A Quiet Fourth of July on Donner Lake

The days leading into the Fourth of July weekend here in Truckee were pretty standard for early summer. The sun was bright and high over Donner Lake, and it seemed like everyone was out on the water. From the shore, you could see the wakes from boats and jet skis crisscrossing the lake all afternoon until the sun started to dip behind the mountains.

The light gets hazy and soft in the evenings. As dusk settled in for the holiday, boats gathered on the water and people found spots along the shoreline to wait for the fireworks show. It's a familiar ritual.

I tried to get some shots of the display, balancing my camera to brace for the long exposures. It's always a challenge shooting in the dark, and a lot of the images came out as just abstract trails of light as I moved the camera. Still, a few turned out, capturing the quick bursts of color against the silhouette of the mountains before the smoke rolled in. It was a calm, simple way to watch the holiday pass.