This was the second time I attempted fireworks photography. The first attempt was at my father's resort during new year back in 2009; it was a clumsy impromptu attempt.
This time around, I attempted to capture the fireworks in Singapore National Day rehearsal. This year is especially special as it marks the 50th year of Singapore's independence. The fireworks on the actual day (9th August 2015) will be twice of last year's.
I came prepared with a tripod and black card. Unfortunately the black card didn't help much as there were too much light reflections - I should have used black foam instead, and I didn't have a cable release to use the bulb mode with.
So I arrived at slightly after 5 p.m. in One Fullerton, but the place was already swarmed with people ready to take photos of the fireworks like I wanted to. I had no choice but to walk further down nearer to the hotel, unfortunately the sight was blocked by a structure - the Fullerton Pavillion.
The celebration started with a parachute performance, but dang... I didn't bring any telephoto lens to capture the photos. Then there were fly pasts by many fighter planes, chinook and apache helicopters, carrier planes. I had the 16mm F1.4 fixed on my X-T1, how I wished I had a second body with tele-lens!!
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| A fly past tribute to Lee Kuan Yew who passed away earlier this year - He is the founding father of Singapore and quite possibly a most important, if not the greatest leader in South East Asia |
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| Heavily cropped photo of the descending parachuters |
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| Fighter planes flying in "50" formation to signify 50 years of independence |
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| Fighter planes performing a branching out formation |
Then it was time for the MUCH expected fireworks!
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| Fireworks collage |
Okay, here are the results of my observations of what I could have done better:
1. I should have a picked a spot that is further away to better capture the burst and minimize visible smoke
2. I definitely should have used a remote cable and bulb mode - I was using aperture mode, and while looking at the fireworks, timing the trail and the burst while covering the smoke with black card, I sometimes still watched the spectacle while my camera has finished capturing - lost opportunity!
3. I used a black matte card, but apparently lighting was surprisingly strong so there were some reflections on the card - gotta twig around, again lost opportunity!
4. Bring the widest lens you have - I brought the 16mm instead of the 14mm, the first and best colour photo I took had the burst clipped, that was really frustrating...
5. A second body with tele-lens will be very useful to avoid changing lens while the fast paced actions take place
Oh well, I suppose there will be many more fireworks and I will eventually take better fireworks photos.
Here's a closing shot of my favourite - although not the best due to the clipped burst and missing trails; I was caught by surprise when the fireworks started shooting up and pressed the capture too late.... But I do love the colours..
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| This is my favourite because of the blue hour hue and the pink burst, a pity the burst was clipped... |
~ Photos taken with Fujifilm X-T1 + Fujinon XF 16mmF1.4R ~
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