July 4th 2006 Fireworks

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July 4th 2006 - Vashon Island Style!

July 4th 2006 Fireworks - Set One

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July 4th 2006 Fireworks - Set Two

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July 4th 2006 Fireworks - Set Three

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July 4th 2006 - Hydros!

About 1991, some mysterious benefactor took over funding the July 4th fireworks displays that took place in Quartermaster Harbor each summer. The displays became something of a well-kept secret in the metropolitan Puget Sound basin as they were stunning in their scale, and better and better each year. Before long, surprising numbers of off-Islanders were trekking onto Vashon to see the fireworks, foregoing the other more famous shows at Lake Union and Elliot Bay in Seattle. By about 2000 the secret was out: the benefactor was Islander Tom (Misty Isle Farms) Stewart. Tom has very recently moved to Arizona, and 2006 promises to be the last fireworks display performed under his stewardship.

Thanks for the memories, Tom!

Probably the best place to watch the fireworks show is on the beach along Quartermaster Drive going out to Portage, on the north side of Quartermaster Harbor, but be prepared to be surrounded by private fireworks shows of sometimes-ferocious intensity! My personal Favorite Spot is on the beach right across the road from the Middling's.

This year I wanted a panoramic vantage point so I could set up my Bogen tripod, frame the field-of-view once, and not have to change my camera even to get the highest fireworks so that the scale of the fireworks would be consistent in the photographs. I went down just south of the Yacht Club in Burton, right at the top end of the guardrail that comes up out of Burton. I got the image field set pretty well, missing only the very top of the single, very highest firework.