Fireworks At Disney

We did a bunch of stuff today, culminating in dinner with my sister and brother-in-law, plus Cousins Michael, Melissa and Max.

We ate at Downtown Disney with a plan. After our meal we’d move to the Disney parking garage and watch the fireworks from an upper floor!

Perfect.

Disney Does Fireworks

disney fireworks

Even before I woke up today, Helaine was plotting. She was on the phone with Cousin Melissa planning our evening.

“Would you be interested in dinner at Disney, then fireworks,” H asked as I degroggied myself.

Disneyland is in the neighborhood. It’s only 25 minutes away.

Dinner was very nice. The fireworks, even nicer!

I don’t want to take anything away from Disneyland, but if you’ve been to Disneyworld you’ll wonder who shrunk the castle! It’s much smaller here than in Florida.

The fireworks, however, are another story. They are big and perfectly choreographed. We were centered in front of the castle. It was the perfect vantage point.

Here’s the last 45 seconds of tonight’s show. It was shot on my cellphone, handheld. You’ll get a very good idea what the show’s like. It’s Disney. You expect a certain level of ‘special.’

Fireworks And A Concert On The Shore In Branford

The Branford Town Band was playing on the flat roof above the public restrooms! That’s not as strange as it sounds.

Now that I’ve been doing their commercials Premier Subaru asked if I’d emcee tonight’s band concert and fireworks in Branford. I was glad to and it was another good chance to get the word out I’m on FoxCT. Amazing how many people still don’t know (feel free to pass the word around).

After a threatening day and with thunderstorms moving through Northern Connecticut Branford was was exquisite. The sky was mainly blue, the temperature comfortable and the dew point low.

The Branford Town Band was playing on the flat roof above the public restrooms! That’s not as strange as it sounds. We were perched above the harbor with a direct line-of-sight to the island where the fireworks were being launched.

The band began playing at 7:45. After their first song I was brought up to lead the band. Surprise to me!

All they had me do was count to four. They broke into “Sleighride.”

The concert was mostly band favorites and some medleys. All the instruments were wind save the drums. I was pleased to see my old friend Bob Child playing.

My job was to read a little lead-in for each song. I do this as part of “what I do” for work, but the truth is I enjoy doing it and think I do it well.

The skies darkened and the fireworks began around 9:30 PM.

I can’t imagine how there’s a better place to see fireworks. I can’t imagine a better night. We were so close powdery debris rained on us as the show progressed!

Because the winds were calm smoke from the rockets never dissipated and some of the show was actually obscured by its own smoke!

As a photographer I enjoyed the lower part of the program. It was possible for me to shoot the explosions and still see the crowd.

Here’s a small sample of the shots I took tonight in Branford.

4th Of July Fireworks Photos

These shots were taken from an athletic field at the Foote School in New Haven.

I enjoy seeing fireworks and, since I now seem to be totally obsessed as a photographer, I also enjoy shooting fireworks.

“It’s not the same,” said Helaine when I came back from shooting the New Haven fireworks. “It doesn’t have the same excitement.”

She’s right (as usual). A still photo will never bring the oohs and ahs you hear from the live crowd.

On my drive home I was thinking this is a technical exercise more than anything. You never really know what’s going to be in the frame during the 5, 10 or even 20 seconds you’ve got the shutter open! The only thing a photographer must/can scope out is the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, lens focal length.

These shots were taken from an athletic field at the Foote School in New Haven. I used a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 lens and varied my shots from 70mm all the way to 200mm. I was far enough from the fireworks that this was a near perfect lens choice lens.

The view was good but there were some trees that blocked a little of the action.

Click any photo for a larger view.