Photo tips for the 4th of July
Wed Jul 2, 2008 11:32AM EDT
See Comments (60)
Friday is the day you get off work to grill meat and watch fireworks explode (oh, and celebrate Independence Day), and that means the camera shutters will be snapping like crazy.
But taking a good picture of your BBQ ribs or a girandole isn't quite as simple as just pointing your camera and pushing the button. Here are five sites full of tips for taking perfect pictures on the Fourth of July and throughout the summer.
Digital Photography 101 with Ritz - Use Natural Outdoor Light to Your Advantage - Best tip: People (especially kids) squint when the sun is in their eyes. To keep eyes open, keep the sun behind your subject (though I'll add that it can be difficult to keep faces out of shadow this way), or better yet, shoot in the morning or evening when the sun isn't as harsh.
Digital Photography School - How to Photograph Fireworks Displays - Best tip: Use a tripod, and set the aperture setting to somewhere in the range of f/8 to f/16 for the best results.
Your Photo Tips - How to Photograph Amazing Fireworks - Best tip: If you're near water, include the surface of the lake/pool/ocean in the shot to capture some cool reflections.
Kodak - Photographing Fireworks - Best tip: Film a sequence of shots using burst mode, so you capture a series of pictures encompassing an explosion from start to finish.
National Geographic - Action and Adventure Photography Tips - Best tip: When photographing action shots (like the annual three-legged race), planning is everything. Stake out a good position to frame your shot properly well in advance so you don't end up with a technically great and perfectly-exposed shot... of everyone's backside as they run away from you.
See also: How to Photograph Fireworks
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Comments on Photo tips for the 4th of July
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47 Posted by mr_scayf on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:28PM EDT Report Abuse
Rather than keeping the sun at their backs, how 'bout shooting them in the shade, say, under a tree? You get better results using diffused light instead of the flat look from a flash.
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48 Posted by b.phat12 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:00PM EDT Report Abuse
wow!!that is beautiful ...but it looks like it is going to rain i would hate a fourth of july all rainy and don`t get to see fireworks.
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49 Posted by kerry_shoemaker on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:49PM EDT Report Abuse
I might add you should use a very slow shutter speed to capture several bursts on one frame of film.
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50 Posted by lakersmvpraiders on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:56PM EDT Report Abuse
its my birthday =)
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51 Posted by groundman2570 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:13PM EDT Report Abuse
Happy 4th of July!
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52 Posted by c_williams83 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:33PM EDT Report Abuse
I agree with these tips another suggestion is to lengthen the shutter speed, (maybe 10-15 seconds) and close the f- stop a little (darker) you will still need a tripod. what this will do when its dark out side it will stream the fireworks and multiple firework explosions can be seen on one picture (awesome). i almost gaurantee that the sample pic above was a shutter speed of 1-3 seconds and apature setting between f2-f5 also the pic was taken when it wasent fully dark. maybe +10-15 minutes of sundown? (gives it a fantasy look)the longer shutter speed enhanced the ground lights and the twilight of the afterlight of the sun. also i recommend on digital cameras use the lowest ASA/ISO speed possible (may have to compensate for darkness) but the pic will be less grainy. same recommendations with film SLR's lower film speed. Great Pic!
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53 Posted by everclear_rockstar4 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:56PM EDT Report Abuse
These are terrible tips.
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54 Posted by smile4jesus12 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:28PM EDT Report Abuse
thanks for the pic tips! I'll use em tonight!
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55 Posted by atsuroku on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:59PM EDT Report Abuse
Honestly photography where the sun is in the background doesn't come out great...but i'm sure everyone knows that anyway. So, maybe take pictures where the sun is on the side, so it's not directly in the subject's face(s)?
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56 Posted by honda_mom2006 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:20PM EDT Report Abuse
GOD BLESS AMERICA THANK YOU TO ALL OUR TROOPS WHO MAKE THE 4TH EVEN WORTH CELEBRATING! HEY HERE'S A TIP: INSTEAD OF A FIREWORK, TAKE A PIC OF A SOLDIER!!!!! HOOAH!
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57 Posted by kgs1947 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:50PM EDT Report Abuse
The Fourth is almost over...8:45 pm east coast. And, you're just putting this bit of information up now?????
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58 Posted by tigger_tag1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:10PM EDT Report Abuse
hey rosa, get a life. Go to the right site for your discustig pics. not here. U should be locked up
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59 Posted by treyratcliff on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:21PM EDT Report Abuse
Hey Yahoo... This is my photo of the Fireworks on your page here (This is Trey Ratcliff). It's okay that you use it because it is on Flickr as creative commons... but: a) You should link to my photo tutorial on stuckincustoms dot com since the title of the article is Photo Tips b) You should link the photo to it's flickr page.
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60 Posted by carebear92wi on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:18PM EDT Report Abuse
the advice about photographing fireworks were great. This was the first year I was able to use a tripod, and I had enough time to try to figure out the f stops on my camera. The results were fantastic and they were a lot better then my attempts last year.
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46 Posted by brianvitalearth on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:13PM EDT Report Abuse
Seriously? Back to the sun... ?? Between f8 and f16? Why don't you just tell us to make sure the camera is on? brilliant, really. If you're going to put ur subjects' backs to the sun you better have a good flash to illuminate their front side and faces.