Montreal International Fireworks Competition - Recap

A month of loud and colourful explosions in the sky has come to an end.  I'm a week behind in posting this update, though for good reason.  In case you might have missed it, one of my photographs ended up being aired on CTV News.  This is my little end of festival recap.  Older visitors will remember that I usually use this update to display one extra photograph from all of the shows that I saw.  If you found that photograph to be interesting and you missed my original post, just follow the link in the name of the Country and all of my other photographs will be waiting for you.

Our Heroes

f/16, 20sec, ISO 100 at 68mm

Chile

 f/13, 10sec, ISO 100 at 50mm

 

Canada 

f/13, 6sec, ISO 100 at 28mm

 

Switzerland

f/10, 15sec, ISO 100 at 43mm

United States of America

f/9, 8sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

Spain

f/8, 13sec, ISO 100 at 34mm

Sweden

f/8, 13sec, ISO 100 at 34mm

Tribute To Elton John

f/13, 13sec, ISO 100 at 68mm

 

For those of you keeping track at home, Spain ended up winning the Golden Jupiter Award with Sweden winning the Silver Jupiter and Switzerland took home the bronze.  Though I ended up getting smoked out of the second half of Spain's show, I did proclaim it to be my up to that point in the competition.  My photograph that appeared on television came from the Sweden show and my favourite photograph of the competition was the first photograph you see in my blog entry from the Switzerland show.  I guess you could say that I was able to match the performances of the winning countries.  I once again got to photograph all eight shows and most importantly, enjoyed every minute of them, even if Mother Nature blew way more smoke in my direction than needed.

Saturday Night's Alright For Fireworks

Our little march towards the end of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition is nearing the end.  As we previously mentioned, things got a little bit delayed as one of my photographs ended up being featured on CTV News Weather Pixs, and since I enjoy tooting my own horn from time to time, it earned an update of its own.  What's that? You don't remember or haven't seen that update?  Lucky for you, here is a link to the photograph and video!  It can't be said that I don't like to share.  This final night of the competition took place last Saturday.  It wasn't actually an in-competition event, but an extra show that has been added over the last few years and serves as a tribute to a legendary musical act.  It makes sense seeing as how the fireworks are set to music during all of the shows.  This year, the show was put on by Melrose Pyrotechnics, from Kingsbury, Indiana.  Though not in competition, this is the third time Melrose has been at La Ronde and they won a Golden Jupiter Award back in 2006.  The music came from, as some of you may be able to figure out from the title, the legendary Elton John.  Hits like Crocodile Rock, Rocket Man, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Tiny Dancer were featured while the final explosions of the year were fittingly accompanied by Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me.  I took these shots from another of my favourite locations, a small pedestrian overpass that crosses a local urban boulevard.  This place had gotten rather popular over the years.  When I first started shooting photographs here, there was all kinds of place for people to walk, but on this night people were jammed elbow-to-elbow.  I even heard a few people wondering aloud if the overpass was strong enough to handle all of our weight, an understandable request knowing how poorly some of the local infastructure has held up over the years.  I was also joined by My Lovely Assistant, my brother-in-law Phillipe and a potential future Lovely Assistant, his daughter Constance.  She'll need to be able to stay awake during the entire show before that can happen.  She's only three though, so there is lots of time for that to happen.  The first photograph was taken at f/16, 20sec, ISO 100 at 68mm and the second photograph was taken at f/13, ISO 100 at 68mm.  Here are  few more photographs from the show.

f/16, 8sec, ISO 100 at 68mm

f/16, 10sec, ISO 100 at 68mm

f/16, 15sec, ISO 100 at 68mm

f/16, 6sec, ISO 100 at 68mm

And with that final bang, the fireworks festival comes to an end.  But everything is not quite yet over here on the blog.  I've got a few more before, after, and during shots that I took while either waiting for the fireworks to begin, or after they've ended.  We'll try and get them posted up here before the next competition begins in 2017.

Montreal International Fireworks Competition - Sweden

We've fallen a little bit behind here at the old blog.  The fireworks competition actually wrapped up on Saturday.  However, I've still got a couple of updates left in the docket, waiting to be unleashed upon the world.  There's a very good reason for the delay.  Everything got pushed back because one of my photographs from this show ending up on the evening broadcast of CTV News.  Go ahead, take a moment to go back and relive the moment by following this link.  As previously mentioned, it was Sweden that put their explosives on display on this night.  More specifically, it was the Göteborgs FyrverkeriFabrik AB company.  They were making their third appearance in Montreal, and have a second place finish here in 2010 among their many credentials.  The site I chose was on the same bicycle path where My Lovely Assistant and I parked ourselves a few weeks back for the American portion of the competition.   It did offer a different angle of the fireworks, so I figured I'd try shooting from there.  Once again, the path was full of people there to see the show, further proving my point that it is essential to show up early in order to get a clear view of the fireworks.  This doesn't always go over well with My Lovely Assistant, though she was fortunate enough to run into one of cousins while we were waiting.  Their chatting helped pass some of the time away (allo Noemie).  There were once again some smoke issues involved, but it wasn't as bad as it had been for the other show.  There was also someone with a radio who was broadcasting the soundtrack of the show.  Something that really helps when you're trying to time your fireworks shots.  When you know that a high point in the song is coming, the odds are very good that there will be a big bright explosion to go along with it.  The first photograph was taken at f/7.1, 8sec, ISO 100 at 32mm and the second was taken at f/7.1, 4sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took during the show

 f/7.1, 5sec, ISO 100 at 30mm

f/9, 6sec, ISO 100 at 30mm

f/9, 6sec, ISO 100 at 30mm

f/9, 6sec, ISO 100 at 30mm

That last photograph wasn't actually part of my original update, but I ended up having a spare spot due to the photograph that appeared on the news getting an update of its own.  It's a little different from the traditional fireworks shots I've taken with the straight lines taking the place of the arcing blasts of light.  I thought it was kind of unique and so bumped it into the rotation when the opportunity arrived.  Hope some of you like it too.

Look Ma, I'm On TV

My Mom keeps telling me that I should send my photographs in to the local newscast more often.  As they say, 'Mother is usually right', and I guess that she was this time as well.  I had gotten an email from her late last night.  I read it after having gotten home from photographing the latest fireworks display as part of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition. She had included the email needed to send weather photographs for the nightly forecast.  I finished uploading my latest photographs and I figured 'what the heck, give it a shot'.  I quickly went through the photographs and chose the one I thought was the best of the bunch, did a little editing and sent it off.  I then waited through the six o'clock newscast and tah-dah!  There it was.  I thought the photograph looked a little darker than it really is on television, so I've included it here with the update.  It was taken at f/7.1, 15sec, ISO 100 at 32mm.  Thanks to Lori Graham and all at CTV News, and ofcourse, thanks Mom.

Montreal International Fireworks Competition - Spain

As we near the end of July, it also means that we're near the end of the annual Montreal International Fireworks Competition.  This past Saturday, the skies over Montreal were brightened by Spain, or more specifically, the RICASA Company of Valencia.  The family run company have been turning night into day for 135 years, including being featured at various Pan-Am Games, presentations in New York and the Olympics.  This was their third appearance in Montreal, earning third place finishes in 1998 and in 2005.  With those amazing credentials, it shouldn't be a surprise to say that this has been my favourite show to date this year.  Sadly, the elements once again decided to play havoc with things.  The skies had opened earlier in the day as a couple of downpours left everything rather wet.  As we approached show time, the sky had begun to clear, but there was still a chance of rain so I decided to stay a little bit closer to home and returned to the same spot I had shot at two weeks ago.  Things started out fairly well as there was only a slight bit of cloud cover which I always feel adds a little bit of texture to these photographs.  However, about fifteen minutes into the show the wind once again began to shift  and ended up blowing all of the smoke from the fireworks right back into my location.  It slowly crept over to where I was as I watched it slowly shroud everything along the way.  As the show was near an end, the smoke was everywhere, as you can see in the second photograph.  The difference between the first photograph, taken at f/8, 10sec, ISO 100 at 34mm and the second photograph, taken at f/8, 4sec, ISO 100 at 34mm, is quite remarkable.  Here are a few more photographs I took before the smoke swallowed everything.

f/8, 5sec, ISO 100 at 34mm

f/8, 6sec, ISO 100 at 34mm

f/8, 8sec, ISO 100 at 34mm

f/8, 8sec, ISO 100 at 34mm

After these last two shows, I've spent more time in a smoker than certain sandwich meats.  I returned to this spot because I wasn't happy with my positioning.  Ends up the spot I had used previously has been rendered useless as a large tree has been planted directly in the sight-line to the fireworks.  I liked this spot a little better than the previous one, except for that annoying road sign at the bottom center of the frame.  Hopefully none of you noticed it, but it bothered me all night, until the smoke became a bigger issue.  It's been a kind of unlucky run this year so I'm hoping that the tide will turn for these last two show.

Montreal International Fireworks Competition - U.S.A

I generally try and begin each of these updates with what I think is the best photograph of the bunch.  Something that I hope will grab your attention enough to make you want to stick around and see the rest.  Today, we're going against the grain.  The first photograph that you see here, taken at f/13, 30sec, ISO 100 at 35mm, is not what I would consider to be the best one I took.  Rather, it's the clearest photograph that I took.  Last night was the fifth installment of the annual Montreal International Fireworks Competition.  It was the turn of the Untied States of America to light up the skies over Montreal.  Representing our neighbours to the South was Western Enterprises, Inc, a third-generation family based company out of Oklahoma.  This was their second appearance at the competition.  I had decided a few hours before the show that I was going to take my photographs from my favourite location.  A lot of land off in Longueuil that sits empty for eleven months of the year, but city officials show up every July to charge people nine dollars to park their car and watch the fireworks.  Or so I learned from listening to a conversation between people in the car next to us.  Fortunately, there is no cost for parking your bicycle, which was the mode of transportation used by My Lovely Assistant and your Friendly Neighbourhood Photographer.  About ten minutes before the show was going to begin, the wind shifted and a pit a disappointment began to form in my stomach.  There had been a nice brisk breeze that would have been perfect to push the smoke from the fireworks away, until Mother Nature turned her nostril and decided to send that breeze right in our direction.  As a result, the first photograph you see is the first photograph that I took.  It is also the only one where I have a clear view of not only the fireworks, but also Mount Royal, some of downtown Montreal, several of the rides at the La Ronde amusement park and the Jacques Cartier Bridge.  After about five minutes, all of them were swallowed up by a thick cloud of smoke that remained in my face for the rest of the presentation.  I still think that I ended up with some pretty cool photographs, including the second photograph which was taken at f/9, 8sec, ISO 100 at 24mm, and all of the others that you can see below.

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

f/9, 8sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/9, 6sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/9, 5 sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

As I was saying, I still think that they are nice photographs, but I can't help but think how much nicer they would have been without all of the smoke.  That's the chance you take with fireworks.  Once you're at your chosen location, if things go wrong, there's not very much you can do about it.  Just shoot away and try to make the best of things.

Sunday Night Football

A few days back I was asked if I would like to attend a soccer game where a couple of former co-workers would be playing.  I thought it was kind of odd that they'd be playing soccer at 9:00PM on a Sunday night, but once I got around that thought bubble, I figured it might not only be fun, but it could be a good opportunity to take a few photographs.  Over the past couple of years, I've taken photographs at baseball, hockey and football games.  I've actually taken some soccer photographs in the past, but that was several years ago during a Sports Photography course I took.  I probably should have gone over my notes a little bit before leaving because I was a little rusty on the rules and the flow of the game.  I was a little bit over focused on trying to get photographs of my two friends.  As a result, I ended up missing several cool plays off of corner kicks and throw-ins.  Something I'll have to keep in mind should I end up down at the pitch once again.  The game was between the Longueuil Belettes and a team from Greenfield Park.  Two teams who play in the U-21 Feminin Inter-Ville Rive-Sud league.  As I mentioned, the teams took pitch a little after 9:00PM at Centre Multi-Sport in the shadow of the Colisée Jean-Beliveau.  The conditions were a little difficult.  There were several lights pointed at the field, but I didn't want to go over ISO 1600 in an attempt to limit the amount of noise that would appear in my photographs.  Low light conditions and fast moving athletes don't mix very well.  I still managed to grab some pretty interesting and action packed shots, mostly by trying to position myself as close to the action as possible and trying to shoot mostly while the ladies were directly under the lights.  A sense of anticipation and some good luck factored into these shots as well.  The first photograph was taken at f/4, 1/20sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/4, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 142mm and the third photograph was taken at f/4, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took during the game.

f/4, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/4, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 123mm

f4, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 88mm

f/4, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 80mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 168mm

f3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 168mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 135mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 85mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

You may have noticed a few recurring faces in these photographs.  As I mentioned, I was there to photograph a couple friends, hello Grace & Sarah.  Sadly, the Photographer Curse did the ladies in.  I seem to bring bad luck to the athletes I go to photograph.  I can now add soccer to the list of sports I've been invited to photograph, only to see the people who invited me find themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard.  Hopefully, this won't keep me from getting invited back again.