People of Britain take heed. Please do not, repeat not, take your camera to an organised firework display. I know it's very tempting, but please don't do it. There's no point. You know it makes sense.
It's early November and there are a lot of organised firework displays about. Most of us will end up going to one, just because it's easier (and cheaper) than setting fire to £100 of gunpowder in one's own garden. And most of us will take a camera. It's quite hard not to take a camera to an event these days, because most mobile phones double up as portable megapixel devices. And it's quite hard to avoid whipping your camera out and taking pictures of things, because everybody takes photos of everything these days. If it moves - click. If it's pretty - click. If you've just happy-slapped a grandma - click. Honestly, we've become a nation of instinctive image-snapping addicts. But please try to resist.
Ah, see the lovely fireworks. They flash, they blaze and they sparkle, and they really are very pretty indeed. So, instinctively, you get your camera out and aim it at the sky. Bang! - click. Whoosh! - click. Ooooooh! - click. And everyone else in the crowd is doing the same. Lenses pointed skyward, clicking at the sky, desperately trying to capture some of the magnificent spectacle now visible in the heavens. But why? Firework photos rarely come out well. Firework photos are never as bright, dynamic and exciting as the real thing. They're two-dimensional smeary snapshots of a moment in time, and not in any way like watching a pyrotechnic drama unfold. Please don't bother.
I mean, why are you taking photographs of a firework display anyway? It's dark for a start, with only a few points of bright light across a black background. There's also that annoying time delay which means that the pretty explosion will be over before your camera reacts. And what are you going to do with these hundreds of photos afterwards? Stick them in an online gallery? Nobody cares you know. There are millions of firework photos online already, all pretty much the same, and nobody really wants to see yours. They'll add nothing to the global collection of firework photography, they're just be pointless internet clutter. Or maybe you intend to email your bonfire night snaps to some friends. Like they'll care. They've all seen fireworks before, and they'll not be interested in your splotchy digital canvases. Really, there's no point, so don't.
People of Britain, please refrain from waving your camera in the air for a full half hour - the unfortunate spectators stood behind you will appreciate that enormously. The whole point of a firework display is to experience the spectacle with your eyes. Not to stand there watching the whole event on a tiny glass screen. You'll end up so absorbed by the act of photography that you'll never get the opportunity to gawp upwards with due awe and wonder. Put your camera away in your pocket and leave it there, or better still just leave it at home. Aim your retina upward, not your artificial lens. Fill your memory with marvellous images, don't fill your memory card instead.
It's early November and there are a lot of organised firework displays about. Most of us will end up going to one, just because it's easier (and cheaper) than setting fire to £100 of gunpowder in one's own garden. And most of us will take a camera. It's quite hard not to take a camera to an event these days, because most mobile phones double up as portable megapixel devices. And it's quite hard to avoid whipping your camera out and taking pictures of things, because everybody takes photos of everything these days. If it moves - click. If it's pretty - click. If you've just happy-slapped a grandma - click. Honestly, we've become a nation of instinctive image-snapping addicts. But please try to resist.
I mean, why are you taking photographs of a firework display anyway? It's dark for a start, with only a few points of bright light across a black background. There's also that annoying time delay which means that the pretty explosion will be over before your camera reacts. And what are you going to do with these hundreds of photos afterwards? Stick them in an online gallery? Nobody cares you know. There are millions of firework photos online already, all pretty much the same, and nobody really wants to see yours. They'll add nothing to the global collection of firework photography, they're just be pointless internet clutter. Or maybe you intend to email your bonfire night snaps to some friends. Like they'll care. They've all seen fireworks before, and they'll not be interested in your splotchy digital canvases. Really, there's no point, so don't.
