Fourth of July...

 

fireworks.

 

 

I was in Ashland Wisconsin on the fourth and here are some of the images I captured.

 

 

 

I only had a 100-400mm lens with me which limited the compositions I could make.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ashland is located on the south shore of Lake Superior and they shoot the fireworks over the lake.

 

 

 

Normally that would lend itself to lots of pictures with color reflected in the water, but with the big lens I really didn't get that this year.

 

 

 

 

 

All I could really do is isolate shells as they burst in the sky and hope for the best.

 

 

 

 

 

I set the camera on bulb and shot at f/10 for about 2 seconds each exposure.

 

 

 

 

 

I hadn't planned to photograph the fireworks this year, so I just grabbed the camera and headed toward the lake shore.

 

 

 

I found a spot amid some trees and weeds, set up the tripod and did the best I could.

 

 

 

 

 

It started to rain pretty good and the bugs were bad so I quit shooting before they got to the finale.

 

 

  



 

I hope your fourth turned out as well as mine.

 



 



Who needs sleep ......

when I'm only here for a few days,

and nights. Star trails over lodgepole pine trees.

I hadn't been to Yellowstone in awhile and was determined to make the most of my time in the park. Instead of going to sleep after the sun had set and the colors had faded, I went out looking to photograph the night skies.

I'm glad I did because it resulted in images like this one of star trails over Old Faithful Geyser.

And the night sky above lodgepole pine trees in the Upper Geyser Basin. By playing around with exposure times and shooting through the night I was able to capture some unique Yellowstone photos.

Like this image of lightning in the distance and red steam rising from Old Faithful Geyser.

And more lightning as a thunderstorm rolled through. (These images have not been manipulated or altered. This is exactly what I saw while shooting on this night. You can see why the steam is red at http://jerrymercier.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-night.html )

Star trails over Old Faithful.

I was short on sleep, but it was worth it. This image shows White Dome Geyser erupting at about 2 in the morning with the Big Dipper up above.

I hadn't done much night time photography before this trip, but I'm glad I didn't let that stop me from trying.