Look Into The Crystal Ball

Yes, I have the habit of photographing strange things.  Long time visitors to this site might remember my photograph of a panel from the Canadian Aviation & Space Museum in Ottawa, or my photograph of the sun going through an umbrella.  Well, here's another one for the 'Strange' File.  This photograph here is actually the center of a glass/crystal ball that I found in the middle of my cousin Robin's backyard.  She and her husband Paul were hosting a family gathering in honour of the 50th Wedding Anniversary of my Uncle Fred and Aunt Norma, her parents.  Like any good photographer, I spent the evening roaming their yard, taking photos of her flowers and yard objects rather than taking photos of, you know, actual real living people. What can I say, I'm kind of strange that way.  The ball caught my eye and I wondered what it would look like close up and blasted with flash.  So, I took a few shots.  I think it makes for an interesting photograph, even if I do need to explain to people what it is.  That's part of the fun.  This way, though I didn't really photograph any people, this image will forever be connected to Robin & Paul, as well as my time at their party.  This shot was taken at f/4.5, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.

Fire From Down Under

The 2014 L'International des Feux Loto-Québec continued last night with a show from Australia.  It's hard to believe that a month has already passed since the fireworks competition began.  This is my sixth update of fireworks shows so I hope that all of you out there aren't getting sick of all of the explosions.  I for one, am not.  I still really enjoy going out to photograph these shows and I had the added thrill of shooting from a new location last night.  I generally stick to the South Shore for shooting the fireworks because getting back home afterwards can be a rather long task.  They close the Jacques Cartier Bridge for these shows so that people can watch the fireworks from it.  That, coupled with the seemingly endless construction work all over Montreal can make for some long waits in trying to get back home across the river.  In order to try and avoid that mess, My Lovely Assistant and myself decided to make the trek on bicycle.  Our final destination was Parc de la Cité-du-Havre, a small park just across the Old Port.  I found out about this location last year thanks to my friend and fellow photographer Marilyn Francetich, and I was excited to head out there to shoot some photos myself.  Those of you who read about my experience last week with the full parking lot may remember how I found it incredible that people would wait for up to six hours to watch a fireworks show.  Well, My Lovely Assistant and myself almost joined those ranks as we arrived at the park a good two and a half hours before showtime.  Luckily, she had packed a tasty picnic lunch and we managed to find a bench to sit on after I had staked claim to a spot by planting my tripod on the ground.  At 10:00PM sharp, the fireworks began to light up the sky and the wait proved to have been worth it.  I really liked this location.  I provided a clear view of the fireworks, I got to have the Jacques Cartier Bridge in my shots and the fireworks reflected very nicely on the river.  That's what I call some winning conditions.  The first shot was taken at f/16, 17sec, ISO 100 at 52mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/16, 9sec, ISO 100 at 52mm.  Here are a couple more.

f/16, 10sec, ISO 100 at 52mm

f/16, 14sec, ISO 100 & 52mm

f/16, 7sec, ISO 100 at 52mm

f/16, 7sec, ISO 100 at 52mm

So brings an end to another night of bright lights and loud explosions.  Watching these shows is a great way to spend a summer evening and the display put on by Australia, as well as the great location provided by Marilyn, didn't disappoint.  I might just have to find my way out there for a show again next year.

Back To Bernard's Spot

As we near the end of another season of fireworks, I needed to return to my favourite spot for another session.  For those of you who weren't around last year, I learned of this location thanks to a photograph in La Presse by the great Bernard Brault.  One of his photos appeared in the newspaper in the Summer of 2011 and I immediately recognized the location and promised myself that I`d go there later that year.  This is the third year that I shoot the fireworks from this spot, and I`ll probably continue to make an annual visit there every year.  This is also the second year in a row when I overheard a couple of people wondering where they should position themselves to watch the fireworks when I heard the reply that they should stand close to the guy with the camera since he probably had a good spot.  There's an added degree of difficulty in taking photographs from this spot.  Not only is it important to get some nice explosions in your shots, but you also need to hope that some cars will be driving by at the same time because otherwise the bottom of the photograph will look rather dull with only a bunch of empty traffic lanes.  The first photograph was taken at f/14, 8sec, ISO 100 at 75mm.  Here are a couple more shots from the show.

f/14, 7sec, ISO 100 at 75mm

f/14, 6sec, ISO 100 at 75mm

f/14, 12sec, ISO 100 at 75mm

f/14, 34sec, ISO 100 at 75mm

f/14, 30sec, ISO 100 at 75mm

I really enjoy this spot.  It combines two of the things that I really like photographing.  Fireworks and light streaks.  The final product is kind of a double feature as often the light show at the bottom of the photograph is just as interesting as the one up top.  The location also offers a prime look at how bad some of the local drivers are, as some of you can probably see by looking at the streaks of light and how they sometimes change direction.  Can't wait to return here again next year.

A Little Ice With That

As I write this, it is a rather steamy 30 Celsius outside...34 with the humidity.  Seeing as how I'm just about fed up with this weather, I needed to be taken to my 'happy place'.  It just so happens that my happy place is a very comfortable -20 Celsius with several centimeters of snow on the ground.  I had to dig way back into the archives to pull this photograph out.  I had taken it in 2007, the morning after a big snowstorm and the town had yet to fully dig itself out.  It was a nice crisp morning and the bright blue sky really caught my eye.  I also really liked the look of the fresh snow on the ground.  Just looking at this photo is helping me to forget the hot spell that we're currently dealing with.  I know that I'm in the minority in saying so, but there has got to be a few of you out there who are like me and would enjoy a nice snowy day right about now.  In any event, this photograph was taken at f/10, 1/250sec, ISO 400 at 22mm.  Now if you'll excuse me, I need to set my air conditioner to 'Glacial'. 

Purple People Eater

Yes, I suppose that 'Purple People Eater' is kind of an odd title for a photography blog post about fireworks, but allow me to explain.  The show last night was put on by the United States, and was themed 'Fright Night'.  The soundtrack to the show featured all kinds cool songs by Alice Cooper, Michael Jackson, Meat Loaf, The Doors, CCR and the Bobby Pickett song, Purple People Eater.  I haven't heard that song in ages and I knew right away that it would be the title for this set of photographs.  Speaking of 'fright', the location I wanted to use for this site was a vacant lot of land just off of a bicycle path in Longueuil.  I had the feeling that there would be lots of people there, so My Lovely Assistant and I left a good hour and a half before showtime to make sure we would get a choice spot.  When we arrived, much to my dismay, the place was already packed.  I nicely asked a couple if I could set up my tripod in-between where they were sitting and their parked car, and they were nice enough to accept my request.  Out of curiosity, I asked what time they had arrived in order to get that spot and they told me that they had been there since 4:00PM that afternoon.  I like fireworks as much as the next guy, but I don't think I would have been able to sit and wait 6 hours to watch the show. I was very happy to be where I was.  I knew this would be a winning location, crazy traffic aside, and I wasn't disappointed.  I have dozens of what I feel are some great shots.  I really like having the reflections of the fireworks in the water at the bottom of the photograph, as well as the silhouetted boats.  My favourite part is being able to have the Jacques Cartier Bridge in my shots.  I really like having that bridge in my photographs of fireworks.  I just feel like it adds a little bit more detail to the final image.  I even managed to get a couple of La Ronde rides in there as well. The first photograph was taken at f/16, 7sec, ISO 100 at 34mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/16, 8sec, ISO 100 at 34mm.  The third photograph was taken at f/16, 10sec, ISO 100 at 34mm.  Here are a couple more photographs from the show.

f/16, 7sec, ISO 100 at 34mm

f/16, 9sec, ISO 100 at 34mm

f/16, 7sec, ISO 100 at 34mm

It was another adventure leaving the site as it is very evident that people don't understand the difference between a sidewalk and a bicycle path.  Here's a hint, if you're walking on a bicycle path, you probably shouldn't be surprised if a bike comes close to you because you and several other people are in the wrong place.  The same can be said for some car drivers on the road, but I suppose that that is a topic for a different kind of blog.

Smoked Out

We're at the point of the summer where the fireworks come at you twice a week.  It was Canada's turn to light up the sky and, in my honest opinion, they put on the bets show that I've seen so far this year.  Sadly, I didn't have the best vantage point to capture it.  My original location ended up being no good due to three new trees that were not there last year and ended up blocking my shot.  I ended up using a location close to where I was for the first show of the year.  I really like to find a way to get the Jacques Cartier Bridge in my fireworks shots, so that was a my first priority.  Sadly, there ended up being a traffic light in the way which ended up taking up more of my shot than I had thought it would.  Also, the wind ended up blowing the smoke right at us a few times pretty much making shooting anything impossible.  It was still a fun night.  The first shot here was taken at f/18, 8sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Here are a few more shots.

f/16,10sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/16, 5sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/16, 22sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/16, 11sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/16, 8sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

That wraps up another update.  I was happy to finally get some shots with the superstructure in the bridge, but in order to get those, I had to sacrifice some of the shots on the right side of the image.  I'm also a little annoyed by those trees, but they take up less of the shot than the trees in my original location would have.  Still having fun though, and that's what matters.

An Extra Bonus

No fireworks for me this week, I was out of town visiting family for the 50th Wedding Anniversary of my Uncle Fred and Aunt Norma (hello to everyone in Cobourg, Ontario!).  However, I do have something fireworks related for all of you ou there.  This is a test shot that I took last week while trying to make sure that I was in a good position.  While going through my shots, this one really caught me eye.  I decided to crop it down to 12" x 4" for a panorama style of look.  I was really focusing on the sky when I took this shot as I wanted to make sure that I had left enough space in my shot to get the explosions that would be taking place over the bridge.  There's also still a fair amount of blue in the sky and some police cars were nice enough to pass by, giving me a bit more colour in the shot.  This photograph was taken at f/16, 26sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  I don't usually keep many of my test shots, but this one really did end up being an added bonus.

Good Looking Weeds

Here are some words that those of you who have been following me for a while have heard before.  I like to photograph just about everything and anything.  I kind of find it to be a personal challenge to take things that we see as part of our every day lives and turn them into interesting photographs.  Well, I find them to be interesting and I certainly hope that those of you out there who take the time to visit do as well.  Today's model are some simple little weeds that have managed to find a way to grow between the rocks that form the walkway that leads from my house to the parking lot.  Little green leaves that I walk by every day.  I happened to catch a longer look at them as I was outside taking some other photographs of more candies and some fruits.  Photographs that will likely find their way to these pages at some point as well.  I happened to see the way that the sun was hitting the leaves so I left my table full of treats to bend over and snap some shots of the weeds.  I like how I caught the sun on the few leaves near the front of the photograph and how the entire background is in the shade.  Shooting with a large aperture also helps to make the greens at the front of the photo stand out.  I also really like the small shadows in the lower left-hand side of the shot.  The lower right-hand side I like as well as the other weeds in the shadows are completely blurred out thanks to the chosen aperture and make a strange kind of design.  This photograph was taken at f/4, 1/800sec, ISO 400 at 60mm.  Nothing really fancy, just some sidewalk weeds, but I had fun shooting them.  Hope you liked looking at them. 

Lighting Up The Sky

L'International des Feux Loto-Québec continued last night with a display from Italy.  I hadn't really intended on using this location for the show, but it was rather windy and I didn't want to go to far from home and end up making the trek back with nothing but zig-zagged photographs because the wind was so strong that it was blowing my tripod around.  So, I went to a large parking lot that's a few short minutes away from where I live.  Better a short disappointing walk home than a long one.  Ofcourse, I was once again overreacting.  I had a little ace up my sleeve.  Back in the month of May, I took some photographs of the Biosphere on a windy night.  I managed to take those photographs by using an umbrella to block the wind so that my tripod wouldn't be sent swinging, thus ruining my shots.  So, on a clear July evening, if you happened to be close to the Jacques Cartier Bridge and noticed a guy with a camera holding an umbrella, he wasn't crazy.  There was a method to my madness. I placed myself  in a spot where I knew the fireworks would be going off in the sky, while leaving part of the bridge in the foreground.  I also managed to include some of the highway in the shot so I could get some light trails from the passing cars.  I still really like the shots when the police cars pass by.  Adds some nice colours to the bottom of the screen.  The final thing I tried to get into my shot was the road sign pointing out the Jacques Cartier Bridge.  I thought it was kind of fun to have the sign there, pointing at the actual bridge.  The first shot was taken at f/10, 11sec, ISO 100 at 24mm and the second was taken at f/10, 13sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Here are a couple more shots from the show.

f/10, 11sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/10, 16sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/10, 9sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/10, 17sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

I didn't notice this while I was taking the photos, but if  you check near the bottom of some of my shots, you can see someone standing near the highway, watching the show.  Fun little surprise.  I hope you enjoyed these photographs.

Cleared For Take-Off

There are going to be lots of photographs in this update.  As in more than 20.  I took this photographs earlier this Spring.  I got a call from my brother telling me that there were thousands of geese in the Chambly Basin, just waiting to be photographed.  I got there early in the morning and sure enough, the water was covered.  I tried to photograph them as they would take flight.  I even kind of learned to know when a group was about to take off by the sounds that they would make.  Sadly, I found myself on the wrong side of the basin and the majority of my shots were overexposed from the sun.  I still took several photos, but had packed up my gear and began walking back to car when I noticed that the lens cap for my telephoto lens was missing.  I slowly began to retrace my steps back to where I was and on my second trip, I found it laying in the grass.  I was so happy that I almost missed the group of four geese that were swimming almost next to me.  I unpacked my camera as fast and quietly as possible, but still missed the first two take flight.  I did manage to catch the final two as they took-off for the day so I'll try and present to you here what I guess would make a cool flip-book of the geese in action.  The first shot on this page was taken at f/5.6, 1/640sec, ISO 100 at 300mm.  All of the following photographs were taken at f/5.6, 1/800sec, ISO 100 at 300mm.

Are there any brave souls still there?  If you scroll down the screen fast enough, you can kind of get the feel of movement, though it obviously would look better if they were printed out and displayed as a flip book.  I took these photos using the continuous shooting mode, which on my camera is about 5 frames per second.  I waited for the familiar sound I had learned from watching the other birds take flight and began shooting as soon as the birds began to move.  I'm sure the photos would look better is the geese were looking at me, but I still like the angle I ended up getting and I really like the shots of the birds as they're running on the water.  It was a fun morning of bird watching, and I really like the action in these shots.