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How To

How to take the best pictures of fireworks with your phone

How to take the best pictures of fireworks with your phone
Jacob Yothment

Jacob Yothment

  • Updated:

Over the Fourth of July weekend, Instagram will be flooded with pictures of fireworks. The last thing you want is to miss out on free likes, but there’s just one problem; taking pictures of fireworks is hard. 

Fireworks

It seems like every time you try to take a photo with your phone, you end up being too early or too late. At the end of the night when you look through your photos, all you have is pictures of a blank night sky and fizzled-out fireworks. Luckily, there are some tricks to take solid pictures of fireworks with your phone. We have compiled the best ones that are easy to pick up and use this holiday weekend.

How to take pictures of fireworks with your phone

Anticipate

Your standard firework follows a basic pattern:

  • A bang to signify liftoff
  • Shooting into the air
  • Exploding
  • A delayed explosion sound

If you can get the timing right, you can get some great shots. When you hear the initial bang of a firework about to lift off, follow the firework with your camera while keeping your finger over the capture button. Once it bursts, don’t take a picture right away as the firework is still expanding. Instead, time the capture with the delayed explosion sound. By that point, the firework is still bright and pretty, but it is also at its most expanded.

Burst photo

Both iOS and Android have a burst photo mode. Through this method, you can take multiple consecutive photos. This means that you don’t necessarily have to worry about timing. 

To take burst photos on both iOS and Android, simply hold down the capture button as your smartphone will take multiple pictures the entire time you hold down the button.

When taking burst photos, make sure that you stay still. Any movement can make your photos blurry. Also, photos taken with burst won’t be as crisp and clean as ones taken the regular way.

Don’t focus just on fireworks

Firework kid

There’s a lot more to photograph on the Fourth of July than just fireworks. If there are little kids nearby, photos of their smiling faces being lit up by fireworks can be more magical than any firework.

Remember, people can play along better than any firework. Are you going out on a boat? Shoot photos of people jet skiing, water skiing, tubing, and swimming!

Watch YouTube tutorials

Aside from the tips we taught you, there is still a wealth of knowledge on the internet for how to take photos of fireworks. USA Today released this video that teaches you about stability, accessories, and more. We’d highly recommend watching it before you start shooting.

If you are looking to shoot photos with a DSLR camera, there are also YouTube videos for that! We especially like this one from Fro Knows Photo:

Wrapping up

Have fun and be safe this Fourth of July. The most important thing you can do is to spend time with your friends and loved ones. Don’t spend all of your time worrying about taking photos. Tweet your best fireworks photos to us! We would love to see them!

Jacob Yothment

Jacob Yothment

Jacob Yothment is the assistant content editor for Softonic. He's worked in journalism since high school, and has been a fan of all things technology and video games his entire life. He is a 2016 graduate of Purdue University Northwest.

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