Celebration

It is July the 4^th, the Independence Day and worth a celebration. America is a country of freedom, adventure, and courage. It possesses an everlasting spirit to pursue its belief and goal unconditionally. If I want it, I make it happen.  If I believe it, I go for it.  It is this free spirit that empowers the engine of innovation and creativity, the freedom for the good cause that I adore. 

For many years, we mostly stayed home and listened to the fireworks popping in the neighborhood. This year we decided to go out and shoot some fireworks. I have not done it before. It will be an experiment and interesting.

Sunset hour is close to 9:00pm these days and the sky won’t be dark enough till 10:00pm. There is an Art & Vineyard Festival going on in the park. I strolled down the booths and surprisingly discovered quite a few unique and quality art pieces. It is not the typical stuff from Saturday market (our foreign friends called it a hippie market).  It is a nice break for me to see some true art, not home crafts.

Still couple hours from firework display, we had our folding chairs down the grass and enjoyed glasses of mascot. It is sweet but not too sweet, and very smooth.  Band music is in the background and it is a simple pleasure to just watch the little kids play. We used to say America is children’s heaven.  It is no exaggeration at all. They get to experiment anything you can think of earlier on. I can feel that free and daring spirit on them.

Many people were dressed for the occasion particularly kids.  There was this nice man who passed out free balloons. I don’t care for tie-dyed fashion, but his giving spirit makes me to like his shirt and the colorful balloons in his pockets, good match with his shirt. I am too chicken. I could have asked him if I can take his picture so I can get a closer and better shot, but instead, I shoot him from distance. I like street photography, but I know I won’t be good because I am too afraid to ask. I want to be free and courageous, but my Asian cultural background and my introvert nature fight me sometimes.

We checked around and found out where the firework would be launched. One hour prior to the firework show, we found a spot to set up our camera gears, not ideal but OK for our first adventure.  I saw water trucks spraying plenty of water to wet the ground around the launching location.  In addition, two large fire trucks had come to the scene and left. I believe that they came to be familiar with the environment and back to stand by somewhere in case there was a fire emergency.

Both fire trucks have American Flags on the rear end. Being lit in the dark, they look authoritative and glorious. I feel so proud to be an American. I am not just speaking freedom. Americans are very thoughtful and thorough when come to public safety and welfare. A kid falling from the bike can bring couple of fire trucks or ambulance to the scene….

My thoughts were interrupted while firework burst started.  After that, all I can remember is, my hands were continuously on my shutter release till the last minute when we finally took a deep breath of the cold air and packed our equipment home. It was a wonderful July the 4^th evening.  I love America.

Below are my firework shots. My first experience shooting fireworks. It was really fun. I will definitely do it again. Next time I will find a better location with some interesting background.

Up Close – from Marco to Telephoto

Have used my macro lens enough since spring started, I switched to my 400mm telephoto lens last weekend shooting Birds at a wildlife refuge.  I don’t know if wildlife refuges are common in other countries, I certainly appreciate what we have here for wildlife inhabitants and migrated birds.

Bald Eagle is the national bird of the United States. It can only be found in North America. Both male and female has white head, yellow beak, yellow feet, and distinctive dark brown feather. It’s named bald eagle, but it is actually not bald.  Bald only means white head in this case. American people adore this bird that represents freedom and power.  Bald eagles are not common. Every once a while, we might spot one perching on a treetop. It is usually so far away that all we can see to identify the bird is its white head and its soaring style. Although I can easily find a picture from Internet, I was determined to capture one shot myself that I can have a close look at its face.

Bald Eagle (telephoto)

Wildlife is so easily intimidated by human’s presence. We need to be able to spot them from distance and be ready for the shot as we come closer. I am not very good scouting, but I surely spotted this bird far ahead and had time to have my 400mm lens ready. Well, just have to give the best shot using what I have.  I started to shoot from about 100ft away and gradually came closer to about 20-25 ft. This tree is about 50 ft tall. For that distance, my 400mm lens is manageable but it is not a fast lens. I could use tripod to station the lens better, but I was afraid too much movement would stir up the bird, so I hand-held the heavy lens and shot continuously. This is the first time when I am able to capture a bald eagle shot which is clear enough for me to examine its details and give my respect to this American symbol of freedom and power. I was thrilled.

There were quite a few Pelicans swimming on the lake. When I was ready to take some shoots, they must have seen me and decided to take off. I saw these birds flipping their large wings flying over me, one after the other. I was stunned for a second, and immediately picked up my camera and aimed at them. They reacted so quickly, I could barely fire my shoots, but I got a few. There are shots with whole body shown, but I like this one better. I like the expression on its face, and I was surprised at their ‘aged’ look.

Pelican (telephoto)

Back home. I was walking in a shrubby area nearby.  A whole row of small yellow poppy forms the border of the path. They are what I like to call it, ‘no-name solders’. They don’t have dramatic appearance, but they do a good job thriving on their own and provide a nice backdrop for the environment.  There was this humongous bumble bee enjoying poppy’s nectar without noticing my presence for a second, immediately when it saw me, it stood up and ready to run. Doesn’t it look like a warrior? I have never known that cute bumble bee can turn into a small monster-looking creature. 

Bumble Bee on Poppy (Macro)

About a month ago, I acquired this strawberry flower plant because of its stunning color. When I was designing fashion handbags, I followed seasonable color palette for Strawberry color, but I have never seen actual strawberry flowers till now. In addition, there is one thing that I have not noticed (or I was napping in high school classroom). Berry is the original stigma portion of the flower. After flower is matured, stamen portion dies down and stigma becomes the fruit. Do you know that? I cannot believe that there are so many things that I did not know till now. I guess I have to go back to high school, study the textbook and also make sure that I have seen the actual stuff, not just the pictures from textbook book.  It is amazing how we can learn from a single shot of picture!

Strawberry flower (Macro)

I think it is never too late to learn new things or refresh the memory of old things. Life is an ever-learning experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the exploring and discovering process.

My discovery journey continues and more mystery is being unfolded.