Fireworks on CNY eve

[Red Dawn]

Hi

can't really figure out where to put this, but i thought photojournalism would fit.....somewhat.

Anyway, 11th Feb 2002 10:00 pm on Chinese New Year's Eve found me, Ckiang and Simon camping out on top of the Benjamin Sheares Bridge waiting for the fabled fireworks to light up the night sky at the stroke of midnight. The night sky was simply BEAUTIFUL - dramatic glowing clouds passed wave after wave over the equally beautiful lighted skyline of Singapore. I had a good time taking pictures of the skyline, as well as a bit of the crowd that was starting to gather around the area...

EOS D30, 35mm f2
ISO 100 @ f/8.0, 10 secs

EOS D30, 50mm f1.4
ISO 100 @f8.0, 10 secs

We arrived early to book our places, and i'm glad the weather was very cooperative and appropriately windy! I found the correct exposure for the scene to be 10 secs at f8, and used this in manual mode for most of the night shots. it's been a long time since i did any long exposure night shoot, so you can imagine i got a bit overboard

EOS D30, 50mm f1.4
ISO 100 @f8.0, 10 secs

The stage was set for the final showdown, or so we thought.

The plan
Using the Sigma 20mm f1.8, i planned to shoot the fireworks as it was fired over the sea, with the nice skyline as a backdrop. I also wanted to catch the reflection of the fireworks in the water, hence the wide angle lens choice. Here's the intended framing.....

EOS D30, 20mm f1.8
ISO 100 @f5.6, 9 secs

to be continued......;P

 

[Wai]

hmm...is it my monitor? seems to be a bit over exposed...but where the firework??

what should be the proper way to capture firework??

 

[Red Dawn]

Hi

me thinks it's your monitor, possibly.....
though i admit the last pic is possibly overexposed......
it does not follow my f8 10 sec exposure rule for the night

well, it looks all right over here - in fact, i was very tempted to level it up a bit to bring out the night glow. The sky u see here is representative of what the actual sky was......

there's also no burnt highlight - the histogram on the camera did over exceed the dynamic range. Highlight detail was retained in all highlights (though for this kind of photo, i doubt it's very useful to see EVERY detail...)

actual fireworks shots are

here

 

[sbs99]

I could see jagged lines in areas where its brightly lit...auras with jagged lines. My resolution is 32 bit high color...i think its ur D30..hehe.

 

[ninelives]

wat,go shoot fireworks never chio us, post in the forum mah.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by sbs99
I could see jagged lines in areas where its brightly lit...auras with jagged lines. My resolution is 32 bit high color...i think its ur D30..hehe.

those pics were sharpened, maybe that's why - on hindsight pics from prime lenses don't really need much sharpening ;P

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by ninelives
wat,go shoot fireworks never chio us, post in the forum mah.

last min decision lah.....but hey, i tot it was already posted in the forum that there will be fireworks at river hongbao?

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by sbs99
I could see jagged lines in areas where its brightly lit...auras with jagged lines. My resolution is 32 bit high color...i think its ur D30..hehe.

i finally had a chance to relook at the pics at 100% tonight, and i couldn't find any jaggies at tiffs at 100%, nor jpg 100%, nor can i see any in the resized pics i posted.

are u sure it's not your monitor? ;p