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San Antonio New Year 2007
San Antonio New Year 2007
dleach


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Fireworks II (Advanced Editing V*)
Camera: Canon EOS-20D
Lens: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Location: San Antonio Texas
Date: Jan 1, 2007
Aperture: f11.0
ISO: 100
Shutter: 15sec
Galleries: Cityscape
Date Uploaded: Jan 1, 2007

 (second attempt to update details... digg affect in full force)

I went out in the afternoon to scout out locations to position for the celebrations at the Tower of Americas. Then I headed out and setup at about 11:15pm with my tripod, camera, and remote control (really need the remote control).

Lots of people passed by and exchanged "Happy New Year" greetings. Had one woman come up to me and ask if I could spare some money so she could get something to eat so I gave her some and wished her Happy New Year (and quietly hopped she would have a better new year then the one she just had).

Once things started I just started shooting away. San Antonio has a 17 minute show so I ended up with 100+ photos. Believe it or not, this was the second picture!

All photo processing was done with a beta of Adobe Lightroom. The crop was quite by accident as the original is a vertical picture. I was playing around with Lightshow's slideshow feature where one of the options is to "autofill" the frame and on this picture this was the fill it gave me. Everyone in my family agreed that this picture was their favorite so I went with it.

The clarity of the tower top was probably a testiment to the tripod and the remote control. I don't have a very good tripod so I had the legs fully retracted to minimize the shake placing the camera very close to the ground.

Adobe Lightroom's controls are fairly straight forward. I tweaked the black level some, added some vibrancy and that was about it. Then in Photoshop Elements 4.0 I resized to 720, sharpened, then saved for web.

I hope you enjoy. I know I really enjoy fireworks (ask my family, they know I'm crazy about sticking around for shows).

after challenge

Woot! (something my son says) Personal best. Sooo close to a ribbon (the last weekend of voters brought me down around .17). Thanks all!

As promised, here is the original:



The small sizes here doesn't do justice to the clarity of the tower and fireworks.

Statistics
Place: 4 out of 74
Avg (all users): 7.4330
Avg (commenters): 8.6500
Avg (participants): 6.8649
Avg (non-participants): 7.5455
Views since voting: 5099
Views during voting: 481
Votes: 224
Comments: 34
Favorites: 6 (view)

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AuthorThread
 07/02/2007 06:48:47 PM
I am almost positive I saw one of your fireworks shots in the most recent copy of "Popular Photography" in a small ad :) If so, congrats!! I love em, they are fabulous!! Low noise, perfect clarity :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/13/2007 07:45:34 PM
Congrats on the 4th place. Excellent shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2007 10:57:05 PM
Congratulations David! Great job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/10/2007 12:09:03 AM
David, absolutely superb, a great pic and a super way to start the year, well done
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2007 09:27:48 PM
An amazing fireworks could have easily been a ribbon winner, congrats on your 4th place finish.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2007 08:16:25 PM
Congratulations!You did soooooooooooooooooo good! I am adding this to my favorites.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2007 09:10:09 AM
Excellent job. One of the best. Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2007 07:56:50 AM
Just awesome!! Congrats on your 4th place with this incredible burst of color!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2007 06:49:55 AM
<-->

That close.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2007 12:42:47 AM
Oh David!!! 4th place!!! I feel your pain. . .but it only lasts a moment, then you realize how incredibly awesome of an accomplishment you achieved to place so high in this incredible challenge!

This shot takes my breath away! Makes me proud to live in a City that can be made this spectacular!

Congratulations on your first Honorable Mention, and a phenomenal score!

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2007 12:37:29 AM
WOW! Great dynamic shot. Big congrats on 4th place.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2007 12:37:27 AM
Wouldn't have surprised me to see this ribbon. That's a heck of a score not to ribbon, too. Congrats on your top 5!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2007 12:22:26 AM
Holy cow - what a score! Congrats on a great finish and a great picture! And I don't know why "consolation" would be necessary when you've got a picture like this!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/09/2007 12:13:35 AM
gave this a 10 and thought you might ribbon...you just missed out David...a wonderful image, well done on the top 4...though I know that's no consolation :-) congrats on your pb
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
01/08/2007 01:52:46 AM
booming 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/07/2007 10:02:31 AM
Great shot, good sense of movement. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/06/2007 02:40:31 AM
WOnderful colors!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/05/2007 09:34:23 PM
Not bad, without that house in it this shot would have just been yet another shot of fireworks but that bumps it up a bit. Still not dropping my jaw over this but good work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/05/2007 04:11:46 PM
Wow! Very cool! I know that place!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/04/2007 02:04:06 PM
Very, very busy with all those fireworks. But they all balance out nicely to not make the photograph itself too busy. Great job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/03/2007 08:16:40 PM
WOW! Back to bump you up to 9.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/03/2007 06:15:28 PM
Wow, San Antonio put on a good display. Well captured.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/03/2007 01:33:30 PM
Wow! Beautiful display.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 09:34:08 PM
WOW! I know that tower! This is totaly incredible. Without a doubt one of the best pictures of fireworks that I have ever seen. The composition, clairity, and colors are awesome. Excellent Work!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 08:52:37 PM
Good shot. I like it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 07:03:49 PM
Funky. The feathery effect looks pretty cool.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 05:37:10 PM
wow!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 02:12:03 PM
Beautiful capture. But I'm confused by the appearance that the more-or-less horizontal, red streaks appear to be eminating from the tower itself. Were they actually using the tower as a launching spot?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 01:44:54 PM
My favourite so far, this is great!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 11:07:22 AM
That's pretty flippin fabulous!!!! Wonderful crop and "close up."
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 10:28:26 AM
Amazing colors, Great capture. One of my favorites!!! -10-
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 08:25:47 AM
Nice photo - amazing color - great fireworks!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 07:30:35 AM
Oh you LUCKY. . .getting such a close-up view of the fireworks over the
Tower. This could not BE any more spectacular!!! And what a way to highlight that striking structure!! This is by far my favorite! In fact, I'm adding it to my favorites! Kudos for making San Antonio look so magical!! 10!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/02/2007 02:41:41 AM
WONDERFUL EXPOSURE and a brilliant image worthy of a ribbon...good luck with this 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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