IPHONE AND ANDROID TIPS:
- Use a tripod.
This eliminates shaky hands so you can get a good quality picture. Tripods are actually fairly cheap and worth the investment. You can also plug your headphones into your iPhone to take pictures to avoid touching your phone.
- Flash off
Turn the flash off and use HDR mode. Flashes are only useful to illuminate something a few feet in front of the camera. Since fireworks are so bright, you don’t need to use the flash. HDR mode will allow your phone to take a series of pictures with different exposure levels and combines those pictures into one photo which results in a more vivid picture. Take pictures with and without HDR on to get the best results.
- Landscape mode
Use landscape mode to get a wider range.
- Don’t use the digital zoom
You can always go back later and crop the image down to rid the picture of hands, trees, or other objects in the picture. Digital zoom can sometimes make the image blurry.
- Less exposure is better
Decrease the exposure or brightness. This will allow you to take a picture of a firework without overexposure. You can lock the focus on iPhone using AE/AF lock, and adjust the exposure by sliding your finger down on the yellow box.
- Disable the ‘Review Pictures’ setting for Android users
Usually, after you take a picture, your phone will automatically display the photo. Since fireworks are quick, turning this off will allow you to take more pictures.
- Take the picture
You could also experiment with live pictures and burst photos. To take a burst photo, hold down on your shutter.
Most photographers will take hundreds of pictures just to get a few good ones. If you’re not totally satisfied with the pictures you’re taking, play around with the exposure or try other settings. You might also want to try using slow motion, time-lapse, or panoramic to capture cool firework effects.
