The Fourth of July provides a great opportunity to photograph fireworks.  The key to getting good pictures of your favorite pyrotechnics is to set a slow shutter speed and TURN OFF YOUR FLASH.  If you’re using a point and shoot, then look for the button that controls the flash - usually it is indicated by a lightning bolt - and press it until the flash is set to off.  Then, it’s mostly about timing.  Because most point and shoot cameras have a significant lag time between the moment you push the shutter release and the time the camera actually fires, you’ll have to anticipate the fullest “bloom” of the fireworks and depress the shutter BEFORE that moment.  If you happen to own an SLR, then the shutter issue is much less significant.  That’s my photo tip of the month!  Now, here are a few examples from our weekend…

By the way, we have the most awesome neighbors.  This spectacular show occurred three houses away from ours in the middle of our street.  It started a bit before 8 pm and lasted until 11 pm.  It’s a good time as all of our neighbors break out their lawn chairs and hang out together.

Here’s my boy in a ring of fire!  He really enjoyed playing with sparklers.

Happy Fourth of July!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 10:56 pm and is filed under My Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.