Fireworks: The History You Never Wanted
Fireworks are pretty amazing. They are these tiny rockets we shoot into the sky that blow up and send glowing metal all over the place. While shooting (don’t I can only yap for so long!) I found myself doing some introspection—specifically about how we ended up shooting fireworks into the sky on July 4th. One quick Google search later I found my answer:
[Independence Day] ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. —John Adams
Who knew? Appearently fireworks as an icon of national celebration goes all the way back to Henry VII. Ever since then, they have symbolized national patriotism! But that’s not the whole story. Fireworks were invented way before then in China during the Song Dynasty. Also invented in China (during the 4th century BC!): the camera obscura! We finally find ourselves at the end of the yap.
Photography (finally)
This was my first time using my Fujifilm X100T, so even though I got nothing good, I still had tons of fun playing around with that camera. I realized while driving to the fireworks that what I feel about the camera must be the same feeling parents feel about their childen. It just filled me with this feeling best described by a term I recently learned, “gigil.”
Luckily for me, both my town and a neighboring town were hosting firework celebrations, and I planned to attend both.
Day 1: Needham
Needham’s fireworks were on July 3rd, because obviously July 3rd is Independence Day. Every year Needham makes a big deal out of their fireworks show, and flocks of people always flood the scene. Even worse, it was raining right before the show started, so I went to visit a friend who lived nearby for half an hour. While there I practiced a bit by taking picutres of their adorable dog, but none of them came out well enough for me to put them on this post (keep your eyes peeled for a future post though).
Probably one of the worst photos I’ve ever taken
For the first event, I completely botched all my photos during the fireworks, but during the fleeting moment after the fireworks went off and before everyone packed their bags to head home, I got some bad, but not horrible shots.
This baby’s going places!
After pretty much everyone had left, there were still a few police officers to deal with the vehicular madness of everyone leaving at once. I got these two shots:
Look at that stache!
While composing the shot above, a few of his police friends hollered over to me, “Make sure to get the full luscious beauty of his mustache in the picture!” I hope I did not disappoint.
Those street signs are SOO blown out
Day 2: Newton
Newton, unlike Needham, actually knows when Independence Day is, and planned their fireworks for the 4th. Newton’s event is much more hectic than Needham’s. They basically had an entire amusment park surrounding the field from which people laid out blankets to watch the display.
Ewww!
At first, you might wonder why I put such a bad shot on this blog, but if you look closely, that girl in the background is picking her nose! Now I think that’s what Cartier-Bresson would call, “the decisive moment.”
This kid’s inner Babe Ruth came out
I love the way the kid contorted his arms. It gives me the feeling he’s about to throw that poor hacky sack right through the carnival game.
Chic, debonair, and spiffy!
When I spotted this guy in line, I knew I had to grab a portrait of him. Those sunglasses are irresistible! He is truly the star of the show! Badum crash. This is by far my favorite photo of my Independence Day photography.
Silhouettes
I’ll be honest, this is a hideous photo. Nonetheless it shows silhouettes caused by backlighting from the fireworks. Even though my composition and technique were lamentable on this one, I can’t wait until 2026 to try this shot again!
tl;dr
Fireworks are awesome! Photography is awesome! Shooting with my new camera was a wonderful experience, and slowly but surely, I feel myself getting a better handle on my flash. I can’t wait until 2026 to try this again.
All the best,
Ilan Bernstein