July 21 2012

The Extraordinary adventures of Jules Verne was the theme for tonight’s pyrotechnic display at the International fireworks competition. This was the 24th time that France has been represented at the annual event and this year the French were represented by Féérie, a 20-year old company that has won gold and silver at Cannes Pyrotechnic Art Festival. The music for tonight featured quite a varied selection including theme tracks from Pirates of the Caribbean, The Fifth Element and others.

For tonight’s display we decided to picnic over on Ile Sainte-Hélène and then walk up the ramp onto the Jacques-Cartier bridge. The bridge is closed to traffic from 8pm on firework night and is one of the most popular free spots to view the displays from. You can watch from anywhere along the length of the bridge, we chose a spot just south of the old toll gates overlooking the ramp and Laronde amusement park.

Due to the tall security fences, photographing the display from the bridge is not ideal as you have to shoot between the narrow vertical bars. With 4 more shows remaining in this year’s event, maybe another time  I will try standing in the middle of the road.

L’International des Feux Loto-Québec – France
ISO 400 – 105mm – f14 – 3 sec

International Fireworks competition – France
ISO 400 – 42mm – f16 – 4 sec

International Fireworks competition – France
ISO 400 – 105mm – f16 – 4 sec

International Fireworks competition – France
ISO 400 – 105mm – f16 – 6 sec

International Fireworks competition – France
ISO 400 – 48mm – f9 – 6 sec

International Fireworks competition – France
ISO 400 – 48mm – f9 – 6 sec

International Fireworks competition – France
ISO 400 – 34mm – f14 – 3 sec

During the show I did try a few of the techniques like pulling the zoom and focus during exposures. The zooming didn’t work that well due to the fence bars entering the shot. The following shot was the best of the focus pull shots. I still need to work on perfecting this technique.

International Fireworks competition – France
ISO 400 – 52mm – f14 – 4 sec

As with the last couple of shows, I thought I would throw a black and white processed shot into the mix 😉

International Fireworks competition – France
ISO 400 – 105mm – f14 – 6 sec

While waiting for the show to start, I tried an HDR shot of the Jacques Cartier bridge. I wasn’t over happy how this one came out but thought I would share so as to at least indicate where on the bridge the above shots were taken (just to the right against the railings).

Toll booths on the Jacques Cartier bridge
ISO 400 – 24mm – f16 – 2.5 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Since we had about 45 minutes to kill while waiting for the show to start, I also shot a couple of the rides at Laronde amusement park.

Laronde amusement park
ISO 400 – 116mm – f16 – 6 sec

Laronde amusement park
ISO 400 – 300mm – f16 – 4 sec

Laronde amusement park
ISO 400 – 300mm – f16 – 1 sec

You may have noticed that I shot tonight at ISO 400 rather than the normal 100 – Well spotted, I wish I could say it was intentional, but I forgot to change the ISO back to 100 following earlier shooting….doh. A few shots were completely blown out in the highlights as a result, so I confirm 100 is the best ISO setting for fireworks.

The next show is Portugal on Tuesday, so I’ll try to find yet another spot to view the Montreal fireworks from.

To view images in gallery format, simply click on one of the images below.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

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