the word "hana-bi" is japanese for fireworks, but it translates directly as "flowers of fire."   these pages are devoted to night-time photography - fireworks, events, and architecture - with a special focus on capturing the "painting" effect of moving lights on film.

the images below are organised by "series" - generally a group of shots from a single evening or event.   to see a full-size version of any image just click it, and it will pop up in a new window.

all of the images here were captured with an olympus c2020z digital camera, with only minimal post-editing, and no special effects applied..

the woodford folk festival is an annual event held between christmas and new-year, on a rural site about 1 hour's drive from the centre of brisbane.  the festival is a celebration of folk and alternative music, lifestyle, food, art, and fashion.

this series of photographs (hand-held and a little shaky) depicts the culmination of the festival, the fire event:  a performance attended by thousands, where candles, lanterns, bonfires, fireworks, and finally massive paper and wood sculptures are all lit in a paganistic ceremony.  the theme of this year's event was "the seven pillars of wisdom".

it's easy to take for granted the forest of poles that light our roadways by night, easy to not notice the unique character of the light our freeways are bathed in.  while it is common to see slow-shutter photographs of cities and freeways at night, with headlights and tail-lights streaking by, they are not true to our experience of our roadways.

this experimental series of photographs (shot from a dashboard, typically with exposures of around 16 seconds) attempts to capture that human / vehicular experience of the road, the unreal feeling of a long drive at night.

as part of the celebrations surrounding brisbane's hosting of the goodwill games, the "red paint the town" program did just that - painting various city landmarks with fantastic lighting, red and many other colours.

the most prominent design, adjacent south bank (the hub of the goodwill games), was the lighting of one entire side of the queensland performing arts centre with various still and moving images of games.  around twenty different designs were displayed, including many well known names - monopoly, twister, where's wally (waldo), mouse trap and more.

the royal queensland show - known to locals as "the ekka" - is an annual 10-day event which combines carnival attractions with an agricultural show and competitions.  a long-standing tradition at the ekka are the fireworks displays held in the main arena each evening.

this year's fireworks were created by ian riedel of fireworx and spread across two evening shows.  photographs were shot hand-held (much too crowded for a tripod) at various shutter speeds.

in addition to the evening fireworks (see above) the ekka's evening attractions this year included a number of new locally-produced shows:

- girls girls girls - a showcase of some of australia's youngest and prettiest trick-riders.
- the man from snowy river spectacular - a dramatisation of australia's most loved poem.
- the hyundia precision driving team - a team of highly skilled stunt drivers in stock-standard hyundai cars.

as with the fireworks, all images were shot hand-held.  most images were shot at iso 400 speed, no flash, infinity focus.  pan-focus techniques were used to capture the action using relatively slow shutter speeds.

the opening of the roma street parkland on 6 april 2001 was the brisbane public's very first glimpse of their newest inner-city sanctuary.  the gala event many different venues within the parkland including a purpose-built performance area, a rock stage, a waterfall and even the back of a flatbed truck!

this series depicts the many faces of this opening event, with local bands george and the mavis's as well as railway-workmen-styled tap dancers, a phoenix / fire ritual, fireworks, and architectural lighting.

the annual south bank fireworks challenge (now in its fourth year) is a winter event held on the brisbane river, with crowds lining the south bank's clem jones promenade.  each year, three entrants hold 10-15 minute pyrotechnics displays over a six-week period.

the third of the year 2001 entrants was fireworx, whose display included a number of spectacular volleys from the river barge.  photographs were taken from the kangaroo point end of the clem jones promenade, in front of the citycat ferry terminal.

the annual south bank fireworks challenge (now in its fourth year) is a winter event held on the brisbane river, with crowds lining the south bank's clem jones promenade.  each year, three entrants hold 10-15 minute pyrotechnics displays over a six-week period.

the second of the year 2001 entrants was mr fireworks, whose display included many low-level bursts, producing beautiful reflections on the river.  photographs were taken from the south bank end of the victoria bridge.

the annual south bank fireworks challenge (now in its fourth year) is a winter event held on the brisbane river, with crowds lining the south bank's clem jones promenade.  each year, three entrants hold 10-15 minute pyrotechnics displays over a six-week period.

the first of the year 2001 entrants was howard and sons, whose display culminated in a huge all-gold finale.  photographs were taken from the clem jones promenade, in front of the wang dynasty restaurant.

as part of the nation's year of celebrations for the centenary of federation, a procession of boats and barges was held on the brisbane river, from brett's wharf to the indooroopilly bridge.  vessels ranged from private pleasure cruisers to floating nightclubs to decorated barges and river-going dance stages.

this series depicts the procession as it passed under the victoria bridge, directly in front of the treasury casino.  with the fairly quick pace of the procession, this series is an experimentation in "tracking" moving targets with a camera and tripod for longer exposures.