Photo taking tips?

[d0naldduck123]

Hello! I am by no means experienced at taking pictures nor do I have a DSLR.

I'm going to Disney for New Years and would love to get some tips about taking pictures of fireworks and taking pictures in the dark.

My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S5, but I don't know if the camera is good enough to take proper pictures. Is there a setting that I can change to help take pics of fireworks / MSEP / Osborne Lights etc?

As for a digital camera, I have a Sony Cybershot that's about 9 years old...

Any advice/tips would be appreciated! Thank you!

 

[elmoandzoey]

Welcome to the board

I don't want to be the one having to rain on your party but neither your phone nor your camera will probably be good enough to take proper pictures in the dark. You will need to turn off the flash for the pictures to look good (since neither your devices are able to control the flash which would be a must if you want to use one). To make up for the missing flash, you will need either high ISO or a large aperture, in most instances you will need both. Neither of your devices are capable of that. For fireworks you won't need high ISO or large aperture but you will need a large shutter speed preferably of a few seconds which you can't do handheld - hence you will need a tripod or a another support to steady your device (like e.g. a trashcan).

My suggestion would rather be sit back, relax and enjoy your surroudings. You can revel in the many pictures available on flicker that were taken by others who have more appropriate devices at hand. If course it also won't hurt to try - but PLEASE turn off the flash! It will do more harm to the pics at Osborne Lights or MSEP than it will do any good. For fireworks, it'sll be completely useless anyways since both castle and the bursts will be too far away. You'll just highlight whatever is in front of you and draw attention to that (which may just be the bald backside of the guy standing in front of you ). Maybe you'll get a good shot or two this way. But be prepared that what you have won't suffice.

 

[havoc315]

Your phone is probably the better camera over a 9 year old Cybershot. Now, they make some very basic level Cybershot cameras as well as advanced models. But any Cybershot that is 9 years old..

Does your Cybershot have manual controls? Some do, some don't.
For fireworks, you need a camera where you can manually set the aperture and shutter speed. If it allows it, then you put the camera on a tripod, set aperture around f8-11, shutter speed of 3-6 pictures, and try to get some nice fireworks trails.

In the dark, lowlight.... Your phone will likely be a bit better then your camera.