How to take pictures of fireworks with your smartphone

The fireworks do little to adapt to the automatic functions of smartphones: night photos, very brief events, contrasts high … The quality of sensors has however greatly improved on the latest models and today it is quite possible to obtain a very good rendering with a few tips.

Find the right location

• Even if it is difficult to avoid the crowds, make sure you have enough space so that you do not have a head end or a branch oftree protruding in front of the lens throughout the show.
• Stay as far as possible from other sources of lighting (lamppost, sign of bar or restaurant, light panel).
• Position yourself with the vent in the From, so as not to be invaded by fumes after a few minutes. For the same reason, it is best to take as many photos as possible at the start of the show, when the sky is still clear.
• Think about the composition of the photo: a body of water will produce a reflection effect that can sublimate the fireworks.

Bring a tripod

Difficult to stay perfectly still while taking a photo, especially since night photos generally require a long exposure time (several seconds). To get sharp photos, it is therefore strongly recommended that you use a tripod on which to mount the phone.

There are small, easy-to-carry, foldable tripods that start at less than five dollars (put on a Wall or a guardrail) or fifteen euros (for models to be placed on the ground). Be careful to keep the phone straight. Some tripods even come with a Bluetooth remote control for remote triggering.

Choose the right settings

• Turn off the flash: the fire fireworks being several tens or hundreds of meters away, it will be of no use to you.
• Especially no zoom! On most smartphones, the zoom digital just reduce the size of the snapshot. So you risk ending up with a pixelated photo. In addition, the fireworks must be part of a wide angle of view, even if it means then cropping the photo.
• Some smartphones have a night or fireworks mode: do not hesitate to use it.
• If you have the option to adjust the sensitivity, choose a ISO as low as possible (100 or 200 ISO). This usually results in a longer exposure time, but if you’re using a tripod that’s fine.
• Turn off mode HDR, which combines different successive photos and slows down the shooting. With scenes changing rapidly like fireworks, the effect is disastrous. On the other hand, the burst mode can be interesting insofar as we do not always know when the fireworks will burst; you will be able to keep the best photo.

Download a dedicated application

If your smartphone does not offer Pro or Manual mode, it is possible to download third party app allowing you to refine the parameters and add many functions (exposure control, speed shutter, depth of field, remote shutter release …). On iPhone, try for example ProCamera, Manual, Halide or DSLR Camera. Sure Android, opt for Open Camera, Camera HD, or Footej Camera 2. Please note: depending on the model of your smartphone, not all functions will necessarily be available.

If your smartphone has a good resolution (4K strongly recommended), you can actually film the entire fireworks display, and then extract photo captures of the best moments.