F111, a photo from Queensland, East

Photographer's Note

This will be the last of my Riverfire 2007 images I will post, in fear the they will become boring and repetitious. I will be back next year with more, but from a fresh angle. In this shot, two F1-11 fighter/bomber jets fly low over the city, igniting their fuel and resulting in a ‘dump and burn’ effect which lasts for about 30seconds to 1 minute.

There are multiple videos uploaded of this on YouTube and I fully recommend that you look at a few of them to get the feel of what I was attempting to capture.

What I like about this image is the clarity in some parts of the frame, and the motion blur caused by the drifting smoke in other parts during the long exposure. This shot ironically looks somewhat like a futuristic warzone rather than a reflection of a celebration. By the way, I am not totally happy with what the compression was done to parts of the sky, which is not apparent in the full image.

Thank you for looking.

Matt

gracious, ktanska, ribeiroantonio, raymutlu, macondo, Floydian, vjmite, MLINES, JPlumb, ChrisJ, ifanik has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

gracious (20025) 2007-11-20 23:08

Hello Matthew,
Lovely view of the firework displayed!
perfect sharpness, vivid colour and so much details
good exposure and focus too
well done and TFS
cheers
greeting from NZ
Tony

ktanska (45126) 2007-11-20 23:46

Hi Matthew,
There's feeling of finale here. All the fast moving smoke above the city. Really a special effect. I like those other shots of this event too.
Kari

ribeiroantonio (22730) 2007-11-21 0:11

This year I was working and could not go to the Riverfire festival. I had a go last year but as I was standing just across the Riverside Plaza (please have a look to the photos in my gallery to check my location) I could not photograph the F111’s, so fast they were (are). To get a good picture we need a place far enough to have an ample view of the river. I have been thing about Mt Coot-tha but at the same time I thing it is too far.
Anyway, your photo is still very nice as we can the line of fire left by the F111’s. The huge amount of smoke really is the main problem with fireworks. They have to come up with smoke free fireworks!!!
Antonio

raymutlu (201) 2007-11-21 0:23

Hi Matt,

Great composition, I realy like the details of the bridge and smoky clouds. I will check the youtube soon.

Cheers, Ray

Dpbours (222) 2007-11-21 0:35

Hi Matthew,

Wow, what an explanation! That must be a great view. I'm going to have a look at Youtube! It does look like a bushfire on another world. Nice work! What were the camera settings?!

Greetings,
Dennis

macondo (20449) 2007-11-21 4:38

Hi Matthew.
Great shot you have here. I can't see the F111s in it, but no doubt their speed and the smoke made them hard to catch. The colours are well captured by your exposure, and the whole scene does look quite destructive and puzzling. Like you, I find the clarity contrasted with the blurry part. The cropping adds to the impression of the horizontal path of the bombers. Well done.
Regards,
Andrew

Cormac (26565) 2007-11-21 8:37

Nice image! The combination of the totally still and clear bridge with the somewhat blurred and moving cloud is very interesting, and really stops you in your tracks and makes you look at it - which is always a good thing. Nicely done!

Floydian (30970) 2007-11-21 11:37

Hi Matthew,
Striking image with all that light against a dark sky. Even lots of detail on the bridge and on those skycrapers...good exposure here.
Regards, Henk

vincz (19113) 2007-11-22 2:22

Fantastic feeling, there is something magnificent coming out of this shot. I like it.

vjmite (6720) 2007-11-23 18:21

Hi Matthew,

Quite a ripsnorter of a photo here. Very dynamic. The bridge stands out well in the dark. You would have had to work quickly to get this shot.

Vince

MLINES (12516) 2007-11-23 21:31

Hi Matt. Another fine composition overlooking the Brisbane river. The bridge stands out very well. Good to see your creative work on this very interesting scene. TFS. Murray.

JPlumb (3159) 2007-11-24 17:49

Hey Matt, this is an excellent shot of the Story Bridge and the F1-11 lighting up the sky behind the CBD. You've packed some incredible action into this shot with a perfectly exposed night scene. Very nicely done!

Last Australia Day there was a light shot through the sky over the Sydney Harbour (all I could see was the light). It was incredibly fast and seemed to me like a rocket. I got a blurry photo of it, but as I said, all that turned out was the light. I think you've just given me a hint as to what that might have been.

Thanks, John

ChrisJ (172442) 2007-12-01 2:34

Hi Matthew

I was in Brisbane, when this was taken (14 Aug > 14 Sep). Good colour, sharpness & pov. I like the motion blur of the clouds too. Tfs!

batalay (41261) 2007-12-03 17:19

Hello Matthew,

This, I think, is my favorite of your night shots of the great bridge in Brisbane, especially with the fog and all-pervasive light. The panoramic format works especially well.

How good to hear from you. I had been absent from TE for over a week, and made a quick visit, before going off to work on my book again.

Warm regards Virginia to Down Under. I believe, you are 14 hours ahead of us here in the East Coast of the United States. It is 8:20 pm here on Monday, it must 10:20 am in Australia on Tuesday.

Bulent

ifanik (21679) 2007-12-04 7:35

Hi Mathew
Very impressive photo with nice colours and light
Very good work
Thank you
best regards
Nick

Andrzej_HHH (2480) 2007-12-12 15:08

Hello! Great air-shows you`ve got in Australia and right now it`s very unique to see a F-111 on air.
Aboout the picture I may say that I really like it. Very good frame with the bridge in the foreground. Very nice composition of a lights of the city and fogs. Best regards! Andrzej