Fireworks in Vancouver

Vancouver has many fireworks displays every year - New years, Canada Day (They have been canceled for the last few years, but are back this year), Celebration of Light (nee Symphony of Fire) and many special events. The Canada Day fireworks (July 1st) have a website and this years Celebration of Light days are July 25 - Spain, July 28 - Canada, August 1 - China, August 4 - Grand Finale.

The map below shows some of the locations where fireworks are launched and some of the good places to watch fireworks from.

Symphony Of Fire in English Bay, from First Beach

The best places see fireworks is First Beach in English Bay. The fireworks are the sharpest, the smoke is least likely to be a problem and the music is the clearest. My first summer with a camera I attended a seminar on how to photograph fireworks put on by the The Symphony of Fire organizers. I bought a clamp and shot sitting on the grass with the camera mounted up on a post. Three hundred thousand people joined me watching the show. Out of 3 rolls of film, these are some of my favorites:

There is only one real downside to first beach - the three hundred thousand other people who come to join you. If you want to get a good spot, come 4 hours early and enjoy some time at the beach. About an hour before the fireworks begin the paths around the beach starts to seize up - every seatable square foot of beach front is taken. If you want entertainment, go when the tide is rising.

But you won't beat the view.

Symphony Of Fire in English Bay, from Vanier Park

I've taken photos of fireworks with film (my old APS camera), slides (my then new F100) and digital - considering the cost of the equipment involved, there isn't a quantum leap in quality. The most important part seems to be having a good way to keep your camera steady. (Again from Vanier Park)

Celebration of Light from the Burrard Street Bridge

To really see the fireworks, you need a clear sight to the barge. I've always wanted to see the fireworks from the Burrard Street Bridge, and I was very happy with the results.

You can go to the bridge less than half an hour before the fireworks start and still get a great view. This is the best place to go to get a last minute view of the fireworks.

Celebration of Light from the Granville Street Bridge

I was curious what the view from the Granville Street Bridge would be like. Burrard is so easy to see them from, I was hoping having a bit of Vancouver in the frame would give the fireworks a sense of place.

Burrard Street Bridge From The Granville Street Bridge

No suck luck. The best images are at 200mm, and balancing the sodium lights of the bridge to the fireworks didn't work as well as I was hoping. Given the choice, I think I would take the additional 15 minutes of walking to see the fireworks from the Burrard Street Bridge. Watching people getting tickets from the police for pulling there cars over on the bridge was amusing, but a little sad.

Celebration of Light from Fairview Slopes

Some days you don't feel like braving the crowds to get to a great viewing site. If you have a friend in the right neighborhood, nothing beats watching the fireworks from a private deck.

This year I saw two very different sets of fireworks from Fairview slopes - Italy and Canada. Italy had a tough break - almost no wind meant their fireworks went into an ever increasing cloud of smoke. By the end, it looked like a nebula with explosions inside - only the largest bursts would get outside the cloud.

The following Saturday, Canada had it's turn. The show was amazing From farther away you tend to concentrate on the larger bursts. Canada had an amazing variety of colours and fireworks that would rise, fall and rise again, somewhat reminiscent of the fireworks in Lord of the Rings. We were blown away.

This is long lens range - I used my 80-200 at full length to fill the frame. After an amazing show, we returned to our evenings fun.

Celebration of Light from Coal Harbour

A lots of people (with the right location) have house parties that include a viewing of the fireworks. Another friend has a condo in Coal Harbour and her building top deck (29 stories up) happens to have view through the other buildings to the fireworks. Not much of the barge is in view but you do get to see the fireworks more at eye level.

The best part of not being right at first beach (or the immediate area) is that you can don't have a challenging time getting to wherever you are going when the fireworks are done.

Symphony Of Fire in English Bay, from Burnaby Mountain

These shots are from Burnaby Mountain (SFU), looking toward downtown. Seeing the fireworks right over the city is cool, but the sound delay between the explosion and you hearing it is several seconds. Someone usually has their radio playing. If you have summer classes, it's worth the effort to walk to the park.

Fireworks over Canada Place from Fairview Slopes

Plaza of Nations (Science World) from the Cambie Street Bridge

Canada Day (Canada Place) from the North Shore

The fireworks are a long way away (these are cropped out of images shot with a 80-200mm lens) so bring a big lens. The crowd in the park were quite lively and it was a nice quick way to see the show. Depending on the location of the freighters, you may not see the firework barge, and the city behind isn't particularly recognizable.