How To Take Better Campfire Photos

With camping season right underway, you might want to sharpen your camera skills to document those fire-time moments.

I know personally, our family tries to have "fire time" once a month. It really makes my kids appreciate the simpler things in life. It slows us down as a family. Sometimes we cook over the fire. Sometimes, we just roast marshmallows. And sometimes, much to our neighbor's delight- we sing songs and play music.

Either way- we enjoy having quality time together as a family.

Learn these simple tricks to help you take better photos (with your DSLR mostly)

I usually use my trusty 50mm 1.4 (Nikon and Canon have a wonderful 50mm 1.8 version for under $200) You will need a prime lens to be shooting in the dark, so you will NEVER regret buying one!

Right before it get's dark, when the sun is low- it's a really good time to get the fire and the dark sky in the background.

This is one separates a good prime lens (like a 50mm) from a kit lens. The prime lens can do down on the aperture (the opening of the lens) to allow A LOT of light into your camera, without sacrificing image quality and shutter speed.

I had my shutter speed at only 1/80. I probably could have done it lower, but I didn't want camera shake or a lot of blur. Therefore, I had to up my ISO to 1000 or higher. But with a tripod, you can go even lower on shutter speed.

I had my husband shine his headlamp on my niece here. It made for a poorman's off-camera flash effect.

Here is the first image- using ISO 400. It's so dark! The second image was taken at ISO 1250. The more ISO you use, the more you risk your image quality! So lower that shutterspeed if you have to! And get that aperture down to as low as it can go!

How To Take Better Campfire Photos

Christal

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