Happy New Year

Hello and welcome to my first post of 2015! I hope that you have all had a great festive period – mine has been spent with my family and my camera so for me, Christmas and New Year have been very good.

For quite a few years now, I have celebrated New Years Eve at the Winter Carnival in Newcastle and of course, I have always been armed with my camera! This year, the carnival was a little different. Instead of the fireworks taking place at Newcastle Civic Centre, the parade ventured to Newcastle Quayside where thousands of people stood waiting for the celebrations.

The way the crowds were stood suggested that I would have to pick between finding a place from which to take photographs of the parade at the side of the road or standing beside the barrier near the water’s edge and getting shots of fireworks. As there was more room beside the barrier I set up my camera and took a few test shots of the Tyne Bridge (I thought they might be setting the fireworks off from the bridge).

Initially, I was a little disappointed to have to pick between the parade and the fireworks but it turned out that the parade came along and stopped right in front of me so the photographs I got were a lot better than I had imagined.

For me, the event didn’t really compare to pervious winter carnivals and I think the organisers will have a few things to consider when planning next years event but most of the crowd seemed to enjoy the night.

My favourite shot from the night was a bit of an experiment really. I was reading an article about shooting fireworks before I went to Newcastle and it suggested putting the camera into Bulb mode and covering the lens with black card in between fireworks. I thought I would give it a go and I am very pleased with the results (although the first few attempts were deleted!) It is a method I will definitely be trying again in the future.

A selection of images from New Years Eve in Newcastle can be seen below.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.