Fireworks on the Fourth of July

One of the advantages of living in Tribeca and near the Hudson is that we are front row center for a lot of activities. In addition to having a nice view, we are very close to the Statue of Liberty. The Statue, not suprisingly, is the location of the best fireworks show in town, probably in the country. These photos are what we saw. For any photo geeks out there, all these shots were taken with my Canon 1Ds Mark II. I was using my 28-300mm Canon L lens set to manual focus and fixed apature of f10. All shots, except the Jersey shoreline were shot with bulb setting with exposures ranging from 2-8 seconds. On several of these photos, I used Alien Skin "Exposure" to emulate the color saturation you would get with Velvia film.

Prior to the start of the action, all the water taxis and tour boats were headed for the best viewing spots. The channel was choked with boats. One boat, in the center, had it's own helicopter on deck.

There were two sets of fireworks. Kathleen claims that the second one was sponsored by Macy's, but there was no attribution given. The show started promptly at 2100hrs, as advertised.

Some of the bursts were very, very bright. Note how the boats are illuminated.

Nice structure.

Note the twisty structure below.

I cannot explain the rectangular area in the center of the photo.

The smoke was starting to build. Mostly it drifted away from us.

At the end of the first set, which lasted 20 minutes by the Colgate clock, I got this shot of the Jersey shoreline.

The next round of fireworks started immediately after the first. Note the Statue of Liberty on the right.

A great compound burst with lots of definition and color.

Another one of those way-bright bursts. Note the illumination of the water and even the face of liberty.

Another compound burst.

The red and white shots were the brightest.

An example of some of the pattern bursts. We saw bow-ties, smiley faces, planets and 5 point stars.

This was a good one that had a long hang time.

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This one looks like a hydra.

Another multi-color hydra burst.

They now have the ability to make charges that create shapes. Here a saturn shape with rings. We also smiley faces, cubes and among other shapes.

Great colors and good definition.

Nice, big white burst.

Another nice burst.

Nearly over exposed there was so much light.

The finale. This was a multiple burst ensemble.

This was an excellent show. And the best part was that we were only 2 blocks from the apartment, so the commute time was minimal.

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