Unobstructed View

There was a particular weather situation here last week that made it very difficult to get any clear shots of the fireworks down at the Old Port of Montreal.  I still tried, and in my own admittedly biased opinion, came home with some interesting photographs of a very cloudy landscape.  I really liked the location I was shooting in, so I had planned on going back there eventually for another shot.  Eventually ended up happening one week later.  It wasn't my original plan to go back up on the Jacques Cartier Bridge, but the sky was much clearer than the week before and I was unable to control my desire to go back up there again.  Truthfully, I probably should have waited as it was still kind of a cloudy night as rain was in the forecast.  I'll just use that as an excuse to use the location another time, though I think I'll save it for another edition of the yearly fireworks event. 

The experience almost became somewhat expensive before the fireworks even began.  As I was setting up, I tried to pull my remote trigger out of my pocket and then ended up watching rather helplessly as my iPod, which had gotten a little bit tangled in the cord while sharing the same pocket, went crashing to the ground and skidded to a halt just centimeters before going over the edge of the ground rather far below.  I managed to grab my heart out of my throat and slowly bent over to pick up my gadget as I was suddenly reminded why I don't like bridges to begin with as I took a look over the side at the fate that my iPod had just avoided.

Once everything was nice and secure, and you had best make sure I double checked the lock on my tripod after the falling iPod incident, I took a few test shots and waited for the action to begin.  It did end up raining on me a little bit, but I was equipped with my umbrella, though I was kind of wondering what the drivers were thinking as they passed by and saw me up there.  Mostly I was hoping that their minds were on the road.  The first photograph of this batch was taken at f/16, 22sec, ISO 100 at 40mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/16, 14sec, ISO 100 at 40mm and the third photograph was taken at f/16, 10sec, ISO 100 at 40mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took.

f/16, 18sec, ISO 100 at 40mm

f/16, 7sec, ISO 100 at 40mm

f/16, 22sec, ISO 100 at 40mm

As some of you may have noticed, I've got a couple of different sizes.  I've cropped some at 8"x12", 12"x6" and 12"x4".  Shooting wide allows me that option, and I really like the widescreen style shots as they highlight not only the fireworks, but the skyline of Montreal as well.  Now I just have to make sure that the iPod never ends up in the same pocket as my remote trigger ever again.