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Kuwait Enters 50th year of Constitution with a Guinness World Record

Kuwait on Saturday entered the Guinness World record books with a massive display of firework. The show which costed KD 4.16 million (roughly around $15 million US) was spectacular with 77,282 fireworks launched using pyrotechnic over a period of one hour to secure the biggest and expensive firework feat ever. Thousands of people gathered around the Gulf road to catch the glimpse of fireworks, kite and laser show display staged to mark the 50th anniversary of the constitution. The road leading to the venue were closed from early afternoon, I decided to reach early for a change and found a convenient location to witness the event right behind the KFC outlet (Zone 5). Before the late evening firework I was lucky enough to watch 3-4 sorties of fire planes soaring the sky and display of kites beautifully flown by professionals pillion riders on Jet skies. Finally as other photo geek members and family joined, the place was flooded with people occupying every inch of land, there was a long wait before the firework began and I wished there were more entertainment on the sea side. I did manage to capture the couple of flying mannequin and other dressed up sea-creature character with security personnel as they were cheered by crowds walking the Gulf road. I rushed back to my spot to capture the firework which started couple of minutes after 8 pm to witness the greatest and most spectacular fireworks ever, with plenty of photographers and other watchers around, the place was truly a celebration. At the end of the show, the 3D projections displayed the Guinness World record banner for the maximum number of firework as well as for the longest line (from Kuwait tower to Green Island divided into 9 zones) as a representative from Guinness World Record announced over the national Kuwait Television.

Images of the event: (For more images click here)

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How to shoot Fireworks

I had earlier posted of the biggest and most expensive firework event taking place this weekend.

Shooting Fireworks is always magical with the beautiful colors and the illumination produced. Generally people tend to think to shoot firework they may have to invest on powerful camera gears or telephoto lens. You can capture beautiful stunning images using a standard kit lens available depending on the camera make unless you need to fill your frame with fireworks then generally a telephoto lens (70-300 mm) will serve the purpose, else you may need to crop the picture.

Few quick tips to get those beautiful streaks of lights in your image

1. Check your location: It’s important to reach early, so as to get an unobstructed view. Check your horizon and the background, reflection of lights on the water or having a nice backdrop will add more dynamic change to your picture.

2. Use a Tripod: Since we would be using long exposure, there is every chance for camera shake. If you don’t have a tripod, then make sure to brace your camera against wall, railing or even a car to keep it steady. If you have no options then you may need to increase the ISO, this will give you shorter exposure without blurs but will also introduce noise in your image. You will need image noise removal application to reduce the noise during the post processing stage.

3. Remote Release: A wired cable release or a remote release will help you to eliminate the minimum camera shake. If you don’t have a remote release, the best would be to use the self-timer of the camera after setting the desired time. You may loose on the initial few shots of firework as you tend to calculate the time the shell reaches the sky and burst out.

4. Focus Setting: On a DSLR camera choose the M (Manual) mode and manually focus your lens to infinity (∞). You have to readjust the focus . On a Point & Shoot camera, you can use the Firework mode, landscape mode or the least night portrait mode depending on the availability on your camera.

5. Flash off: Camera flash or flash-guns are not powerful enough to reach fireworks.

6. ISO, Aperture & Shutter speed: The higher your ISO, the more sensitive your camera is to light. When shooting longer exposures (long shutter speeds) high ISO can introduce a lot of digital noise to your photograph. An ISO setting of 100 is a good bet. Check the following setting and experiment accordingly. (ISO 50 – Aperture range: f/5.6 – 11; ISO 100 – Aperture range: f/8 to 16; ISO 200 – Aperture range: f/11 to 22). Long Shutter speed will help to capture a perfect shot, you may need to experiment by using 2 sec to 10 sec or more depending on the duration of firework to see what works best. If you have a B (Bulb) mode setting you can use it to control exactly how long your shutter is open. The trick is to open the shutter right at the beginning of the burst and close it when it reaches its peak. Allow the smoke to disappear before you take the next shoot.

7. Take plenty of pictures: Carry more than 1 card, shooting firework is quite addictive. Try different setting, preview your first few shots to know you are satisfied with the settings.

Finally enjoy the show and be safe.

Tag : Fireworks

Kuwait Enters 50th year of Constitution with a Guinness World Record

How to shoot Fireworks

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