Fireworks – Nicolas Demers

Celebration of Light 2013: United Kingdom and Canada

The first show of the season, by the United Kingdom on Saturday the 27^th, was quite good. Not great, though: I’ve got the same complaint as with Team Mexico’s show a couple years ago, and that’s the fireworks display seemed too tied to the music. I’m not 100% sure, mind you, but there were a number of repetitive parts that weren’t very exciting visually, and I assume that’s what was going on. Music-wise, from what I could see, it seemed to be a tribute to James Bond. There was the theme from Goldfinger, plus another Bond flick which I can’t recall right now. Still, it had lots of good moments.

(More photos here)

I wasn’t really planning to go to Canada’s show on Wednesday the 31^st because it was after volleyball, and I’d be tired and I’d have to face not only the crowds, but also driving home around 9. To my place in the West End. In the West End that was 80% closed to cars because of the fireworks, and only had a few points of entries for gas-powered vehicles. But I got invited by a couple of friends, and after vball I found I had more energy than I thought, so off I went.

(And then I couldn’t find them and for some reason my phone didn’t have coverage so I could neither call nor message. Maybe it’s my carrier, maybe it’s the massive crowds, or both.)

So that was annoying, but I had a good view so I decided to stay. I’m glad I did, because it was phenomenal! No repetitive parts, clever visual effects that I’d never seen before, gorgeous use of colours, I loved every bit of it!

Celebration of Light 2010: Tribute to China

Now that’s what I’m talking about! The 2010 Celebration of Light ended on a high note with our tribute to last year’s winner, China. Stunning and inventive visuals, great music, what’s not to love?

Celebration of Light 2010: Team Mexico

That was… different. I don’t think I’d call it a success, but Mexico’s show was definitely interesting. If I had to pick a word to summarise it, it’d be “refined”. The music (from what I could hear) tended towards the classical, with some very soft, very soothing stretches, especially towards the beginning.

That was probably a mistake, since the fireworks show during those soothing stretches was also extremely low-key. For a couple of minutes, we were treated to small sparkly golden arcs, rising in time to the music (I think)… and nothing else. One little girl sitting close by told her father, “They look like tears!”—which I didn’t really see, but I thought it was too good not to write down.

The big problem, I think, was that Mexico’s team designed the show around the music, with the fireworks only as accompaniment. But that leaves people without a radio out in the cold. The firework should stand on their own, and I don’t think these quite did. There were some good photo-worthy moments, but on the whole it didn’t gel. Sorry, Mexico.

Celebration of Light 2010: Team Spain

It’s fireworks time in Vancouver, with the Celebration of Light, taking place on July 21, 24, 28 and 31. I have already gone to the first two shows—Team USA and Team Spain, and will definitely see the rest. Hey, it’s great entertainment, and I live right by Sunset Beach, so why not?

The Team USA show on the 21^st was good but not great. Honestly, I’d half-expected them to do a long rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner and a red-white-blue theme, but they stuck to red and green, with Big Band and old-school rock music, which was all kinds of fun. Yet, it didn’t rise much above fun. Catchy? Entertaining? Definitely. But, it didn’t feel creative or inventive; it didn’t feel special.

I didn’t have my tripod with me on Wednesday because I’d come straight from volleyball to the beach. Saturday, though, I came prepared. That included getting there extra early, and staking out a spot by the Inukshuk. The crowds were already fierce, even a couple hours before sunset, but at least I had a good unobstructed view.

And my god, was it worth it! The Spanish fireworks were moving and captivating, telling half-understood stories in sound and light and overheard snatches of music. Beginning with sharp, shocking thunderclaps—guns, war, death—rousing music (I think I heard Flight of the Valkyries) interspersed with calm, soothing, Celtic-ish-sounding notes, gold light falling like rain—heavenly grace, peace, or death—all leading up to a deliriously over-the-top explosive finale, it drew me in as non-verbal art rarely does.

Later I found out the theme was “Hell and Heaven”, so I was kind of right. Great job, Pirotecna Igual!

Two things you only see at night

Last night was the first installment of the Celebration of Light. I was exhausted from work and volleyball, possibly coming down with something, and I actually considered not going. But hey: I’m right next to the beach, it was Canada Night, and I’d get to see how this new camera of mine handled fireworks.

Verdict: awesome.

And then today, I took pictures of a bat at work. Just a little bat, hanging on to the wall of the inner courtyard, and sleeping. That’s the first time anybody’s seen it there, at least in the daytime. I wonder if it’s lost, or disoriented? A coworker said it might have gotten drunk on rotten apples and was sleeping off its hangover.

I wish I could have gotten a look at its face. As it was, I had to settle for its wee little claws (on its feet, and the single claw on its wing-joint) that seem enough to support its weight, the soft little fur on its back, and daintily folded wings. Also, since I was shooting through a window, I got to practice with my camera’s manual focus.

Fireworks, Part Deux: Trust The Machine

So I learned a lesson: on Wednesday, (the previous Wednesday) I was experimenting with relatively short exposure times, about 1/4 sec. That had given me good results the first time, but this week I wasn’t doing so well. China’s show didn’t have a lot of big showy ‘splosions like Canada’s, instead focusing on short, small bursts that disappeared quickly. I thought it was quite neat and original, but a lot more challenging to shoot. I ended up being disappointed by most of those photos, and had to rethink my strategy.

So I learned a lesson: on Wednesday, (just like the previous Wednesday) I was experimenting with relatively short exposure times, about 1/4 sec. That had given me good results the first time, but this week I wasn’t doing so well. China’s show didn’t have a lot of big showy ‘splosions like Canada’s, instead focusing on short, small bursts that disappeared quickly. I thought it was quite neat and original, but a lot more challenging to shoot. I ended up being disappointed by most of those photos, and had to rethink my strategy.

See, I realised fireworks aren’t just about colour and light, they’re about motion too. Short exposures don’t really show them off properly, and that’s if I get a good shot. Plus, there’s too much pixel noise. But wouldn’t you know, my camera has a setting just for fireworks? I’d tried it only once on the 23^rd, then abandoned it though it produced an awesome picture. But yeah, it really does work a lot better than all my fiddling. I’ll keep that in mind for next year.

Here, see for yourself.

Panache

Lacework

Light!

Last Wednesday I saw the first installment of the Celebration of Light. It was amazing, though far too short. On the bright side, I found a good spot to set up my camera–not as close as I would have liked, but I had a perfect view.

Taking these photos was a bit of a challenge. My camera’s ISO sensitivity only goes up to 800, and I had to do a lot of fiddling with exposure times and whatnot to get the best shots. And for some reason my camera sometimes just wouldn’t focus properly. I eventually had to trash about half of my photos, but oh, well, that’s what digital cameras are for. Had to do a lot more post-processing than usual, too; apart from the standard cropping and resizing, almost all the pictures had noise that needed to be smoothed out.

But it was all worth it. My first fireworks pictures, folks!

Let there be light!