Queen's Birthday Fireworks

Post by **Big Boy** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 3:33 am

prcscct wrote:AThe only real concern I have is if the ocean swells are large as they're using a floating platform as a launch base.

It could make things very interesting

Post by **PeteC** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 3:42 am

Big Boy wrote:
prcscct wrote:AThe only real concern I have is if the ocean swells are large as they're using a floating platform as a launch base.
It could make things very interesting

Indeed, "don't push the button during an up-swell Henry or you'll put a rocket through that hotel over there...."

Pete

Post by **PeteC** » Wed Aug 11, 2010 4:53 am

They have a few of these self propelled platforms that I assume they're going to use as launch bases. They can be anchored very securely. The photo is deceiving because of the distance but the things have decks which are about 30x12 meters. Pete

: image016.jpg (16.16 KiB) Viewed 532 times

Post by **hhfarang** » Sun Aug 15, 2010 6:55 pm

Well, we're back and the fireworks show was by far the best I've ever seen (and I've seen some really good ones during Independence Day celebrations in California and Florida).

The room I booked was blocked by a bigger building between it and the fireworks so I had to go to the beach to see/photograph it. It was raining lightly so I only took my small Canon Elf camera and a tripod and here seemed to be a million people on the beach when we arrived three hours before the show so it was a difficult proposition to get a spot suitable for photography and actually execute the shots sandwiched by crowds and trying to keep my camera dry.

Having said that, out of about 200 shots taken I actually got what I think are 60 to 80 good ones.

Once I sort them out a bit I'll post a few here, but that may take a few days.

All in all, the rain, sweating, and being crammed into an uncomfortable position for 5 hours was worth it as the show was truly awesome!

Post by **PeteC** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:22 am

I second that. Each country that participated put together a really good show and you could see the distinct differences in their methods, type of rockets and colors used that portrayed the personality of each country. Only China, Thailand, the UAE and Italy participated. Don't know what happened to the other countries who were scheduled to be there.

It started at 1945 hours and didn't end until 2230 with about a five minute break between each country's display. Enough fireworks to last a viewer a long, long time.

A good job done by the organizers and the city.

Pete

Post by **hhfarang** » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:29 pm

Here are some of the photos I took of the fireworks. This was with a 3 year old 6mp pocket point and shoot camera so imagine what you could do with a really versatile one. Also, I was on the beach which was too close for most shots. The Ideal place would be on the balcony of a room top couple of floors of the Hard Rock Hotel facing the show. There were four barges scattered around in front of us. I assumed that each country would have a barge to work from. Thailand did do that but Italy and the UAE used three barges simultaneously for a very wide show. I had to concentrate on single bursts or closely grouped multiple bursts rather than the entire show. In fact, since each country's show was synchronized to music, the best way to photograph it (from the Hard Rock) would probably be to do a video with sound.

Anyway, here are a few of the pics... (I'm going to do it in three posts so if I lose the connection I want have to start uploading them all over again... mods, is there a batch upload feature?)