How To Photograph Fireworks eBook!

Do you wish you could photograph fireworks better? Do you have difficulty photographing fireworks? If the answer to either of these questions is “yes,” you should check out the new eBook I co-authored, detailing how to photograph fireworks. The eBook, called Fireworks Photography, is a collaborative effort between me and those crazy hooligans, Cory and Adam, who run the excellent Disney Photography Blog.

After many months of grueling work on what can be called both a labor of love and a painstaking task (seriously, who would have ever guessed that writing a book would be so much work?!), we are proud to finally release the finished version. (more…)

Here Comes the Christmas 2012 Grand Finale!

If the Christmas season were a fireworks show, we’d be nearing the grand finale. The presents are wrapped, the food is prepared, and one of our smaller family gatherings just concluded, leaving the house empty and quiet for the rest of the night. Of course, tomorrow morning the “grand finale” will occur, in the form of Christmas morning. I no longer have the sense of anticipation for Christmas morning that I did as a child–Sarah and I don’t do much in the way of gifts for one another and we don’t yet have kids to vicariously experience the joy of Christmas gifting–but it’s still a great day for spending time with family and enjoying festivities.

It might be a tortured analogy, but I think firework shows have some parallels. Just before the grand finale is the “late Christmas eve” portion of the show, where everything quiets down to build anticipation and make the grand finale all the more poignant. The grand finale is like a series of glorious, explosive presents. Fireworks themselves are festivities. As for the family part of the analogy…well, uhh…like I said, it’s a tortured analogy.

In real life, I love this quiet time. It’s a great time to just sit around, eat a couple a few dozen cookies, and watch Christmas movies with the family. In the world of fireworks…well, who likes a “tranquil” fireworks show? Only communists. To that end, here’s a photo from the grand finale of Holiday Wishes, when the perimeter bursts, incredibly bright streaming fireworks, and Cinderella Castle Dreamlights all erase the tranquility from the night sky over Walt Disney World.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Please click the photo above to view it large.

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Technical details: shot with a Nikon D600 with a Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 Lens. See our guide for more photography equipment recommendations.

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Illuminations: Peace on Earth Photo (+CRAZY Nikon D600 Deal!)

Illuminations: Reflections of Earth with the Peace on Earth tag is one of my favorite aspects of Christmas at Walt Disney World. One of my other favorite aspects is the Osborne Lights. Unfortunately, we only had one night last weekend to try to see both. Disney’s Hollywood Studios closed at 8 pm and Epcot closed at 9:30 pm. Perfect, I thought. Unfortunately, we hung around Disney’s Hollywood Studios for “just one more song” and “just one more photo” until 9 pm (I didn’t realize they kept the music running after the park closed…I thought it was just the lights. Anyone know when this changed?), at which time I literally had to RUN from Disney’s Hollywood Studios to get to Epcot in time for the fireworks. I made it just in time, and didn’t even bother trying to find a better spot along the World Showcase Lagoon to view the show. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to see much or, more importantly, hear much from here, but it actually wasn’t too bad of a view and I could hear the show perfectly. Walt Cronkite’s narration always gives me chills.

Nikon D600

On an unrelated note, but as a heads up, I woke up to an email this morning from Amazon that the Nikon D600 with 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR Lens is on sale today and tomorrow for $700 off (making the price $2,000). I felt sick to my stomach, as I paid that much for the camera alone when it was released. Granted, I wouldn’t have had the camera in Europe had I waited, but I would have saved $700. Still, if given the choice I definitely would have taken the $700 and just used my Nikon D700 in Europe. Ouch.

But, the good news for you (if you haven’t also purchased the Nikon D600 before today) is that this is an insane deal. Nikon normally fixes the price of its cameras, so discounting like this just doesn’t happen. The other good news is that Amazon inventory cycles quickly enough that the dust problems reported with some early cameras likely will not be an issue if you purchase today or tomorrow. You can read more about this camera, which is my primary camera, in my review of the Nikon D600 and see sample photos I took using it at Disney here. Or, you can look at my photos of the day for the past couple of months, almost all of which were taken with the Nikon D600 (it’ll say in each post). (more…)

HalloWishes Fireworks – Short(!) Exposure

Before our October 2012 Walt Disney World trip, I came to a realization: I had not photographed Magic Kingdom fireworks in a “normal” manner since October 2009, when I used a Nikon D90. Since then, I had been using either a fisheye lens (for perimeter bursts) or a neutral density filter (for more chaotic photos). The real reason I used both of these things was the added challenge. I’m by no means a fireworks photography master, but part of the fun of photography for me is the creative challenge, and fireworks are mostly technical. Besides camping out in different parts of the park, there’s not a ton you can do to get more creative with fireworks photos, so I decided to give myself an additional challenge by using neutral density filters and the fisheye lens. The resulting photos seem more…energetic(?)…than normal fireworks photos.

Unfortunately, a lot of the time when I use a fisheye lens or neutral density filter, the resulting photos aren’t quite as visually pleasing as they would be with a simpler setup. Given this, and given all of the upgrades I’ve made in camera bodies and lenses since last photographing fireworks over Cinderella Castle, I decided it was time to shoot them sans filter or fisheye lens again. Overall, I was pretty pleased with the results, and there actually was a bit of a challenge since HalloWishes (the show I photographed) is a tad more challenging to photograph than Wishes thanks to the harsh lighting on Cinderella Castle during HalloWishes. Plus, I manufactured a bit of a challenge by switching lenses during the show, something I’ve never before done, and using a fisheye lens for the grand finale, which features perimeter bursts. (more…)

40 Awesometacular Fireworks Photos!

As we approach the Fourth of July, it seems fitting to focus on “America” in the Disney theme parks. Walt Disney World and Disneyland are rife with Americana and Patriotic displays. The reason for this stems all the way back to Walt Disney himself, who loved America. He himself was probably as American as anyone could possibly be.

Check back tomorrow for a Patriotic salute to “all nations, but mostly America” (minus the “all” nations part–it’ll just be a salute to America). If you need an immediate America at Disney “fix,” I suggest you check out these awesome America on Parade photos at ImagineeringDisney.com.

For now, as a salute to the OTHER thing that makes July 4th notable, here are some of my favorite fireworks photos from Walt Disney World and Disneyland. (more…)