Blowing up the Space Needle (New Year Fireworks)

Blowing up the Space Needle (New Year Fireworks)

By tradition, we like to ring in the New Year with a fireworks show from the beloved Space Needle.

Living in Queen Anne, I hiked up to Kerry Park for the show. Near the top of the hill, and situated directly opposite both downtown, in the background, and the Space Needle; this is the one place in the city where the Needle looks like it could be standing next to other sky scrapers.

The Space Needle was built in 1962 for the World’s Fair; at 605 feet, it’s hardly the relative giant it once was. Contrast this against the Columbia Center / Bank of America Tower, the tallest building in the Northwest at just shy of a thousand feet.

Exposure times ranged from about 5 to 30 seconds. Some of the highlights have “blown out” or overexposed, especially surrounding the building’s stalk in the first image. Still the relative darkness of the city at midnight on New Year’s Eve allowed the shutter to remain open - at a moderate aperture - long enough to allow the fireworks’ trails to streak.

http://blog.forrestcroce.com/blowing-up-the-space-needle-new-year-fireworks/2008/01/01/