2022 – Capturing Other Towns’ Fireworks From Home
……………………………………………(ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on July 4, 2022)
I’ve been doing this for decades. At one point, I counted at least 14 other towns/locations that were shooting off Fourth of July fireworks that I could photograph from home, including some from as far away as the Macy’s NYC fireworks, whether they were on the west side (Hudson River) or the east side (East River, where they’ll be tonight). Whichever one happens, they’re at least 10 miles away.
Many towns don’t do them on the 4th. Some years, I’ve had to write out a schedule that covered a two-week period. Of this year’s 14 possibilities, only 5 are scheduled for July 4. This weekend, I shot one on Friday (Ridgefield, NJ) and one on Saturday (Saddle Brook, NJ). Tonight will be Hackensack, Ridgefield Park and Macy’s – all shootable from my living room window.
For the first time, Hackensack’s will be a much lesser shoot for me because of a new, 5-story residential building that’s a block away and right between me and where they set them off. I’ll probably be able to see a good part of the business end of them up top, but it’s not ever gonna be the same again.
So this post will be about what I was able to get from 4+ miles away (Ridgefield) and 3+ miles away (Saddle Brook).
This pic shows my setup. It was a very hot and humid evening, so I only opened the window a little. The Ridgefield fireworks were shot off from behind the trees where the X is on the horizon (in the above picture, you can see the trees silhouetted against the burst).
I hate using digital magnification, but at this distance, it’s a must (at 42x!).
Here are 6 other Ridgefield shots:
This is FAR from my best, but at this distance, they’ll do.
The Saddle Brook shoot was a little over 3 miles away in the opposite direction and I had to shoot through glass. Given that limitation, I think I did OK with these 8:
But I have a ninth one that’s gotta be my favorite shot of the weekend because of something that showed up that I never saw. Less than a mile from home is a church in Hackensack that has a triple cross atop its steeple. It’s unlit, so I couldn’t see it, but the fireworks backlit it perfectly:
If you ever need to look up the phrase “dumb luck”, you might see this picture under the definition.
Happy Fourth!
Thanks Bob.
Good shots.
My favorite is two before your favorite – mostly for its color combo.
Happy 4th!