Question about focal length, vantage points and fireworks displays ...

[Experiment_626]

It has been several years since I made an effort to see the July 4 fireworks displays here in my hometown -- we've usually gone to the beach or elsewhere. This year I'm going to be by myself for the holiday, and I don't want to travel. I'd like to photograph some fireworks, but only if I can get some sort of unique view.

The local fireworks show is held in a very large city park on the east side of town. I don't know where exactly they'll be fired, so I'd have a hard time choosing a good spot ahead of time -- and the park gets extremely crowded. But then I had a thought (which sometimes happens, despite what you may hear) -- I work in a building that is seven stories tall, with an exterior balcony on the top floor. According to Google Maps, the aforementioned park is right at three miles due east from this building as the crow flies.

Do you think the top floor balcony would provide an viable vantage point for the fireworks? Tallahassee's tallest building is the state capitol at 22 stories, but I think it is slightly to the south of the main sightline to the park. I have a 300mm lens if needed. I mean, Wishes is visible from a pretty great distance, and that's viewing it from the ground ... I've seen Wishes from the Florida Turnpike, a few miles before turning down 429, which is significantly farther away than three miles, I think.

I just think having a little of the city in the foreground could make for something worth shooting -- and I could avoid the crowded park.

SSB

 

[wbeem]

Joe McNally has a really great post about shooting fireworks on his blog today. It's a repost from last year, but still covers a lot of info.

joemcnally.com

 

[Experiment_626]

Joe McNally has a really great post about shooting fireworks on his blog today. It's a repost from last year, but still covers a lot of info.

Yeah — I read that yesterday morning. Good stuff. Joe's blog is one I try to read on a weekly basis.

This idea of mine seems to be an unusual one. I can't find anything online about trying to shoot from a combination of such height and distance. I don't know whether it will work or not. I work in a department full of scientists — maybe one of them can do something useful and help me figure out whether it will work. I think I'm going to try it and see what happens. There are other buildings that might be accessible, but aren't quite as tall (there's a parking garage a couple of blocks to the east, for example). The capitol building has an observation deck on the 22nd floor, which would definitely be enough height — but it is only open during business hours, and even then you'd have to shoot through glass. My own building is available to me 24/7 and seems like my best chance overall.

I guess we'll see what happens!

SSB

 

[Experiment_626]

A little more research tells me the building I plan to use is somewhere around 100 feet tall. Conservatively, I'll guess I'll be shooting from 80 feet up; ceilings here are at about ten feet, and I know the first floor is taller than the others by five or six feet, as it has more stairs than the others. Additionally, supposedly the average height of a civic fireworks burst is "around 400 feet or lower" according to a reference I found on an aviation web site. Thinking of some of the Wishes images I've seen, I'm a little skeptical of that; given the near-200-foot height of Cinderella Castle, some of the bursts in Wishes seem as if they must exceed 400 feet. But then again, I'm not sure that counts as a "typical" fireworks show.

Of course, all of this is academic. I'm sure that with this information and probably a bit more (elevation of this point and of the park with respect to one another and the height of buildings close to me along the sight line) it would be possible to determine whether the show should be visible. But in reality it either will be, or it won't. I can't think of another likely vantage point that will be accessible to me. And I don't know whether a 300mm lens on a D7000 will be long enough to make it worth my while. But I can try, and then I'll know.

SSB

 

[Experiment_626]

This morning I realized I don't have a step-ring that will make my ND filter fit my 55-300 lens. And I don't have another lens that will work unless I'm a lot closer — I think my 70-200 is too large, and all my others are way too short in focal length. I guess I'll have to see if I can use tape to hold the filter for the show!

I take it no one wants to venture a guess as to whether my idea will work. Understandable — lots of variables in play.

SSB

 

[Experiment_626]

Well ... it almost worked. My view was partially blocked by a hotel a few blocks east. That was okay; the building would have provided some context. But somehow my focus was off -- waaay off.

I'm pretty disappointed to have come so close and messed up something so basic. It was probably because the filter didn't fit. I had taped it to the reversed lens hood, but I had to take it off to focus and then put it back. Must have screwed it up when I put it back, though I tried my best not to do so. They wouldn't have been award winners, but still ... I would have been happy to have an idea like that and have it be successful.

I should have shot tethered, as I originally intended. I would have spotted this problem right away.

See? Every single one is like this:


One Little Mistake ... by Scott S. Baxter, on Flickr



SSB

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm so bummed for you! I hate when great plans go awry.

So have you ordered the right step ring already?

 

[Shazzasmd]

So sorry you had a glitch when you had everything planned. This is a common problem for me, and I think I get so keyed up when it's finally "fireworks" time that I am prone to user error.

At least fireworks happen most every day at Disney.

 

[Experiment_626]

So have you ordered the right step ring already?

Not yet — it must be cleared with "She Who Must Be Obeyed (Unless it's Really Important)* — AKA "The Treasurer." And she's out of town and I know what her answer would be at the moment anyway.

But I will get one!

*I added the parenthetical part myself, without authorization. But my saving grace is that I only make such executive decisions very sparingly — I've been married long enough to learn this, and I like being married and would prefer to remain so! I choose my battles with care, in other words.

SSB

 

[Experiment_626]

So sorry you had a glitch when you had everything planned. This is a common problem for me, and I think I get so keyed up when it's finally "fireworks" time that I am prone to user error.

Yes ... I usually get it right in the parks, but there was a new situation and that one improvisational element was my downfall. In contrast, a couple of weeks ago, on the spur of the moment, I saw an opportunity to get a shot (non-Disney) I've wanted for a long time. I had literally five minutes to get where I needed to be, get set up and start shooting. Thankfully, I was already in the car and had all my equipment with me. I nailed it. I haven't uploaded it anywhere yet because I'm taking extra care to get it "just so."

In fact, the shot I'm talking about might have some licensing potential and that's another reason no one has seen it. I'm trying to determine how best to proceed. There's a layer of complication in that the entity which might be interested in licensing it is my employer, and if they want it, I want to make sure they have no way to claim I took it as part of my job, because I didn't.

SSB

 

[WillowBelle]

I know, based on a professional's eye, there are so many things wrong with your posted picture. That said, I kind of like it. The only thing that is wrong is the focus. It's not blown out, it's not shakey, compisition is good. . Sometimes pictures are cool when they're completely out of focus.