We’ve had some very mild weather recently in Quebec City. A rainy day in the middle of winter melts the snow at an accelerated rate and creates widespread fog over the region. Just before nightfall, this weather phenomenon combined with road traffic and the imposing trees on Grande-Allée prompted me to take a photo from the moving car. Digital processing was then applied to achieve the desired effect.
Here’s another shot of rue Saint-Louis in Old Quebecin the rain in the middle of winter. I took the photo at the end of 2023, when the Christmas decorations added a little cheer for lack of snow, which is fairly rare for Quebec City. Many tourists had to readjust their plans for outings with children during this period.
The photo above shows two ferries shuttling between Quebec and Lévis through the ice in winter 2024. It doesn’t take much to immobilize a ferryin ice, but this year the layer is fairly thin due to a very mild January.
Above, the ships continue their work at dusk. The routes recently taken by the vessels can be seen. I took the photo from the Dufferin Terrace with a tripod-mounted Canon 5 DSr camera.
Bonhomme Carnaval regularly strolls along the Dufferin Terracein Old Quebecto greet passers-by, and he never fails to attract many curious onlookers who rush to give him a hug. Further along the terrace is the famous slide, so popular with tourists. You have to queue for a long time before you can get your place on a toboggan.
The photo above shows the Dufferin Terrace slide in the early evening. I used a tripod to keep the ISO at 200 for a sharper image.
You can see the fun in the children’s and adults’ eyes when full speed is reached. For the photo above, the focus was taken on a precise point on the slide before the festival-goers were visible in the camera lens. When people reached the predetermined spot, I triggered the shutter. This made it easier for the autofocus system to focus on a fast-moving target.
Ten years ago this year, I took this photo of Parisian life in relaxation mode. I wasn’t interested in the main subject that we find on every postcard, but in the normal parallel life of citizens living close to such a well-known tourist attraction.
In the photo above, these Parisians are taking it easy on their barge moored along the Seine, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
The same is true for Quebec City residents living near the Château Frontenac. They find a way to reserve a little peace and quiet for themselves, away from the tourists, quietly seated on their verandas at the end of the day.
As the St. Lawrence River is a fairly difficult waterway to navigate, Canadian law obliges the captains of certain large vessels to accept local pilots, who are fully conversant with the particularities of the seaway, on board for the riskiest journeys.
Once the Quebec pilot has helped the Explora 1 captain, the ship continues on its way to Quebec City, rounding the Île d’Orléans, as shown in the photo below. After playing its role as a sea cab, the little boat belonging to the St. Lawrence Pilots pulls away from the ship and returns to the Bassin Louise in the Port of Québec.
Serena Melani, “the first woman in the world to steer a cruise ship out of a shipyard“, ensures a smooth approach for the Explora 1 to Pier 30 in the Port of Québec. This brand-new vessel completed its sea trials in April 2023, and Quebec City is among the first destinations scheduled for 2023.
Every captain would love to dock at the popular Pier 22, as it offers a perfect view of the Château Frontenac. But on this fine October day, the Norwegian Sky is already occupying the spot.
Here are a few photos of nature and Old Quebec while there are still leaves on the trees. This year, the autumn colors are spectacular and the leaves are hanging on the trees longer, as the frost is more than a week behind the normal average. This means more outings and more memories!
The Norwegian Joy cruise ship, which weighs close to 168,000 tons, is one of the biggest ships to dock in Old Quebec in autumn.
It can accommodate 3,852 passengers and, for onboard service, there are 1,851 crew members – almost one employee for every two holidaymakers. The ship was built in 2017. Despite its young age, it benefited from renovations in 2020.
In the photo above, you can see a transparent tube raised above the upper deck in the top left-hand corner. With an enlarged photo, you’ll see that people are sliding down this water slide upside down. The shot below will help you get a better look at the guy in the red and blue swimsuit speeding by. The camera’s shutter speed had to be set to 1/2000 to avoid motion blur.
That day, I was only carrying a Canon EF 11-24 mm f/4 USM zoom lens. I had to crop the photo a little to enlarge it, but you can still see the scene quite well. Part of the tube gives the sportsman the impression of suddenly plunging to the ground, as the installation protrudes over the sides of the ship.
While people are enjoying themselves on the upper deck, a whole team is busy refueling the ship and ensuring its safety. In the photo above, a dog can even be seen going around the pallets to detect any dangerous or illicit products.
Here’s a final photo of the Norwegian Joy, taken from inside a recently built cedar gangway near Quay 22 in the Port of Quebec. The sun filtering through the rungs provides a beautiful play of light, all captured by a Canon EF 11-24 mm f/4 USM zoom lens set to 11 mm. The effect is further enhanced by the pseudo HDR mode offered by digital processing software.
Autumn in Quebec City heralds the arrival of cruise ships in large numbers. Some days see the arrival and departure of as many as five ships. All these passengers disembark by the thousands in Old Quebec and delight the merchants. For the first time in Quebec City, the liner Mein Schiff 6was recently seen moored at Quay 22 in the Port of Quebec.
The inscription “Mein Schiff” on the side means “my boat” in German. Note the obligatory capitalization of the common noun “Schiff” in this language. Common nouns are written in lower case in English. There’s also the word “Wohlfüllen” on the side, evoking something like “feeling of well-being“.
This cruise ship from Europe has 15 decks and can accommodate 2,517 passengers. More than 1,000 employees provide onboard service. For this trip to Quebec City, it carries mainly Germans. The company supplying the liner in Quebec City is called Hapag Lloyd. It has an international reputation and is also German-owned.
Hapag Lloyd also owns container ships and cargo planes. I was working in Iqaluit (airport code CYFB and formerly known as Frobisher Bay), Baffin Island, when I spotted a brand-new Boeing 737 in the company colors. It was arriving from Boeing Field (KBFI) and passing through Canada for customs clearance and fuel before continuing on to Germany.
The Mein Schiff 6’s next destination after leaving Quebec City is Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island.
The setting sun hits the side of these Quebec City buildings, creating two areas of very distinct luminosity. Such extremes pose challenges for the camera. By using a Raw file rather than a JPEG, it’s much easier to correct the brightest and darkest areas.
In the summer of 2023, a South Korean tourist takes a short break in Old Quebec after a busy day of walking inside the ramparts of the old city.
Luck plays a significant role in the acquisition of an original shot. To put chance on our side, we need to go on photo expeditions frequently, whatever the weather, and seize opportunities when they arise.
For this outing in Old Quebec, I thought I’d use a Canon 11–24mm f/4L USM super-wide-angle zoom lens. It allows you to get very close to a tall building and obtain vertical lines without the top of the structure disappearing.
Indeed, many high-performance zooms require the utilization of image-processing software to produce an almost perfect vertical effect. But doing so cuts off the top of the edifice.
So, I was looking for a different perspective to shoot the Château Frontenac. I saw it more in the background, as a point of arrival for the eye, rather than taking up all the space. Even as a small edifice in a photo, you recognize it before any other structure.
To do this, I chose an architecturally interesting building as my starting element. It reminded me vaguely of the Flatiron Building in New York. Naturally, it’s not as high and offers that rounded effect when captured in wide-angle format.
I’ve observed a lot of representations of Old Quebec so far. However, I don’t recall previously noticing the street and the old edifices in this way. Usually, the building in the foreground is partially visible.
Lost in the analysis of the ideal angle, I heard a strange engine sound. On my left, a vintage car was moving slowly and would pass in front of the Canon 5DSr lens in a few seconds.
I quickly lifted the camera and placed it in the right spot. The auto was already gaining speed and I had to seize the opportunity. This vintage car blended perfectly into the scene. Only the slightly more contemporary station wagon indicates a more recent picture.
Modernity and the past still come together in harmony in a developer-protected Old Quebec. To capture interesting pictures, you need to get out into the old town frequently.