With the comeback of the Detroit fireworks this Monday to their rightful location, I thought I would share my Detroit fireworks photos through the years. Sure, the fireworks were held during the pandemic, but really, do they count? For those of us who photograph the fireworks, it is not the same if the Detroit skyline is not part of the composition.
You may be wondering, where are you shooting the fireworks from this year? I scouted the other day with my friend and fellow photographer Chris Clark, who has been my fireworks companion since 2016. We found a location we both liked, but we are keeping it a secret lol! As you will see below, there are several places around the city to photograph them from.
Below is starting with the most recent (2019):
2019 Ferry Street Bridge: Okay, this is so far my favorite. Even though much of the skyline is not present, I love the uniqueness of having the I-75 traffic lights part of the scene.
2018 Vinewood Street Vacant Building Roof: On the heels of the announcement of Ford renovating the train station, the goal was to include it into the composition for the fireworks. The fireworks themselves weren't as dramatic, but it was different.
2017 Wayne State University Parking Deck: This was the first time photographing the fireworks from this location at the WSU parking deck. I remember a huge storm came in, the rain starting just as the fireworks commenced. Luckily we had protection from the rain, so I was able to capture my second favorite composition (and has been popular with print sales). I included one other that I liked from this year.
2016 Marine Terminal Roof: My friend and fellow photographer Chris Clark joined me at this location to photograph the fireworks, being along the riverfront we thought it would be interesting. This was a unique location to shoot from, given we had the Ambassador Bridge in the shot. I also liked the boats on the Detroit river, looking like twinkling lights in a night sky.
2015 Windsor Apartment Building Roof: I was so excited my friend Bryan had a coworker that lived in an apartment building right along the river in Windsor. I thought I could get some really unique viewpoints from there. But, because of a storm warning, it was decided to hold the fireworks an hour early (and, quite unluckily, that storm never materialized). Which meant...light in the skies. Not good for fireworks. But, I had a neutral density filter so I could at least get SOMETHING and it wasn't a total loss.
2014 Fisher Body Plant Roof: In 2014 I held a light painting/fireworks workshop inside the Fisher Body plant, where we did some light painting beforehand, and then captured the fireworks afterwards. It was a lot of fun. Even though this location is a bit further away from the city, a telephoto lens did the trick.
2013 Windsor Great Western Park. I also held a group outing this year as well, where we met at the Great Western Park in Windsor. I arrived like four hours early, I had no idea what the situation was for claiming a spot, not sure if large crowds would gather early. We had front row seats for the fireworks, sitting on the boulders along the shoreline (it was necessary to keep people from standing in front of us and not get their heads in our shots!). Windsor is a chill place to capture the fireworks, even though it was a bit of a pain with traffic coming back to Detroit. Bonus: get a hotel room and skip the long lines at the bridge or tunnel!
BONUS Photoshop Image: One day I was playing around with Photoshop and I made this image of the skyline by placing firework bursts throughout the scene (that I captured myself from other firework displays). This was created many years ago and has not been part of my sale prints in a very long time. It keeps me humble to see how far I've come 😂
Thank you for checking out my fireworks images throughout the years. The one scene I have not captured (yet) is using my drone to capture display. I plan to one of these years!
