I convinced Mom and Kent that we really should go up to the reservoir and watch the Eash Helena fireworks on the 4th but on the way over I decided we'd just putz into town and see just how crowded it might be for parking.    You see the VFW does a fireworks show from the berm in front of the old smelter and even though we were concerned they might cancel with the impending weather or the fire danger the show went on - as did an amazing array of HUGE personal fireworks before it.    So we found a spot along the highway right not too far from where they would set off the big show, set Mom up in the back of the car and Kent and I walked down the railroad tracks to see if we could get to a spot where I could get more practice taking pictures.    I'm happy to report it worked out and I"m pretty happy with the results.  Next time I will take the full frame and ultra wide lens though so I can get more in the frame and also that camera processes faster.    Kent meanwhile did photos on his Iphone and then did some great video!    We ended up right in front of where it was shot off!  :)    Some of the launches were so loud you could feel it which was cool.     

I've always loved the big shows and never really have cared to burn up my own money so we watched everyone else do it for an hour before the show started.    The fire departments were really busy and one barn outside of East Helena was lost along with quite a few grass fires around the area.  All the more reason to just watch the official stuff!   So here are some of the shots from my "practice".