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.