Looking to photograph amazing drone shows or fireworks? This guide goes through the locations, gear and info you need for amazing photos.
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If you want amazing photos of fireworks on your iPhone here’s your guide. Make sure your phone is charged too before going out. Often photos and videos can drain the battery pretty fast!
First turn off HDR and turn on live photos. If you use live photos you can select the shots that come out clean and crisp of the fireworks later. Link. Also remember to turn off the flash. This is available on my IOS devices.
You may also look into downloading or purchasing specialized camera apps that allow you to take longer exposure images. This will allow you to capture the length of the fireworks and get well exposed bright and colorful images. One that I’ve had luck with is Spectre Camera Spectre Camera. Download these apps before fireworks and see if it will work. Also learn the settings in the day time for going out and using them. This way you can focus on the images.
Adding onto the app consider bringing a tripod or something tall and sturdy to set your camera against. If you are shooting with just your hands it can be hard to get a photograph that isn’t shaky. A tripod prevents this. Check some here or view a dedicated phone tripod.
Huge tip: Check and review the first images and then adjust any settings from there.
One of my favorite questions. This question kind of depends on what lens you are using. For example:
Ways to get closer: Zoom in physically with a lens or through your device digitally. Zooming in physically can reduce the amount of light available for use through the aperture and may affect your other settings (ISO and aperture). Zooming in digitally can be great but the same thing happens, often the sensitivity is increased and so is the noise. You may also benefit from cropping these photos in post production.
Find out where the fireworks will be firing from. I think of the radius of places that will look good. Then I make sure the line of sight works. Are there trees or buildings in the area? Are there any landmarks that can make the image better?
Don’t have a tripod? No problem. Here are some solutions for photographing without a tripod:
What are the best cameras for photographing fireworks? The best cameras include DSLR’s and mirrorless cameras. Brands like Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm are all great options.
Phones such as the iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsungs are great for firework photos.
Lenses that range from f/2.8 to f/4 can also be great for night photography in general.
Normally I would say manual mode however, TV or time value can be super valuable. Why? You only care about the shutter speed. The other settings don’t matter.
You can also try manuals. Set the aperture to f/4-f/8. Try and set your ISO to 100-200 however this is the one setting I would adjust depending on your camera. You can get away with high ISO’s with firework photos.
Focus - Very important element to firework photos. You can either choose something in the distance to focus on (difficult, could miss focus) Or you can manually focus or focus near infinity.
What is the focus on infinity? This is a setting on most lenses that focuses so far in the distance that incoming light rays are parallel. This may be used for zoom lenses or telephoto lenses.
Instead of clicking your photo every firework try setting up a timelapse if your camera allows it (or a third party app). All your shots will have the exact same settings and you probably won’t miss many great shots. You can then choose which ones you would like to keep.