Fireworks

Some of you know of my quest to find the "perfect" location from which to photograph the Independence Day fireworks in Portsmouth, New Hampshire last week. I spent months - literally - thinking about where I might go to get the shot I had in mind. Ultimately, it came down to the fact that I needed rooftop access from a specific building and couldn't get it.

Having been postponed from July 3rd to the 5th due to the hurricane passing through the area, I had an extra two days to think about my "Plan B." I changed my mind the day of the show, and ended up back at the same spot from which I shot the display on New Year's Eve.

Since that had been a successful outing, I wasn't thrilled about repeating from the same location. However, I had a different composition in mind so thought I could come up with a new twist. The conditions had a little something to say about that idea, though.

Strong winds had been blowing all day, and persisted into the evening. Though not as strong by dusk, the gusts remained stiff enough to cause some concern (there had been talk of postponing the show yet again). The composition I had envisioned wasn't going to work: the boats I'd planned on positioning in the foreground of the shot were bobbing to and fro, and the show itself was challenging to shoot since the fireworks were being pushed quickly by the wind.

Keeping the shutter open was going to get me nothing but blur. Yikes! Still, in spite of all the difficulties, I was happy to have gotten something for my efforts.

]