July 4th photo fun

For the 4th of July I, did what has become somewhat of a tradition, and took photos of the kids playing with sparklers, but not just any photos, these are long exposure and a flash at the end. Here is how I do it, there may be other ways but this seems to work best for me.

First I will explain how to do this using a SLR style camera, then I will expalin how to do something similar with a point and shoot.

For my DSLR camera first I go to my menu and find my custom functions settings (some point and shoot cameras have this as well, check your manual) and find "Shutter curtain sync" and set it to "2nd-curtain". As your camera takes the photo the first curtain opens to expose the image and the second curtain follows to close off the light when the exposure is complete, 2nd shutter sync means that the flash will fire just before the 2nd shutter closes (instead of when the first shutter opens, as is normal). This allows for movement thoughout the exposure and the flash at the end stops the motion. Next I set my camera to "Tv" or time priority mode (Tv on Canon) and I set my exposure time from 1/2 second to 2 seconds and let my camera do the rest. I have the kids swing the sparklers aroung and I take there pictures.

Now if you have a point and shoot camera that does not allow for a 2nd shutter sync then the next best way I have found is to set your camera to a long exposure, my wife has a Kodak easy share point and shoot and on it I go to the menu and use the "LT" setting (check your manual for your camera) and set it to 0.7 seconds, this will fire the flash first and then expose for the set time to allow for movement, the only problem with doing it this way is the person tends to not be as sharp because the movement comes after the flash.

Hope this helps, if you have any questions leave them in the comments or email me at camnlo4130@gmail.com

This is Charlie doing his Wolverine move, he has three sparklers, and just watched the first two X-Men movies this week.

If you want to see all of the 4th of July photos look HERE


Exposure: 0.4 sec (2/5)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/2 EV
Flash: Flash fired