Background

It was worth a shot.

I overestimated how big Wednesday night's fireworks display would be. I ended up missing half of them, because Spain's entrance into the Grands Feux du Casino show was by obstructed by the buildings that I wanted to have in the foreground.

I never like to capture fireworks from the same spot, and so every year, I come up with ideas about where I want to stand to capture the annual summer event.

Last year, I went to the point at Richmond Landing, along with dozens of other photographers. It's a good place to capture clear views of the light show but there aren't many landmarks to complement the shots. I could get the twin spires of Notre Dame Basilica Cathedral and the National Gallery of Canada, in Lowertown, but they're so far away in the shot.

The reflective lights of these buildings on the water, though, were nice and added a bit more to the fireworks photos.

I thought it might be nice to stand near the Colonel John By statue in Major's Hill Park, behind the Chateau Laurier, and so that's where I first went. But when I arrived, I decided that the angle wouldn't be right: I'd just get his backside.

I walked along the western edge of the park, scoping out the view of the Ottawa River, below, but I wasn't keen on the view of the Gatineau side of the river, with all of the ugly government office buildings.

And then I remembered a photo that I took, last fall, of the East Block building on Parliament Hill. One shot I particularly liked was one where I have the tower of the East Block, standing before the Peace Tower, which was behind. If I could get fireworks surrounding these two buildings, it could look good.

So off I went.

As I approached the building from the same direction as I had shot last fall, I noticed that the East Block seemed to fill the foreground and I wondered how much of the display I would see. But I hoped that the fireworks would be high enough that it wouldn't be an issue.

I set up my camera and tripod next to a streetlamp on the edge of Elgin Street, just a short distance from where westbound traffic on Wellington hang a left turn, around the Cenotaph. In composing my shot, I ensured that I had lots of room to capture the fireworks display.

When the show started, several fireworks went off just behind the East Block, and my heart sank. I picked the wrong spot, I told myself. Maybe, I had enough time to cross Elgin, run to the south side of Wellington, and capture the fireworks across from the Centre Block.

There were two tower cranes above the Centre Block building, one on either side of the Peace Tower. I really didn't want them in my shot, as they are very difficult to erase, in post production, without messing up the streams of fireworks, behind them.

So I stayed put.

As with most fireworks displays that I've witnessed, there are usually big explosions in the middle of the show and a very large display at the end. I only needed a couple of shots, so I waited.

There were some explosions of light that occurred above the roofline of the East Block, but they made the corner tower stand well above them, and so I wasn't interested in keeping the shots that I took. But there were several displays that went high, not only appearing to the right of the East Block tower but emerging from behind the Peace Tower, as well.

When the show was over and I returned home, I looked at the photos on my SD card. Many of the fireworks themselves are good but there were only three photos that gave me the results that I was seeking.

Here's my favourite of those.

I don't know if I'll catch any more of the Grands Feux du Casino this year (there are only three shows left—this Saturday, next Wednesday, and the following Saturday) but if I do, I already have come up with a couple of new spots to try out.

Happy Friday!