Brett Peters's Photos

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites culminate in a fireworks display in downtown Williamsburg. Three launch areas are set up, but the optimal viewing areas are really, really crowded, so we camped out by the bookstore where we could see two of them clearly. The weather was cold (in the 40s) and rain began to fall about 45 minutes before the fireworks started, so it wasn't optimal fireworks weather. The rain kept it short, too (about 20 minutes long, if that.) This was my son's first fireworks show, however, and he could. not. stop. talking about it. So all in all it was a pretty good night. (This was my first time using the Canon A95's "Fireworks" setting, which really needs a tripod to work well. So most of these pictures, while interesting, are not very accurate representations of fireworks. Chalk them up as experiments for a novice photographer?)

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites culminate in a fireworks display in downtown Williamsburg. Three launch areas are set up, but the optimal viewing areas are really, really crowded, so we camped out by the bookstore where we could see two of them clearly. The weather was cold (in the 40s) and rain began to fall about 45 minutes before the fireworks started, so it wasn't optimal fireworks weather. The rain kept it short, too (about 20 minutes long, if that.) This was my son's first fireworks show, however, and he could. not. stop. talking about it. So all in all it was a pretty good night. (This was my first time using the Canon A95's "Fireworks" setting, which really needs a tripod to work well. So most of these pictures, while interesting, are not very accurate representations of fireworks. Chalk them up as experiments for a novice photographer?)

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites culminate in a fireworks display in downtown Williamsburg. Three launch areas are set up, but the optimal viewing areas are really, really crowded, so we camped out by the bookstore where we could see two of them clearly. The weather was cold (in the 40s) and rain began to fall about 45 minutes before the fireworks started, so it wasn't optimal fireworks weather. The rain kept it short, too (about 20 minutes long, if that.) This was my son's first fireworks show, however, and he could. not. stop. talking about it. So all in all it was a pretty good night. (This was my first time using the Canon A95's "Fireworks" setting, which really needs a tripod to work well. So most of these pictures, while interesting, are not very accurate representations of fireworks. Chalk them up as experiments for a novice photographer?)

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites culminate in a fireworks display in downtown Williamsburg. Three launch areas are set up, but the optimal viewing areas are really, really crowded, so we camped out by the bookstore where we could see two of them clearly. The weather was cold (in the 40s) and rain began to fall about 45 minutes before the fireworks started, so it wasn't optimal fireworks weather. The rain kept it short, too (about 20 minutes long, if that.) This was my son's first fireworks show, however, and he could. not. stop. talking about it. So all in all it was a pretty good night. (This was my first time using the Canon A95's "Fireworks" setting, which really needs a tripod to work well. So most of these pictures, while interesting, are not very accurate representations of fireworks. Chalk them up as experiments for a novice photographer?)

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites culminate in a fireworks display in downtown Williamsburg. Three launch areas are set up, but the optimal viewing areas are really, really crowded, so we camped out by the bookstore where we could see two of them clearly. The weather was cold (in the 40s) and rain began to fall about 45 minutes before the fireworks started, so it wasn't optimal fireworks weather. The rain kept it short, too (about 20 minutes long, if that.) This was my son's first fireworks show, however, and he could. not. stop. talking about it. So all in all it was a pretty good night. (This was my first time using the Canon A95's "Fireworks" setting, which really needs a tripod to work well. So most of these pictures, while interesting, are not very accurate representations of fireworks. Chalk them up as experiments for a novice photographer?)

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites culminate in a fireworks display in downtown Williamsburg. Three launch areas are set up, but the optimal viewing areas are really, really crowded, so we camped out by the bookstore where we could see two of them clearly. The weather was cold (in the 40s) and rain began to fall about 45 minutes before the fireworks started, so it wasn't optimal fireworks weather. The rain kept it short, too (about 20 minutes long, if that.) This was my son's first fireworks show, however, and he could. not. stop. talking about it. So all in all it was a pretty good night. (This was my first time using the Canon A95's "Fireworks" setting, which really needs a tripod to work well. So most of these pictures, while interesting, are not very accurate representations of fireworks. Chalk them up as experiments for a novice photographer?)

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites culminate in a fireworks display in downtown Williamsburg. Three launch areas are set up, but the optimal viewing areas are really, really crowded, so we camped out by the bookstore where we could see two of them clearly. The weather was cold (in the 40s) and rain began to fall about 45 minutes before the fireworks started, so it wasn't optimal fireworks weather. The rain kept it short, too (about 20 minutes long, if that.) This was my son's first fireworks show, however, and he could. not. stop. talking about it. So all in all it was a pretty good night. (This was my first time using the Canon A95's "Fireworks" setting, which really needs a tripod to work well. So most of these pictures, while interesting, are not very accurate representations of fireworks. Chalk them up as experiments for a novice photographer?)

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where this picture was taken.

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where this picture was taken.

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where this picture was taken.

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where this picture was taken.

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where this picture was taken.

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where this picture was taken.

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where this picture was taken.

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where this picture was taken.

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where these pictures were taken. Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where these pictures were taken.

This photo is Public

Every year, Williamsburg's Grand Illumination weekend draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. The festivites kick off with a parade, where this picture was taken.

This photo is Public