Day 186
Independence Day

Today is Independence Day in the United States. This federal holiday commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring the country's independence from Great Britain. 

Many of today's celebrations include picnics, parties, celebrations, singing, flags and ending with fireworks. There are many cities that provide extravagant fireworks displays! Our family prefers to keep it low key with home fireworks in our own driveway. 

If you want to try and photograph fireworks tonight, here are some tips:

  1. Use a tripod.

  2. Use a cable release or wireless remote to trigger the shutter if you have one (many cell phones have a feature that allows you to use them as a remote trigger)

  3. Choose a low ISO setting (start with about 200)

  4. Use a fairly narrow aperture at f/11.

  5. 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. You can then have control to expose for the entire fireworks burst.

  6. Turn off the autofocus and manually focus your lens to infinity if it has that feature.
Garnett

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