Fireworks over Flathead Lake - Montana

jamesl

Hi All,

I'm finally finding some time to post more shots from my trip to Montana at the end of June. My family and I spent 5 days up at my Uncle's condo, which is located near the town of Lakeside Montana. The condo sits right on the shores of Flathead Lake, which is the largest freshwater lake in the country after the Great Lakes. It's a very beautiful place, especially in the summer. We were lucky enough to be up there on the 4th of July. Lakeside does a small fireworks display every year. They float a barge out into the bay and shoot the fireworks from there. Last year, I shot from very close to the bay, and ended up being too close to get good shots. This year, I wanted to get above the action and take wider angles. I found a spot about a mile from town on top of a hill overlooking the bay. The barge was already out in the bay, so I was able to figure out a good spot to shoot from.

These were all shot with my 30D and 28-135 lens. Aperature was F8 to keep the fireworks sharp. I used a remote control and bulb to try and capture the fireworks from start to finish. Shutter speeds were from 8 to 20 seconds on average Also, many of these are composite images.













This last one is a composite of probably 8 shots, just to be crazy. :wink

Thanks for stopping by! :thumb

James

thegridrunner

very nice shots, I am still trying to master fireworks...

Panther

Howdy James,

That must have been an awesome experience in that kind of setting.

Very nicely done, once again!!

Grizzle6

Really nice stuff here James.

theNOIZ

Flathead Lake
James,

Great shots!

My best friend lives on the shore of Flathead and has always bragged about the July 4th fireworks display. Even though some people prefer to watch from their boats, I think you had a better view.

Thanks for sharing.

Awais Yaqub

Wonderful fireworks !!
and photos

jamesl

thegridrunner wrote:

very nice shots, I am still trying to master fireworks...

Thanks Patrick! Sorry for the late reply. It was definately fun to shoot them.

James

jamesl

Panther wrote:

Howdy James,

That must have been an awesome experience in that kind of setting.

Very nicely done, once again!!

Howdy Craig! How's it going? Sorry for the really late reply. It was definately awesome to watch them, although the show ended up being very short compared to what it normally is. I think they had a malfunction or something.

James

jamesl

Grizzle6 wrote:

Really nice stuff here James.

Thanks Adam! I appreciate it.

James

jamesl

theNOIZ wrote:

James,

Great shots!

My best friend lives on the shore of Flathead and has always bragged about the July 4th fireworks display. Even though some people prefer to watch from their boats, I think you had a better view.

Thanks for sharing.

Howdy. Thanks! I'm jealous that he lives there all year round. We try to get up there every summer if we can. Being on a boat to watch them is cool, and you can also jet over to the other shows around the lake. Pretty tough to take pics while in the boat though.

James

jamesl

Awais Yaqub wrote:

Wonderful fireworks !!
and photos

Thanks Awais! I appreciate your comments. Glad you enjoyed them.

James

Chrissiebeez_NL

i really like the first and last one~! go crazy! it's fireworks.. by definition a crazy thing

dmmattix

I just love the position
But then I don't like crowds anyway. Beautiful shots.

Regards,

Mike

jamesl

Chrissiebeez_NL wrote:

i really like the first and last one~! go crazy! it's fireworks.. by definition a crazy thing

Thanks a bunch! Sorry for the late reply.

James

jamesl

dmmattix wrote:

But then I don't like crowds anyway. Beautiful shots.

Regards,

Mike

Howdy Mike. Thanks. Yeah, I definately enjoy myself more when I can get away from the crowds.

James