Fireworks as Art

We kicked off the season at home with some fireworks tonight. Here they are with commentary. Click on the images for larger views.

I especially like the warm, orange glow at the bottom and little tracers coming off the spark.


The red streamers are nice in this one.


Again, the red streamers are good, but also the strange glow of the cinderblock in the firelight.


The prickly light at the top of this firework is beautiful.


This one was just blazing!


This one went up in the air and I caught the trail in my camera. It's strangly feathery.


I caught this one during its white-hot phase.


I actually got some color in this shot.


This one looks like the end of a blowtorch.


Crazy colored hairy spider legs.


I think this is my favorite shot, because I caught the fiery launch AND the puffs of smoke.


Whenever I look at fireworks, I think of James Whistler's Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (1875). It is considered to be one of the first steps toward pure abstraction. It is often compared to Turner's landscapes and is considered the beginning of Whistler's influence on modern art....