Bruce McCammon Photography

Dianne and I ventured into downtown Portland last night to photograph the fireworks displays. We knew generally where the barges would be located on the Willamette River but did not have a clear idea of what to expect. Previous attempts to photograph fireworks were pretty lame. I got some technical guidance from Scott Kelby and others and went with the idea of getting starbursts over the Portland skyline. The picture above was taken about 30 minutes before the fireworks show. I enjoy the small crescent moon between the towers. When enlarged on-screen you can see people in the rooms at the Mariott Hotel. I love good optics!

I did not anticipate that finding a place to stand where I had a view of the skyline and was not blocking someone else’s view would be the challenge it was. We got to the river about 2 hours early and it was already packed with people. It only got more congested as the police moved everone off the Hawthorne bridge and we go closer to show time. It seems that the entire Portland metro area was there for the spectacle.

Once the show got started I quickly realized that it really doesn’t matter who is standing in front of you. The action is all well above head-height… even the guy in the white T-shirt that insisted on standing in front of me and others that had been there long before he showed up.

I shot these images using a Nikon D2Xs camera and a 17-55 f/2.8 lens at ISO 100. Exposures were made at f/11 for 4 seconds. The camera was on a tripod and a cable shutter release was used. Focus was at infinity and fixed prior to dark.

We were only about 50-100 yards from one of the barges that had the fireworks on board. At times the light was so bright it was hard to imagine that an exposure wasn’t totally blown out. Only one frame out of the set was pitched due to over exposure.

It looked like the barge on the other side of the Hawthorne Bridge was issuing fireworks that had more blues and yellows…. the grass is always greener? Our charges seemed to favor white and red/orange.

I had not anticipated the smoke created by the fireworks would be a problem. The still air kept the smoke hovering and obscured several lower explosions. I zoomed in a bit and tried to compose an area where the higher, upstream shows were taking place. Some worked, some didn’t.

All in all, it was a fun evening. No fights in the crowd. Lots of people out enjoying the show and being tolerant of each other. The ice cream carts were busy. Little kids were stunned and amazed. Veterans of many shows in the area seemed satisfied by this year’s show. I walked away with some nice images and new knowledge of how to do this type of shooting. We’ll be better prepared next year.