Shooting Night Views and Illuminations Crisp — Why They Blur, and Night Mode

Night views, illuminations and fireworks easily become “they were beautiful but blurred in the photo.” The causes are shake, too little light, and a dirty lens. The phone’s features and a little care make night sparkle much easier to capture.

Fix the phone

At night, the camera keeps the shutter open longer to gather light. Move even slightly during that time and points of light smear into lines. Fixing the phone is the biggest fix. Resting it on a railing, a wall or a flat surface, or bracing both elbows against your body, adds stability.

Use Night mode correctly

In dark places, Night mode may appear automatically (if not, choose it manually from the moon icon → How to use Night mode). When the indicator appears, hold still for the few seconds until the shot finishes. Setting the shutter to a timer (e.g. 3 seconds) also prevents the shake of pressing (→ Fixing dark indoor photos).

Wipe the lens

At night, light from streetlamps and neon reflects off oil on the lens and smears hazily. Just wiping the lens with a soft cloth before shooting changes the crispness of the light.

Composition tips

A line running into the distance — a road, a bridge, a row of streetlamps — leads the eye inward for depth (→ Leading lines). Taking the sky or dark areas generously as space lifts the lights of the illumination (→ Negative space). Placing the bright part on an intersection tightens the frame. With water or a rain-wet street, symmetry works well too — the night lights mirrored top and bottom (→ Symmetry). Cropping the lights through a window, a bridge arch or a gap between buildings lifts the subject like a picture frame (→ Framing).

Composition guideLeading linesSee the full guide for this composition → Composition guideNegative spaceSee the full guide for this composition →

BeforeAfter

Start with just this

Fix the phone on a railing or surface, wipe the lens, and hold still during Night mode. Prevent press-shake with the timer. That flow cuts down a lot of “blur” in night views and fireworks.