PHOTOGRAPH INFO

My friend Bo Hahn throws a fireworks show every New Year's Day as a gift to the community. It was raining on January 1st so the fireworks were postponed to January 6th, but they were worth the wait!

Every year I photograph Bo's fireworks I learn something about getting the shot I want. This time I brought the tripod and got much more interesting results. I wanted to use a lower ISO but the 5D does so well with noise that I let it ride at 1600.

Good thing the show takes place in an enormous farm field with nothing around it, for the most part, because it was windy on Saturday night! As the explosives were launched from their cannisters, the wind blew the trail of sparks immediately into the air at ground level. I didn't even watch the show overhead; I was focused on the flaming bits flying around as the guys lit the fuses.

So much fun! Thank you, Bo, for another terrific show, and Happy New Year to you!

Post-processing: Shot with the Canon EOS 5D and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens at 24mm, ISO 1600, shutter speed 2 seconds (used tripod) and aperture f/2.8. Adjusted white balance to tone down the reds; curves adjustments for contrast & saturation; color balancing for tone. NO noise reduction.

Thank you for visiting Durham Township!

--Kathleen

p.s. THANK YOU for the continued and terrific response to my portrait project! I'm working through the many emails and comments I received and will get back to everyone soon. Thanks for your patience!

If you're interested, get in touch - there's no time limit. :)

That's a really amazing show of fireworks. You're right, the noise is virtually undetectable in this picture, even without reduction. That's amazing, too.

Now that's a lovely picture! Fantastic!

Great work overall also.

Kind regards,
Vlad

A shot that's not usual ! Bravo ! Except for the "shutter speed 2 seconds" I don't really understand how the fireworks did this effect... Anyway it's surprising !

A shot that's not usual ! Bravo ! Yes the 1600 iso are not detectable, my 350D do it well too, so it's not surprising with your (how lucky you are) 5D !

hello, this is a very dramatic and creative picture,love it!

i have a comment:

it seems like that most of the pictures u post are taken with the 24-70mm at 24mm

so why not just get a 24mm f2.8?

a much smaller lens! probably just as sharp, if not better

This is really crazy looking Kathleen. A very unique view of fireworks. One of the most interesting takes on fireworks I've seen.

Excellent technique; very pleasing image.

So beautiful...

Magnifico!

Very cool shot! I did my first fireworks on New Year's Eve and really enjoyed it. Just need to get the focus down a little more as I only got a few useable shots! I like the action in this shot. Nice job!

WOW very original...great shot

Interesting photograph which perhaps might benefit by more attention to cropping

Very creative shot, technically brilliant.

Sweeeet...

Talk about low noise! I don't think my 30D does that at 1600 ISO...

Wow! I just love the shading and colour and detail in the the dense area of fire! really beautiful. What a great image!

Wow, what an amazing photo!! Just a few questions for a better understanding:
Were there multiple explosives fired during the 2 second exposure? And how comes, that the master of desaster is depicted yery sharply? He is holding some fireworks as well and should have moved with that, or not?
Anyway, great shot. I really enjoy your work. Best regards.

Phil: The reason the fireworks are blowing around like that is stated in the description: it was extremely windy that night; as the explosives left their cannisters, the wind immediately blew the sparks around at ground level.

laurence: I'd love to get the lens you're talking about... but I do use the other end of the 28-70mm for other work that I do. It's a very practical lens. Anyway, I'm saving for the 300 f/2.8L. :)

Giso v. der Recke: There were multiple explosives going off for 30 minutes. It was a chaotic environment, VERY windy and VERY dark between blasts, so it's hard to know exactly what was happening at this specific moment. I just kept hitting the remote shutter, over and over and over, then re-adjusting focus, etc. I actually saw very little of the show!

This photo just happened to be the shot I liked best out of 150 long exposures I took within that time period. In nearly every other shot, the guys are very visibly moving; this is one of the few where someone was standing still for two seconds.

This is a very unique fireworks image. At first I thought the gentleman was in some sort of machine shop with a grinder. Your description helps to make some sense of a surreal shot. This one really jumps off the monitor at me. Thanks.

Stunning image! This looks like something right out of National Geographic magazine.

Love the trails! Excellent work Kathleen.

wonderful capture!
love it

pretty nice colors but what I really like most is the (full) framing. well done.

Oooooh, my bestest favorite... fireworks :-) Yaaay!

Wowww, this is pure magic !!!

Looks great at 1600. Windy day.

Very nice shot! I like the light in his face!

......then there was the day (night) when the experiments in firefly genetic manipulation began to get out of hand...the mutant fireflies began to swarm...I would not open that box of Purina Firefly Chow if I were you.

Fortunately, Kathleen was there and caught it all.

Nice.

Definitely an awesome shot! Great effects from the fireworks. I hope to see his fireworks show.

What an awesome shot! Thanks for sharing all these pictures, I am always learning something or getting new ideas from your work.

What an awesome shot! Thanks for sharing all these pictures, I am always learning something or getting new ideas from your work.

Wow! It looks cool. Certainly not an ordinary picture!!!

very veyr nice picture!

perfect!