An outside exhibition presenting metal office furniture installed in a glass cage allowed me to show Montreal under an unusual angle. The picture was then digitally treated to give it the desired look.
The main subject, in the picture above, can either be the Canada Goose or the bright psychedelic pattern of colours surrounding the bird.
Moments before three geese swam near Victoria’s Fishermen’s Wharf, in British Columbia, the multicolored houses built along the piers were perfectly reflected in the water.
As the geese swam through the reflections, waves and patterns of multiple colours were suddenly created. I chose to take a picture of the last Canada Goose as she benefitted the most from the interesting shapes and colours in the water.
The very bright colours were due to the paint chosen for the houses as well as the direct sunrays striking the houses since the sun that was approching the horizon. The goose is positioned according to the rule of thirds, but this is never mandatory. The small waves in the lower left quadrant gradually lead the eye to the main subject.
A view of Château Lac Louise and the surrounding mountains.
The picture above shows Château Lake Louise and, in the background, Mount Richardson. Lake Louise is in Alberta but only a few kilometers from British Columbia.
This picture was taken during summer 2018 while several forest fires were raging in western Canada. Luckily for us, the smoke had not yet reached Lake Louise when the picture was taken. A few days later, the visibilty worsened and the air quality in the area degraded considerably.
At the time of the picture, the sky was cloudy and I had to wait for the sky to clear in order for more intense sunrays to light part of Château Lake Louise. This provided a greater contrast between the hotel and the mountains in the background.
I thought it was appropriate to keep the canoe with its passengers to add dynamism to the scenery. The photographic composition was planned so as to include the reflection of the bright part of the hotel on the lake.
In order to make an acceptable picture at this time of the day while sitting in a canoe, I used a Canon EF85mm f/1.2L II USM lens mounted on a Canon 5DSR camera. The outstanding performance of the lens in low light allowed me to keep the ISO at 200, thus limiting the photographic grain.
The shutter speed was adjusted to 1/5000 to compensate for the movement of my canoe and the effect of the wind. It seemed to me that for this particular landscape picture, a 16 x 9 format was better suited than the traditional 3X2 associated with full frame sensors.
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The picture above, taken in 2018, shows a partial view of Lake Agnes. The photographic composition is limited to elements that reinforce the diagonal lines crossing the scenery. In the foreground, the branch reinforces this composition by following the reflection of the rocks in the water.
The limited number of colours in the picture allows for a better view of the diagonal lines in the landscape.
At the extreme right in the foreground are a few people following a pathway along Lake Agnes in order to start the ascent of the Devil’s Thumb (visible in the background) or the more popular Big Beehive.
The picture was taken with a Canon 5DSR camera equipped with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens.
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The Lake Agnes Tea House can be reached by a very well maintained 3.5 km pathway that starts outside the Château Lake Louise. The climb is only 400 meters (1300 feet). Lake Agnes is located at an altitude of 2134 meters. From there, it is possible to continue the ascent up to the Big Beehive, which tops at 2270 meters.
No road allows an access by car to the Lake Agnes Tea House. This means that a part of the products needed for the tea house have to be brought up by foot by employees. The garbage is disposed in the same way, when employees go down the mountain. Customers can help by bringing down a little bag of garbage when they are ready to head back to their hotel. That eases the employee’s task. The tea house menu offers only a few choices, since there is no electricity. But the experience is always interesting.
The picture above was taken during summer 2018 with a Canon 5DSR camera equipped with a Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens. The focal length was adjusted to 200mm and the ISO to 2500 for this photo taken with a hand held camera.
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For this picture of the Kelowna Yacht Club, in British Columbia, I was more interested in capturing the general atmosphere rather than the whole yacht club with all its boats and installations.
The words Kelowna Yacht Club and the boats being obvious in the midground, there was no need to add more details. It was nonetheless important to position the tent in the superior right corner of the picture since the name of the yacht club was showing and it was well lighted.
The photographic composition includes elements of the surrounding natural environment that made Kelowna’s reputation. The boats are framed between the rocks and the plants in the foreground while the mountains are visible in the background.
In order to achieve a good photo at this time of the day, a tripod was necessary. It was nonetheless mandatory to limit the exposure time due to the winds, in order to avoid a blurred picture. The shutter speed was limited to 3.2 seconds and the ISO adjusted to 320 to limit the photographic grain. An aperture set at 13 allowed a sufficient depth of field to offer a sharp image.
A Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens mounted on a full frame Canon 5DSR was used for the picture. The focal was limited to 32mm. The visibility was somewhat limited due to the active forest fires in the region, but the additional condensation nucleis in the air helped to obtain beautiful colors in the sky.
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Freezing rain and nature during the winter 2019 in Quebec City.
The effects of the freezing rain that fell over Quebec City this winter were not only negative. Photographers seized the opportunity to immortalize rapidly changing situations.
In the picture above, the “blue” that is visible in the ice represents the reflection from the magnificent winter sky. On a bigger screen, the ice shows the white birch trees that were surrounding the scene.
In order to avoid any distractions, the background was keptblurred by setting the aperture to 3.5. The presence of moderate wind required a higher shutter speed, in this case 1/6400. The ISO was limited to 250, to protect the quality of the picture during the enlargment. The 50.6 megapixel full frame sensor offered all the necessary flexibility during the digital processing.
The picture was taken with a Canon 5DSR equipped with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II USM telephoto lens. I only had that lens at the moment of my walk. The focal length was 200mm with the stabilizer “on” and a setting of “1.2 meter/infinite” instead of the usual “2.5 meters / infinite”.
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A view of the Columbia river near Revelstoke, Alberta 2018.
While passing by Revelstoke, in British Columbia,walking along the pathways near Columbia River is a must. The surrounding mountains offer a very interesting view and the changing colors provide great photo opportunities.
In the picture above, I thought appropriate to add a touch of life by waiting for a duck to reach the center of the frame and by including the two bikes in the foreground.
Since I was not walking with a tripod, I adjusted the shutter speed to 1/250 and the ISO to 2000. The aperture was set to 9.0 and the exposure modified to + 1/3 to compensate for a bright background. The 50.6 megapixel RAW file allowed for further adjustments with Photoshop.
A Canon 5DSR full frame camera was used, coupled with a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens. The chosen focal length was 70mm.
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Arriving from the southeast on Highway 1 to Lake Louise, Alberta, you can choose to exit at Castle Junction and drive along an interesting road that is parallel to Highway 1. The road is called Bow Valley Parkway (1A). There is less traffic on that road so it is easier to get out of the car and take a few shots of the area.
The picture above shows Castle Mountain. I waited for a car to come up the road, to add a “human” dimension to the scenery. The shutter speed was adjusted to 1/250, the aperture at 5.0, the ISO to 200 and the focal length at 70mm. I used a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens with a Canon 5DSR full frame camera.
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This hand held picture was taken as we were starting to climb towards Lake Agnes, near Lake Louise , Alberta, during Summer 2018. It was one of the rare days where the visibility was not reduced by forest fires that were raging across the province.
The picture was taken with a Canon 5DSR full frame camera. The shutter speed was adjusted to 1/250, the aperture to 13, the ISO to 1000 and the focal was set to 24mm. The lens used was a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM.
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