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By Jennifer, December 3, 2012 9:24 pm

On Saturday night, I photographed a totally fun Christmas party for the Wasser Family. This was the 25th year in a row that they have done a Christmas party to celebrate with their friends. So, this one was special for them. They set up a fun background with stringed lights behind white fabric with some silver trees and champagne for photographing couples as they arrived. Later during the party I printed the portraits and put them into cardboard ornament frames for the Wassers to give their guests as gifts. Unfortunately, I didn’t think of it at the time, but I should have photographed the printed images in their frames once they were complete so I could show you how smashing they were. The prints were a big hit. There was also some great food, a live singer, and some super cute elves to greet guests and take their coats. A great time was had by all!

The Wassers

The Elves

Party Food

Champagne

The Crooner

Party Time

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By Jennifer, June 30, 2010 10:05 am

So, I made recent inquiries (to the Loudoun Photo Club and on Twitter) for tips on photographing fireworks since July 4th is quickly approaching. I thought I would consolidate the advice I received into this post, test it out, and then show the resulting photos from this weekend in a future post. Thank you to all who sent your suggestions! Feel free to add more to the comments.

• Use a tripod to keep the camera steady.
• Get to the display early to find the best vantage point.
• Consider having foreground or background elements in the image as they make the scene more interesting and add scale.
• Use manual focus and focus on an object close to where the fireworks will be set off from.
• Plan to take lots of photos and delete about 75% of them.
• Set shutter speed to “bulb” mode. This allows you to keep the shutter open while you press the button and the shutter won’t close until you release the button.
• Use a remote or cable release instead of the on-camera button to prevent camera shake.
• Open the shutter when the rocket starts it’s flight and close as the firework explodes so there is not a gaping black whole in the center of the firework. Should be about 2 seconds, but can range from 1/2 second to 5 seconds. Keep the shutter open longer to have multiple bursts in one image, but not too long or you’ll end up with “big blobs of light.”
• Most recommended setting the aperture to f/8, but the suggested range was anywhere from f/8-f/11.
• Set White Balance to Tungsten.
• Set ISO to 200.

One person recommended this page and which seems to have some good information: http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-fireworks

Have a very happy and safe Independence Day!

UPDATE: Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to photograph any fireworks this year. So, I’ll have to wait until next year to try out these techniques.

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By Jennifer, December 25, 2009 10:27 pm

May your holidays be filled with the joy of Jesus! Have a very merry Christmas!

Pretty Christmas Ornament

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By Jennifer, July 6, 2009 7:06 pm

This weekend my husband, Nick, and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary by spending the weekend in Norfolk. We enjoyed a dinner cruise and fireworks from a cruise boat, a festival in the city, and an afternoon at Virginia Beach. It was a great time! You can view the rest of their photos here.

July 4th

Boat Race in Norfolk

Boat Race in Norfolk

Fireworks