Picture the Celebration

July 6, 2012 by Susan Shay 6 Comments

We survived the celebration! (Yay!) One son and his honey were AWOL, but the other four came to our Small Town World.

The fried chicken, corn and ice cream came out tasting close to what Mama used to make, and we had perfect tabouli. Thanks, Matt!

And we had fireworks. In fact, fireworks were going off all over our Small Town World, and I just happen to have a few to share with you.

These were Roman Candles. No RC wars for my kiddos, thanks.

 I thought this was pretty cool. Wish I’d videoed it. I think it could have been a scene from Star Trek.

I liked the double blast in this one. 🙂

I learned some interesting things while taking these pics. I’ve probably read about them in the past, but until I experienced them they didn’t really register.

Shooting pictures of fireworks is unlike taking normal pictures. The lens stays open, so you have to brace yourself to keep the camera from wiggling. I leaned against the truck and held my elbows in tight against my sides and still had some shake. I did better than last year, though.

If they stay on the ground like this–

–or this, it wasn’t too hard for me. Just set the lens to stay open and try not to shake.

The ones that go into the air and those you don’t expect are a little harder. You never really know where in the sky they’re going to explode.

And rockets that are a little ways off are easier to get than the ones right in front of you. If I saw the starting fizzle, I could open the lens, follow the light trail into the sky and get there for the flash.

I tried that with the ones in front of me, and it didn’t work. For those, I had to just aim up and hope I got the lens to open in time. This one was right overhead.

 Next year, maybe I’ll use a tripod.

This is my favorite FWP.

 The blast came from down the street, and it was pretty but that’s not my favorite thing about it. On the left of the flash, you can see the bright outline and dark impression of G-Man’s truck. On the right side of the blast is the silhouette of the old oak tree in our front yard.

I like that.

Did you have time to grab your camera on the 4th? Did you share your pictures anywhere? All hints and suggestions for improvement are welcome!