07/04/12 4th of July Fireworks: Galva, IL

A typical 4th of July firework celebration in

Galva, IL last evening at dusk...

On Wednesday evening, I attended a firework celebration marking the 4th of July holiday in Galva, IL after working most of the day. After photographing the Peoria, IL firework celebration a few years ago I wanted to find a show a little less crowded/chaotic as that event usually is along the Illinois riverfront. I chose this year to photograph the fireworks in Galva, IL which is a very small town that surprisingly enough has a decent show year after year. This 4th of July I wanted more "close-ups" rather than wide-angle shots like years past to add to my photography collection. I ended up setting up a few miles just south of Galva, IL finding a nice open spot to shoot at dusk with my Canon EOS 7D when the 20 minute show began. This ended up being one of the hottest 4th of July celebrations I've ever attended with temperatures near 100°F. I've added a few of my favorite photos and some video below:

 One of my favorites from the evening!

 Portrait-shot!

 More spectacular colors...

 Some gold...

 This one was quite close!

 Stunning...

 One of my best portrait-shots!

 Another cool shot...

 More fireworks lighting up the clear skies...

 Same shot (not cropped) that I posted previously above...

(the one that was cropped looks so much better)

 More and more fireworks...

 Same photo that was previously posted (not cropped)

(if you compare the two it's a great example of what a

little cropping can do to enhance a photograph...)

 Getting closer to the big finish!

 Pretty cool stuff here hugging the horizon...

 Another cool display!

 And another...
(Look close and there is a smoke "tornado" (center))

 More good stuff!

 Another favorite from the evening...

 Grand Finale kicks off providing maybe

the best photo from the evening!

 The big "booms" come all-together as the show

begins to come to an end...

 Another cool close-up shot!

 The finale comes to a close...

 
I've added a YouTube video showing the
grand finale of the celebration (above)

Next year I'm planning on photographing a larger firework display in the Quad-Cites along the Mississippi River. That fireworks celebration from what I hear is quite spectacular! Anyhow, as far as the weather goes we've missed most of the MCS-activity over the last week or so putting us in a severe drought that looks to worsen over the rest of July in central Illinois. I guess so much for chasing some severe weather locally this summer eh? Guess it's once again time to find something else to do photography-wise...