Happy Fourth of July

It's a bit late, but Happy Fourth of July. At least I took this photo on July 4th. It was a fun afternoon spent with family in my old home town... Eastman, Georgia. This small town fireworks display takes place at the high school, same as it has for decades. I considered just leaving the Nikon at home and enjoying the show, but I had taken a couple of weeks off without a single photo and that just wouldn't do.

Fireworks are pretty easy to capture if you have a tripod, a locking shutter release cable, and even decent glass. This image was a seven second exposure at f7.1. I shot it at ISO 100 with a 24-70mm f2.8 lens. The only problem with this slow shutter speed is the blurring tends to make the burst look a little plastic. But it is a necessary evil to capture the action from ground to sky.

I tried several different compositions, including closeups. But my favorites all seemed to be images that captured the flight of the shell from the ground and the starburst at it's peak. Call it storytelling, I suppose.

It would be so wrong of me to not take advantage of my tiny platform here to offer up my thanks to the men and women serving my country at home and abroad. And to pause to remember those who sacrificed so much for my freedom. Happy Independence Day.