Fireworks are back! Large-scale spectacular displays are planned again for July 4th around the country. So get ready to ooh and aah; it’s going to be a real blast. However, capturing the incredible rockets’ red glare and exploding stars can be tricky with a smartphone, especially when there’s only a second or two to snap the perfect shot.
Never fear; a few tips and settings on your phone’s camera app can fine-tune and improve your chances of capturing the bursting drama in the evening sky.
Find the spot you plan to watch the fireworks display and take advantage of your surroundings. For example, try to position yourself to be near water where the reflection of the fireworks will add to the photo. You’ll want to make sure nothing is blocking your chance to take wide-angle shots encompassing a giant display of fireworks.
Pro Tip: Photographers often position themselves with the wind at their back so the smoke coming off the fireworks floats behind the display.
Use something to stabilize your phone. The most important thing to do when taking pictures at night is to keep the phone camera still. The best option is a mini tripod/extendable tripod stand (my pick here: CyberGuy.com/tripod) but the next best thing is to find a stable object like a tree limb, picnic table or street sign to balance your phone against for added stability. This small effort to take any wobble out of your shot can make a huge difference in the quality of photos.
Additionally, avoid zooming in as it will tend to make your image pixelated and grainy.
1) Turn off the flash
The newer your phone, the better it should perform at night, as a general rule. That shouldn’t stop you from turning off the flash so that it doesn’t accidentally get triggered when snapping fireworks.
Once you open your iPhone or Android camera, you’ll find the flash icon in the upper left-hand corner. Before you take your photo, if you click that flash icon, it will be forced off.
2) Adjust ISO
ISO allows you to adjust the camera’s sensor to light; however, to adjust this on your phone, you’ll need a 3rd party app to do this.
iPhone: 4.7 stars (at time of publishing)
Or VSCO: Photo & Video Editor
iPhone: 4.7 stars (at time of publishing)
Android: 3.4 stars (at time of publishing)
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3) Use Night Mode
If your phone camera has this feature, it will improve photos taken at night.
How to take a Night mode photo using your iPhone
For iPhone 11 and later models, Night mode automatically turns on when the camera detects a low-light environment.
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How to take a night-mode photo using your Android
(Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer.)
Samsung
Night mode employs multi-frame processing to merge 30 images, resulting in a single, vividly clear photograph. By harnessing the additional light captured by the camera sensors on your phone, your photos will showcase a heightened brightness and overall enhancement.
For other Androids try:
4) Use Burst Mode
This feature allows you to quickly shoot a burst of photos at once.
How to use Burst Mode on your iPhone
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Pro Tip: You can also press and hold the volume up button to take Burst shots. To enable this:
To delete the entire Burst, tap the thumbnail, then tap Delete. It will ask you to confirm that you want to delete the photos from the burst. Tap it.
How to use Burst Mode on your Samsung Galaxy
For other Androids try:
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After you’ve taken some amazing shots, the native editing features built in to your photos app can do wonders. One editing trick is to layer a few fireworks shots on top of each other to make one dramatic photo. Either way, getting familiar with these low-light camera settings in advance will make for incredible photos of the festive sky full of fireworks.
Have you tried any of these tips and settings for taking low-light and night photos with your iPhone or Android? Share your experiences and any additional tips you have for capturing fireworks or other nighttime events. Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
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