Fireworks Friday!!

Okay, maybe I'm stretching for a theme here, especially for someone that doesn't stick to regularly scheduled posts. But it is the Friday before the Fourth of July, and fireworks are on my mind, so Firework Friday!

This past Wednesday, one of the New York City parks, Fort Totten (mentioned here and here in previous posts), had a fireworks display. Last year, the fireworks were a smaller affair, launched from the soccer field, which is the old parade grounds for the Fort. This year, it increased in scope. The fireworks were launched from a barge in Little Neck Bay, the area of water between Bayside area of Queens, and Little Neck/Great Neck.

The barge leaves the port as dusk fallsCanon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 1/160sec, 1600ISO, 80mm

The above shot was about when we arrived. We didn't know where in the bay the barge would be stationed. We met up with my daughter's friend from preschool (last year) and her family. My daughter had not enjoyed fireworks in the past. Last year, she complained and covered her ears the entire time. When we took our family trip to Walt Disney World last August, she was not happy with each of the fireworks shows at the parks. So this year, we thought we wouldn't be able to go, but she had a playdate on Monday with her friend, heard she was going, and decided she wanted to go. We brought some hearing protection, and she seemed fine this year, mostly because was with her friend.

First Boom!
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 3.2sec, 100ISO, 24mm

Arriving closer to the fireworks start time meant ideal spots where gone. I had brought my tripod and camera though, so I was going to try shooting no matter, it's digital! The first couple looked like we had a great spot!

Flower Boom!
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 4sec, 100ISO, 70mm

I'm not sure if the barge was moving, but it seemed to move behind the large tree on the left. I was still able to get some shots of the larger ones above the tree, but lost some trails.

More boom!
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 5sec, 100ISO, 50mm

Exposure times were kept to a couple of seconds, left the ISO long and narrowed the aperture to ensure I would be able to get the streaks of the fireworks.

Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 3.2sec, 100ISO, 55mm

Basically, the fireworks were lightpainting the sensor. Because the fireworks ignite at different times, so sometimes the clouds will appear in two different positions with different color. That is due to the shutter being open for ~3secs, so one shell explodes in red, illuminates the smoke in red, then a half second later, the green ignites and illuminates the smoke that had moved with the wind.

Trippy Clouds
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 3.2sec, 100ISO, 55mm

One has to get a sense of timing for fireworks as well. We were close enough where I could hear the faint sound of the elevation charge igniting, so I would try to open the shutter a split second later to get the trail of the shell flying upwards (not all shells have the blinking tail), and most of the explosion in the air. A lot of bad shots in the beginning until I got my timing right.

Glittery!
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 5sec, 100ISO, 105mm

Double Feature
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/10, 8sec, 100ISO, 55mm

I love fireworks by the way. 

Boom Boom Zoom!
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 5sec, 100ISO

I also wanted to try a technique I had seen other photographers publish, which is when doing a long exposure, near the end of the shutter being open, you move the zoom from one end to the other. I started zoomed in, and then yanked it out towards the widest setting. The above photo is my attempt at that, the only one that didn't look like garbage.

Red White and Blue
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 3.2sec, 100ISO, 55mm

That darn tree!
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 5sec, 100ISO, 24mm

Stars!
Canon 5D Mark III, EF 24-105mm f/4, f/8, 4sec, 100ISO, 50mm

I hope everyone has the opportunity to see some fireworks this weekend, and that y'all have a happy but safe three day weekend!