4th of July Weekend Fireworks (Please Share)

[Mr.MouseFan]

Hey all!

Atlantic City kicked off the festivities tonight with fireworks over the ocean. Of course, I took pics and am sharing a few of them here. Please feel free to do the same with any fireworks pics you may take over this weekend as well.

Happy 4th!!

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/1.jpg

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/2.jpg

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/3.jpg

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/4.jpg

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/5.jpg

[hjd0411]

They look great!!! I can't wait to see everyone elses - there will be no fireworks where I am this weekend so I'll wait for the photos!!

Thanks for sharing.

[tlcmommyx4]

I love these! I hope with all the help I got from the board, I will get some I can post. That is if the rain holds off:goodvibes.

[mom2rtk]

Our big town display is tonight. We usually watch from the end of our street, but the light poles, and light from those lights interferes with any pictures. So I"m ditching the family and walking down closer for a look and some pictures.

Anyone tried the method of putting something black in front of the lens in between bursts to get more in the frame?

Can I leave the shutter open longer since there is no foreground subject (like a castle) to worry about blowing out?

[Mr.MouseFan]

Thanks for the compliments! Here are a few more from last night.

Mom2rtk - I have never tried the putting something in front of the lens method. Most of these shots were done at f/18, ISO 100, with a 6 second shutter speed.

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/10.jpg

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/11.jpg

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/12.jpg

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/16.jpg

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/17.jpg

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/18.jpg

http://www.misselizabeth.com/fireworks/19.jpg

[mom2rtk]

Mr. Mousefan, those are AWESOME!

Our display is sponsored by the Harry Truman Presidential Library.

I did ditch the family and walk down for a better spot. This was the first time I've done this, so I wasn't exactly sure where they would be coming from. And to make matters worse, they started about 10 minutes early, giving me less time to walk around to find the best spot. I ended up with some trees blocking part of my view. The good news is next year I can do better.

My biggest lesson of the night? Clean those lenses before heading out the door! I had some smudges on my lens filter. Next time I'll probably just ditch the filter entirely.

I did increase the blacks in lightshop to diminish the glare where the smudges were, but I think I lost some of the vibrancy of the colors in the fireworks.

Still, I feel like I've made a lot of progress the past year.

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mom2rtk/fw1.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mom2rtk/fw2.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mom2rtk/fw3.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mom2rtk/fw4.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mom2rtk/fw5.jpg

[tlcmommyx4]

Mr. Mousefan, those are AWESOME!

Our display is sponsored by the Harry Truman Presidential Library.

I did ditch the family and walk down for a better spot. This was the first time I've done this, so I wasn't exactly sure where they would be coming from. And to make matters worse, they started about 10 minutes early, giving me less time to walk around to find the best spot. I ended up with some trees blocking part of my view. The good news is next year I can do better.

My biggest lesson of the night? Clean those lenses before heading out the door! I had some smudges on my lens filter. Next time I'll probably just ditch the filter entirely.

I did increase the blacks in lightshop to diminish the glare where the smudges were, but I think I lost some of the vibrancy of the colors in the fireworks.

Still, I feel like I've made a lot of progress the past year.

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mom2rtk/fw1.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mom2rtk/fw2.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mom2rtk/fw3.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mom2rtk/fw4.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/mom2rtk/fw5.jpg

I think you did such a great job!!! I can only hope that I get some good ones tomorrow. It rained all day today, so I hope no more rain tomorrow.

[Mr.MouseFan]

Mom2rtk, you did an amazing job!! I kinda like the shadows of the trees at the bottom! Have you tried bumping up the saturation to get the colors to pop a little?

It's neat to look back at the pics I took from last year and see how much I've improved as well! I'm definitely pleased with the results.

Anywho, keep up the great work, and happy shooting!

[mom2rtk]

I think you did such a great job!!! I can only hope that I get some good ones tomorrow. It rained all day today, so I hope no more rain tomorrow.

Mom2rtk, you did an amazing job!! I kinda like the shadows of the trees at the bottom! Have you tried bumping up the saturation to get the colors to pop a little?

It's neat to look back at the pics I took from last year and see how much I've improved as well! I'm definitely pleased with the results.

Anywho, keep up the great work, and happy shooting!

Thank you both very much! It rained here off and on yesterday and fortunately the show still went on.

I am brand new with Lightroom 3 (or any decent editing program for that matter) so I'm sure there's a lot more I can do. I probably need to go back and take a second crack at them. I bumped up the blacks a decent amount to get rid of the glare marks from the smudged filter, and I thought the colors diminished a bit when I did that. Maybe I need to not go quite as far. I did bump the saturation a little, but could probably do a lot more. Any other thoughts on what to do when editing fireworks photos?

I have much room for improvement but am very happy with the progress I've made in the past year.

I really felt better about my timing on these shots, going anywhere from 6 to 15 seconds felt best. I tried some longer, but then there were just too many burst and I thought those were a little cluttered looking. I really was just going by feel. If the blasts weren't very bright, I went longer. If a burst or two seemed bright, I stopped. Pretty scientific, huh???

I'm just happy to have a decent show blocks from my house every year. But I guess that comes with having a Presidential Library here in town! I always say I have nothing to photograph. Maybe I should visit Harry's library again!

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

I was really disappointed last year that I did not get any shots since I was working. This year I was smart enough to take this weekend off. One of our neighboring cities puts on their show on the 3rd so we packed the car for a little practice for tonight.

http://fourweeksphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Fireworks/3rd-of-July-fireworks-80/922724801_mfBdT-XL.jpg

http://fourweeksphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Fireworks/3rd-of-July-fireworks-99/922725099_RmtkP-XL.jpg

http://fourweeksphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Fireworks/3rd-of-July-fireworks-76/922724609_88HzJ-L.jpg

http://fourweeksphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Fireworks/3rd-of-July-fireworks-18/922723557_visBZ-XL.jpg

[Mr.MouseFan]

I was really disappointed last year that I did not get any shots since I was working. This year I was smart enough to take this weekend off. One of our neighboring cities puts on their show on the 3rd so we packed the car for a little practice for tonight.

http://fourweeksphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Fireworks/3rd-of-July-fireworks-80/922724801_mfBdT-XL.jpg

http://fourweeksphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Fireworks/3rd-of-July-fireworks-99/922725099_RmtkP-XL.jpg

http://fourweeksphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Fireworks/3rd-of-July-fireworks-76/922724609_88HzJ-L.jpg

http://fourweeksphotography.smugmug.com/Other/Fireworks/3rd-of-July-fireworks-18/922723557_visBZ-XL.jpg

Awesome pics! I love the last one..reminds me of the Captain EO sign for some reason..lol

[SonywithAChance]

Absolutely stunning pictures you have! Mine arent as good but here they are!

http://i910.photobucket.com/albums/ac307/SonywithAChance/DSC06654.jpg


http://i910.photobucket.com/albums/ac307/SonywithAChance/DSC06595.jpg

[omghidanielle]

Holy moly!
These are amazing. Great job, everyone! :thumbsup2

I wasn't expecting to have a chance to take any fireworks photos, we were planning on a 'Food and Food Nap' kind of 4th, but apparently, people in my neighborhood are really, REALLY into explosives this year! I'm pretty used to people randomly setting off fireworks around and on holidays, but nothing at all like I experienced tonight.

As we were driving home from a BBQ, I noticed that almost every other block had someone setting off semi-pro fireworks. I had to jump out of the car once we parked, grab my camera and go. The problem was, it was so difficult to find a position, or even prepare myself for a shot because there were literally fireworks going off in every single direction. As soon as I would think 'OK, just steady and listen for the ignition' all of a sudden I'd hear some going off behind me! Most of these are pretty blurry, but I'm happy with them, considering the fact that these were all shot manually. I felt like I was in a war zone.

This is on a narrow city street that has LOTS of children, trees and grass. I am amazed no one managed to hurt themselves.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4762770176_626207765b_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/omghidanielle/4762770176/)

After this guy ran out of ammo, we ran a couple blocks in the opposite direction to a few other guys who were setting off fireworks. This guy kept surprising me.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4762133175_11b7b9537d_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/omghidanielle/4762768558/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4762766712_9fd54c0cb6_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/omghidanielle/4762766712)

And, on the way back, we noticed this guy!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4762771584_0516653858_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/omghidanielle/4762771584/)

We did a lot more running around than we were expecting, (which, of course, was none!) but it was pretty awesome. There are still fireworks and explosives going off in all directions around us. I'm too tired to see if they are any good. Now I know to plan ahead for next year!

I went a little overboard with this one :rolleyes1

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/4762767306_a0ba81702e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/omghidanielle/4762767306/)

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Awesome pics! I love the last one..reminds me of the Captain EO sign for some reason..lol

Thank you very much. Yours are great too. And well I can see that in the last one maybe :confused3

[clearskies]

Here are some from my local township's fireworks show tonight. It would be good to see settings that were used on the various shots that people post. I am too tired tonight but will edit tomorrow with mine. I tried to keep my aperture small so that I could have longer exposures but still had a lot of overexposed highlights on many of my pics.

**************Updating on 7/5 to include exif info************
I set my ISO to 200 for all the pics. Next time I will try ISO 100. Additional info is below each pic. I used bulb mode with a remote switch so my shutter speed was all over the place based on how I tried to capture the bursts. I also played around with different apertures. Finally, I also performed levels adjustments in Photoshop elements to lower the brightness on many of the pics I took and also cropped in PSE.


http://www.pbase.com/clearskies/image/126232889/original.jpg
6 sec at f/20 ISO 200

http://www.pbase.com/clearskies/image/126232962/original.jpg
2 sec at f/14 ISO 200

http://www.pbase.com/clearskies/image/126232983/original.jpg
4 sec at f/14 ISO 200

http://www.pbase.com/clearskies/image/126233006/original.jpg
9 sec at f/22 ISO 200

http://www.pbase.com/clearskies/image/126233021/original.jpg
6 sec at f/14 ISO 200

[plyeng2ff]

http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/46852/2269830380096169834S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2269830380096169834vEfyoV)

http://inlinethumb64.webshots.com/46591/2246418510096169834S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2246418510096169834OuORer)

http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/45619/2548324100096169834S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2548324100096169834XEhpVm)

http://inlinethumb27.webshots.com/46234/2403074160096169834S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2403074160096169834kWsvuX)

http://inlinethumb20.webshots.com/46547/2180790810096169834S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2180790810096169834drRzhy)

http://inlinethumb36.webshots.com/46563/2023771990096169834S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2023771990096169834nBzWQV)

http://inlinethumb30.webshots.com/44253/2788472440096169834S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2788472440096169834nYfoTf)

[Bstanley]

A few from the local Country Club.

http://rebelxs.smugmug.com/Other/July-4-2010/IMG3918/923815811_Bdmq4-L.jpg

http://rebelxs.smugmug.com/Other/July-4-2010/IMG3949/923816952_hyZnZ-L.jpg

http://rebelxs.smugmug.com/Other/July-4-2010/IMG3931/923816524_ZH2nu-L.jpg

And the Grand Finale!

http://rebelxs.smugmug.com/Other/July-4-2010/IMG3951/923813926_7pUeS-L.jpg

[mom2rtk]

Great job on the grand finale! Did you have to make substantial changes to your settings to avoid blowing it out?

[pgowder]

Here are a couple from Fort Jackson, SC.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4761930247_3c976dae16.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/96077153@N00/4761930247/)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/4759539308_5492ba1b57.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/96077153@N00/4759539308/)

[Bstanley]

mom2rtk,

I didn't change my settings - and it was pretty blown-out because I had manually held the shutter open for 8 seconds (f10) - fortunately since I shoot RAW + JPEG I was able to recover the exposure by dropping it back by 2 stops.

[mrodgers]

I haven't shot fireworks yet, so figured I'd give it a go with my trusty little cheap superzoom.

4 seconds is the maximum shutter I can go....

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b74/NightHawk83/Photography/Miscellaneous/20100704DSCF3876.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b74/NightHawk83/Photography/Miscellaneous/20100704DSCF3886.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b74/NightHawk83/Photography/Miscellaneous/20100704DSCF3888.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b74/NightHawk83/Photography/Miscellaneous/20100704DSCF3890.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b74/NightHawk83/Photography/Miscellaneous/20100704DSCF3894.jpg

My personal favorite....

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b74/NightHawk83/Photography/Miscellaneous/20100704DSCF3905.jpg

[funkychunkymonkey]

:sad2: it rained, it stinkin rained! I have one photo to share though.
http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/travlingmonkey/DSC02609.jpg
fireworks
http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/travlingmonkey/DSC02568.jpg
This was just a simple sparkler
http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/travlingmonkey/DSC02553.jpg
Another sparkler
http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/travlingmonkey/DSC02559.jpg
First time ive held a sparkler since I was 5 (I have a fear of fire)

[hjd0411]

These are so great everyone!! Thanks for sharing - and also the exif helps greatly!! Looking forward to seeing more. :surfweb:

[MICKEY88]

I couldn't get motivated to go out and shoot any fireworks this year, so i thought I'd share a few from the past 2 years in Harrisburg PA

http://www.starrrshots.com/img/s10/v2/p875889912-4.jpg
http://www.starrrshots.com/img/s10/v2/p877501202-4.jpg
http://www.starrrshots.com/img/s1/v0/p561962703-4.jpg
http://www.starrrshots.com/img/s2/v1/p640947329-4.jpg
http://www.starrrshots.com/img/s4/v3/p1006170334-4.jpg

[mom2rtk]

Mickey88, those are beautiful! Thanks for sharing! Was it hard to expose for the lit up capitol and the fireworks, or was it similar to shooting fireworks over the castle? It seems more brightly lit maybe??

[tlcmommyx4]

Here are some from Oklahoma! I think my pictures are getting better, just wish I had something to focus on. Oh well I hope to get some good shots in Disney in December, maybe we can all get together and you can give me some pointers in person.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll189/tlcmommyx4/Hunt/IMG_0012-1-5.jpg
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll189/tlcmommyx4/Hunt/IMG_0014-1-1.jpg
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll189/tlcmommyx4/Hunt/IMG_0038-1-2.jpg
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll189/tlcmommyx4/Hunt/IMG_0061-1.jpg
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll189/tlcmommyx4/Hunt/IMG_0099-1-1.jpg
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll189/tlcmommyx4/Hunt/IMG_0110-1-1.jpg
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll189/tlcmommyx4/Hunt/IMG_0126-1.jpg
Thanks for looking

[mom2rtk]

TLCMOMMYX4: ^^^^^

YOU DID AWESOME!!! :cheer2:

Dis Photography meet in front of the castle in December!!! Which day will you be there???

I just added free dining to my reservation this morning so I'm good to go!! :woohoo:

[Docarino]

Great shots, everyone! Here are a few of mine. There were fireworks here every night for the last several nights but I'd been working so I only got one shot at it, the last night. I also got a few sunset shots before the fireworks went off.

http://katiemarino.smugmug.com/2010/July/4th-of-July/IMG3389edit8x10/925274309_uSvRL-L.jpg

http://katiemarino.smugmug.com/2010/July/4th-of-July/IMG3388edit8x10/925274101_Po9RZ-L.jpg

http://katiemarino.smugmug.com/2010/July/4th-of-July/IMG3473edit4x6/925270561_3Yjkr-L.jpg

http://katiemarino.smugmug.com/2010/July/4th-of-July/IMG3435edit8x10-2/925266884_mkXq7-L.jpg

http://katiemarino.smugmug.com/2010/July/4th-of-July/IMG3451edit8x10/925267598_6GNxC-L.jpg

http://katiemarino.smugmug.com/2010/July/4th-of-July/IMG3450edit8x10/925267148_y9tND-L.jpg

http://katiemarino.smugmug.com/2010/July/4th-of-July/IMG3360edit4x6/925274684_wnpVX-L.jpg

http://katiemarino.smugmug.com/2010/July/4th-of-July/IMG3346edit4x6/925273505_vaSVD-L.jpg

[tlcmommyx4]

TLCMOMMYX4: ^^^^^

YOU DID AWESOME!!! :cheer2:

Dis Photography meet in front of the castle in December!!! Which day will you be there???

I just added free dining to my reservation this morning so I'm good to go!! :woohoo:

I will be there December 8th thru the 14th. I think that would be so wonderful. I have to ask you, how did you get free dining?

Thank you so much for my shots, I hope I can get something really nice in December:thumbsup2.

[pgowder]

I will be there December 8th thru the 14th. I think that would be so wonderful. I have to ask you, how did you get free dining?

Thank you so much for my shots, I hope I can get something really nice in December:thumbsup2.

I'll be there 12/3-12/12!

Free dining is blackout for my dates.

Look here for info:
http://bookwdw.reservations.disney.go.com/ibcwdw/en_US/specialOfferDetails?name=Promo&promotionCode=fy10q4dine&market=fy10q4dine

[tlcmommyx4]

I'll be there 12/3-12/12!

Free dining is blackout for my dates.

Look here for info:
http://bookwdw.reservations.disney.go.com/ibcwdw/en_US/specialOfferDetails?name=Promo&promotionCode=fy10q4dine&market=fy10q4dine

Me too :( I would love it if we could all meet in person, I think that would be great! We are staying at the Beach club and would love to get together with everyone!

[Mr.MouseFan]

Great photos everyone!! I'm also thinking about a trip to the World on Dec 11. Hmm....lol

[JimbobJimbo]

http://hinkel.smugmug.com/Family-Time/Holidays/July-4th-2010/July4th2010-3586/925777002_Q2VU3-L.jpg

http://hinkel.smugmug.com/Family-Time/Holidays/July-4th-2010/July4th2010-3591/925779031_7gwBr-L.jpg

http://hinkel.smugmug.com/Family-Time/Holidays/July-4th-2010/July4th2010-3602/925785305_YPrvZ-L.jpg

http://hinkel.smugmug.com/Family-Time/Holidays/July-4th-2010/July4th2010-3635/925805060_jDTzS-L.jpg

[DizzyV6P]

Fireworks at Deep Creek Lake, MD. They were ok...I've seen much better at Disney..LOL. I shot these with the 70-200 F/4L balanced on the Smiley's Restaurant deck railing with my filters cover used for elevation. Yeah, yeah, no tripod so I had to be creative.

http://rwcphotography.zenfolio.com/img/s5/v4/p798734676-4.jpg

http://rwcphotography.zenfolio.com/img/s7/v8/p1061051488-4.jpg

http://rwcphotography.zenfolio.com/img/s8/v10/p695081696-4.jpg

http://rwcphotography.zenfolio.com/img/s8/v10/p741806203-4.jpg

http://rwcphotography.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v13/p519460557-4.jpg

http://rwcphotography.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v15/p414077562-4.jpg

This one got totally blown out...I don't even know what the heck happened...LOL.
http://rwcphotography.zenfolio.com/img/s9/v13/p72872615-4.jpg

The rest are here:
http://rwcphotography.zenfolio.com/p200302017

Enjoy!

[Groucho]

We went to our local town's fireworks this year (Henrietta, NY) - just in a grass field so no interesting foreground or anything like that. The downtown ones are over water and we have a cool, fairly new bridge that can be in the foreground - but I just can't drag the kids down there; as it was, Leila slept and Jack spent much of it in the red wagon watching from under a towel. :)

I had thought about not even bothering to take photos, but I decided to just for no other reason that to experiment with different apertures and how it affects the results. Most shots (until the end) were taken with my 16-50mm F2.8. I grabbed the camera so quickly that I didn't even realize that my fisheye was not in the bag! It would have been useful for some of the fireworks, which were sometimes exploding straight overhead.

F16, ISO 200, 8.3s
http://www.groucho.org/pics/54834-2/2010July4th-02.jpg

F13, ISO 200, 12s
http://www.groucho.org/pics/54843-2/2010July4th-05.jpg

Like a dandelion... F10, ISO 200, 5s
http://www.groucho.org/pics/54849-2/2010July4th-07.jpg

F22, ISO 200, 9s. Viewed at 100%, diffraction was not causing any significant problems with sharpness.
http://www.groucho.org/pics/54855-2/2010July4th-09.jpg

An unexpected monkey face! F22, ISO 200, 4.7s.
http://www.groucho.org/pics/54858-2/2010July4th-10.jpg

F18, ISO 200, 8.9s
http://www.groucho.org/pics/54861-2/2010July4th-11.jpg

Around here, I switched to the 50-135mm to try to get some shots of the launch area. The first shot kind of looks like they've opened a portal to hell! F8, ISO 400, .7s
http://www.groucho.org/pics/54870-2/2010July4th-14.jpg

I didn't get a chance to switch back to the 16-50mm before the grand finale, so I left it on and got some close shots, which ended up being my favorites. They ended with a ton of the exploding shells, the ones with a very bright flash and a deafening boom. Pretty spectacular - and made for some neat shots! They're all 50mm, F11, ISO 100. The flashes from the explosions were so bright that there's even a little lens flare.

http://www.groucho.org/pics/54879-2/2010July4th-17.jpg

http://www.groucho.org/pics/54885-2/2010July4th-19.jpg

http://www.groucho.org/pics/54891-2/2010July4th-21.jpg

http://www.groucho.org/pics/54894-2/2010July4th-22.jpg

[photo_chick]

I *cough* forgotmytripod *cough* and I didn't realize it until I was at my brother in law's house way out in the sticks. I blame my ADHD. Anyway, I did get some shots of my kids that really make them look more like they're studying at Hogwarts than celebrating the holiday.

http://photo-chick.smugmug.com/Other/my-stuff/ksparkler/923481272_FcCLJ-M.jpg

http://photo-chick.smugmug.com/Other/photoshopped/csparkler/923071108_Vv9LH-M.png

[MarkBarbieri]

Our town's firework's display is right near where I work. My company has two buildings on either side of a small lake. They set off the fireworks next to the smaller of the two buildings and we watch them from the garage of the other building.

Normally that works well. This year we had fairly strong winds blowing straight from the fireworks towards us. We were showered in ashes and even parts of the firework shells with some even still smoldering as they came down. It was the most exciting show I've seen.

This is me and my oldest waiting for the show to start.
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/938593292_X48ey-L.jpg

Here is a look at the crowd waiting.
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/938597213_bbpS4-L.jpg

One of the cool things of our vantage point is that you can see the fireworks from launch through to explosion.
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/938583914_cExjL-L.jpg

I tried to get artsy with this one. I don't think it worked, but my wife liked it.
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/938585636_JSPUD-L.jpg

Here is one showing the crowd and the building.
http://barbieri.smugmug.com/photos/938590638_CteUA-L.jpg

You can see the rest here (http://barbieri.smugmug.com/gallery/12974968_EoWFN#938599260_Ye47G).

[edolyne]

Here are a few from Riverfest in Hartford. We ended up getting there after the main area was packed so we had a nice view of the fireworks framed by the Marriott and the CT Science Center

EDIT: Sorry I had the images sized wrong, I will add the images back in once I have them sized properly.