I went there around 1.5hrs early, hoping to get a good spot. I got down the train and was surprised that everyone was going left. (I went right last year). Was a little afraid that I would go to a lousy place where I would not be able to get any clean shot, but I thought that since I had the time, I might as well follow the crowd 1st and turn back if I want to go the other way. I was led to a field where there were rows of foodstalls, big speakers, a stage that says "Olympic Candidate City: Tokyo 2016" and a barricaded area with rows of empty chairs meant for sponsors. That moment, I thought to myself: Yes! this is it!
The place was not very crowded (as compared to Sumidagawa, of course). I managed to get a spot at the middle back part of the field, set up my tripod and camera with a 28-135mm. Everything was ready but the fireworks was still 45 mins away. I took out my DSi and spent the next 30 mins or so playing Ninja Gaiden.
Then suddenly, a few test shots of fireworks were fired. I looked into my camera and those test shots were actually out of my 28mm field of view!! Luckily I brought my 10-22mm. Quickly, I fixed on the 10-22, made a few adjustments, double check my settings, and not long after that, Show Started!
The fireworks were really close!! I was standing almost near to the end of the field, and some fireworks still managed to escape from my 10mm super wide field of fire.
Ome is part of Tokyo as a candidate city for Olympics 2016, so there was a section where Fireworks were blasted continuously for several minutes with Centennial Olympic Fanfare playing through the speakers. The impact of the show was so great that I actually felt touched! I never thought that my heart could beat so fast for fireworks. What the hell?!
Surprisingly, the miniature 3700-shot Ome Hanabi was the best Fireworks I have seen. Photos did not turn out as great though, but here they are...
