Fireworks!

It is such a shame that fireworks (real ones, anyway) are illegal in so many states.  Fireworks are so fun to watch and equally as fun to set off (at least for me...I am a bit of a pyromaniac). This year I have indulged in setting off a lot of fire works.  I lit about a hundred sparklers in an empty lot behind a hotel in Frederick, MD, launched off a batch of "real" fireworks at a friend from high school's birthday celebration in Middleburg, VA and then some real big ones in Tysons, VA at a going away party for Ashley Andersen.  It is fun swirling around sparklers and running panicked away from lit wicks and even more than that... it has yielded some good picture-taking opportunities.  I love taking pictures at night but have had a hard time getting everything on my new camera set properly - throw in the moving light of fireworks and I'm basically lost... below is some of what I did.

back lot hotel pictures (credits to Ben Pecora - it was his camera and his engineering):

pictures of the fireworks extravaganza in middleburg (these are all mine, but not as good as ben's):