Field Trip: Fireworks & Old Town at Night

Want to enjoy shooting fireworks without fighting crowds or heat?  This field trip will give you that opportunity.  Every Saturday through the end of the year there is a fireworks show at National Harbor.  The show, which begins at 5:30 p.m., lasts 5-10 minutes, and will give all levels of fireworks photographers a chance to get shots of the fireworks with the Capital Wheel and National Harbor in the background. We will photograph the fireworks from across the river at Jones Point Park.  After the show is over we will drive a mile up the road and meet at the northwest corner of King and S. Fairfax Streets, where we’ll start our walk to photograph Old Town at night, which will be decked out for the holidays. 

When:

Saturday, December 14 from 5:15 – 8:00 p.m.

Rain date: Sunday, December 15 from 6-8:30 p.m. (without the fireworks, meet in Old Town)

Where:

Jones Point Park

Jones Point Drive, Alexandria, VA

(free parking: park as close to the water as possible; we will meet at the fishing pier visible from path underneath the Wilson Bridge next to the water’s edge)

Old Town Alexandria

(park at the Market Square garage at 108 N. Fairfax St. – $5 weekend flat fee – and walk out to the corner of King and S. Fairfax Streets; we will meet there)

Equipment and Notes:

For the fireworks, a 24-70mm or a 28-300 or similar lens will work well.  (No wide angle is needed given the distance we will be from the fireworks). Either will also work for the Old Town shots unless you want to shoot handheld, in which case you should bring a prime with good glass. Tripods are necessary for the fireworks and encouraged for Old Town.