My Fourth of July

So this year was the first year I didn’t watch a fireworks show in McHenry at Peterson Park. It was kind of a weird feeling, but refreshing at the same time. I’ve seen fireworks in Chicago and San Francisco, but Champaign has practically been my home these past years so I knew I couldn’t just sit around in my apt. not to watch those. So I packed up some of my gear and took for Dodds Park from campus via my bike (which I may not do again until I get my brakes fixed!)

In previous years, I’ve had countless images of the fireworks in the sky, so I knew I needed to step it up and include some foreground elements for interest. After walking around for some people who could make for a good foreground element (this was about 45 minutes before the show was to start), I found a spot in which a couple was close to me, to make for something to add to the frame. Looking in retrospect, I wish I would’ve been able to see them both, but it adds to the frame nonetheless.

I’ve picked out my favorites, using various crops and of course included some of the pre-show activities which I shot. Since I wasn’t there for work strictly, I mainly rested up from the bike ride and recharged with a chili dog, brat and a mini funnel cake (McHenry’s has always been better than what I had here in Champaign, sorry vendor-who-I-will-not-name).

The main gist of my setup, for those who care, was my 5D2 @ 16mm, generally at f/8 ISO 400 on bulb and I would vary the time depending on what was going off, and shot in RAW. I also brought a 7D for some “stock video” for my archives (why not right?)

Enjoy!