By Luke Hollister

Evergreen photo editor

1. Fireworks can be hard to photograph. If you are having a hard time, try taking a video instead. Then when you are finished you can go through and screenshot your favorite frames.

2. When photographing streams of light like camp fires or fireworks, try lowering your shutter speed and widening your aperture. This will create a motion blur affect.

3. Once you have got the hang of motion blur photography try using sparklers to write words or make shapes. Most DSLRs will allow you to lower your shutter speed to at least 15 seconds. Make sure you only do this at night or your photo will turn out over exposed.

4. Remember when your friend accidentally blew themselves up with a firework? Make sure to have your camera out this time.

5. If you are serious about photographing fireworks, try experimenting with different lenses. My personal preference would be a 70-200mm lens, allowing me both zoom and wide angle shots.

6. Camping on the beach? Make sure you keep your camera away from sand. The tiny particles can easily get inside of your lens and stop it from working.

7. You will probably be shooting a good number of your photos at night, so be sure to keep your ISO low enough to avoid grain in your images.

8. As an important reminder, be sure to take pictures of your meal before you eat it. It would be a shame if you forgot.

9. Looking to get creative? Try messing around with out of focus photos. This puts more of an emphasis on color and can create a beautiful looking blurred background. It is also an easy way to photograph fireworks.

10. Using a tri-pod does not just help you stablize your pictures but also can improve photos in low light.

11. If taking pictures of fireworks is too hard, try creating a gif instead. Fireworks can make great gifs.