Rockets Red Glare

I’ve always been fascinated with fireworks. As a kid, I loved seeing a gigantic ball of colors in the sky followed by the boom of the explosion. The couple of moments between seeing the fireworks and the sound was a moment of anticipation I really enjoyed. Over the years, I had forgotten just how much I enjoy the science behind a well orchestrated show.

I’ve been shooting photos seriously over the past couple of years, but I’ve never taken the time to shoot photos of fireworks. That changed during the Forth of July festivities this year in Seattle. A good friend had invited my fiancee and I to spend time on their boat for the day. We went out, enjoyed the sunshine and the company of her fantastic family, waiting for the skies to darken so that the fireworks display could begin.

I shot, as usual, with my Canon t5i. Lens choice was my Tokina 11-16m Wideangle, given how close we were to the fireworks. A tripod and a remote shutter rounded off my equipment and we were ready to shoot. The actual photos took a few minutes to dial in I don’t often shoot long exposures, and it was a few minutes before I realized I needed a longer shutter. I eventually zeroed in a sweet spot with an iso of 100 at f/13 with a 6 second shutter.

You can see my gallery of fireworks here.