Fireworks Photography Tips
- Use a tripod.
- Use a cable release or wireless remote to trigger the shutter if you have one.
- Turn on Long Exposure Noise Reduction.
- Shoot the highest quality file you can. NEF or RAW is ideal.
- Set the camera to a low ISO, such as 200.
- A good starting point for aperture is f/11.
- Instead of choosing a shutter speed, set the camera to Bulb (B) which allows you to keep the shutter open as long as you want. Expose for the entire fireworks burst. You can even keep the shutter open for multiple bursts.
- Turn off the autofocus otherwise, it might have difficulty locking onto focus. Manually focus your lens at infinity.
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]]>- Use a tripod.
This eliminates shaky hands so you can get a good quality picture. Tripods are actually fairly cheap and worth the investment. You can also plug your headphones into your iPhone to take pictures to avoid touching your phone.
- Flash off
Turn the flash off and use HDR mode. Flashes are only useful to illuminate something a few feet in front of the camera. Since fireworks are so bright, you don’t need to use the flash. HDR mode will allow your phone to take a series of pictures with different exposure levels and combines those pictures into one photo which results in a more vivid picture. Take pictures with and without HDR on to get the best results.
- Landscape mode
Use landscape mode to get a wider range.
- Don’t use the digital zoom
You can always go back later and crop the image down to rid the picture of hands, trees, or other objects in the picture. Digital zoom can sometimes make the image blurry.
- Less exposure is better
Decrease the exposure or brightness. This will allow you to take a picture of a firework without overexposure. You can lock the focus on iPhone using AE/AF lock, and adjust the exposure by sliding your finger down on the yellow box.
- Disable the ‘Review Pictures’ setting for Android users
Usually, after you take a picture, your phone will automatically display the photo. Since fireworks are quick, turning this off will allow you to take more pictures.
- Take the picture
You could also experiment with live pictures and burst photos. To take a burst photo, hold down on your shutter.
Most photographers will take hundreds of pictures just to get a few good ones. If you’re not totally satisfied with the pictures you’re taking, play around with the exposure or try other settings. You might also want to try using slow motion, time-lapse, or panoramic to capture cool firework effects.
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We only want to say, please be respectful when you are voicing your opinion. Understand that others may not agree with you. This doesn’t make them stupid, racist, or intolerant, it just means their opinion differs from yours. The odds of you being able to change their opinion are slim so don’t even try.
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Dr. Jennifer White with her pal
4 Items to Bring to Help Incorporate your Pet(s) into your Family Photos
If you are planning on bringing a pet to your session, we are more than happy to have you do that. We love furry friends and are always pleased to add them to our sessions! Here are some things you should remember to bring to ensure everything goes smoothly:
- A leash. This will help you keep your pet near to you and where you want him or her for photos. Be sure to bring a thinner leash, as they are easier to hide or edit out if necessary.
- A friend. Having someone come with you specifically to take care of your pet is ideal. This will help so that your pet is not running around all over the place or alone in the car, should you wish to take some photos without Fido.
- Treats are great bribery for your animal. It will help keep your pet still and focused on the camera.
- A favorite toy. The noisier the better. This is also a great tool to help keep your pet’s attention on me. We can also use it for a fun game and get some fun interaction shots.
You may or may not have noticed that all of our open availability for sessions are in the early morning at dawn or in the evening before sunset. We do have some daytime sessions available, but we prefer to shoot during what we call the “Golden Hours”. During these times, the lighting is absolutely perfect.
The perks:
- You get yummy light flares and beautiful soft light.
- There are no soft shadows or squinty eyes from the blinding sun at high noon.
- In the summer, the weather isn’t too hot, so you’re able to relax a little better knowing there isn’t sweat running down your face or making stains on your shirt.
- During Golden Hours, everything is warm and pretty and gives off a magical feeling.
- We can also get some sweet silhouette shots as the sun is coming up or going down on the horizon.
High School Class Reunions
If you’re on the fence about whether or not to hire someone to photograph your event, consider these reasons:
Let’s say the event is a family reunion and you want to get a group photo of the whole family. You could do it yourself, but one of two things could happen then. A) You have someone take the photo for you, leaving a family member out of the photo because they had to take it. This could possibly offend that person or make them feel awkward for being excluded. Or B) You set a timer on your camera. This can be problematic because there are so many people in the photo that you will need to take several images to make sure everyone is looking and has their eyes open. You will have to take two to three times as long to get the photos done because you’ll have to keep resetting the timer, and you still might not have gotten the shot. Hiring a professional will eliminate all of this stress.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to go around all night taking selfies with my phone or camera with all of my friends and family members. I would much prefer to relax and enjoy the moment instead of trying to capture it. The quality of the photos will be much better than the selfies. Also, trying to take a selfie with a group of people is next to impossible when trying to get everyone inside the frame.
If the event is a birthday party, you don’t want to miss out on visiting with guests or helping your child open presents or cut the cake because you are too busy trying to take the photos. You want to be part of the action, not stuck behind the camera.
Another great thing about hiring a professional is that you don’t have to worry about editing and distributing the photos after the event is over. You just have to wait to receive them from your photographer.
Finally, it’s really a gift to have well-lit photographs taken by a professional who will preserve the memory of your event. Those images are going to be cherished by everyone for a very long time to come.
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