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Q&A How do I take crisp pictures of flames at night (with a cell phone)?

When I take pictures of (lit) candles in otherwise-darkened rooms, the flames always come out nondescript (blurry?) as in the following example: I took this picture with a hand-held cell phone. T...

2 answers  ·  posted 3y ago by Monica Cellio‭  ·  last activity 3y ago by Olin Lathrop‭

#1: Initial revision by user avatar Monica Cellio‭ · 2020-08-09T22:26:34Z (over 3 years ago)
How do I take crisp pictures of flames at night (with a cell phone)?
When I take pictures of (lit) candles in otherwise-darkened rooms, the flames always come out nondescript (blurry?) as in the following example:

![candles in focus, flames not](https://photography.codidact.com/uploads/quk2mbJJFvMkgyVe1xcZ9iUY)

I took this picture with a hand-held cell phone.  The subject is obviously not moving, so I could brace the camera somehow if that would help.  I suspect my problem isn't camera stability but, rather, not knowing what settings to use for this kind of camera.

I've tried the default and "night mode" settings, without a flash.  I've tried longer exposures (using the slider on the simple-minded camera software on the phone) but the flames were still blurry, perhaps because even with the camera braced, flames are not completely static.  Should I instead be lighting the room somehow (and then maybe darkening it in post-processing)?