Spectacular Fireworks, and a Near Disaster

Thank you so much for all the positive feedback I've received for my new blog here on Patch. I am passionate about photography and I love to share my excitement about it with others. Many people apparently enjoyed my photographs from the Point Dume parade, so I thought you might like to see some more pictures I took that day.  

I could fill an entire blog post or three with hints about how to photograph fireworks. Night-time photography poses many unique challenges, which is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much. It also opens up new avenues for creativity and as in all my photographic endeavors I aspire to capture the atmosphere of an event through my images rather than just document how it looked. 

For now I’ll spare you the technical details and share my biggest lesson from that night, which is to always keep your eye on the ocean and the incoming tide.  When I’m taking photographs I get truly ‘in the zone.' This time I was so enthralled by the fireworks and intent on getting the perfect shot that I didn’t notice a giant wave that arrived seemingly out of nowhere. 

It completely covered my feet and the base of my tripod and it was all I could do to resist getting knocked over. As you can imagine, camera gear and salt water don’t mix very well and it was almost a disaster. Fortunately I was steadying the tripod with my hand when it happened, which was just enough to keep it from toppling over and of course the most important part (!) was that my exposure still came out.  The shutter had just closed when the wave hit and the camera was processing the image. Thank goodness I didn’t lose my entire setup (or that great shot!)  

My kids, who were watching from a safe vantage point a little way away, found it all very amusing. One of them laughed so hard he actually fell over. Who knew I was a slapstick comedienne as well as a photographer?

So my top tip for night-time photography on the beach is to keep a very close eye on the waves and watch that incoming tide! And if you want to see the photo in question it’s the sixth one in the display above. You can see how close the water got to me, but I think it was worth it for that classic image of the firework exploding over Little Dume. 

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a big concern I had about the fireworks and beach parties this year. I was shocked to see how much trash was discarded on the beaches: Food containers, drinks, cardboard boxes and plastic bags.

My family and I gathered what we could, but there was an enormous amount of stuff and no doubt most of it ended up in the ocean. The incoming tide was going to engulf everything strewn about the beach. As someone who regularly participates in beach clean ups and picks up trash whenever I see it, I was pretty upset by the situation.  

How is it that we as a community take good care of our beaches year-round, then on Fourth of July we basically say ‘whatever’ and allow all kinds of mayhem and littering?

Did anyone else notice this? Were you worried about it too?

About this column:  Originally from England, Emma lives here in Malibu with her husband and three young children. She is an internationally-published professional photographer, with subjects as diverse as newborns to landscapes and everything in between. She undertakes commissions and has beautiful images of Malibu and nature available for purchase. In addition to her work behind the lens she offers private coaching to help people take better photographs of their own and conducts 'photo safaris' where she guides amateur photographers to amazing Malibu locations at which to practice their skills.  

You can see examples of her work at Emma MacLaren James | Photography | Malibu