The Corona Frontier bulk carrier vessel in the Vancouver Harbour in 2016
The picture above was taken during summer 2016 in the Vancouver harbour, in British Columbia. I chose that time of the day to take the picture since the light was at its best.
The calm winds allowed for a better reflection in the water. The rain, which had been falling almost all day, favored the presence of low clouds which eventually hid the mountains. It is nonetheless possible to still see part of the mountains at the top of the picture.
I used a Canon 5DSR full frame camera equipped with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens. The aperture was set at F9 in order to optimize the photo’s sharpness.
The bulk carrier ship in the foreground is the Corona Frontier. It sails under the japanese flag and has its home port in Kobe. The vessel was built in 2000. The Corona Frontier’s draught is 13.7 meters and its gross tonnage is 48032 tons.
The Magdalen Islands, in the Province of Quebec, are recognized for the magnificent sunsets. The picture above was taken while I was coming back from Havre Aubert with my family during summer 2017. The ponds are located between Havre Aubert and Cap-aux-Meules, immediately alongside the main road.
The day had been cloudy and there was no indication that the evening would offer a possibility to get an interesting picture. But around 8 PM, while the sun was still relatively high above the horizon, a few sunrays were able to pierce through the cloud deck. The stratocumulus being well defined, it became obvious that when the sun would be close enough to the horizon, it would light the cloud deck from below as well as light up the ponds. It was important to act rapidly in order to capture the beautiful atmosphere.
When the winds are calm and you must stand still close to ponds in order to do photographic adjustments, one must accept to lose some blood to swarming moskitos. That night, I must have lost a pint of blood!
The absence of wind allowed for a good reflection of the electric poles in the foreground.
The picture was taken with a Canon 5DSR full frame camera equipped with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens and a graduated filter used to avoid the underexposure that would be caused by the highlights in the horizon. I used aperture priority and set it at F18 to get a proper depth of field. The ISO was set at 200 and the focal length at 135 mm.
For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:
The pictures below have been taken in Ottawa, Canada, with a Canon 5D MKII full frame camera. This model is aging a bit, but it has always and still provides the photographer with great colors.
Autumn reflections in Ottawa in 2015
Trees with autumn colors in Ottawa in 2015
Autumn colors on an Ottawa street in 2015
Jogging session early morning in Ottawa
Autumn scenery in Ottawa in 2015
Autumn colors in an Ottawa park in 2015
View of part of the National Gallery of Canada from a park in Ottawa during autumn 2015
United States Embassy in Ottawa
Below is the interesting Canadian Museum of History, in Hull, and few sculptures. I find the Canadian Museum of History’s architecture particularly interesting because of its rounded shapes. It certainly is more expensive to build, but the result is superb.
The Canadian Museum of History, located in the Province of Québec and seen from Ottawa during the autumn 2015
Artwork located in Ottawa, Canada
Peacekeeping Monument (Reconciliation), located in Ottawa, Canada
Ottawa Parliament in autumn
For more articles in the category « Photos of Canada », click on the following link : Photos of Canada
On the picture above, there is a sign indicating that the Quebec Summer Festival does not garantee an access to any sites. Under normal circumstances, this makes sense.
Part of the crowd waiting to enter the site for the Metallica show at the Quebec Summer Festival in 2017
But to say such a thing to the crowd who came to see Metallica would have been quite a challenge : « Ladies and gentlemen, as the person in charge of the Quebec Summer Festival, I would like to take the opportunity to remind you that the ticket you bought does not garantee an access to any specific site. A sign has been posted to that effect and the people at the beginning of the waiting line for the Metallica show can actually read it. Today happens to be such a day where you do not have access to the site. But there are other shows in town, so have a good festival and have fun! »
But all went well and the Metallica show, as well as the other shows presented at the Quebec Summer Festival were a success in 2017.
On a more technical side, the full-frame camera used to take the huge crowd was a Canon 5DSR equipped with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens. The top of the St.Louis Gate, on Grande-Allée, was the perfect place to capture all those people waiting for Metallica.
For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:
CSL Bulk Carrier vessel Ferbec passing by Quebec in May 2017
CSL Ferbec Bulk Carrier vessel in 2017
The picture above shows the Bulk Carrier Ferbec. It belongs to CSL (Canada Steamship Lines). It was built in 2002 and regularly travels between Sorel and the North Shore to carry ore. It is seen here in front of Quebec in May 2017, with Lévis in the background.
The picture was taken using a Canon 5DSR equipped with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM fixed lens.
Instead of taking only a picture of the vessel, I thought it would be more interesting to keep it at a distance and capture the scene when I would see, in the viewfinder of the camera, vegetation partly surrounding the ship.
Weather was quite unstable around Quebec. On the north shore, the sky was mostly covered by a thin veil of cirrus clouds while on the south shore were numerous towering cumulus with rain showers.
Since there were only thin clouds on the north shore of the seaway, a part of the sunlight directly hit the side of the ship, adding some dynamism to the scenery.
Surprisingly, there was only a very light wind directly over the seaway, which helped improve the ship’s reflection in the water. All the elements were now present to capture a souvenir shot of the Ferbec in front of Quebec City.
For other ship photos posted on my website, click on the following links:
Mountain goats in the Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada in 2014
The mountain goat’s winter protection becomes really unbearable during summer, especially when, like in 2014, the temperature rises to 38 degree Celsius in the Jasper National Park, in Alberta, Canada. Goats are looking a bit less photogenic.
The picture above, taken with a Canon 5D MKII full-frame camera, was taken directly on the side of highway 93 at a time when huge forest fires were destroying important areas of the National Park in 2014. The Park authorities were taking daily decisions as to the use of highway 93 between Lake Louise and Jasper. We had access to the Park because we were ready early in the morning and by 11 AM, the highway was again closed for the day.
Here is a night picture that speaks volume about the ambiance that generally prevails in Quebec City. Wherever he walks, the photographer will notice citizen and tourists admiring the town.
The photo was captured with a Canon 5D MKII full-frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 fixed lens. This kind of maximal aperture allows to take pictures at this time of the day without the need of a tripod and without grossly increasing the ISO, thus protecting the picture’s quality. The use of a tripod is always giving better results, but for the occasions where the photographer does not have one with him, the maximal aperture of 1.4 (or even better 1.2 for the lucky ones) can save the day.
The stars surrounding the city lights do not result from using a special photography equipment. Instead, they are produced by the multiple elements present in the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 fixed lens. Since every lenses available on the market are not of equal quality, some lenses naturally offer a much nicer bokeh than others.
It is quite difficult to obtain something else than human silhouettes when the light is so weak. The lower third of the image also proves to be a problem for the camera, as the luminosity created by the streetlights is much more intense. Nonetheless, it was not too difficult to correct the contrasts using an image editing software, since the photo was taken using RAW files.
For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:
In 2017, Quebec City has opted for a decentralization of the Carnival activities which where always organized on the Plains of Abraham. Part of Grande-Allée was blocked to traffic and other activities where also held in the parc de l’Amérique-Française, the parc de la Francophonie and at Place d’Youville, in the hearth of the touristic sector.
Quebec Carnival 2017 symbols
This new formula seems to be a success, according to the number of people met during my photography sessions on the different sites. Children, as usual, were not really bothered by the cold temperature et found a way to have fun. The picture below was taken while the wind chill factor was -20C.
Child playing at the parc de l’Amérique-Française during the 2017 Quebec Carnival
The parc de l’Amérique-Française was receiving the international snow sculpture contest. Many countries were present: Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Peru and the United States. Italy won the first prize with an excellence award from the Quebec Carnival, added to an award from the public and the benevolent staff. The Italian sculptors were Pietro Germano, Samuel Bonapace and Gino Casagranda. The picture below represents one Italian sculptor at work.
An Italian sculptor at work during the 2017 Quebec Carnival.
The second prize, with a Government of Quebec award, was offered to the team from France, who was composed of Pascal Veuillet, André Marastoni and Éric Margery. The pictures below show the work in progress and a French sculptor taking a few minutes to talk with a citizen. He does not seem too annoyed by the cold weather…
French sculptor at the 2017 Quebec Carnival
A French sculptor at the 2017 Quebec Carnival
The team from Canada won the third prize, with an award from Quebec City. In the team were Jessy Armand, Michel Proulx and Mathieu Béchard. The pictures below represent two of the Canadian sculptors at work.
A Quebec sculptor at work on the Canada snow sculpture during the 2017 Quebec Carnival
French Canadian sculptor at the 2017 Quebec Carnival
Some sculptures had a really original look. Instead of capturing the whole creation, I decided to frame a section of one of the sculpture in order to emphasize the artwork.
Section of a snow sculpture at the 2017 Quebec Carnival.
All the pictures have been taken using a Canon 5DSR full-frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 II USM lens, with or without tripod, depending on the amount of light available. The picture above was shot using a 1.2 aperture to maximize the blurred effect in the background. It was then reworked using two different image editing softwares.
For a better idea of all the activites organized by the Quebec Carnival, head towards the following official and bilingual site: Quebec Carnival official site
For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:
The picture above was taken on Grande-Allée in Quebec City during the 2017 Quebec City Carnival. I used a full-frame Canon 5DSR camera equipped with a Canon 14mm f/2.8 L wide-angle lens. There was enough light to be able to set the focus on « automatic ». I had to slightly correct the exposure to improve the visibility of the blue light reflecting on the sidewalk.
For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:
Canada Geese over the Strait of Georgia in British-Columbia, in 2016.
Night photography is not always planned and the photo above, taken late in the evening, was certainly not one I would have been able to take when I started as a photographer.
There was a superb sunset on the strait of Georgia, in British Columbia, and I had taken multiple pictures until late in the evening with my Canon 5DSR full-frame camera. The photography session was almost over.
Once I decided that it was time to pack-up for the night, I heard a flock of Canada Geese. They were flying in formation over the mountains to the west and were heading north in the darkness. In order to photograph those fast moving birds in the remaining light, drastically different settings would have to be made on the camera, and this, very rapidly.
The camera was equipped with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens mounted on a tripod and facing west. It was on manual focus, the stabilizer was inactive and the ISO setting was very low. A ND graduated filter was already mounted on an adapter which was installed on the lens.
That meant dismantling the camera from the tripod, activating the automatic focus as well as the stabilizer, increasing the ISO, removing the ND graduated filter, limiting the aperture to insure sufficient shutter speed, composing the photo and taking few rapid shots before the geese were too far away.
Few seconds later, those birds and the landscape were becoming another souvenir of a beautiful summer holiday spent in British Columbia.
For more articles in the category « Photos of Canada », click on the following link : Photos of Canada
