Author Archives: Melinda Green Harvey
fireworks, stars, and trash
This was fun – we found a place out on the very edge of town where people congregated to shoot fireworks and we spent at least an hour out there watching all the fun. I took 805 photos, deleted all but 52 of them because they were (a) just dark empty sky; (b) blurry only not in a good way; or (c) stupid. And of those 52, I edited TWO of them.
So congratulations to this photo for beating some pretty tough odds. This one made the cut because it had a lot going on that told the story – lots of fireworks all at once, tail lights streaking by, headlights cutting through the smoke, fireworks trash in the parking lot, and a light sprinkling of stars.
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 7.4.2025
drive-by
The highway heading south out of Lubbock (it has a number* but we call it the Tahoka Highway, but only because that’s the next town) has a lot of seasonal fireworks stands. At this particular one, I guess someone couldn’t wait ONE MORE SECOND to light up some sparklers.
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 7.4.2025
*My brain refuses to complicate things by learning highway numbers; it would very much prefer to know the names of the towns a particular highway goes through. That led to many circular conversations with my father-in-law that went this way:
FIL: What road did you take? 86? 239?
Me: I don’t know. Tell me some towns I would have gone through…
FIL: So, then 44, maybe?
Me:
We each thought the other one was ridiculous, and in a rare agreement, we were both right.
the last night of fireworks season
I can’t tell you how I know this, but if you have a very specific shot in mind – say a relatively empty parking lot at a fireworks stand so you can get photos of blurry people moving back and forth to buy bottle rockets or whatever – a much better idea is to go and get this shot on a night that is NOT the last night that the fireworks stands are open.
This is not the shot I wanted, but it’s the shot I got. Sometimes that’s the way it works. The important thing is that I tried. Right?
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 7.4.2025




