Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

July 4th Fireworks


On Sunday night, Fairfield Glade had its own 4th of July Fireworks Display in celebration of our country's birthday. George did some research beforehand --and wanted to see what he could do taking pictures of the display with his new camera. He used his Canon Rebel T1i and used the 55/250 lens. He did not take his tripod though ---but says that next year he will definitely do that...

I think (and I'm not too prejudiced) that his pictures came out really great. SO--today, I'm showing you 7 of MY favorites... I will provide details for all of you photography people. In the picture above, the ISO was 800, the shudder speed was 1/50, the aperture was 6.3, and and the lens focal length was 208. Below are more!




These first two pictures were not cropped --but I did tweak all of the photos a little using Photoshop Elements. In the picture above, the ISO was 800, the shudder speed was 1/40, the aperture was 6.3, and and the lens focal length was 208.




In the picture above, the ISO was 800, the shudder speed was 1/25, the aperture was 5, and and the lens focal length was 55. This picture and the remaining ones have been cropped.




In the picture above, the ISO was 1600, the shudder speed was 1/8, the aperture was 5, and and the lens focal length was 60.




In the picture above, the ISO was 3200, the shudder speed was 1/50, the aperture was 5, and and the lens focal length was 55.




In the picture above, the ISO was 3200, the shudder speed was 1/50, the aperture was 5, and and the lens focal length was 55.




In this last picture, the ISO was 3200, the shudder speed was 1/50, the aperture was 5, and and the lens focal length was 55.

Whether you are a photography 'buff' or not, I hope you enjoyed these pictures... George and I had a wonderful weekend . We enjoyed brats on the grill, some 'tater' salad, and some of my 'fabulous' (ha) baked beans. We also enjoyed seeing some of the great Patriotic shows on TV (such as a Capitol Fourth, the Boston Pops, and our local Knoxville Fireworks display with the Knoxville Symphony). It was a great celebration!!!!

Now--it's back-to-the-ground (having to water our yard and flowers since we are desperate for rain here --with none in sight). It's also gotten hot again --so our AC is back ON, after being off for about a week. This is turning out to be one 'gosh-darn-hot' Summer!!!!! (I'm ready for Fall!!!! ha)

Hugs,

P.S. Blogger is having trouble with comments today.. I am getting your comments by email --so don't hesitate leaving a comment for me. Hopefully, Blogger will get it straightened out soon. (I have 31 comments as of 8:45 a.m. --so I am getting them even if my blog doesn't show it!!!!) Thanks!

59 comments:

Diane AZ said...

How wonderful that Fairfield Glade had its own fireworks display. George's pictures are fantastic, I love them all. I hope you get some rain soon!

Jane said...

Great pics of the fireworks. Glad that you guys had a great weekend. I, too, am looking forward to fall and winter. This heat is incredible!

Jane

amelia said...

Hi Betsy,

My family have been here and I stayed away from the computer for the most part but they're gone and I'm back!!

Your pictures are amazing but I'm not a fan of fireworks, they scare wild and domestic animals too much but having said that (and I'm not a photography buff) the clarity is quite awesome!

I hope your knee is still improving, if somewhat slowly!!

Susan Tidwell said...

Tell him he did a great job!

Thoughtfully Blended Hearts said...

George did such a beautiful job with these photos!!! I'm glad you two had a great weekend...
Have a great week!!!

Peggy said...

George did a wonderful job taking pictures of the fireworks!! We grilled burgers and hotdogs on the grill with coleslaw, home fries, and baked beans. I loved the Capitol 4th on PBS. I finally just went ahead and closed the house up and turned on the a/c. Mr Big Man admitted it felt good after working outside all day. Rusty and Kuma were very happy. LOL Have a great week and lets hope we see rain soon.

jlshall said...

Those shots are truly amazing! George is such a talented photographer (just like his wife). Sounds like you had a great holiday. Hope you get some rain soon - we've been pretty dry around here, too, and the grass and flowers are beginning to droop a lot.

Have a great week!
And Happy 6th of July! from Joy @ Joysweb

Small City Scenes said...

Tell George his pics are great---I have no idea about the tech stuff--just point and shoot (haha).
Am glad you had a wonderful 4th. Same here.
Parades and rodeo--that's what's happening here. MB

Jen said...

Thanks Betsy this is the closest I got to any fireworks this year. Great job George!

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Super, duper, fantastic photos!!!!!
Wow!
WooT!

Hot up north too. And no central A/C in this old house. Just some window units. Bleahhhhhhh...

The older I get, the more it bothers me. But I hate everything closed up, with lots of A/C too. -Hehhhhhhhhhhh- ,-)

pam said...

Great pictures!

I'm watering my garden this morning, we are supposed to get to 99 on Thursday!!!

RoeH said...

Neat photos!!

Anonymous said...

George did a wonderful job with the fireworks photos. They are very pretty. Sounds like it was a nice weekend. We are hot and dry too. Maybe we'll all get some rain sometime soon. You and George have a nice day.

Regina said...

Wow beautiful and spectacular.
Have a great week Betsy.
xo

Harriet said...

Great Fireworks!

Connie said...

Great pictures, Betsy! Sounds like you had a really nice weekend. :)

Adrienne Zwart said...

I didn't get to watch fireworks this year, so I'm glad you shared yours.

We are watering again, as well. And turning on the air conditioning with the closed windows was a necessity. I really enjoyed the previous week with lower temps and low humidity. But hot just feels right for summer--it does make wish we had a swimming pool, though!

Karin said...

Great shots! We got our daughter a Rebel for her birthday and she was busy using it over the week-end too! I haven't got a clue what all that stands for, lol! We've had all kinds of showers, would love to send some your way! After a week of work, we'll be heading into the mountains for a week! So looking forward to that - woohoooooo! Have a great week you two! Hugs, Karin

Susie said...

Girl, we have a ways to go before Fall comes. Luckily we are getting some rain this a.m. which I am so grateful for. I'm tired of watering already.

The fireworks photos are pretty so I can imagine how pretty they were in person.

Hope you guys have a great day!

Arkansas Patti said...

Ohh, aah, yea, did you see that? Thanks George, I didn't see any fireworks and your great pictures were like a private show with out all that noise.
We both need rain and the heat is back. That lovely week sure was a tease but welcome.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Betsy: Fun photos from a neat fourth display, great job.

MadSnapper said...

the photos are great! thanks for all the info. i need to learn more about using manual instead of auto settings. when you were getting rain we were so dry everything was dying, now you are dry and we have had 7 straight days of rain. i am thinking of doing a sun dance. I did a rain dance added to my praying for rain a couple of weeks ago and yesterday bob said do you know a sun dance?

Catherine said...

Fantastic photos Betsy! Looks like your fireworks were beautiful!

We had fireworks on Canada Day ~ July 1 ~ but I didn't stay up to watch them ~ too late for me ~ ha!

Wish I could send you some of our rain! We have had more then enough. So many farmers in the 3 Prairie Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan & Manitoba) were not able to seed and put their crops in due to all the rain! We went to Alberta yesterday (hop and skip away from us) and there are still so many areas under water. Very odd for dry ol' Saskatchewan! Such weird weather the world is having!

Take care Betsy!
xo Catherine

Judy said...

Beautiful pictures Betsy! Thanks for the setting tips. I'm glad you had a wonderful weekend, we had a wonderful 4th as well.

Anonymous said...

George did well taking the fireworks photographs. I think my friend has the same camera as George. She purchased it recently; it is her first dSLR.

We spent many hours on the motorcycle this past weekend. Each ride was enjoyable, but we had enough for a while after yesterday's ride. It was such a hot day. The wind as we were riding was even hot.

Rose said...

It is back to being hot here, too. I never thought I would say this...no actually I did know it wouldn't be long before I was complaining...but wouldn't some rain be lovely right now?

Oh, love those fireworks pics...he did a great job for no tripod!

Julie said...

Oh, Betsy, I have to say this first: "I'M READY FOR FALL TOO"!!!!!

Ok, now that I've said that...Georges pics turned out GREAT! I can understand him wanting perfection though! Every little bit helps...I know, cause I don't own a tripod!!! Hee hee hee. These new cameras have such great stabilization capabities tho, don't they? A far cry from the cameras of old!

I can't believe you guys haven't had any rain...seems like the rest of the country is soaked this past week! We even went to the fireworks in the rain!!!!! :P

xoxo-Julie

Rose said...

PS...I got your comment on the photos of Lorelei and her daddy, etc...I am having a horrible time with blogger. I publish the comments, it says they are published, that lasts for just a few minutes and I go back and they are waiting to be published again. I switched my settings to moderate if the post is 5 days old. So we shall see.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi Betsy, I didn't end up going to the fireworks this year so enjoyed seeing yours. Hope you guys a are dealing with this heat.
Marnie

Loran said...

You're right, George got some really good shots of the fireworks!

I'm not ready for fall yet, we just got summer.

Elenka said...

The wonders of having a 'good' camera.....makes all the difference in the world. Nice shots.

Snap said...

YeeHaw! Tell George .. great shots!

Busy Bee Suz said...

These photos are amazing....he did a great job.
Your weekend sounds wonderful Betsy...and I will surely send you some of our daily rains. ok???

Since I have my comments moderated, I lost a bunch of them this morning and I hate that. I switched it up and will get the rest for today though. I love my comments, don't you???

xoxoxo
Suz

Leenie said...

Nice pics! Time lapse photography is always fun. You never know what will happen during that time the shutter is open.

I had just figured out how to set it all up on my film camera when the world turned digital. Finally this year I had it all together and got some winners of the show over the fairgrounds just a couple of blocks from our house. Looks like you had a great holiday!

Shelley said...

George did a fabulous job on those firework photos! What a gorgeous display! The food sounded good too wish I was there to sample it!
Hugs,
SHelley

I Am Woody said...

He got some great shots!

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

These pictures are fantastic. I have as yet not been able to get good fireworks pictures.I guess part of the problem is that I give up too easily.
Blessings,Ruth

mudderbear said...

That you can get such fabulous shots of fireworks is a wonder to me. Maybe I'm still back in the stone age, but seriously, it is quite an accomplishment. I noticed that as I scrolled down some shots seemed to fill out or grow right before my eyes, and that was awesome. Try it. Thanks so much for sharing.

PS..I also got my comments via email. Maybe the system is just very busy today?

Pat Tillett said...

Nice job! Fireworks aren't easy to photograph...

From the Kitchen said...

Love these photos. Someday, I hope I'll know exactly what you're talking about re photo taking!! I want to comment on your comment on "madsnapper". My sisters and I go back by our family home in Roanoke every October. It still looks the same: a big square red brick with a wraparound porch. The only thing that's changed is the trees are really tall. Well, they were pretty tall back in the day. I always want to walk up on the porch and plop down with a book and wait for Jerry the Popsicle Man to come clanging down the street. Ah, sweet memories.

Best,
Bonnie

Joe Todd said...

Great photos Betsy Thanks for sharing

Ginny Hartzler said...

Yes, another tiresome day with blogger! I hope you get this comment. These are amazing!! Even when my fireworks turn out good, they are nothing like this!! I'm so glad you had a good holiday. I was thinking about you and hoping your knee didn't interfere too much with your enjoyment.

Diane said...

Betsy, tell George I think they're all beautiful! I don't know anything about the shutter speeds, etc. I just think he captured them great! Diane

Together We Save said...

Those pictures were amazing. Our towns freworks were much smaller scale this year. I guess due to the economy.

LV said...

No question, George found him a great camera, and he uses it very well. All these pictures are beautiful.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

George's photos look fabulous, Betsy! I especially like the round star burst photo.

It was so hot here on July 4th we stayed in and watched the Macy's firework show on TV. Members of the military and their families were on borad the Aircraft museum "The Intrepid" in the Hudson River where the show took place. They played soem wonderful patriotic music this year.

♥ Pat

Anonymous said...

Tremendous fireworks photographs! Way way cool!

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

Great pictures. I read here that much skill is needed in using his new camera. I think I need a simpler one.We had our fireworks on July 1st, Canada Day.

nanny said...

The fireworks shots are wonderful....
By the time I would get my camera set they would be over...ha I would love to get some good shots like those!!

Good Job!

Velva said...

Betsy, George did a fine job with taking the 4th of July photos. I love photography.

We had such a cold Winter(you guys too) and now Summer is hot, hot and hot. I am ready for Fall again too.

Glenda said...

Great pics! I've not yet mastered photos taken at night - especially moving objects. These are really good!

We finally have gotten rain here and the temps are a bit cooler. Hope you get some showers soon!

Carletta said...

I was just at George's commenting on his firework images. He mentioned he learned a lot. I commented that the shutter speeds and all gave me a headache. :) It is one of the reasons I've put off trying to capture fireworks. I'm a much better point and shoot girl.! He did a great job and your photo stats give me an idea of what he did.
The third one is my favorite!!!!
It's hot here too - keep cool as best you can.

carolina nana said...

WHAT GREAT PICTURES OF THE FIREWORKS. I TOOK PICTURES LIKE THAT SEVERAL YEARS AGO AND I DID USE A TRI-POD. BUT GEORGE DID A GOOD JOB WITHOUT THE TRIPOD.
SON IS DOING MUCH BETTER TODAY,THAT LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL IS GETTING BRIGHTER. NOW I'M CONCERNED IF D-IN-LAW IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE HIM !!
THEY ARE ALREADY BICKERING AND HE ISN'T EVEN HOME YET. PRAY THAT GOD WILL WORK THIS OUT AS WELL. BLESSINGS TO YOU MARILYN

imac said...

Grand show of fireworks Betsy, I also had blogger probs.

diane b said...

Great night shots without a tripod. Thanks for the info on the photos.

SquirrelQueen said...

Great shots George. I still want to call it ASA instead of ISO, too many years of film I guess.

I love fireworks but we decide not to go this year the day just got too busy. Our heat is coming in Wednesday with near 100 by Friday.

It looks like lots of us are having comment problems today, hopefully blogger will get their act together soon.

Sunny said...

Great pictures! I LOVE fireworks.
Having some 'puter' problems :( and I'm melting in the heatwave!
☼ Sunny

Pedaling said...

George's research paid off!
those are nice. I need so much more practice on my nighttime fireworks shots. Thanks for posting the camera settings, too!

Gracie said...

Love fireworks! You did really great at these photography and the details are greatly appreciated. This is what I missed last New year since I no longer have with me my camera, but maybe soon I'll get one coz I want to continue my passion.