Every Independence Day, pisspoor photos of fireworks flood Instagram and Facebook.
But this is America! We can do better!
1. Turn off the flash.
2. Don't zoom.
3. Keep the phone as steady as possible.
4. Try a slow shutter app.
5. Get the right exposure, between the darkest and the lightest part of the screen.
Using the HDR feature on the iPhone makes this easier: it takes several exposures of the dark and the light areas of a photo, then blends them together to make an image where the darks aren't too dark (underexposed) and the lights aren't too light (overexposed). "It kind of takes the guess work out of getting the right exposure with the iPhone," Griffith says.
You can also tap and hold on one part of the screen to lock the exposure — read more about how to do that here.
6. Clean your lens.
7. Use the "burst" mode to take lots of photos all at once.
