Establishing environment-- Winterlude fireworks

I apologize profusely (and mainly to myself) for the extended absence. Life was put on hold by health issues, both mine and the cats', yet again. And so I find myself already in February, the month of Establishing Environment, according to my Resolutions post.

For my first such project I chose to shoot the Winterlude fireworks. (If you're not from Ottawa, Winterlude is a huge deal around here, probably in the hope of making the most of the 5-6 long and fairly miserable months of winter we usually get) My big plan was to find a vantage point from where my shots wouldn't just look like yet another fireworks display, but to make it clear that this is the Ottawa Winterlude fireworks display. After some arduous Google Maps and Street View searching, I decided to perch myself on Laurier Bridge, which gave me a nice view of Parliament Hill, Chateau Laurier, the fireworks, AND part of the Rideau Canal (world's largest skating rink, and pretty much the focal point of this whole Winterlude deal), which I hoped would establish enough environment to fit this assignment.

The trouble with perfect plans, of course, is that they don't always hold up in real life. The canal, which I imagined a smooth sheet of ice lined with pretty little cabins and lights, was partially closed and sported odd fences and less than pretty storage blocks, among other imperfections. The park around it looked barren rather than Winterludish and festive. And, of course, the best part of a fireworks display is always the finale, by which time the sky is almost always too smoky to look pretty on camera.

The best results are below, from widest view (including part of the Canal) to narrowest (Chateau Laurier only).