Exercise 43 – Narrative and Storytelling

What: The brief of this exercise was to show the command of narrative and storytelling by producing a number of photographs which could be used to illustrate an event or sequence.
Where: Edinburgh
When: Last Night of the Festival
How: First of all I had to do was to jot down some notes on what I wanted to capture on the day,

The crowd – This is a well attended event every year
The picnics
The fireworks
The castle
The Ending fireworks – usually the biggest burst of the night.

I also had to procure the tickets so that I would be in the position that I wanted. I had decided on where I wanted to be, but in a event like this you cannot always book a position on the ground so I arrived early to that I could get a good position on the East side of the castle. I wanted the East side as I had seen the weather reports for the day and they said that the wind was going to be blowing inland to the west of the city.

Festival Fireworks Edinburgh 4th September 2011-09-06

D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 30 sec, ISO 100, 29mm (35mm equivalent 43mm),Centre Weight Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens



The traditional firework display and concert marks the formal end to the Edinburgh Festival, the concert and fireworks on the last Sunday of the festival take place on Edinburgh castle overlooking Princess Street and the gardens below.

D50,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/8 sec, ISO 1600, 40mm (35mm equivalent 60mm),Pattern Metering Mode, Daylight White Balance, Hand Held, 18-70mm lens


The event attracts a large audience who sit below in the Gardens and watch the display of 10,000 fireworks in the night, while the Scottish chamber orchestra play a series of classic pieces matched to the display.

D50,Aperture f9.5, Shutter Speed 1/10 sec, ISO 1600, 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm),Pattern  Metering Mode, Daylight White Balance,Hand Held, 18-70mm lens



People arrive up to two hours before the concert many of them sitting on the grass banks and enjoying a quiet picnic; many were setting up cameras to capture the event.

D50,Aperture f/9.5, Shutter Speed 1/15 sec, ISO 1600, 52mm (35mm equivalent 78mm),Pattern  Metering Mode, Daylight White Balance, Hand Held, 18-70mm lens



As the sun sets, the castle which is usually light up is silhouetted against the sky

D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 8 sec, ISO 100, 14mm (35mm equivalent 21mm),Matrix Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 11-16mm lens




A flare is fired into the sky to test the wind speed and direction to ensure that the wind speed will not cause the fireworks to go out of control and drop into the crowds below.


D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 30 sec, ISO 100, 29mm (35mm equivalent 43mm),Centre Weight Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens


As the dark draws in the audience settle for the performance, and the lights are dimmed around the garden to allow the best view.


D50,Aperture f/11, Shutter Speed 2 sec, ISO 200, 55mm (35mm equivalent 88mm), Pattern Metering Mode, Shade White Balance, Hand Held, 55-200mm lens



The concert and as the orchestra plays the overture to Glinkas “Ruslan and Ludmilla” fireworks stream from the castle into the night sky.

D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 30 sec, ISO 100, 29mm (35mm equivalent 43mm),Centre Weight Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens


Following Glinka, Borodins “In the steppes of Central asia” is played as the fireworks light the sky in colourful inspiration of the orient.

D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 30 sec, ISO 100, 29mm (35mm equivalent 43mm),Centre Weight Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens


As the concert progresses through the harmonies, melodies and rhythms of each piece of music the audience are dazzled by the pyrotechnics.

D50,Aperture f/11, Shutter Speed 8 sec, ISO 200, 55mm (35mm equivalent 82mm),Pattern Metering Mode, Manual White Balance, Hand Held, 55-200mm lens


As the concert draws to an end and the castle is lost from view in the cordite smoke, the finale of “oriental procession” from Sibelius’ Belshazzars feast the night sky is almost brought back to its’ daylight colours by the final burst of fireworks

 D80,Aperture f/16, Shutter Speed 30 sec, ISO 100, 18mm (35mm equivalent 27mm),Centre Weight Metering Mode, Manual White Balance set to 4000K, Tripod Mounted, 18-70mm lens


What I learned

First thing I learned from this is that I am not very good at writing narrative due to my dyslexia.

Planning is required for a photography essay in this style, unless you happen to come across a sequence of events like Robert Lebeck did at Leopoldville where he managed to capture a sequence of images showing a young man stealing the ceremonial dagger from King Baudouin, then planning has to be done. Otherwise you just miss the scenes you want to photograph and you end up just shooting and hoping that you will capture something.

I also did some reading up on fireworks photography before the event to see if there was anu goood guidance on white balance. I did come across one site which recommended setting the white balance to 4000K as this give the best representation of the colours. I did this and I have to agree that it does give a good representation.

I also learned that after the photographs have been taken; that they can be juggled around to make them out of sequence which can make for a more visual narrative. I have noticed that in some magazines that they start start an essay with a different photograph out of sequence and then they will follow with the others in as rear a sequence as the story will allow.