I have lived in my house nearly eight years but had never been up on my roof.

Until the Fourth of July.

On July Fourth, Jim and I decided to sit on our roof to watch the many Fourth of July fireworks displays that take place to the east of us and to the west of us. Here's what I learned while up there:

ONE: I need to learn how to photograph fireworks.

These are the best fireworks shots—of more than 70—that I got:

 

Not so great. I'll be reading up on the correct camera settings for fireworks between now and July 4, 2016.

TWO: My roof is a super spot for photographing Pikes Peak.

Though I didn't get decent shots of fireworks, I did get this of Pikes Peak:

 

I convinced Jim to leave the screen off one of our two roof-accessible windows so I can climb out there with my camera any time Pikes Peak and the skies over it beckon.

Of course, if I plan to get up on the roof to photograph Pikes Peak on a regular basis, I probably oughta fill out this book beforehand. It's a rather steep slope out there on the shingles.

Today's question:

When were you last up on your roof? And why? And what did you learn?