This year, Adrian and I decided we didn’t want to put up with the crowds or insanity that is the capital fireworks, even from across the river from the Marine Corp Memorial. Instead, I’ve been missing the Seguin fireworks, held every year when there isn’t a severe drought (like there was this year). Their fireworks are held along the river, on the city golf course. You lay on the greens looking up through the huge and very old pecan trees and the show is above you. Watching with my parents is one of my favorite childhood memories.

Here in the D.C. Metro area, I figured that was an impossibility, but we decided to give one of the smaller enclave’s displays a try and headed to Falls Church. Falls Church is entirely surrounded by the city and hosts its display at George Mason High School at Leesburge Pike (VA7) and Highway 66. You watch from the football field and are pretty close to the fireworks, so that was nice. All in all, it was pleasant. It felt much smaller town than the main fireworks and their display was both well orchestrated and long (30 minutes +) and we enjoyed it. And, as a bonus, it only took about an hour to walk to the car (a reasonably long walk) and get all the way home as opposed to the main fireworks last year which took an epic 4 hour trip, including a 3 mile walk, to make our way home.

The works. This is a standard processing (no HDR) of a few seconds (23.8s to be exact) of the show. Thanks to some smoke drifting back over us (it was very still) you get different layers of smoothing and haze which adds a nice effect I think.

A wider view, in HDR. I wonder how many of these people actually watched the fireworks. They are all holding phones. I didn't really look at or through the camera after the show started except for a quick aiming adjustment or two. I just sat and hit the button on the remote. It is quite a lazy form of photography once you start.