Tips to taking the perfect fireworks picture this Fourth 7/2/2009 11:59 PM
By HALEY HUGHES Staff writer
The photos you snap of fireworks this weekend can be great with the right know-how.
Fireworks displays, whether they are sparklers in your backyard or are on the same scale as NBC Augusta's RiverBlast, can be as spectacular on film as they are in person with a little bit of fine-tuning of your digital camera.
If your camera is a newer digital point-and-shoot, there may be a fireworks setting you can enable, which could produce some fairly good results.
Or you can consider these tips:
First and foremost, you need a tripod to ensure your camera is steady for those perfect shots, said Chris Lydle, owner of Chris's Camera Center.
A stationary camera is a must since you will also be using a longer shutter speed, which is especially important to capture the movement of the fireworks.
An unsteady camera using a longer shutter speed will get the fireworks fine but will also get the movement of the camera itself, which can blur the picture.
A wide-angle lens is important to provide a larger portion of the sky.
"Set it to a long exposure using the camera's adjustable shutter speed," Lydle said. "I recommend two seconds."
This should be done on a camera with a manual mode setting, said Aiken photographer and USC Aiken professor Ginny Southworth. An automatic mode would risk inaccurate exposures.
If the camera has a "bulb" setting, Southworth suggests trying that as well, along with setting the lens opening or "f-stop" to f8.
The "bulb" feature opens the shutter, and it will remain open as long as the shutter release button is held.
That can provided spectacular photographs during an extended fireworks display.
Also, check your camera's light/dark setting. The button to check is a plus and minus sign.
"Set it all the way to dark so the night sky is black and the fireworks are color streaks," Lydle said. "Turn your flash off. It's the icon with a lightning bolt and what looks like a no parking sign."
Southworth recommends turning setting the ISO as low as 100 or 200. The ISO determines a camera's light sensitivity.
The lower setting is ideally used to capture overly bright scenes and can provide a higher quality image with less "noise" - the equivalent of grain in film photography.
Senior writer Rob Novit contributed to this article.
Notice about comments:
AikenStandard.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. AikenStandard.com does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not AikenStandard.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website.
0