Study Group 26

Bob Benson

January Title - Fireworks at Hamilton Lakes

Photographer's Notes - Last summer, I did something I have not done in a long time: photograph fireworks on the Fourth of July. Since this location happens to be one of the best displays in the burbs, we tried to stake out a location early, but the best were long gone when we got there. Since I was on a steep hill, moving down to get more water and reflection was not an option. As it turned out, the occasional lower firework displays still showed up as a reflection, and with some local post adjustment, I was able to bring out the trees and surroundings. I thought this particular shot was not balanced enough without a firework burst in the upper left, so I added one from another image. Luckily, adding fireworks to a dark sky is easy- just use the Screen blending mode on layers. PS- I find it quite ironic that Youmans and I both chose fireworks as part of our image at the same time (even though we picked different holidays)!

COMMENTS:
 

Bob Benson
Paul Allen	Reaction:  This is a terrific fireworks photo, in my opinion.  I appreciate how well contained the full “bursts” are within the frame, filling the black sky with color and light.  Nice work to find a spot where you could catch some reflection, too, even if not what you were hoping for!  It was an excellent choice to add the extra burst, and you did a great job doing it, too.   Suggestions:  There’s very little I can think of to improve this image.  MAYBE a little bit of breathing room at the top and the sides so that it doesn’t feel at all crowded, but that’s a nit.
Youmans Hsiong	A nice firework shot. I like the gold and red as 49er’s colors.  The bursts on top are large and very sharp in detail from center to the maximum,  the red  bursts with water reflections at lower make the whole frame look beautiful  and well balanced.  I see the lower part of image may look a bit dark for me.
Brian Duchin	What an appropriate theme for January.  You and Youmans' photos are great examples of how photographers interpret and visualize a photo.  Yours is up close and personnel.  You have a strong sense of the fireworks in your photo.  The colors are graphic and vibrant.  Vertical composition gives your photo a sense of strength and power of the explosions.
Belinda Keller	Distance became a good vantage point. It’s a lively, colorful composition, and your reflections are mirror-imaged. Unlikely that you would have captured all that had you been closer. I especially like the silhouetted trees against the smoky reds in the background.  I would enjoy the shot without additions, but your big bursts gave it more impact and drama. I would never have guessed the bursts were added.  I might show the slightest bit of a reflection from the large bursts in the water in the foreground. To me, doing so would show proximity to the other bursts, pulling them all together. I would test removing or dimming the bright spot of light through the tree on the right.
Jose Maria Cartas	You captured very well the essence of the fireworks. All five bursts (including the one you added) are needed for the composition. The trees provide an anchor point, and without the reflections on the lake the image would have been not so appealing. What I appreciate most is that the added burst looks so realistic. If you hadn't told us about the post-processing, I'd never have guessed that it was not there on the first place. I can even see an overlapping between the two top bursts, as it's to be expected. There is nothing to change in this picture.
Ed Gulesserian	This is an intriguingly complex photo with a ton of great qualities and good processing, but the overall effect doesn’t quite come together for me.  I think the upper half of the image is spectacularly good with the colorful starbursts and the very crisp outlines of the trails – and the additional burst in the upper left was a good idea.   The lower half is interesting and probably difficult to execute that well, but has such a different character that the two halves seem somewhat artificially placed together. One of the issues for me is that the colors and tones in each half don’t appear anywhere in the other half.  Maybe the photo shows the way it really was, but it intuitively feels a little artificial to me.  Aside from that, it is a very busy image.  This may be sacrilege for a photographer, but I would experiment with cropping out the reflected starbursts at the bottom of the image (keep the three vertical reflected trails but reduce their brightness at the bottom of the frame).

Member Bio

Bob Benson - Biography Bob Benson lives in Schaumburg, Illinois, where he active in the Chicago council (CACCA) as a current board member and former president. He co-founded the first all digital camera club in the area twelve years ago. He is also the chair of EID's Interclub Competition. He started with version 3.5 on Photoshop, and is still learning all its intricacies. He finally gave up the ghost on film about five years ago.