MERDEKA! MERDEKA!

Yeah, that’s what I heard as a packs of rempits* cruised by us. Each of them with a Jalur Gemilang sticker plastered on their helmets, and their passengers carrying a full size flag. One bunch was bunch yelling ‘Merdeka!’ throwing their arms up in the air, another bunch was busy singing in chorus to the late Sudirman’s “31 Ogos”, and another bunch just went and did stupid thing like throw mini firecrackers on the street. Morons. You have no choice but to love them this time of the year.

Nirah, Ross, their friends [sorry I forgot your names, guys], and myself got ourselves a really awesome spot by the river. We got a magnificent of the fireworks and we were also close enough to actually feel the shockwave of each blast. I was lucky to have brought my tripod along and some water. The show was spectacular. At any rate, I’ll just skip to the chase, The Merdeka Fireworks Pictures!

notes:
Merdeka - Malaysian Independence Day.
Rempits - Idiots on bikes.
Jalur Gemilang - Malaysian Flag

I did make a few preparations just for this event. I did so due to a previous shooting mistake during the 2006 New Year’s fireworks [which turns out like shit] last time.



I did a bit of a reconnaissance mission that evening. I learnt that last year the fireworks were shot from under one particular bridge, which was very close to the HQ of the local marine police, so I went there to ask for details of this year’s event. I also went scouting for the area from where they would fire, and checked out several places where they could be shooting at.



Unlike common places like KLCC or Dataran Merdeka, where they almost always shoot at the same places every goddamn time, Putrajaya changes venues every year, creating opportunities for different compositions and backdrops for interesting photos. However, this also makes it tricky to pinpoint where they will shoot the fireworks.



I toook sample angle shots from each of the few different locations I went and before finally deciding on a particular spot. Even so, much later when we arrived that night, we decided to move closer to where the firing area was - and it was well worth it.



Okay, let’s move on to some technical story [read: ignore the text if you hate jargon].



All shot were taken with my Canon Powershot S3IS mounted on a very cheap Sakure [no need Manfrotto lah, LOL] tripod.



All shots were also taken on full Manual, full-wide [36mm] with focal length set to infinity, F3.5 [I forgot to set it bigger, LOL], and at shutter speeds ranging from 2-0.6 seconds at ISO 200. Fireworks are pretty bright :p



Post-processing involves noise reduction with NeatImage and Levels and HSL adjustments in Photoshop.