Fourth of July | Fireworks | Fayetteville, N.C. Photographer

I hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day yesterday. I know my family did. We headed up to the capital, Raleigh, for some 4th of July fun. We played at the children's museum, Marbles, for a while to stay out of the heat ... and the rain.

After the museum, we walked downtown to the festivities only to be caught in a BIG thunderstorm ... more like monsoon! So we huddled under the awning of the local news station, which by chance, was on air at the moment. My son loves the weatherman, Chris, and was super excited to see him "for real and talking to the camera." He had his face squished to the glass window and kept saying, "that's Chris! I count on Chris!" <--- which is the station's catchphrase for the weatherman, "I count on Chris."

After the rain let up a little, we decided to run to a restaurant to just sit, eat, and chill. Which we did. Then, like magic, the rain went away and the sun came out. Three hours till fireworks and the temperature dropped and the skies were clear. The fireworks were a go!

Let me tell you, this was the first time they shot fireworks on the main street of downtown Raleigh, and it was spectacular! I was in awe (but of course, I love fireworks anyway).  After the show, we headed back home ... which kinda stinks, cause it's about an hour and half away and all three of us either had school or work to go to! But, we enjoyed ourselves even though we hated the alarm clock this morning! We didn't get to light any sparklers or firecrackers this year, but maybe we'll light some sparklers tonight or on the beach this weekend. All in all, I had a blast. The family had a blast. And i can't wait till the holiday is on a weekend again! This middle of the week thing is for the birds! :-)

(Just for your general knowledge: these firework shots were taken on my lil' Canon Rebel Ti2, on a tripod in manual mode at F/10, 4 seconds, and ISO 100)

 I love fireworks and I can't sit still when they're going on, 'cause well, I love them! But it's probably an issue when my 5 year-old is sitting still and I'm not!

 Aren't these just awesome? I had to remember to stop taking pictures so that I could actually ENJOY the fireworks. That's the issue with photographers, we tend to look through life through our view finder. It's important to have the photos for memories, but it's also important to LIVE the memories!

  Ending with this fun photo. The shutter speed was too short, but long enough to catch the light trails of my glow bracelets — I didn't make it back to my chair before the shutter closed, LOL. Hazards of self timers and trying to be IN the photos you take! I just thought it made a fun photo. (My son is covering his ears cause he doesn't like loud noises and mommy and daddy forgot his earmuffs.)

 *** Please remember that all images are copyrighted to Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. Please do not copy or alter any images without SWP, LLC consent. ***