PHOTO INFO
My friend, ophthalmologist and civic-minded-person-extraordinaire, Bo Hahn, holds an annual fireworks display on January 1st. He gets all the necessary permits, and then he and a crew of pyromaniac (their words!) and very talented friends set up the display. Countless hours securing permits and fireworks - plus three days of physical labor - add up to a 20-minute show of fantastic color, light, smoke and excitement for about 50 local residents who drive up to a huge open field to watch.

It's quite a neighborly gesture! Thanks to Bo and the crew for letting me shoot these images. I hope to come back every January 1st so I can get better at photographing this event from a very privileged perspective!

Post-processing: These were shot with the 5D at ISO 3200. I did some basic curves adjustments, some desaturation and color balancing, and removed a bit of grain, plus a little dodging and burning to bring out highlights and lowlights.

Thanks for stopping by - and once again, happy new year to everyone - I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you in 2006!

--Kathleen