Baltimore, MD, USA - Fireworks, City Hall

The New Year's Eve fireworks display over Baltimore's Inner Harbor was moved from New Year's Eve to 7PM New Year's Day, due to wind.

I took this photograph from Federal Hill Park.

I always have terrible luck with fireworks pictures, and tonight was no exception. I had my lens manually focused at infinity, and somehow moved the focus ring at one point, rendering about 20 pictures out of focus. (Some of them would have been my best shots, of course.) Whenever I had my camera pointed in one direction, the best fireworks were going off about 90 degrees away. Whenever I tripped the shutter, I'd get 5 seconds of lull between bursts. Etc.

But this picture isn't too bad. At the rate my fireworks shots keep improving, by the 4th of July 2048, I'm really going to be hitting my stride.

Camera was a Pentax K10D, with the 18-55mm kit lens at 40mm. Exp. 1.6 sec. @ f/8, ISO 100. Bogen 3001 tripod and wireless remote.



On the way home from the fireworks, I stopped and took some pictures of City Hall. You'll note that the rotunda is illuminated in purple. That's done when the Baltimore Ravens football team makes the playoffs.

Camera was again my Pentax K10D, with 18-55mm lens at 35mm. Bogen 3001 tripod and wireless remote. I took 6 shots - 3 pairs, with each pair consisting of one shot at the nominally correct exposure, and one 2 stops under. Each pair was digitally blended, and the 3 resulting images stitched together to create this final image. I know there are easier ways to accomplish the same thing, but I went with what I know. It came out okay, which is the important thing.



--
Michael

[southy]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm at least 30 years and 1 tripod behind you in my fireworks photography. I was quite impressed by the synchronization of both displays in the 2 locations. Next time I will try to get set up at the inner harbor, I didn't realize they set them off right in the center. I thought they were usually set off to the south of the fort.

Good shots at any rate,
-southy

[Andi Lo]

nice job on the second photo =) I couldn't tell it's a mix unless you told me. I should try that technique too for night photos. Gotta buy that shutter release

A tip for fireworks is to have a black carton (I use foamcore) to cover up the lens in between the explosions (speed at 6-8 seconds). I got alot of decent results this way =) I don't know how that would work with the building lights though, Vancouver didn't have too many buildings around the firework.

[cupic]

Nice series thanks for sharing

cheers

[vievetrick]

great series. You did a great job I think.

[dadipentak]

Nice work, Michael--stunning clarity! Too cold for me, though!

[daacon]

Good series - only attempted fireworks once and well let's just say I need to go out at least one more time - very nice shots.

[mithrandir]

You should take a picture of fireworks from the same location every year until 2048 and then run it as a film clip similar to that year in 30 seconds on yahoo (LOL).

[12345Michael54321]

Originally Posted by mithrandir

You should take a picture of fireworks from the same location every year until 2048 and then run it as a film clip similar to that year in 30 seconds on yahoo (LOL).

While I probably won't be going that route, Federal Hill has been a very popular place with Baltimoreans since before the United States was even an independent country (and it's where Baltimore had a big celebration when the US Constitution was ratified, in addition to figuring in the War of 1812 and the Civil War), so there are tons of pictures of Baltimore taken from Federal Hill, dating back to the early days of photography. (I'm more or less arbitrarily deciding that if it pre-dates Mathew Brady's Civil War photographs, it qualifies as "the early days of photography.")

While one couldn't quite turn the pictures into a film clip, it's not difficult at all to come up with a series of photos taken from Federal Hill park, showing changes in the harbor and the downtown over the course of the past 150 years.

Here's one of the earlier ones, from 1849. The Washington Monument (the one in Baltimore pre-dates the one in DC) is clearly visible in the distance, which indicates that the camera was pointed in pretty much the same direction as mine was, when I photographed the fireworks. (Can't see the Monument in my photo, due to tall buildings and the fireworks. But trust me, if the buildings and fireworks were invisible, you'd be able to see it.)



Lots of others may be found at Google Image Result for http://www.mdhs.org/Library/Images/Mellon%20Images/Z24access/z24-00012.jpg

Today, it's such a popular spot from which to photograph the Baltimore skyline, that's it's almost a cliché. Which has never stopped me, you understand.
--
Michael

[JMR]

These are pretty good. I particularly like the City Hall image. I wouldn't even tell me people they were digitally stitched, unless they ask.

JMR

[Terri]

Your City Hall Photo is Stunning!! And your Fireworks are a thousand times better than my pitiful attempt.

Thanks for sharing.

[mithrandir]

I take it the weather conditions were better New Years evening than the night before.

[12345Michael54321]

Yeah, it was cold on the night of the 1st, but without much wind. I understand strong, gusty winds aren't ideal for fireworks displays.

[Eastern Shore Charlie]

Very Nice shots.....I heard that the city hall was lit up purple for the Ravens and wondered how it would look...thanks....