Montreal, CA
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Bonjour Christian - and for others who might visit Montreal this July,
My number one site to view the Montreal International Fireworks is on South shore city of Longueuil, directly across from the launch site on Isle St Helen - at the end of Boul Taschereau (Exit 8 on Autoroute 20). Located on the site of a former steel plant which was demolished to create a huge parking lot - you have great views with reflections in the St Lawrence River, with the city lights, Mount Royal, and Jacques Cartier Bridge in the background.
Parking costs just $7, or you can take the Metro (the underground subway station is marked as M on the map) from many points in Montreal to Longueuil, and walk less than ten minutes along the bike path that runs next to the river, and choose your vantage point. If you are driving, get there no later than 7pm, or you won't be able to park, though earlier is better!
People set up tents and tables, and in typical Quebecois "joie de vivre" fashion (the love of life), party heartily before the main event. Lots of photographers and families here.
You can of course go directly to La Ronde, the amusement park on Isle St Helen run by Five Flags, and shoot from the bleachers, however the tickets are costly, and you might have obstructed views, and if the wind is blowing towards you... smoke in your eyes!
Even those with press passes will find they are restricted in where they can setup. The Longueuil location has none of these problems.
Here's a map of where I like to set-up - X being the shoot location and F denoting where the fireworks are launched from.
And a corresponding Google Maps link:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Rue+Pierre+Dupuy,+Longueuil,+Qu%C3%A9bec&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=45.523067,-73.536558&spn=0.056767,0.096474&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=53.884487,98.789063&z=14
Here's a full frame view from this location.
Montreal International Fireworks,
Nikon D700, Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8D AF-S @ 100mm,
Exposure: 2.3sec @ f/16, ISO 200, Manual Mode, WB Sunny
©2009 Frederic Hore
If you want to get really close to the action, you can walk up onto the Jacques Cartier Bridge, which is closed about two hours before the fireworks start, creating a six-lane wide footbridge. You will be almost directly above the launch point! Bring ear plugs, water and get their as early as you can - its a popular place, and the views along the walkway fill up quickly.
As mentioned in my first post above, yesterday was Canada Day. As fireworks displays goes, it was a big disappointment - it lasted all of 9 minutes! I came away with maybe three images that I really liked. I think the REAL show was in our nations capital of Ottawa, where a really big event was put on for the visiting Prince William and his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Here's one from last night, photographed from the Concorde Bridge that links to Isle Notre Dame (see the google map link)
Canada Day Fireworks over Montreal
Nikon D700, Nikkor 80-800 f/2.8D AF-S at 80mm,
Exposure: 2sec @ f/16, ISO 800, Manual Mode, WB Incandescent
©2011 Frederic Hore
In the photo above, due to the short exposure of just 2 seconds, I raised the ISO to 800, to get more of the background. Initially I set the WB to Incandescent, to achieve a better rendition of the city lights. Later in PS-CS4, in the Adobe Raw Converter, I altered the colour temp slightly to achieve the look I saw at time of exposure.
I should mention, I always shoot in RAW mode to allow easy changes and adjustments later in post production. For more information on how I like to process fireworks images, look for my post in the link I provided in Post 1 above.
Hope this helps! Have fun everyone!
Cheers,
Frederic in Montréal
Nothing ventured... nothing gained!
http://www.RemarkableImages.ca
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Anyway, it was a great fireworks show here in GTMO, one of the best I've seen in years although a little shorter than I would have liked. Then again I could sit and watch fireworks for hours and not get tired of them.
