Sep 18 2008
Fireworks Photographs
Fireworks are a visual spectacular. They’re a photographers dream subject, but they’re not a dream to photograph.
A few weeks ago was a festival in Brisbane, and the fireworks are an annual event. Each year I watch them, and this was my second attempt to photograph them. So, tripod and shutter release cable in hand, here are the results…
Fireworks are beautiful to watch, but incredibly frustrating to photograph.
Ideally, you want a windy evening, preferably with the wind blowing away from you. Otherwise, you’ll get what happened to me - the flecks of residue from the fireworks blowing in your eyes, and onto your camera lens.
I was cleaning my lens every few photos, as the dust was incredible.
The wind did mean though that the smoke blew away faster, but not really fast enough.
The last time I tried to photograph fireworks, it was a completely still night, and the smoke just lingered throughout the whole light spectacular.
Photoshop can help get rid of much of the smoke, but it’s at the expense of the rest of the image.
Here, is what multiple bursts of fireworks, coupled with smoke can turn your photo into:
In this photo I kept the shutter open too long, but it shows you the amount of light that’s generated from fireworks.
One of the things I love about fireworks is the colour. Plus, if they’re synchronised to music, it’s even more fun.
In my home city of Brisbane, the bridge in these photos is the perfect backdrop for a fireworks event. Strangely enough, it wasn’t that many years ago that the bridge wasn’t used for fireworks displays. I’m happy they changed the rules!
The bridge provides the perfect framing for photographs:
Considering it was only by accident that I was in this position (never rely on public transport to get you anywhere important…), and I had 2 minutes to set up, it was great to actually get some photos. I’m still yet to properly try the technique of leaving the shutter open and placing a piece of cardboard over the lens to block out light, and then remove it when the fireworks resume. Next time…
