Saturday, June 26, 2010

#566. Rock the Dock Fireworks #1

Last night the Bay Area Photo Club took a field trip down to Seabrook to photograph fireworks. Eighteen club members participated and we all received valuable tips from Mark Westerman to improve their firework photography. This display was part of the Rock the Dock event held at the Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah, Texas. The fireworks were launched from a barge in Galveston Bay between Kemah and Seabrook.

Title: "Rock the Dock Fireworks #1"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Adove Camera Raw > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

7 comments:

Larry said...

Nice shot Barry. I like the inclusion of the foreground element and being able to identify the boats along the water line. Nice colors as well.

Doug Haass said...

I have to agree with Larry. Nice job keeping the exposure under control. I know it was windy last night. Did that create any issues for you?

David A. said...

I like the photo, trail leading up with the burst. Colors are nice with the reflection in the water. Do like the forground. Was this the first burst? I see no smoke from others. If not great capture.

Wayne Beck said...

Were you shooting at about 70mm? Did you adjust fill light in PhotoShop?

Barry Armer said...

Thanks Larry, Doug, David and Wayne!

Doug - My tripod (Slik 700) is pretty heavy so the wind didn't bother me. It had a couple of positive effects though, it kept us cool and kept the smoke from the fireworks moving away pretty well.

David - This shot was somewhere near the middle of the program. I was able to minimize the smoke from prior fireworks using Photoshop's blending modes along with some layer masks.

Wayne - Good guess! 75mm on full frame camera. I don't think I used "fill light" but I used just about everything else! :-) The main thing I used to brighten the reflection on the water was a layer using "color dodge" blending mode with a mask over the firework to keep from blowing it out.

Cheers!
Barry

Cindi said...

Has to be one of the best fireworks shots I have ever seen! The form, graphic lines, colors and textures of the explosion is so interesting and then when you see the foreground too, it has so much impact. Great shot!

Barry Armer said...

Wow! Thanks Cindi!

High praise considering the source!

Cheers!
Barry