During this year’s Memorial Day holiday I was in Dallas visiting family.
We had a get together at my uncle Jeff’s house and we spent some time in the back yard swimming, eating and visiting. As we finished dinner, clouds started to roll in and thunder roared. The fireworks show we were promised looked like it had met it’s demise.
Still hopeful, the kids of the family, including me and two of my uncles, piled in to pick-up trucks with umbrellas and drove a few blocks over to the lake where the fireworks were supposed to launch. The rain had let up a bit, but it was still coming down.
A few cars gathered, waiting to see if the show would continue as planned. We huddled under umbrellas and seconds later, boom! Colorful fireworks appeared.
I stood there for a minute or two, just watching (I love fireworks), then I realized how special of a moment that was. Watching fireworks in the rain, huddled under umbrellas with some of my favorite people – it was like something out of a movie.
At that point I grabbed my camera and walked behind the truck. My uncle Johnny held an umbrella over my head as I snapped a few shots of this moment that was so worthy of a picture.
I didn’t have a tripod, so I just did the best I could with an ISO of 4000 and a shutter speed of 1/40 of a sec. I was using my D700 body with my 24-70mm f2.8 lens.
Had I used a tripod, I probably could have captured more of the lightning, and had longer streaks of light in the fireworks. But sometimes it’s better just to enjoy the moment and not fuss with added equipment.
After a few shots, I rejoined my family and watched from beneath an umbrella with three rambunctious little girls. At that moment, I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else in the whole world.
This Independence Day I hope you remember to take the pictures that matter, then put down the camera and enjoy your holiday. Happy 4th!
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