Fireworks on the 4th from the 14th Floor

Thought I would put to use some of what I learned at the photography class this week, and so I tried it all...used a tripod, shot in RAW, used manual settings for aperture and shutter speed (it only sounds like I know what I'm talking about), etc. First of all, the fireworks don't wait while you fiddle around with the dials; secondly, it's hard to see what you're doing in the dark. Still, I am really happy with these two "dumb luck" shots. They look like exotic flowers you'd find under the sea. I'm going to have to save the photos in Adobe Photoshop (another thing to learn!), so that all the camera settings are retained. I downloaded them to my freebie Picasa 2, and all it shows is the size, and seems to have automatically converted them to JPEG. According to our instructor Roberto, you always shoot and save in RAW, which gives you the most control over the printed results.