Riverfest Fireworks

     St. Albans, a historic town on West Virginia's Kanawha River, has fostered a rich heritage since it was first discovered in 1742. Its boom years, from the 1880s through the 1920s, were fed by coal shipments, arrival of the C&O Railroad, and the bustle of dozens of lumber and planning mills along the Coal River. Today, a walking tour, set up by St. Albans Historical Society, features 11 Main Street sites in the Historic District that have earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. The week long Riverfest celebration, a highlight of the summer, features concerts, parades, a memorial run/walk event and plenty of entertainment for the entire family. Saturday night's firework display, by the Dick Henderson Memorial Bridge, is wonderfully captured here.

Amanda’s story behind the photograph:
I was supposed to go out on a sternwheeler to capture the fireworks show but that did not work out. Luckily Roger Kennedy hailed a boat for me from the marina and asked a kind family to take me out on the river to photograph the fireworks show. They asked what kind of shot I was looking to take and I told them, they not only went out and found me a spot to shoot from but asked the property owners for permission for me to use their dock. To get the view I was looking for I had to go halfway up the angled walkway that connected the dock and the cliff side. The most awkward position I have ever had to set up a tripod and stand for any length of time . . . I never thought I would make it through the fireworks show that started almost an hour late. Luckily, right before it began, the owner's family came down and sat on a dock in front of me to watch the show. I don't know that I would have liked the photos I took that night if I did not have their silhouetted shapes in the foreground. This is not the one that won the Riverfest photo contest, but this seemed to be the one everyone liked the best.