Napoleon's Dynamite

The 31st edition of the L’International des Feux Loto-Québec is coming to an end with France being the final country presenting a show in the hopes of winning a Jupiter Award.  Representing France was JCO - Jacques Coutturier Organisation.  The original plan for the evening included a nice supper of burgers at the home of My Lovely Assistant's mother, but it was a miserably hot and steamy day which pretty much killed off any desire anyone had to eat anything warm.  A tasty lettuce and also a macaroni salad were on the menu to try and keep me from melting like the Wicked Witch of the West.  An added bonus of eating at Belle Mom's house is that she is walking distance away from one of my favourite locations for shooting the fireworks, a little walking bridge that spans Taschereau Blvd.  I've been to this location at least once a year for the past three years and it always gives me some good results.  The thing I most enjoy about shooting from this location is the automobile traffic that passes under the bridge while the fireworks are happening, adding all kinds of interesting light streaks to the bottom of the shots.  Saying that, traffic seemed a little bit light this year compared to my past experiences.  Possibly because this was a Wednesday night right in the middle of the two week construction holiday, maybe there we less people on the road.  The fireworks themselves were a little disappointing from my vantage point as there weren't many blasts high in the sky until late in the second half of the show.  There were still enough for me to present a few of them here for you all to see.  The first photograph was taken at f/16, 20sec, ISO 100 at 63mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/16, 10sec, ISO 100 at 63mm and the third photograph was taken at f/16, 11sec, ISO 100 at 63mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took over the course of the evening.

f/16, 6sec, ISO 100 at 63mm

f/16, 13sec, ISO 100 at 63mm

f/16, 10sec, ISO 100 at 63mm

Even though I enjoy going there, I still get a serious case of shaky knees when I put my camera on my tripod and pull my hands away from it the first time.  The image of my camera falling to the concrete below and then getting run over by several passing cars is still a very powerful one that haunts my mind.  Thankfully, once again that image remained in my mind.