Monday, July 5, 2010

thomas, you & your friends rocked it out...

so many years ago to give us our independence. the freedom to be who wanted to be then and who we are as a country today. thank you for that.

oh, and for giving us all a phenom reason to ignore bedtimes and instead light sparklers, lie back on a thick blanket & watch fireworks in a crammed parking lot on the side of ford road at 10:30p.m. on a sunday night!

*below each firework photo, i included the settings i used per the requests i received after posting these photos. this is what i used, i'm sure there are better ways, but this may help someone get started:)

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1/250, f2.8, iso 2000
i used my canon 24-70 f/2.8L zoom lens

we returned home from up north happily satisfied with all the fun we had with family. truly exhausted and ready to get out of the van we had been riding in for hours and race to get showers & baths and into bed...

but it was the 4th of july...
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so we decided to get up and get out 'cause i knew our little posh and becks would LOVE the adventure. especially if it meant staying up late again.

so tired mommy, daddy, sito, and gido sprayed bug repellant over our freshly showered and lotioned up arms and legs, grabbed the sparklers, blankets, and flashlights and set off to find the beautifully lit up and loud celebration in the sky!

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i heard beckham say, "boom, BOOM!" after the bursts of colorful 'lightening' in the sky! we heard oohs and ahhs and excitement in their tired little
faces.
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i watched at they grew more and more tired as the time ticked on, but not admitting to it for fear we would have packed them up at the
first chance we had to get out in the nick of time to beat traffic. ha.
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we weren't at our beautiful beach in naples, which i miss so much, but gido found a patch of green grass for us and we did enjoy the warm night. thank you.
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1/30 shutter speed, f2.8, iso 1600
i like this iso better as there are more details the fireworks.
trial and error. practice;)
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1/60, f2.8, iso 3200
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happy birthday, america! & happy 4th of july to all of my blog friends too.

xoxoxoxoxo

33 comments:

Teresa said...

Love, Love the fireworks pics. So pretty, and I can see the wonder in the kids eyes. Great job!

Nicole said...

Oh how i love seeing littles all decked out in their red, white, and blue, special one-day-a year outfits...so very sweet! And forgive me Heids....I gotta say it, your hubby is a total hottie, lol....nice work my friend, nice work. :o)

Anonymous said...

Wow! What camera setting do you use for fireworks??

Anonymous said...

Hi Heidi,
I found your blog through your great friend Kelle. I can see why the two of you are such kinder spirits. This is the first time I've left a comment on your blog...(although I have come for visits from time to time). Your photography is breath taking-love the pics of those gorgeous kids of yours!! I too have a passion for photography-my two boys being the primary subjects of that passion-and I truly adore seeing your photos-they are inspirational!! And I love reading your blog-you too have a gift for words!! You make me laugh often-that's a good thing!!
Thanks for all the yummy recipes-I will have to look back to find more of them.

Also, THANK-YOU for the photography info you so graciously gave in the Q&A section in your last post. VERY helpful!! I can relate to the "retention disorder" thing-that made me laugh because It takes me a zillion times to read over info before it sticks-especially manuals!!

Cheers to you!! Thanks for sharing your beautiful life!!

Monique from Canada

Sarah said...

I am a reader of kelle's. I am now following you as well. I just love your photography!!! I am just starting to get into it as well. I love it but have a lot more to learn.

You can check me out here:
http://mylittleheroine.blogspot.com

Tammy B said...

Love your pics and the tired faces. Tired is what summer is all about, right? We too enjoyed some colorful lightening. I love the 4th of July.

xoxox

Anna Ruth said...

Happy 4th! I love the kids in the grass looking at the sparklers. Hope you are having fun.

Unknown said...

Happy 4th of July! Looks like wonderful fun watching the fireworks! And sparklers, the best part ever!

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness. Your Fourth of July pictures turned out SO stunning. I LOVE them! Wow. We went last night and sat on the car roof. It was pretty spectacular!

Daniele said...

omg the fireworks pictures...beautiful!! your kids are so sweet... holidays are just the best with the little ones! =)

Rebecca MacIntosh said...

What a lovely looking night... America definitely kicks Canada's ass when it comes to fireworks displays... every time! Enjoy your trip! :)

Kate said...

Hi Heidi girlie xooxo

great fourth pics, your babies always make me smile BIG> they are so precious. Thanks for taking the time to stop by even when you are on vaca.

youre the best!!!

love from me
Kate

iColossus / Monster said...

Great post, girl....all the wonder and celebration of fireworks, great photography! Your kids are sooo beautiful and that pic of you with them is amazing.

Miss you, girl. Glad that you're having fun with your family.


love ya,

XOXOX

-iColossus

Tisha said...

patriotism = sacrifice so i think you did your 4th up perfectly when you sacrificed for your kids to take them to the fireworks and do sparklers. :) great fireworks photos!

Anonymous said...

hey friend...jwe are just home for a few days between vacay trips and wanted to say hi.

looks like you are having a great time...don't you just love time with family! we had a fabulous time with my brother and family in ohio. when we all get together (here in clfd) there are three places we all must go..sid's sub shop..mabel's pizza and the psu creamery (peach paterno and bananas foster are our favorite flavors) ..yum!

love your pictures and the advice...keep giving the advice, it has helped me so much. now on that note...when taking your fabulous fireworks photos..what setting did you use..did you use flash. i have the canon rebel t1i and it is loaded with settings...just wish i knew what they were for!!! i did read some books on my vacay and that helped but i do better when someone just tells me in human language!

have a great day friend! ♥

Becky at lifeoutoffocus said...

these are fantastic. i so love july 4th and loved seeing how y'all spent yours!

Sarah said...

Heidi.. What settings did you use to capture the fireworks? Absolutely stunning photos.

The Manrings said...

oh heidi your fireworks pictures are so SPARKLY and festive! love the sparkler pics and the three of you all snuggled on the blanket. glad you were able to celebrate and enjoy the night! this was sammy's first time with a sparkler and man was it cute! hehehe. xo

Kelly Hutcheson said...

I love that one of the 3 of you on the blanket! Oh my cozy! I bet youre enjoying that great northern weather. I got a taste of it in MN and woah nelly says Kelly! Awesome! Glad you're having fun, but FL misses you too! Hurry home! xo

April said...

happy belated 4th of july to you!! we both celebrated in the same state ... pretty cool, huh? it's late and i'm exhausted, but i wanted to check in. our weekend in gr was a blast, but we're paying for it now ... we are all so stinkin' tired!! seriously, my eyes are stinging!! love the pic of you and your cuties on the blanket!

Sallinger said...

I love this! I watched my kids instead of the fireworks. I always do...it's a much better show usually ;) Loved the kids laying down pics, they do look so tired, but it's totally worth it, those memories are priceless!

Heidi said...

thank you ladies for such sweet comments. i eat them up!!!!

a few people are what the settings i used to take the firework pics. i had to go into lightroom to locate the settings i used for each photo. i will post them beneath each photo on the actual post. i hope this helps!!

i usually shoot manual, and aperture-priority for moving kids in uneven light. for the fireworks, i went between both modes bc i was trying to figure which modes were easier as i had no idea what to shoot them in. i just wanted one good pic. keep in mind, i posted the ones i liked the best. they didn't all turn out:)

i DID NOT use flash and i was careful not to up my iso too high bc i didn't want to blow out highlights.

xoxo

Anonymous said...

you are a good friend girl...love what you wrote for kelle. you two are such lovely people..glad you found each other in this big beautiful world!!! ♥

Kelly said...

Heidi, I read what you wrote to your friend Kelle and I was so touched by it. I totally love the two of you, even though we have never met. And Nella is perfection. I hope the negative comments/arguments don't stop her from posting to her blog such honest and beautiful posts. I get so much out of them. I am learning through her...and now you! Enjoy your summer.

Kelly from Ontario, Canada.

Brandy said...

I lurve that last pic, the kidlets look so tired but determined to stay up until the last sparkle fades! I remember feeling that exact way.
I must say the USA really does the 4th of July up right! Canada day is never as full blown as the 4th.

Anonymous said...

ditto to you my friend! i feel the same way when i see your comments..makes me smile...and when you say you like my photos it is like getting the good house keeping seal of approval!

oh poor kelle...i just want to stand a few adults in the corner and shove a happy pill down their throats!!! seriously i have a few of the negative nellies in my life and when they are around i reach for a drink just to endure the torture of having them suck my happy cells away!!!HAHAHAHAHAAH! and hey i would not mind sacrificing a few of my happy cells for them if it changed them but so far it has not!

have a happy day and share a few of your happy cells with someone today! ♥

Heidi said...

joy, you cracked me up with the happy cells;)

nicole, dude...no worries. i called him over as i was reading it. he was all, "yeah, i am! she's right!" hahahah. then, he walked away with his shy-i rock smile. thank you for making his week!

teresa, thank you:)

monique, now this is the kind of anonymous comments i like to read. thank you so much. so sweet. people like you inspire me. xo

kelly, no worries. she won't give let anything stop her from what she loves to do! some people are unhappy, so they say hurtful things. we laugh about most of them. i love that girl, had to say something:)

ladies, xoxoxo
goodnight!

Loosy said...

You are very popular.

What a silly statement.

Duh. Of course you are popular, look at your pictures, read your words. Thank you for sharing. What else is a girl to do who is suffering jet leg on a friday night but lose herself in that sweet little family that is diagonally cross country from her?

Brooke out.

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