How To Take Photos Of Fireworks With Your Phone!
By 965koit on July 2, 2019
The evening of the 4th of July and the next morning are all cluttered with badly taken photos of fireworks. Why do we feel the need to capture pictures of frieworks? Because they are so pretty! Then we want to share those photos on social media but most of the time, they are TERRIBLE. Either the fireworks are super far away or they are all blurry and dull looking. Most people don’t have a professional camera on them at all times but they do have a phone. So how can you take photos that look great for social media with just your phone? They won’t be a good as professional pictures but these tips will help you make them better than your friends.
- Use a tripod! If you don’t have a tripod set your phone on something so that it doesn’t move while it’s taking the picture. If you jump on Amazon right now you could probably get one delivered to you before the fireworks start going off. The key is to keep your phone as still as possible!
- Turn off your flash. You wouldn’t think I would have to put this tip in here but I do. There is always that one person who forgets to turn off their automatic flash and blinds everyone in the darkness. And if you turned it on because you thought it would help, the fireworks are thousands of feet away… it won’t help.
- Adjust your camera settings. Some phones give you a ton of control of your phones camera. What you want to adjust if you can is the exposure time on the picture. Some phones will let you put it at 1 second, which is perfect for a cool firework photo. If you can’t adjust it in the phone there are apps that will give you more control over the your settings. Find one of those and download it now and practice so that you can be ready for the big night.
- Turn Off HDR. If your phone gives you the HDR option you should turn it off. What it does is takes several photos at the same time and combines them for the best photo. It doesn’t really work with things like fireworks so it won’t help.
- Don’t ZOOM! Zooming doesn’t do anything but make your picture blurry and grainy. Just find place to take the photo that looks good as it is without having to zoom in.
- Try Video. A lot of phones take amazing 4K video now. So set it on your tripod and record video in 4K and when it’s all done you can find a good clear picture to take a snapshot of in the video. Or even better, you can a GIF out of it.
Follow these tips and your photos will look great on social media. Everyone will ask you how you took such amazing photos and you can say “I don’t know, I’m just naturally talented.” But we’ll know the truth and it will be our little secret. Happy Snapping!
