Independence Day, 2014

Photograph taken by on Friday, July 04, 2014
Selfies With Abe

Selfies With Abe

I posted one of the firework photos on Facebook earlier, but now that I’m back from a week in Philadelphia, I’m getting caught up here. So, here are a few pictures from the many that I took on our day in the nation’s capital on the 238th anniversary of Independence Day. Along with our good friends Donna, Stuart, Hannah, and Katie, Dorothy and I went down early in the afternoon and set up our spot just outside Lincoln Memorial Circle near the south west corner of the reflecting pool.

Hannah, Katie, and Dorothy walked to the Folk Life Festival being held on the Mall beyond the Washington Monument. Stuart, Donna, and I talked and passed the time watching people. We all got up and went off at various times, some walking around the tidal basin, etc. I went up to the Lincoln Memorial and took a few pictures from there. My favorite, by far, is this one of three young Americans commemorating their visit with Abe by taking selfies.

Independence Day Crowd

Independence Day Crowd

As the day wore on, more and more people came and by the time the sun dropped behind the memorial, the whole area was packed. One things that’s great about the Independence Day celebration on the Mall is that it’s families and groups that are there to enjoy being with other Americans, including those who started life in other countries. The mood is light and most everyone is happy to be there. It didn’t hurt that is was only about 80°F today, so even in the sun it wasn’t sweltering. In the shade it was almost cool. Usually sitting in the blazing sun all afternoon is the worst part but this year, we were blessed with one of the most beautiful days of the summer so far.

Fireworks

Fireworks

Fireworks

Fireworks

I’ll finish with three pictures of the fireworks themselves. As you can see, we had a great view from our location. The fireworks are set off from the east end of the reflecting pool, so for us they had the Washington Monument as a back drop.

Fireworks

Fireworks

The firework display only lasted 17 minutes but it was long enough and very enjoyable. We were close enough that I had to use a fairly wide angle lens to get the larger explosions in the frame. These were all taken with the zoom at 20mm. They were all two second exposures (with the camera on a tripod), with the ISO set to 100. The first and third were at f/11.3 and the second at f/7. I’m pretty please with how they turned out.

Getting out of D.C. after they are done, of course, is the hardest part. We got to our car, which was parked on E Street, and found our way to the Roosevelt Bridge and out the G. W. Parkway, which worked pretty well. All in all, I think we all enjoyed ourselves and were glad we went.

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