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How to get keeper photos of July 4th fireworks, using just your smartphone

Photowalks' Jefferson Graham shares some tips for capturing good pictures of your local fireworks display.
How to get keeper photos of July 4th fireworks, using just your smartphone
Macy's Fourth of July
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July 4th fireworks can be a spectacle worth documenting — but getting a good photo of bright explosions in the dark sky is often an exercise in frustration.

Photowalks' Jefferson Graham shares some tips for capturing good pictures of your local fireworks display, using nothing but your cell phone.

One technique, he says, is to not take individual photographs at all.

"Whether you have an iPhone, whether you have a Pixel, whether you have a Galaxy — shoot video of the fireworks. First of all, you're protected. You know you've got the whole thing," he says.

"When you start recording, a white button shows up on the screen. And it lets you hit it and take pictures while you're shooting the video."

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A high-resolution video will also give you high-resolution candidates for still images.

"When you shoot the video, shoot it in the highest resolution, which is 4K. When you do that, you have more room to work with and you get a better photo," Graham says.

See more July 4th photo tips in the full interview with Graham above.