It was only by a stroke of luck that I discovered the Leeds Castle display, thankfully I got there before the tickets for Sunday were sold out (at this point Saturday’s tickets were already gone).

Originally being born in Kent and visiting Leeds Castle when I was a young child I obviously jumped at the chance to go back. On the way there seeing all the road signs for places that I remember from my childhood brought back all the memories, it’s surprising how many places you can remember, I haven’t lived there for nearly 13 years and I was only 10 when I moved to Torquay, so to remember place names and even remember what some of the towns look like is quite a strange feeling.

Leeds Castle Fireworks 2009
Leeds Castle Fireworks Display 2009

Leeds Castle itself has always been a fantastic place to visit, not only is there tons of history, but it’s also a nice place to go in the summer and sit field overlooking the castle and lake.

Given that, both the Castle and the lake provided the perfect setting for the display, not only did it provide a fantastic atmosphere, but the reflections in the water only served to add to the overall effect of the fireworks. From a photographer’s perspective it was a dream. It’s obviously advisable to get there early and reserve some space to setup a camera, tripod and importantly, a folding seat, you’re going to be sitting there for a while if you want a front row seat so you might as well be a little bit comfortable. The last thing is something to keep warm (obviously).

Leeds Castle Fireworks 2009
Leeds Castle Fireworks Display 2009

The Fireworks display itself was without a doubt the best one I have ever been to. The entire show lasted just on 30 minutes, which is longer than most of the ones that I have been to previously. What made it even better was unlike most shows, it was done in synchronisation to music, and done very well indeed, each song had its own unique set of fireworks, creating their own unique colours and patterns.

Leeds Castle Fireworks 2009
Leeds Castle Fireworks Display 2009

Obviously, the draw of the display is the fireworks with the castle in view, since they’re all launched from it you’re pretty much guaranteed to capture it.

The one problem I have (although not really something that can be solved) is that normally it’s so busy that once you find a spot to setup you can’t really move around and get any other angles to shoot, so it’s important to do a bit of recon around before you setup anything. Once the action starts there will be very little opportunity to do anything else but shoot what’s in front of you.

Overall though the Leeds Castle display was just outstanding, in almost every way, if you can make it to Kent next year, I certainly would recommend going to see it, I know I certainly will be checking out what other event’s they have planned until then given it’s nice location.

Posted in: Photography