How To Capture The Perfect Firework Picture on Samsung Galaxy S8 & Note8

Bonfire night is the time of year where our social media feeds are filled with friends and family sharing their ultimate Guy Fawkes recreations, bonfires and firework displays.

But aren’t we all fed up of seeing those blurry images that don’t show the firework off to its best? To help, Samsung has compiled the ultimate step by step guide on how to make your firework photos even better and perfect for sharing to your social media pages.

STEP ONE: A STEADY HAND

• Stability is key when taking the perfect firework photo
• If you have access to a small tripod, it will help with the steady hand needed when in low light conditions
• If you don’t have access to a tripod, find somewhere to stand that can help stabilise, for instance sitting down or leaning against a solid structure
• For Galaxy Note8 users this becomes even easier thanks to the 12MP Dual camera with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) which lets you capture incredibly sharp images

STEP TWO: NO FLASH

• Do not use flash, although you are in low light conditions, the flash won’t be able to light up enough of the sky to make a big impact
• Results will be better without and will show the depth of colour needed for the perfect firework photo

STEP THREE:  NO DIGITAL ZOOM

• Do not use zoom – your camera will capture more detail if you aren’t zoomed into the firework images
• In dual capture mode on the Note8, both rear cameras will take a photo simultaneously, a close up and a wide-angle shot that shows the entire background
• Combined with a bigger Infinity Display you will be able to capture and see all the detail needed

STEP FOUR: SET FOR SUCCESS

• Get the settings right:
• HDR (High Dynamic Range) should be turned off – long exposure slows down the capture which won’t be ideal for burst shoot images
• ISO (sensitivity of the digital camera sensor) – High ISO helps pick out details in the dark, however as fireworks essentially light up the sky, set the ISO to a low value such as 100 to reduce the chance of overexposure
• Aperture – adjust after tweaking the ISO setting to fine tune the image brightness as it controls the light coming into the camera
• If the above feels a little scary, set all the settings to automatic and use exposure compensation functions to adjust the brightness of your images, post capture

STEP FIVE: BURST SHOOT

• Just like taking the perfect selfie, more images the better
• Capture multiple images and as many as you can – use the burst shoot function where you can if you feel you aren’t fast enough
• When using the wide-angle lens, the Dual Pixel sensor includes rapid auto focus, so you can capture sharp and clear shots quickly even in low-light

STEP SIX: TRY ANOTHER ANGLE

• Try pointing your camera away from the sky
• Some of the best photos of fireworks are selfies with fireworks in the background
• With the bokeh effect feature in Samsung devices, you will be surprised at the beautiful colours and selfies you can create