How to take good photos of fireworks with your phone
It is New Year’s Eve, which means that millions of people will be gathering to watch fireworks tonight. But this is the 21st century, so no doubt you’re also wondering how to take good photos of fireworks with your phone? Here’s the answer:
Look, this is harsh to say but it is true. Face facts:
- Taking a good photo of fireworks is hard – you need to capture the image at exactly the right second to see anything.
- You’re not a professional photographer
- Your crappy camera phone will never capture an image as good as the ones you’ll see on BBC One tonight, or shared online tomorrow.
- Does anyone care about fireworks? Don’t they all look pretty much the same anyway?
- Are you ever going to look back at your crappy fireworks photos, or are you more likely to skip forward in the Facebook album to the ones of you and your friends?
- Seriously, fireworks aren’t that interesting. Just enjoy the show.
Here’s an impression of what your terrible photos will look like when you check back at 00:05 tonight, if you’re lucky. Compare it to the image at the top, taken by someone who knows what they are doing.
So if you want some official TechDigest advice about fireworks photography… don’t bother.
This post is the first of a possible series. Coming soon: How to take photos at gigs, the best way to do iPad photography in public, and how to ask strangers to help line-up your selfie-stick shots, defeating the entire point of the stick.
