That night was perfect! It was a hot 100°F day, but the riverfront breeze felt great, the water was very tranquil, and the sky was pitch black by the time the fireworks show started.
Did I mention I love my Rokinon fisheye lens? You can read a quick review here: [link]
This is my first time photographing fireworks. Anyone care to critique?
This photo is quite pretty. It's almost hard to believe you got this from your first time photographing fireworks. For a photograph with a lot of darkness and shadows, there are a lot of vibrant, vivid colors. The way the shoreline's lights play across the water mimics the way watercolor paints blend and settle next to each other on paper, which is a nice effect you don't always get to see in photos. The curve of the skyline and shoreline is a nice central element in this photo. The bridge on the left somewhat interrupts the fluid curve because it sticks out a little more than the bridge on the right, but not in a distracting or bad way. It's interesting that the bridge on the right almost completely blends into the lights of the shoreline. Walking a little more to the right probably would have made the bridges pretty much symmetrical on either side of the photo, but perfect symmetry isn't necessary in this photo. The long exposure time you used created a beautiful, layered array of colors and objects but also made the fireworks' smoke slightly more visible than a slightly shorter exposure, but the smoke is so minimal that it becomes a detail in the photograph as opposed to a distraction. If you wanted to minimize the appearance of smoke in your photos, you could position yourself before staring to take pictures so the wind is blowing behind away from you and the fireworks, or toward the skyline. Having said that, I don't think that's something you could or should have changed with this photo because it would change the perspective of your background, so the position from which you took these photos is still great. The shadows, midtones and highlights all work together in a very subtle way that's pleasing to the eye. I really like that none of the highlights are overwhelming or painful to look at. Everyone takes pictures of fireworks. This photographer did a great job making an image stand out in a sea of normally comparable positions and exposures.
Gorgeous, I love the sense of depth, and the timing is just right! The fisheye lens created a beautiful, in-a-globe effect without the distortions becoming overwhelming. I wouldn't change a thing, this is lovely!
Thank you very much Hefeigal! I love my fishy for situations like this. Those fireworks were actually like 100 feet in the sky, but I somehow still caught them. The burst on the right was actually photoshopped in haha... I used the clone stamp.
For a photograph with a lot of darkness and shadows, there are a lot of vibrant, vivid colors. The way the shoreline's lights play across the water mimics the way watercolor paints blend and settle next to each other on paper, which is a nice effect you don't always get to see in photos.
The curve of the skyline and shoreline is a nice central element in this photo. The bridge on the left somewhat interrupts the fluid curve because it sticks out a little more than the bridge on the right, but not in a distracting or bad way. It's interesting that the bridge on the right almost completely blends into the lights of the shoreline. Walking a little more to the right probably would have made the bridges pretty much symmetrical on either side of the photo, but perfect symmetry isn't necessary in this photo.
The long exposure time you used created a beautiful, layered array of colors and objects but also made the fireworks' smoke slightly more visible than a slightly shorter exposure, but the smoke is so minimal that it becomes a detail in the photograph as opposed to a distraction. If you wanted to minimize the appearance of smoke in your photos, you could position yourself before staring to take pictures so the wind is blowing behind away from you and the fireworks, or toward the skyline. Having said that, I don't think that's something you could or should have changed with this photo because it would change the perspective of your background, so the position from which you took these photos is still great.
The shadows, midtones and highlights all work together in a very subtle way that's pleasing to the eye. I really like that none of the highlights are overwhelming or painful to look at.
Everyone takes pictures of fireworks. This photographer did a great job making an image stand out in a sea of normally comparable positions and exposures.
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