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Old Glory

It is no surprise that our nation's flag makes a convenient element to add to a photograph to stir up feelings.

Be it on the 4th of July, Veterans Day or the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Here are a few more of my fave. flag shots from this past year.

Jason Palmer/Times Record News
Fireworks explode in the night sky above the United States flag flying at Memorial Stadium Thursday night. The fireworks were part of a pep rally at Rider High School for Friday nights' annual football game against their crosstown rivals, Old High.

This shot was luck... pure and simple. It wasn't from the 4th of July although I wish it was.

I was leaving the parking lot at the Rider-WF JV and Freshman games when these fireworks started popping in the distance. They were from the Rider pep rally.

It just so happened that I was parked in alignment with the flag and the fireworks in the distance. Perfectly. But I didn't have my tripod handy (as is usual with the fireworks photographs) so I had to make do with what was there... the top of my car.

I literally put my cameras on the roof of my car to stabilize them and just hoped that I was lucky enough to get a good shot out of it.... and as luck would have it, I did.

Jason Palmer/Times Record News
Two members of the Rider JROTC hold the top of a large American flag before the start of the Rider Raiders football game against the Sherman Bearcats Friday, Sept. 28, 2007 at Memorial Stadium.

I have always liked this photo, but I can't really explain why. I don't normally shoot during the national anthem at the high school football games. But from where I was standing, this shot just looked good to me and I couldn't resist firing a few frames to capture the moment.

I only took about 3 shots, then went back to quietly standing there while the band played.

Jason Palmer/Times Record News
Doug Kunkle picks up an American flag in the Tanglewood neighborhood, one of hundreds of American flags set out by the Rotary Club of Wichita Falls Thursday afternoon to mark Flag Day.

This shot was a personal fave. of mine for the entire year. The assignment was to capture the volunteers picking up flags from Flag Day. It was one of those publisher specials... when the publisher asks us to cover something that is of interest to him like the Rotary Club or United Way bruncheons.

As the sun was setting, I knew this was the type of shot I really wanted to get. Mainly because I felt like the flag was more important than the people who were picking them up. That was what I tried to show here.

There wasn't much wind that day, but a slight flutter opened the flag just enough to catch the sunlight just perfectly.

Always nice when a concept in my head actually pans out.

Posted by Jason Palmer at 8:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)