IMG_8779.CR2: 30D, EF 70 – 200mm 1:4L IS @ 200mm, 1/4, f/4, 800 ISO
I hope you had a happy Canada Day!
As is my tradition, I did not go to Parliament Hill. Being a part of a sea of people holds little appeal to me. But as I often do, I stepped out onto my balcony to see the fireworks display. I don’t have the best view, but it certainly could be worse. The tree in the way could be the building to the left, and I’d see nothing at all. Still, it’s not a bad photo for a view from six kilometres away… requiring only a step out onto my balcony!
The photo was hand-held. This fits nicely with my preferred mode of shooting fireworks. Some photographers like long exposures that capture the entire ‘lifespan’ of the explosion, but the resulting image isn’t what the spectacle looks like to the viewer. I like a more true-to-life photo, meaning a shorter exposure. This one was a 1/4 of a second which is on the long side, for me. I prefer shots more in the area of 1/10 of a second, making hand-held exposures possible. The image stabilization of the EF 70 – 200 also helped me out immensely with this longer exposure.
See the green streak in the upper-most explosion? It’s a passing aircraft. It looks exactly like an emulsion-side negative scratch. Of course it wasn’t since this isn’t film, but it brings back memories.
Jessica
I made the mistake of trying to drive home during the fireworks. People were parked ON THE ON-RAMP to the Ottawa River Parkway! The guy in front of us had to get out of his car to ask the car in front of him to move the *&$!# over so we could get by. There was a person with a baby stroller standing in the left-hand lane of the parkway. Cars were parked along both sides of the Champlain Bridge, in both the bike lanes and the car lanes. I was so mad by the time I got through there, I was shaking! Why are people such idiots? WHY?!