This year I finally gave in and brought my tripod to the fireworks. I set it up at ISO 200, f/11, a 4 second exposure and manually focused to infinity. I just clicked the shutter remote anytime I thought there might be a firework or two in the area of the sky I had it pointing to, and enjoyed the show!
I wound up with some really spectacular shots and enjoyed the show a lot more than when I try to grab handheld shots through the viewfinder.
