TOPSAIL ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHER
4th of July Fireworks!
Hopefully everyone had a fun and festive Independence Day!!
Since we have lived in Topsail Island (almost 4 years now!) we had yet to enjoy a 4th of July here at home--we were always traveling during the holiday. This year our plan was to enjoy the Surf City Fireworks on July 3rd and then on the 4th we'd head to a family friend's house for a picnic and fireworks. While we wanted to take in the whole July 3rd experience with the Soundside Park concert and dining in the area...I completely forgot our older daughter had class in Wilmington that night also. Soooo, by the time we got back to the island (hello traffic!) there were no parking spots to be found and definitely no prime locations for a tripod and camera to get those lovely over-the-water fireworks shots. About 3 minutes before the fireworks began we did find one lucky parking spot and thoroughly enjoyed a beautiful show! No cameras were involved whatsoever, and that was totally ok. I did get an iPhone video of our toddler gleefully pointing at the fireworks and saying "look! Mommy! look!!" I call that a win!
On the actual 4th of July, we were out in the country at a farm and had the best time with friends! They had a ton of personal fireworks they set off--this time I did have my tripod with me for some fun long exposures. It is so fascinating to see the light trails translated into an image, to capture not just a fraction of a moment, but entire seconds of the experience--which is often the whole life of the firework itself. The artist in me loves to see what manner of abstract designs can be created, and if I can make the light dance like a painting. The results are always so fun! These were all in the open sky, above the trees, shot with a 50mm lens and 1500 ISO, f11 and 2 to 3 seconds each. The negatives were created in post processing, but the rest with pretty minimal editing aside from a bit of cropping.
And a couple photo negatives:
Funny how the negatives look like silhouettes of palm trees now! It is always fun to experiment and see what results you come up with-- Any other photogs and enthusiasts out there celebrate holidays with their camera like I do?!?!
