Harbour City Ocean Terminal Deck view of Hong Kong Island

The featured image is a view of Hong Kong Island’s skyline taken from the rooftop of Ocean Terminal Deck, an extension of the Harbour City building. Once in Harbour City, follow signs to Ocean Terminal and then make your way up, through the parking area, to the deck. By MTR: - Closest MTR Station: Tsim Sha Tsui (Tsuen Wan Line) - Take exit for Harbour City

This photo was taken during the National Day celebrations on October 1. Every year, Hong Kong celebrates National Day, marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st, 1949. The fireworks displayed during the celebrations are bigger and last longer than the ones celebrated over New Years and Chinese New Year (Jan/February).

Fireworks start at 9pm. Getting there early and setting up means getting to this vantage point as early as 6pm. As there are always quite a few other photographers in Hong Kong looking to capture "the" photo of the night, I suggest getting there early as well.

I used a 24-35mm lens, which was just the perfect amount of focal length to get the fireworks as well as the city behind. Anything wider and everything in the frame may look too small.

Definitely bring a tripod along as when shooting a long exposure, you need something sturdy to get a clean, sharp photo.

Because of the wide-angle lens, you're going to get a lot more water to land ratio in the shot. In this case, I used the rule of thirds, placing the horizon on the bottom line so there's more skyline and less water.

As a point of reference, try using the Convention Center as the main center point so you get an even split of the tall buildings on both sides of it.

Head on down to Harbour City which has tons of restaurants to choose from. Or for a really great meal, head to Din Tai Fung which is just across the street in the Silvercord complex. There may be a wait, but it's well worth it.