Kodak publishes a book,
Existing-Light Photography, which contains a wealth of information on exposure settings for many low light situations. The exposure table from this book is also available in a free, downloadable PDF file, available
here. The table can also be viewed on the html web page.
You will need to use manual settings as no camera's auto focus nor exposure will be able to read the conditions. Set the focus manually to infinity.
I use the Kodak recommendation for ASA 100: f/8 aperture with the "B" shutter speed (if available), or any sufficiently long exposure. With B (bulb) the shutter will open when you press, and will remain open until you release. With a dark sky you can leave the shutter open to capture several bursts in the picture - if you desire. Shutter speed is not critical because aerial fireworks are fast moving pinpoints of light that will photograph as streaks. If you use apertures that are too wide for a given ASA, the light streaks will appear wide and overexposed. Some fireworks are brighter than the average. You cannot compensate in advance for these. So some pictures will end up over exposed, but occasionally they are interesting. For stationary, ground fireworks a fast shutter speed is required, Kodak's suggestion: 1/30 second f/2.8 for ASA 100.
To combine fireworks with skylines, you do not want to leave the shutter open too long or short because the buildings will become over or under exposed. Consult the Kodak tables which have the following skyline suggestions for ASA 100:
10 minutes after sunset: 1/60 second, f/2.8
distant view of lighted buildings at night: 2 second, f/2
We need to adjust these exposures to use f/8 (to prevent overexposure of the fireworks). The apertures need to be 3 and 4 stops smaller respectively, so the shutter speeds need to be 3 and 4 stops longer. Equivalent exposures would be:
10 minutes after sunset: 1/8 second, f/8
distant view of lighted buildings at night: 32 seconds, f/8
I have used both of these settings with good results. You might want to bracket these shutter speeds as skies and skylines vary in brightness.
Since you are close to these, the fireworks at the Empire State Plaza in Albany NY begin earlier than most shows, at 9:15 pm. The sky is still fairly bright, and the buildings do photograph well with the early fireworks (assuming clear skies). 9:15 is more than 10 minutes after sunset. I believe I have started with 1/4 sec f/8. And then used 1/2 and 1 second before switching to B for the remaining shots. The lights in the plaza buildings are off during the show, so I did not use the "lighted buildings at night" setting.
A tripod and cable release are helpful to hold the camera steady. If you do not have a tripod or steady surface to rest the camera, hand held pictures will appear jerky. An alternative is to go with the flow, and move the camera in slow and rolling patterns. This can produce some "artsy" pictures. I often do this with a ball head tripod - just to get some variety in some of my photos.
To minimize the effects of lingering smoke look for a position where there is a cross wind.
Zoom lenses will be very helpful to make quick adjustments in framing.
Have fun and enjoy the shows.
