Union Terminal Fireworks
This shot was taken in June 2008, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The location is Union Terminal, also called The Museum Center. Union Terminal was celebrating its 75th anniversary with a fireworks display. Union Terminal was built in 1933 as a train station, and was a bustling terminal during the 1930’s and 40’s. During the 1960’s and 70’s the building was nearly abandoned as rail traffic significantly dropped. For a brief period of time the building was turned into a shopping mall. Then, in 1990, it officially opened as the Cincinnati Museum Center. Today, it houses the Natural History Museum, the Cincinnati History Museum, and the Children’s Museum. It is listed as a National Historical Landmark, and in 2007, it was voted one of the country’s most popular building by the American Institute of Architects.
I arrived at Union Terminal about half an hour before the fireworks were scheduled to start. This allowed me some time to check out several vantage points so that I could select the location that gave me the best composition. I chose to be directly in front of the building along the road that led to the building.
Since the building is integral to the story behind the fireworks, I knew that I wanted the building to be in the picture. In addition, I wanted to be able to capture the large bursts high in the sky. As such, using a tripod, I positioned the building near the bottom of the frame. There would be no details of interest in the area between the building and where I was standing, so I left just enough foreground items in the picture to create a sort of frame, but without taking up a lot of the picture. I also chose to use a wider zoom to make sure that I can capture the bursts from even the high flying fireworks.
Not only did I want the building to be in the picture, I wanted to make sure that the building was properly exposed. To make sure that this happened, a few minutes before the fireworks were scheduled to begin, I put the camera into shutter priority mode, along with spot metering. By using spot metering, you are telling the camera to use only the single focal point selected to determine the proper exposure. I then pointed the focal point at the building, near the very top of the arch. I dialed in a shutter speed of 3 seconds and an ISO of 100. For fireworks, I typically use around a 3 to 4 second exposure. This provides enough time to allow the bursts of fireworks to fully develop, but not so much time that you capture a lot of bursts that overlap. I use an ISO of 100 to keep the noise level to a minimum. With the black sky, noise from a high ISO will be very noticeable. Since I was in shutter priority mode, and selected shutter speed and ISO, the camera selected the aperture (f/5) that it needed to get the correct exposure. I then took these values and put the camera into manual mode. This is important so that the exposure stays the same regardless of whether there were no bursts or many bright bursts of fireworks at the moment the shutter button is pressed.
Due to the longer exposures, a tripod or other means to stabilize the camera is absolutely critical. In addition, the use of a cable release or remote is very helpful, as this prevents camera shake due to pressing the shutter button.
During the fireworks display, I keep an eye near the ground where the fireworks are being launched. Many fireworks leave a trail of sparks as the shell climbs into the sky. The moment I see this trail of sparks, I start the picture. Then, due to the 3 to 4 second exposure, I am able to capture the large burst of the firework along with the trail of sparks. This trail helps anchor the burst, showing where it came from, and helping the picture to have a more dynamic feel.
There was minimal post processing in this image. I slightly cropped in to reduce the foreground and some of the open sky. I also cloned out some distracting lights in the foreground.
I arrived at Union Terminal about half an hour before the fireworks were scheduled to start. This allowed me some time to check out several vantage points so that I could select the location that gave me the best composition. I chose to be directly in front of the building along the road that led to the building.
Since the building is integral to the story behind the fireworks, I knew that I wanted the building to be in the picture. In addition, I wanted to be able to capture the large bursts high in the sky. As such, using a tripod, I positioned the building near the bottom of the frame. There would be no details of interest in the area between the building and where I was standing, so I left just enough foreground items in the picture to create a sort of frame, but without taking up a lot of the picture. I also chose to use a wider zoom to make sure that I can capture the bursts from even the high flying fireworks.
Not only did I want the building to be in the picture, I wanted to make sure that the building was properly exposed. To make sure that this happened, a few minutes before the fireworks were scheduled to begin, I put the camera into shutter priority mode, along with spot metering. By using spot metering, you are telling the camera to use only the single focal point selected to determine the proper exposure. I then pointed the focal point at the building, near the very top of the arch. I dialed in a shutter speed of 3 seconds and an ISO of 100. For fireworks, I typically use around a 3 to 4 second exposure. This provides enough time to allow the bursts of fireworks to fully develop, but not so much time that you capture a lot of bursts that overlap. I use an ISO of 100 to keep the noise level to a minimum. With the black sky, noise from a high ISO will be very noticeable. Since I was in shutter priority mode, and selected shutter speed and ISO, the camera selected the aperture (f/5) that it needed to get the correct exposure. I then took these values and put the camera into manual mode. This is important so that the exposure stays the same regardless of whether there were no bursts or many bright bursts of fireworks at the moment the shutter button is pressed.
Due to the longer exposures, a tripod or other means to stabilize the camera is absolutely critical. In addition, the use of a cable release or remote is very helpful, as this prevents camera shake due to pressing the shutter button.
During the fireworks display, I keep an eye near the ground where the fireworks are being launched. Many fireworks leave a trail of sparks as the shell climbs into the sky. The moment I see this trail of sparks, I start the picture. Then, due to the 3 to 4 second exposure, I am able to capture the large burst of the firework along with the trail of sparks. This trail helps anchor the burst, showing where it came from, and helping the picture to have a more dynamic feel.
There was minimal post processing in this image. I slightly cropped in to reduce the foreground and some of the open sky. I also cloned out some distracting lights in the foreground.