Lakeside Seats for the Cedar Rapids Fireworks

Our viewing group set up plenty early this year for the annual downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa Fourth of July fireworks show. This year we selected a location farther away than past years--across Cedar Lake and 1.2 miles from the fireworks' launch point. The wide expanse of water as a foreground element would give us a highly reflective view of the bursts of colorful light. We set up our chairs along the trail that edges the lake, but at 7:33 pm CDT (just over two hours until showtime), Wednesday, July 4, 2018, a small rain shower passed overhead creating the rainbow in the image above--a natural light show. The rain at this time appeared to be falling from a clear blue sky! St. Luke's Hospital can be seen at background right.

9:47 pm. Fireworks show is under way! Looking SSW across Cedar Lake toward the downtown buildings. The -2.28 magnitude planet Jupiter can be seen in the sky at left center. Image is a 3-second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 160, 55mm focal length. Air temperature was a pleasant 82 degrees F.

9:51 pm. Image is a 2-photo stack, each a 4-second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 160, 55mm focal length.

9:52 pm. 8-second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 160, 55mm focal length. Jupiter can be seen in this image as well.

9:53 pm. Image is a 2-photo stack, each a 6-second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 160, 55mm focal length.

9:58 pm. 6-second exposure at f/7.1, ISO 160, 55mm focal length.

10:04 pm. Image is a 3-photo stack. Each photo's exposure ranged from 6-8 seconds at f/7.1, ISO 160, 55mm focal length.

10:05-10:06 pm. Image is a 3-photo stack. Each photo's exposure ranged from 6-10 seconds at f/7.1, ISO 160 and 55mm focal length. Nikon D7200 DSLR camera, AF-S Nikkor 18-55 1:3.5-5.6 lens, Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT tripod.