Fireworks @ Thames Festival

Last weekend was the Thames festival and I had been lazy these day to walk along the river even though it's so close to where I live. I was interested when I heard they are gonna play fireworks at night at the end of the event.

It was really crowded at both sides of the river and there was a parade from the north bank, where the London mayor Ken Livingstone was spotted. I spent some time looking for the best spot to shoot the fireworks after I found out they will play it right in front of the OXO tower. I decided to go to the Waterloo Bridge on the west which overlook Blackfriars Bridge, St Paul Cathedral etc on the east. It was already packed with people when I arrived 10 mins before the fireworks. I managed to squeeze to the front and set up my tripod perfectly between the bridge railing and the safety barrier. Then this idiot security came to me and told me: "I know this is a nice spot for taking picture but u are not allow to place your tripod here". Damn I had to push the crowd behind me backwards and narrowed the tripod legs. It was quite windy and the tripod was not very steadily set up.

The fireworks started... I tried various settings within very short time and managed to get a few decent shots...

18mm, ISO 100, F8.0, 5 secs exposure

18mm, ISO 100, F6.3, 5 secs exposure

18mm, ISO 100, F7.1, 8 secs exposure

18mm, ISO 100, F10, 5 secs exposure

18mm, ISO 100, F11, 8 secs exposure

I reckon the best setting for fireworks shooting should be shutter prioritised at 5-6 secs, 8-10 secs seem allow too much lights and made it looks quite congested on the sky. A great fireworks shooting experience indeed. Wish I'll get another chance to shoot fireworks again soon.