Tag Archives: raleigh

Raleigh Finally Figured Out Fireworks

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This year for Independence Day fireworks, I went with a group of friends just south of downtown Raleigh. No one wanted to deal with the crazy traffic so we went with a non-traditional spot.

We parked on the shoulder off the highway not a half mile south of downtown and set up in the grassy area in the middle of the exit ramp!

Since the revitalization of downtown Raleigh, they have moved the fireworks from the fairgrounds (flat and viewable from miles around) to downtown on Fayetteville Street. Love the idea. Have people downtown, get dinner, drinks and then hang out on the street to live music as the fireworks go off.

However there was a maximum height limitation on the fireworks. So unless you were on Fayetteville Street, the fireworks were blocked by the buildings.

In order to solve this problem and make the fireworks more visible, they shot off fireworks on Fayetteville Street, and just outside the “skyscrapers” by Red Hat Amphitheater at a greater height.

The view from south of downtown that illustrates the firework setup this year.

The view from south of downtown that illustrates the firework setup this year.

Perfect! Worked out just great and opened up viewership to so many other people from many other angles. Well done City of Raleigh!

Here are some of my favorite shots from that night. I was on a tripod with my D600 and a remote release and exposures ranged from four to ten seconds. See the full gallery here and buy some prints!

Fireworks in downtown Raleigh.

Fireworks in downtown Raleigh.

Fireworks in downtown Raleigh this year.

Fireworks in downtown Raleigh this year.

Bouquet Toss THROWDOWN, Back Story

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Many of us have seen a bouquet toss and maybe a little jostling at a wedding before, but have you seen this kind of tenacity? It’s next level.

Here’s the story:

The two girls in the video are (in the freeze frame when the photo flash happens) Elizabeth Jones (left) and Stacy Laue (right).
They have been friends throughout their time in college at Elon University and since graduating have gone after bouquets with every ounce of their being. Both competitive in nature, they’ve only met on the same toss 5 times before, this was the 6th.
Coming in on this particular wedding of their good friend from Elon (to whom they were both bridesmaids), Laue had 7 catches and Jones had 8. The bride knew all too well what was about to happen that evening. At the sound of “Single Ladies,” Jones and Laue ran to change out of their mint bridesmaid dresses and into their “jerseys” for the toss, which is why you see Jones comes running in from the left of the screen.
When they are on the ground and a male figure in the vest comes in and hits his hand on the ground, ending the catch, that is the groom.
Why did I bring the camera? 1. I knew that this was indeed going to be a showdown, that included smack talk for MONTHS prior. 2. I knew that the very talented videographers (Good Earth Films) and photographers (Blest Studios) would have a couple weeks before they got the footage turned around, so I jumped on the opportunity as a guest/off duty photographer!
Until the next toss…