Big bang

The hard part of getting fireworks photos is finding a good place to set up. I figure if I got a spot down by the Ottawa River everything would be peachy. Unfortunately when I got to the area near the locks it had been blocked off. I guess the police don't like the thought of thousands of drunks wandering around down there, and I can see their point. I spent a fair amount of time running around, and after a bit of back-and-forthing I set up near the National Arts Centre, on the ramp that leads down to the driveway.

First I took a photo near the Canal. Turned out a bit wide.



This one was pitched a bit high ... you can already see the smoke building up.



Then I walked up to the lane itself ... unfortuntely some of the NAC got into this shot and several others.



Now I think I'm getting the hang of it.



Another nice one.



A slightly wider angle to take in the convention centre.



A nice vertical, but a bit off-centre ...



I should have gotten the bicyclist's name.



Squiggly!



The shadowy figure at left was illuminated by successive blasts.



A whole lot of smoke now.



If you go to my Flickr stream you can see the fireworks wind down.



Next year I'm going to see if I can find a place that's got the Parliament Buildings in the background.

Hello Queenie

Okay, so it's not quite July 1, but Victoria Day gets its fireworks too. They're launched from Juliana Park near Dow's Lake. For once being a bit late was a blessing in disguise. I orginally thought the best view would be from the south shore of Dow's Lake. As it turned out the pathway along Colonel By was a better choice.

My first shot seems to be mostly smoke and car lights.



That's a little better, albeit not exactly horizontal. And off centre. Oh well, it was hard to tell which knob did what on the tripod in the dark.



The settings seem good though ... I think I'll reduce the ISO and bump up the time a bit next time, though.



I'm not sure where the squigly thing comes from - some kid's bottle rocket, perhaps?



The white things really lit stuff up.



I hope they didn't light anything on fire by accident ...



Okay, something moved a bit ...



And that's all she wrote, except for watching the traffic drive home.



I'm going to to try to make my next fireworks photos a tad more level ...

Baby, it's cold outside

Well to be honest it's rather mild. We're in the middle of a wet, snowy spell. I got a Fujifilm Finepix F200 EXR from my mother for Christmas to take with me when lugging the DSLR around would be inconvenient (i.e. most of the time).


Near South Keys transit station after freezing rain, Dec. 27, 2009


Near South Keys transit station after freezing rain, Dec. 27, 2009

I may actually be updating The Other Side of the Shutter more than once a year now ...

Water under the bridge

Looks like it's time for my annual Other Side of the Shutter post. I just got back from Nelson, B.C., where my sister, niece and brother-in-law reside. We had a bit of a family outing to their farmer's market where I perused the local record seller's offerings (nothing too fascinating, except a Swan Records compilation of the Rockin Rebels) and snapped a photograph of nearby Cottonwood Falls.


Cottonwood Falls, Nelson, B.C., September 5, 2009

It's a nice place; shame about the graffiti.

One wedding and a flugtag

There wasn't much to do on Sunday. I hadn't heard there was a punk rock show at the New Bayou on Sunday, so instead of listening to The Botched Suicides and folks like that, I decided to go and photograph other stuff just like I'm always threatening to. Like everyone else I'd heard of the Flugtag at the Museum of Civilization, sponsored by a well-known energy drink company with a soft spot for ridiculous sports events (and overpostering). They expected about 30,000 spectators I'm told; it was plain from the crowds streaming over the Alexandria St. Bridge that they got a lot more. I found a place to lock up my bike and found my way through the crowd to a place near the on-ramp. There wasn't a good place to take pictures from, but I did snap a few pictures of the contestants.

I believe this is team Banana Hammock.



Here come the first, pizza-themed contestants.



Everyone had a chance for a 2-minute skit. These guys just ran around and hit one another with their giant hot pepper and wasabi tube.



Ready, set, jump!



Yay!



The next team had some technical difficulties - a wheel on their cup broke and consequently, it did not runneth over. They only used the glider, which despite its suspiciously aerodynamic appearance had all the handling capabilities of a boulder and went straight into the water.



The cup handlers gamely followed it in.



After that the Gatineau police made everyone move back so they could pretend there was a clear route for the ambulance. I tried to find a decent spot for photos, failed and bicycled home. They had closed the pedestrian walkway over the bridge, there were too many people lingering on the somewhat rickety structure.

As I passed the Congress Centre there was some ruckus - evidently a wedding of some kind, with the groom arriving in style.



The shovel girl has her fingers in her ears because it was quite noisy.

Shoot out the lights

Here's a selection of photographs taken from the grassy slope new the Laurier St. Bridge just across the Rideau Canal from the Department of National Defence. I don't think the framing is as nice as last year, but the turnout ruled out a higher vantage point.









See you next year!

Looking out my back door

More clouds, these viewed from my apartment balcony. The building bottom left houses my insurance broker, Scrivens.


Clouds, Ottawa, June 20, 2007

This picture predates the rainbow below, but I've been busy Bluesfesting , among other activities, and have just gotten around to unmusical photographs just now.