Sometimes you can plan for a shoot and have everything fall a part, totally lose what you were going for… and still end up with good shots.

Over the 4th of July I was planning on getting some Fireworks shots and I went down to the St. Anthony Falls area for the fireworks show there. I go there hours early to stake out a good spot on the banks of the river, set up my tripod, did focus tests, and was as ready as could be.

Well, come fireworks time, I realized that I was on the wrong side of the bridge from the fireworks. And by then every square foot was packed solid with the press of bodies. I was unable to get a single decent shot of the fireworks.

But, over on my side of the bridge and across the river was a little chunk of downtown Minneapolis and I spent some time taking a shot of the city across the water with the big stone bridge that was blocking my fireworks featured prominently in the shot.

So despite losing the fireworks shoot, I still walked away with a shot that I was very happy with. Actually, there’s probably a moral in there somewhere. Like “learn where the fireworks will be, stupid.”