Ideally, it pays to use a camera that offers some level of manual control over the settings. That way, you can dial in the best exposure, aperture and focus settings to achieve the best results.
But you can still take good photos of a fireworks display no matter what kind of camera you have. Yep, even the iPhone!
If you own a fancy, expensive SLR camera, chances are you know what you're doing already. But if you don't shoot at night that often, or if you've never photographed fireworks, these tips should offer some guidance.
Use the slow shutter speed.
This will ensure you see bright “trails" in your fireworks pictures as the flaming particles spread out and begin to fall toward the ground, burning light into the image.
Get a tripod.
Leaving the shutter open means that you'll need to stabilize your camera in order to avoid any motion blur. And taking crisp, long-exposure night shots while trying to hold a heavy SLR steady with your hands is next to impossible. Find a tripod, a monopod or, at the very least, a flat, stable surface to hold your camera perfectly still.
Get a shutter release cable.
These cables -- flexible and hollow with a spring-loaded plunger inside -- will let you depress the shutter mechanism without having to touch the camera at all, thus reducing any possible blur.
(Note that modern DSLRs/SLRs tend to have specialized shutter release cables- the old screw in type doesn't work.)
Set the ISO to it's lowest setting.
This will reduce graininess and noise that can be introduced by higher ISO settings. With film cameras, C-41 print film has much better dynamic range then slide film, so it's more forgiving of over/under exposure.
Dial in a low f/stop.
Somewhere between f/8 and f/16 is ideal.
Set Focus to infinity.
Also, be sure to turn off any auto-focus settings if your camera has them. If possible, focus on the 'hyperfocal' distance- this is the point at which infinity is at the edge of your depth of field, so you get as much as possible of the foreground in focus.
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