Light 'em up, boyz...

[David Kilpatrick]

Don, have you thought of cheating a bit? I got a few very poor fireworks pix from a major festival in Spain - we had no tripod, had not realised this was happening, and the crowds were impossible. We managed on one night only to get a seat in a fenced-off restaurant area just behind the mass of people on the beach, about 1km from the location for the fireworks, but nothing was able to support the camera well enough (decking, people, etc). My only purpose was to get at least one view including the castle, seafront, crowds and fireworks because that locates and describes the event for stock sale:

Too much camera movement!

The fireworks are not one shot, but two. The larger open bursts are the main shot, the three smaller brighter bursts are cloned in from a second image, as is the light on the water. The badly supported camera doesn't ruin the firework part, but the picture may be unusable due to movement of the promenade lights. Blurred people, no big worry.

Your fireworks-only pix would be good masters for copying into a final 'spectactular' filling the sky

David

[David Kilpatrick]

Exposure - you are doing it right to get the maximum colour in the bursts. I had to pitch to get some detail in the people and the scenes, which means a lot of the colour is lost from the fireworks. f/11 is a sensible aperture for typical pro fireworks. We ended up in Alicante by mistake, and did not realise what was happening there. Every night for a week they had carnival parade processions, street fireworks and a big firework competition at midnight (slightly too late for the best sky effects). On June 24th, hundreds of huge sculptures (brilliant artwork, made of wood, polystyrene, papier-mache and other flammable materials) are burned in the early hours of the morning. The areas are closed off - only members of the Fogueres committees and teams, and invited guests get to see this properly. They are well prepared and have to be, because despite their being dressed in ballgowns, suits etc the 'bomberos' turn the fire hoses on the crowd to keep them cool while the huge statues burn. Some people just take off most of their clothes; digital cameras were getting soaked, even the TV crews were not immune.

Here is the main Fogueres statue:

Fogueres de San Joan - the spirit of Alacant as a sea-nymph

Here is the only view we could see of it burning at midnight on the Eve of St John:

The town hall with the burning figure reflected in an office block

And here is what remained an hour later:

Burned and damped remains

We don't tend to return to places - ever - but spending this fiesta week in Alicante with a foreknowledge of the routine, where to be, what hotel room to book (there are several overlooking this square), and what gear to take (Olympus waterproof compact digital methinks) would be something worth doing again.

Also, we were up until 3am every night as the town never really slept. People were drinking, eating, playing music and letting off firecrackers (very loud, Chinese style, thrown in the streets). Spain also scored an important semifinal soccer victory the night before and they just added to the celebrations by driving through the city, every street packed, sounding their horns constantly. There was no point in trying to sleep

David

[bakubo]

I wish we could find more occasions to launch fireworks on as I can't wait for next year's show to arrive!

Here in Waikiki at the Hilton Hawaiian Village they have a big fireworks display every Friday evening. Since it is on the beach there is plenty of room for everyone and since it is every week it is never crowded. Just saying....