I should be finishing up painting white primer on our back deck railings, something my wife has been asking me to do for about five or more years. I forget just how many, it could be more, but two years ago I repainted the trim work white from dingy pale yellow and it’s something we need to do to match the house trim work. “It’s all about curb appeal”, she said. However, there’s not much painting to do except for the cutting in work.It’s taken me three days to caulk and prime, so I decided to take some time off to write a blog on taking advantage of the ever changing photographic situations.
As photographers, we sometimes research prime locations ahead of time in which pre-conceived photos could be taken. While taking pictures in Eatonville on Friday of Mount Rainier National Parks’ Superintendent Dave Uberuaga, who’s departing this month to accept a position as top guy heading up the Grand Canyon National Park, I found out that Eatonville was holding their annual fireworks on Sunday and the 4th.
Since I already had plans to attend our neighborhoods’ 16th annual block party. Previous years, while working for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, I often missed the block party due to being assigned to capture fireworks at Seattle Gasworks Park, which overlooks Lake Union. Since Eatonville held fireworks on both nights, I opted for Sunday so I attend our party.
So in the slack time between assignments, I talked to residents on where was the print location in which to shoot fireworks bursting with Mount Rainier in the background. I was directed to an empty lot for sale on a hill overlook the foothills leading up to the mountain. It was the perfect location, what a commanding view it provided.
Sometimes, events are out of our control and the sign of a good photographer to improvise.
Arriving in Eatonville two hours before the fireworks in order to claim a prime hillside spot I setup a tripod mounted camera and 70-200mm lens. Since, it was a beautiful evening and with nothing else to do I decided to pass the time taking pictures of the mountain going through its’ various changes during sunset.
But as you can see in the photo there are no fireworks. Apparently I got the bum scoop on location and if I were a mile down to the left I would have been able to record fireworks in the photo. However, it was worth still worth going as I captured the mountain lit in “Alpenglow” a pinkish, rosy color that bathes the mountain in supernatural light.
