We hope you and your family are enjoying the Fourth of July weekend so far! Whether you’re celebrating up at your cottage, on the lake or staying home, we have some great tutorials to help you make the most of your holiday weekend.

Fireworks, sparklers and more!

Don’t miss our Drowning in Photos event - Drowning in digital chaos with every photo trip? Wave goodbye to the stress of multiple drives and lost images. Discover how to effortlessly sync, organize, and back up all your pictures across every device—sans costly clouds. Join Photofocus and Mylio Photos to transform your photo mess into an organized success. RSVP for game-changing tips on February 9.
Creating One-of-a-Kind Fireworks with Olympus Live Composite - Editor’s Note: We welcome Jamie MacDonald, an Olympus Visionary and Vanguard Pro living in Michigan. With a focus on nature and wildlife, Jamie says his motivations are to connect viewers to the emotional state he was in when his images were created. Learn more about Jamie and follow his adventures at jmacdonaldphoto.com or on Instagram. […]
Kids with sparklers is a great way to test exposure before the big fireworks display Fast & Easy Tips for Photographing Fireworks this Fourth of July - The fourth of July is my favorite holiday because of fireworks! I grew up in Lousiville, Kentucky and they have this event called Thunder Over Lousiville. It’s the kick-off event for the Kentucky Derby Festival. It is one of the nation’s largest annual fireworks extravaganzas. Since the first time seeing it, I have been obsessed […]
Seven tips to photograph fireworks and architecture - With summer comes national holidays (July 1 in Canada, July 4 in the US and July 14 in France) and fireworks. Chances are, many of you will be going to see fireworks and will want to photograph them. If you’re in a large city, it’s worth planning your shots to get some interesting architecture or […]
Four creative techniques for photographing fireworks - Fireworks photography is a great way to get your creative juices flowing. The traditional approach for shooting fireworks is to set your camera on a tripod and open the shutter for a few seconds while the fireworks explode. Last year I started experimenting with handheld fireworks photography to see what new looks I could create. […]
No fireworks to photograph this Fourth of July? - Around this time of year, we always see so many articles about how to photograph fireworks. What if you don’t like fireworks or they’re rained out, or possibly canceled? What else can you do to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday photographically? Flowers always work Next grocery store run, pick up a bouquet of flowers. […]
Get fired up for fireworks - Fireworks come but once a year for many of us. It calls for specialized settings in order to get the most out of our 30-40 minute opportunity each year. I know I’ve always got to go back and review the previous year’s camera settings in order to improve my crop of good ones each time […]
Portrait Tips: Sparkler portraits - Photographing fireworks is one of the most fun things you can do on the Fourth of July — but it’s also a great way to ruin your family’s fun. While everyone is trying to enjoy the show, you’re sitting there cussing at your camera and running around to get a different angle while your spouse […]

Take your photos to the next level

Don’t miss our Drowning in Photos event - Drowning in digital chaos with every photo trip? Wave goodbye to the stress of multiple drives and lost images. Discover how to effortlessly sync, organize, and back up all your pictures across every device—sans costly clouds. Join Photofocus and Mylio Photos to transform your photo mess into an organized success. RSVP for game-changing tips on February 9.
Finish Fireworks Photos in Lightroom! It’s Easy - Welcome to the morning after the night before when you shot all of those photographs of fireworks. If you are like me, you have at least a hundred or more waiting for you to do all of the post production work on them. This is not a mountain to climb. it’s a fun little molehill […]
Create Your Own Fireworks Grand Finale - Last weekend I spent time in Chicago for the Out of Chicago Conference. On my last night there, fellow author Levi Sim and myself hosted a photowalk for attendees. Our small group was able to check out the University Club, which overlooks Millennium Park, on Saturday night. And it was just in time for the […]
You photographed fireworks – now what? - We all love to get out to try and capture the spectacle of fireworks during the Fourth of July holiday. Sometimes we do better than others. And, sometimes we’ve done better than we thought. Let’s talk about some post-processing ideas. The Chicago skyline you see above was made the same basic time as the fireworks. […]

Want to try out Plotagraph Pro with your fireworks or sparklers photos? Click here to read Levi Sim’s tutorial, and learn more at plotaversepro.com.