An Amazing Washington D.C. Fireworks Show

* Amazing Weather: Full Forecast | UnitedCast | D.C. Fireworks 2008 *

By Kevin Ambrose and Ian Livingston

A rather unique and colorful display of fireworks over Washington, DC. By Kevin Ambrose.

I met Capital Weather Gang photographer, Ian Livingston, at the Netherlands Carillon to photograph this year's fireworks show over Washington. We chose the Netherlands Carillon because it provides one of the classic views of our beautiful city, with the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol in alignment from west to east. I was quite fortunate to be allowed access into the Netherlands Carillon by the National Park Service to photograph the fireworks while Ian had a choice location at its base.

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The weather was nearly perfect for firework photography this 4th of July. Low humidity and a stiff breeze from the northwest provided for an unobstructed view of the the fireworks while clearing the smoke quite quickly to the southeast. The gusty breezes in the elevated Netherlands Carillon were almost strong enough to shake our camera tripods, but that never became a factor. It was a very enjoyable show.

Image captions below indicate photographer

By Ian Livingston

By Kevin Ambrose

By Ian Livingston

By Kevin Ambrose

Below are two photographs of the same fireworks shell. Ian captured the close-up view and I photographed the wide view.

By Ian Livingston

By Kevin Ambrose

There was one particularly photogenic and unusual firework shell that was captured by a number of area photographers and displayed on various Internet galleries. The shell produced a very heavy, and slowly descending, shower of sparks that seemed to reach from the sky to the ground. Ian photographed a close-up while I captured the wide view. The two photos are below.

By Ian Livingston (see larger)

By Kevin Ambrose