This image was taken in St Louis at Arch National Park on 7/4/25. Shot with the OM-1 Mk I and the Olympus 9MM f/8.0 fisheye lens. This was a 5 second exposure at ISO 200 shot on a tripod. I darkened the foreground to remove distractions allowing the trees to provide a silhouette to the subject. I left the Arch in for context but it was not the subject.
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5 Comments
This has all the makings of a great shot. But the arch on the right side, and it arching out of the frame, really draws your eye. a dozen or 2 steps to the right could have possibly improved the composition here, but I think stepping back and being able to see most or all of the arch, with the fireworks INSIDE it would have made for a much more pleasing shot.
The fireworks, on the other hand, has beautiful colours to them. They aren't overexposed, and that's hard with fireworks, having taken many shots of them (we get 10 days of fireworks during the Calgary Stampede every year, plus other events like Canada Day and whatnot). I really like the colours off the arch as well. Really interesting how they hit! Well done there!
Thanks for the feedback. It would have been about 70 steps to the right and into the crowd. I started the evening in the spot that would have put the fireworks and arch dead center with one another but after people started showing up and gathering in droves right in front of me, I realized that off-center shots would be better than shots with people's heads in them, so I moved to a less crowded area.
Hey, the situation dictates the shot a lot of the times, especially with events like this. People showed up in droves, but would they have really affected the shots or added to them? Or maybe aim high enough they aren't in the shot? Just thoughts that I would think about in the situation, which maybe you had thought about and this was the result, or maybe your hadn't thought about it and next time you can!
Love the shot and I don't mind that the arch is on the right side of the frame. In fact, I think it's awesome that it's not apparent until you really look at the shot and then you know instantly where this was taken. 5 stars from me!
Thank you!