Happy Canada Day!

Canada Day Fireworks – Hamilton

Hamilton’s Canada Day fireworks display, launched from Bayfront Park as seen from the T.B. McQuesten High Level Bridge on York Boulevard.

It was the first time I watched the fireworks from the bridge. It’s a good perspective and my goal was once again, as with the Victoria Day fireworks last year, to try to get some people in the photos. Instead of doing what might initially seem logical by positioning myself right up against the railing overlooking Hamilton Harbour, I instead went to the other side of the street and found a position about 4 feet up on the side of the bridge. This allowed me to get some of the water in the image and nice firework reflections to separate the spectators from the dark background. Otherwise it was technically very similar to the Victoria Day post, but because I was closer this time, I shot fairly wide with a 50mm lens.

My intention was to stay in one spot with one composition. The reason was to facilitate editing the images in Final Cut to allow smooth dissolves and zooms. And the display lasted only about 15 minutes, so there simply wasn’t much time to try multiple locations. This is one of those things where you get one shot each year, weather permitting, and it has me already considering other locations for next year.

Crops of some of the better images: