tight, open the shutter, and smoothly zoom out during the exposure. This works better in theory than practice—it’s difficult to execute smoothly—but can create interesting effects.

Intentionally slight underexposure preserves firework colour and detail. Overexposed fireworks become white blobs losing all structure and colour. When in doubt, underexpose slightly.

Crowd Management

You’re shooting in crowded, excited conditions. People will bump into your tripod. Kids will walk in front of you. Others will try to set up in your carefully chosen spot. Accept this reality and adapt.

Be courteous to people around you. You don’t own the viewing area because you got there early. Let parents with kids get decent views. Help people find spots. Good karma matters more than perfect shots.

Protect your gear from bumps and theft. Keep bags between your legs or clipped to something secure. Don’t leave expensive equipment unattended while watching fireworks. It takes seconds for someone to grab a bag.

Watch for law enforcement and event staff instructions. If you’re told to move for safety reasons, move immediately without argument. No photograph is worth ignoring safety directives.

Post-Processing Fireworks

Fireworks images often need contrast and vibrance boosts in post-processing. The dark sky should be fully black, and firework colours should pop. Don’t be shy about strong adjustments—fireworks are already dramatic subjects.

Clone out distracting elements like power lines, signs, or lens flare if they detract from the image. Some photographers consider this cheating; I consider it presenting the scene as I experienced it rather than how the camera captured every detail.

Crop to improve composition. You can’t control exactly where fireworks burst, so you’ll often capture more frame than needed. Tight crops focusing on the best elements create stronger images.

The Bigger Picture

Australia Day photography is about documenting community celebration more than capturing perfect technical images. Yes, nail your exposure and composition, but don’t become so obsessed with camera settings that you miss experiencing the event.

I shoot for an hour or so, get what I need, then put the camera down and watch the rest with my family. The photographs matter, but so does being present for the celebration rather than viewing everything through a viewfinder.

The best Australia Day images convey atmosphere and emotion—the feeling of being there. Technical perfection matters less than capturing that feeling. Shoot with that goal in mind, and you’ll create images that resonate long after the fireworks smoke clears.