Bonfire Night in the UK presents budding photographers with a wealth of opportunities for capturing fun snaps. Usually, I’d take my Fuji mirrorless along to snap some neat pictures of our local bonfire and skies full of delightful fireworks. But this year, with two boundless toddlers to shepherd, I decided I’d probably need both hands free and would have to rely on my smartphone for quick snaps instead.
On the plus side, I’d been looking for an excuse to test out the dedicated “Fireworks” mode in the OnePlus 13 and OPPO Find X8 Pro (I’m using the latter) camera apps. The mode seems to combine long and short exposures, providing vivid detail with well-exposed lighting and colors. Given that I probably wouldn’t have time to optimize shutter speed and ISO while keeping an eye on the little ones, this mode would do all the heavy lifting for me.