Thank you, Fred and Trav for your kind comments. Yes the photos were mostly taken from the bridge. The exception are the Argentinian photos, which were taken from Notre Dame, just past the bridge. As I said, I'm a bit of a n00b to the fireworks scene, I just decided this summer to check out as many shows as I could, and I have really enjoyed what I have seen so far. As far as photography, I have made many attempts over the years to take photos of fireworks, some worked, some didn't, and I learned from my mistakes . I am using very different techniques from the suggestions posted here anyway.

I will continue to post photos from the rest of the shows, as I plan to attend all of them.

Fred, you mentioned a Vampire in darkness...I *think* you're talking about this:

http://eps.mcgill.ca/~devries/pics/fireworks/prfireworks01.jpg

Am I right? It is really a different firework anyway, very unique.

Incidentally, whoever runs this site should consider a photoglossary...the existing glossary is pretty good, but there are a few things on there I cannot imagine what they look like from the description (probably because I am new to the jargon), and certainly people have mentioned types of shells on this forum that are not listed. I would really like to learn more about fireworks, but there really isn't a comprehensive web resource, and I've looked pretty hard. This site is certainly the best I have found, so I'll be sticking around here I think

Cheers!

Chris,

thanks for your photos, they are most excellent! I run the site and have considered a photo glossary, the main problem is that certain effects are hard to distinguish on a photo (e.g. the difference between a peony and a chrysanthemum) due to the time exposure. Still other effects such as anything with rotation is also lost in a photo.

As for the Vampire, Fred was referring to the photo which has a sillouette of the ride called the vampire in it. ( http://eps.mcgill.ca/~devries/pics/fireworks/prfireworks07.jpg )

Could you share your photo techniques with us, since you mention they are different than the article on this site?

Cheers,

Paul.

Chris,

It is true that the firework effect on this picture may looks like a vampire. However, "Le Vampire" is also the name of the inverted roller coaster at La Ronde, with purple supports and yellow track. So I am talking about these two pictures:

http://eps.mcgill.ca/~devries/pics/fireworks/prfireworks07.jpg
http://eps.mcgill.ca/~devries/pics/fireworks/prfireworks16.jpg

Feel free to express your opinions about firework here or to ask question about the name of different effects. It's not easy to learn about it since the names are often abstract and it happens that pyrotechnicians from different countries use different names for the same effect.

I am looking forward to watch the next pictures!

Cheers,
Fred

As for the Vampire, Fred was referring to the photo which has a sillouette of the ride called the vampire in it.

Ah...I see. You can totally tell I've been to La Ronde ...I do plan to go though, probably on the 29th, and pay admission to see the fireworks there in the evening. Someone said the Gold section is where I want to be.

Just out of curiousity, what IS that type of firework called? South Africa had an interesting shell that did this as well, but differently:

http://eps.mcgill.ca/~devries/pics/fireworks/safireworks12.jpg

Similar, but with a yellow thing coming out of the middle, making it less stark, and more flower-like.

The other one I am most curious about is these glittery things:

http://eps.mcgill.ca/~devries/pics/fireworks/prfireworks11.jpg

Possibly my favourite effect.

As for the photography:

- The main difference is that I typically use short exposures, and lower f-stops. Most of the photos are 2.5 seconds, and f6.5...plus or minus a couple stops, with a film-speed equivalent of ISO 80. This setting almost always produces great photos, and I just need a bit of luck to capture a good arrangement of shells. I never use a bulb setting (because my camera doesn't have one ...very few digital cameras do...you need an SLR, really)

- I use a longer exposure for those really slow-moving rockets, like these...to capture the effect better, like here:

http://eps.mcgill.ca/~devries/pics/fireworks/safireworks20.jpg

- I like to increase the f-stop a bit near the end, things can get bright...a lot of the finale photos I take don't work out (I agree with the person who wrote the article here on that point).

- Also, like him, I like to see where they're shooting the shells, and fix my camera on that spot. I find that I don't like a lot of shells cluttering up my image, so the shorter exposure time helps clear things up a bit. Of course, Fiatlux went and really expanded the normal shooting areas, some of their shells went far higher than I have ever seen before...had I known, I'd have been prepared, as these would have made beautiful photos

- I try to analyse things on the go...if they've used a certain arrangement of shells multiple times, one that really looked good, I'll try to predict and shoot the next occurance, if there is one. Like when Canada had those barrages near the beginning, where they had that one shell that shot the things all over the place, randomly:

http://eps.mcgill.ca/~devries/pics/fireworks/canfireworks04.jpg

Very cool effect.

- Sometimes, I have been able to track shells as they fly through the sky, moving my camera to the place where I anticipate they will explode, fixing it there, making sure the tripod is stable, and depressing the shutter...it takes some work and luck, but the results can be really great.

- With a 1 GB memory card, I can take up to 400 photos...so I really just take as many as I can, trying to capture all the unique ideas, but I don't care if I have a dozen that look all the same, because one might have turned out much better than the others. The most I have ever taken is ~120 in a 30 minute show. If I take a lot, there is a better chance I'll get good ones, right?

If I think of anything else that worked for me, I'll let you know. One thing...I have had great success on the bridge, as you can see...so vibrations really haven't been a major issue (maybe in a couple shots they played a role, but that could have been me bumping my tripod slightly too ).

Equipment:

Panasonic FZ20...5 megapixel, 36-432 mm optical zoom equivalent (I never use much of that zoom for fireworks, obviously, but it comes in handy other times for sure )