Fired Up?

4th of July celebrations: The results aren't always what you hope to capture

Jul 11, 2025

Five years ago, just out of COVID lockdown but still in the early days of the pandemic, we were thrilled to learn that a socially distanced Fourth of July fireworks show was scheduled at a mall parking lot near our house.

Excited by the prospect of having something to do, we hopped in the car and joined others on the summer evening with a full moon hovering nearby. Given that we live in close proximity to the nation’s capital, we figured that a little extra effort would be put into a celebration of Independence Day.

Shortly after dusk, patriotic music was played via Bluetooth and piped into a speaker not much taller than the ones that surrounded my teenage turntable in the late 1970s. The fireworks, it turned out, were a series of canned images projected onto a large multiple story tarp that was hanging on the side of the mall’s parking garage.

For the entire show, we wondered, “Is that really it?”

Sadly, it was. At least the moon was beautiful.

The 2020 fireworks show and the full moon — Springfield, Va.

Learning Lesson

I’ve always loved fireworks — not due to patriotic fervor, although it’s nice to see people gather to watch them. I’ve always thought they have a magical quality.

And, as someone who is self-taught, photographing them always is a learning experience.

I shoot handheld, without a tripod, and usually from long distances with either a 24-70 or 70-200 lens. I recognize I’m breaking Photography 101 rules with this approach, but I also use it as an opportunity to see how I can push myself on a low-stakes live gig and broaden my post-production knowledge base.

This year was no exception.

The image at the top of this post is a composite from last Saturday’s show in Wintergreen, Va., a place where our family has celebrated the holiday on numerous occasions. The reason it’s a composite is because, well, the show itself was a bit of a dud.

Not 2020 level — at least the fireworks were live — but it was disappointing, nonetheless. Only a couple of the fireworks reached the high levels they’ve done in the past, and the show ended at least 10 minutes sooner than previous celebrations.

The learning part of the experience was deciding what to do with what I had. The shots that were captured were technically proficient, just not exciting. So, in a rare moment of free time, I decided to work on my (admittedly) poor layering skills — something I’ve never really had the desire to master, but an interesting exercise nonetheless.

I was pleasantly pleased by the result.

Favorite Fireworks

I recognize that perhaps my best-ever fireworks photo was taken 15 summers ago on a beach in Long Island. I told that story in a post-Fourth edition of “52 Weeks” last year.