July 3rd 2009 Fireworks at Carlos & Charlie's near Austin, Texas

July 3rd 2009 Fireworks at Carlos & Charlie's near Austin, Texas, originally uploaded by Suarez.

Photograph ©2009 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved.

This photo is dedicated to my friend Karen who passed away today. Like this firework, her life shined colorfully and brightly, but faded much too soon.

I shot this from the same location as last year. Unfortunately, the lake level is drastically lower than it was last year. We’ve been in drought conditions for too long. Lake Travis has recently been dropping at a rate of 2 feet per week. Notice that the area of reflection is much smaller this year due to the lower lake levels.