Sunsuper Riverfire Brisbane 2014
The annual Sunsuper Riverfire in Brisbane, QLD, Australia
The annual Sunsuper Riverfire in Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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Sep, 2014Views
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People's Choice in A Sky Full of Fire Photo Challenge
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staceestracnerseverino
November 06, 2014
OW WOW WHAT A MAGNIFICENT CAPTURE OF FIREWORKS!!! WONDERFUL
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken from Mt Cootha lookout, near Brisbane City, QLD, Australia. The lookout is in the mountains to the west of the city and looks over the city towards the ocean.Time
It was a little after sunset at about 7pm. The sun had set just after 6 so by this time the sky was dark and only the absence of the brightest stars indicated there was any clouds.Lighting
The aim of the photo was of course to capture the fireworks happening in the city below so that was intended to be the main source of the light in this photo. The city lights in the buildings that disappeared to splotches of light out in the background also set the scene nicely. It was quite unintentional to capture the sky and clouds lit like this, as I was using a telephoto lens to get close to the fireworks and a bolt of lightning bright as day went off out of frame to the right just after the shutter opened and illuminated the clouds.Equipment
Nikon D7100 with a Nikkor AF-S 55-300mm 1:4.5-5.6G ED lensInspiration
Every year Brisbane city has an event, called the Sunsuper Riverfire. I wanted to have a go at capturing the fireworks from this event, but getting into the city is a bit of a nightmare so I headed up to this lookout, which was pretty packed with people as well. My intent was to capture the fireworks, but mother nature added her bit to the show which was just a bonus.Editing
I am still fairly new when it comes to post processing and this was a bit of a challenge. To bring out the fireworks the way I wanted I had taken a series of about 10 exposures. I did this to attempt to capture a range of the fireworks that were set off. I was shooting RAW, so I did some basic processing of the RAW to try and bring out some colours and details. I then loaded the 10 exposures into GIMP, and manually aligned the layers the best I could before overlaying them. This was prior to having learned how to do exposure blending using masks, so it was a very manual and time consuming process. Being a hobby photographer, I don't have the funds to purchase photoshop and those sorts of tools so all my post work is done with fully open source alternatives.In my camera bag
I started out with a Nikon D5200 and have since upgraded to a D7100. I usually have both bodies with me still. Otherwise, I have an 18-55mm kit lens and the 55-300mm lens mentioned above. I'd love to get some higher quality lenses and I suppose in time I will. I also tend to keep my sb-600 speedlight in my bag and a small selection of filters. I have CPL filters for both lenses and a Var-ND filter for the 18-55mm lens.Feedback
Depending on your location, the chance for a fireworks show usually crops up now and then. It might be a new years display, or it could be something like this that is just done for the hell of it. It might even be a simple carnival or something. Keep in mind when composing the shot some sort of foreground interest. This can sometime be a challenge if you're close to the fireworks location and on the ground and you need to be looking up to fit it in the frame. The best display for fireworks is usually at the end. However, for photo purposes, the end is also the time that has the most smoke in the air from all the previous fireworks. So you'll end up with a clearer picture if you shoot at the beginning of the show.
