David Mathre Photography

This Day of the Year

  • Quarter Millennium Independence Day Fireworks Celebration (25-June-2026)

    —

    by

    David Mathre
    Categories: ,
    Tags: , , , , ,

    Montgomery Township typically has its Independence Day fireworks display several days before the 4th of July. This year, for the Quarter Millennium (or Semi-quincentennial) celebration, it was Thursday night (25-June-2026).

    I set my cameras up on Grandview Road at a location with a clear view of township high school where the celebration takes place. It is approximately 2 km from where the fireworks are launched. The sky was partly overcast with the moon shining down. I mounted the cameras on tripods pointing toward where the fireworks would be launched. The cameras were set in manual mode to use the base ISO (50, 64, or 100), f/11, 8 second exposures with the internal intervalometer set to continuously take images until stopped. I confirmed there were memory cards in all of the cameras, and the batteries were fully charged.

    While I waited for the sky to get dark a number of other cars started parking along the road. Soon the fireflies started flashing. The fireworks display started at about 21:20. Last year 2025 the fireworks start was delayed about 5 minutes as a freight train passed. Once the fireworks started, I checked that the fireworks were framed on the camera display, tweaked the focus, and started the intervalometer. In some of the images you can see the light trail of at least one drone that circled the event.

    Links to Montgomery Township fireworks from previous years: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2011

    Camera 1 (230mm, ISO 64, f/11, 8 sec): Portrait Crop. Individual images can be viewed in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Camera 2 (90 mm, ISO 64, f/11, 8 sec): Landscape Crop. Individual images can be viewed in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Camera 2 (90 mm, ISO 64, f/11, 8 sec): Portrait Crop. Individual images can be viewed in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Camera 3 (100 mm, ISO 50, f/11, 8 sec): Landscape Crop. Individual images can be viewed in my PhotoShelter Gallery

    Camera 3 (100 mm, ISO 50, f/11, 8 sec): Portrait Crop. Individual images can be viewed in my PhotoShelter Gallery

    Camera 4 (90 mm, ISO 50, f/11, 8 sec): Landscape Crop. Individual images can be viewed in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Camera 4 (90 mm, ISO 50, f/11, 8 sec): Portrait Crop. Individual images can be viewed in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Camera 5 (200 mm, ISO 64, f/11, 8 sec): Portrait Crop. Individual images can be viewed in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Camera 6 (105 mm, ISO 100, f/11, 8 sec): Landscape Crop. Individual images can be viewed in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Camera 6 (105 mm, ISO 100, f/11, 8 sec): Portrait Crop. Individual images can be viewed in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Independence Day Fireworks (26-June-2025)

    —

    by

    David Mathre
    Categories:
    Tags: , , ,

    Montgomery Township New Jersey. Independence Day Fireworks.

    Montgomery Township typically celebrates Independence Day with fireworks several days before the 4th of July. I live near a great location that overlooks the high school where the township holds the Independence Day celebration. It is away from the crowds. I got there just before sunset. One car arrived before me but there was still plenty of space to set up the tripods and cameras. In 2023, one camera wasn’t in focus, so I made sure all of the cameras were set up, framed and focused. I confirmed that the memory cards were inserted, and the batteries fully charged. Also, since the cameras were all on tripods, I made sure that the “vibration reduction/stabilization” was turned off. As it got dark a few fireflies were visible, but since the fireworks are orders of magnitude brighter than the fireflies you won’t see both in the images. I set the cameras up as follows: Base ISO (50, 64, or 100 depending on the camera), f/11, and 8 second exposures with the intervalometer set to repeat until stopped. It appeared that the folks running the show waited for a train to pass before starting. The fireworks started just before 21:25. It took a little bit of time to confirm the framing, focus, and to start the interval timers.

    Images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

    Montgomery Township Fireworks from previous years. 27-June-2024, 29-June-2023, 30-June-2022, 28-June-2018, 28-June-2012, 30-June-2011

    Current Weather

    powered by Ambient Weather

    One response to “Independence Day Fireworks (26-June-2025)”

    1. Khürt Williams Avatar
      Khürt Williams

      My family and I have attended the township’s fireworks since we moved here in 2001—except during the pandemic, of course. When they started hosting the event at the high school, I began photographing them regularly. It became a bit of a tradition. Over time, I started documenting the entire event—not just the fireworks display, but also the atmosphere leading up to it: the golden light at sunset, the anticipation, the small gatherings of families and friends on blankets and lawn chairs. We haven’t gone in the last two or three years, though. With the kids out of the house, I think my wife no longer feels a reason to endure the heat, the bugs, or the hassle.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

July 2026
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  

Search the website

Links to My Sites

David Mathre Avatar

About the author

I am a scientist by training (Eckerd College, BSc; Caltech, Ph.D.). I worked for 27 years as a Chemist in the Pharmaceutical Industry developing processes to manufacture medicines for human and animal health. I now spend my time as a photographer and world traveler. My interests include the natural world, wildlife, landscapes, sky, and seascapes, travel, and astrophotography. I look for unique ways of viewing the world and presenting my images. I have traveled to over 55 countries in six continents, often on Semester at Sea voyages. While at home in New Jersey, I spend time observing and photographing the plants and animals while expanding a wildflower garden/meadow in the backyard. When the sky is clear, I have telescopes viewing the night sky.

Tag Cloud

Backlit Backyard Brown Booby Costa Rica Crystal Geyser Dogwood Fawn Fireflies Fireworks Florida Flowers France Garden Gnome Gibraltar Gibraltar Monkey Gone to See America 2009 Green River Guatemala Independence Day Landscape Little Planet Macro Maple Leaf Monochrome Montgomery Township Morocco MV Explorer New Jersey Paris Rabbit Rain Forest Red Poppy Semester at Sea Spain Spring Spring 2010 Enrichment Voyage Spring 2011 Enrichment Voyage Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage Spring 2014 Enrichment Voyage Springtime St. Petersburg Summer Summertime UNE Utah

Popular Categories