Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Happy Birthday America (Belated)

So my 4th of July like most of my colleagues was spent shooting photos. I was stationed at the Hatch Shell to photograph the Boston Pops concert featuring Toby Keith. Huge crowds camp out all day to try and get a spot close to stage. The concert concludes with a huge fireworks display that you can't see from in front of the stage. So once the fireworks start up, the thousands and thousands of people that were camped in one spot for 10 hours rush to the banks of the Charles River to see the show. What remains is a bit surreal looking. Maybe a few hundred people wandering around or staying in their lawn chairs looking up at a big screen to see the fireworks broadcast as smoke and confetti drift through the air.

Here is a little before:

Boston, MA - July 4, 2010: Thousands of spectators in front of the Hatch Shell cheer on as the fireworks portion of the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular is set to begin.  Photo by Matthew Healey

....and after.
Boston, MA - July 4, 2010: A few hundred spectators remain in front of the Hatch Shell to watch the fireworks on a big screen as the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular draws to an end.  Photo by Matthew Healey

Boston, MA - July 4, 2010:  William Guarente of Arlington, cheers in front of the Hatch Shell while watching the fireworks display on a big screen as the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular draws to an end.  Photo by Matthew Healey