Hope you all had a wonderful fourth of July weekend! :)
This fourth of July, I decided to go out and finally take some fireworks photos of my own so that I wouldn’t have fomo looking through everyone’s instagram feed. I feel like it’s been a few consecutive years where I told myself I would go, but when it came down to it, I was lazy and didn’t want to deal with the crowds.
We were originally going to head to Green Valley Ranch’s Fireworks show for Las Vegas locals, but after seeing the line of cars turning off the exit, we decided to secure our own private spot. We did a lot of walking and climbing hills in flip flops through dark, unfamiliar territory.
And we also almost got struck by lightning. We could see the storm getting closer and closer to us and we happened to be at a high point with metal tripod. No biggie. BUT this made it all worth it:
I don’t know how many times I’ve attempted to take lightning photos. Seriously, every time we happen to chase a storm, the minute I take my finger off the trigger is when I would miss the lightning strike. This time it practically fell into my lap. Though it was kind of a fail for getting good close up shots of fireworks photos, there’s always next year! :)
A few basic tips if you actually want to learn to take lightning / fireworks photos:
- Use a tripod (we use this one). Instead of a tripod, you can also get a beanbag or make your own, find whatever else that will stabilize your camera!
- Use the bulb setting with a shutter release (this is the one we use) – meaning the shutter will be open for however long your trigger is pressed.
- Bring appropriate lenses. Really depends on how far you are from the fireworks, but from our viewpoint, I probably would have used our 70-200mm.
- Look up the weather. We quickly realized that it’s safest to wait for the storm to pass and photograph it as it’s going away.
Some additional resources on how to take fireworks photos:
- Taking Pictures of Fireworks via Nikon (Sorry, Canon, your site is just no fun to read)
- How to Take Fireworks Photos with Your Phone via Gizmodo
- How to Take Photos of Fireworks that Don’t Completely Suck via Mashable
Some additional resources on how to take lightning photos:
- How to Photograph Lightning from Start to Finish via PetaPixel
- How to Photograph Lightning via Nikon
- How to Photograph Lightning via B&H Photo Video
Anyone else wanna be a storm chaser?! What’s one thing that you’ve been dying to try to photograph?
Linking up with Treat Yo Self with TreasureTromp today. This is my gratitude post for week 43. 9 more weeks to go! Click the banner below to see other gratitude posts:
