Taking a photo that re-creates the beauty of a fireworks show is difficult.
Minnetrista photographer John Haug says the more you practice and experiment, the better. Haug took his award-winning photo, “Sound and Light Show,” last year at Surfside Park during the Spirit of the Lakes Festival in Mound. He used his Canon 7d camera. The snapshot took first place in the Activities & Events category of our 2015 Lens on Lake Minnetonka photo contest.
“I find it kind of fun to just try to get the action and the fireworks,” he says. “Anyway, it turned out quite well.”
Haug explains that he set up his camera on a tripod and used a slow shutter speed, “but then you want to drop the aperture opening down to next to nothing.” The other secret to this photograph? A remote shutter release, he says. The photographer can stand away from the camera, and they can also determine the length of the exposure.
“By holding the exposure open, you’re getting multiple fireworks that look like they’re happening at the same time,” explains Haug. “But they’re really not happening at the same time; they’re all within seconds of one another.” We ooh’ed and ah’ed over this photo, and we know our readers will, too.
Submissions for our 2016 Lens on Lake Minnetonka photo contest are being accepted next month!
