Capital Weather photographer Kevin Ambrose captured several spectacular photos of the July 4 fireworks display in DC from a vantage point at the Netherlands Carillon in Arlington.
The show featured what was billed as a world-record 850,000+ fireworks. It barely started on July 4 shortly before midnight, and finished on July 5, having been delayed by a threat of severe weather that prompted an evacuation of the National Mall earlier in the evening following a day of record heat.
Here’s how Kevin described it:
This was one of my most challenging fireworks photoshoots due to the size of the crowd, rain falling before the show, and the smoke from so many shell bursts. I was able to capture the first set of shell bursts in the show before the heavy smoke developed.
The size and intensity of the fireworks show was greater than I've seen while photographing DC fireworks going all the way back to 2004, and it was fun to watch.
Early in the show a strong breeze from the west cleared the smoke from my vantage point to the east. Since the show started several minutes before midnight, I can still say my first photo was taken on the Fourth of July.
Metro was crowded on my ride to and from Rosslyn, and needless to say I arrived home very late.
