So it was the 4th of July the other day and what does that mean, it means fireworks. I love fireworks, that loud bang, the brilliant colors lighting up the sky. It’s something about fireworks that I just hate to miss them. Previous to living in MPLS, I was in DC and they have one of the best 4th of July displays I’ve seen but they didn’t have them on New Years Eve so B and I would drive to Baltimore, just to watch their fireworks.

So not to miss a chance for fireworks B and I headed down to the banks of the Mississippi to what Minneapolis had to offer. I of course brought my camera, tripod, an assortment of lenses(Canon 15mm, Sigma 17-35, Sigma 24-70mm, Sigma 70-200mm), remote shutter release and my chair. We found a good spot along the river, as I heard that being on the Stone Arch Bridge, a little closer, made shooting a bit more difficult as per all the bodies. I knew that I wanted to shoot some pretty wide stuff because I like getting people and buildings and such in my photos of fireworks for a bit of perspective.

So I set my camera up on manual, F8, 100 ISO, and Bulb so that I could get the clearest images and could keep my shutter open as long as I needed. Unfortunately I didn’t get me remote shutter release set up properly beforehand so I decided to scrap that and just keep my finger on the shutter. As for my times, I was just guesstimating. Hold it open, a few big bursts, not wanting to blow out the fireworks, and the release. Rinse and repeat. While you won’t always get it right if you keep checking your camera display you should start figuring out what is and isn’t working. I don’t think I looked through my viewfinder once after I composed my first shot. just shutter, wait for a few bursts, and release. I barely looked at the camera, more watched the fireworks.

When all was said and done that night I took 125 images in the +-20 Min show that evening. Oh and I didn’t change lenses once.  While all of the images were not great, I did get some keepers. And below are some of the images that I liked from that evening. Oh and make sure to look for the gnome!

Images taken with:
Canon 40D
Canon 15mm Fisheye