By cropping very tightly a picture of the St-Louis-de-Gonzague school’s entrance, in Quebec City, it is possible to modify the access to the school.
To the right of the hole in the wall, you can see “Entrée des élèves”, which means “Entrance for students”. With this reinterpretation, the students are invited to leave school as soon as they arrive. At a time where the society promotes an alternative education and the environment, this is an ideal opportunity for the students!
In Canada, we cannot take the picture of someone who is the main subject unless we have obtained her permission. This is even more important with a child, where the authorization of the parents is required. But in the case of the picture below, it is different: it is a child whose face seems to belong to somebody else!
The child with a man’s face. Terrasse Dufferin, Quebec City.
I took this picture and enlarged it in the camera to understand what I was seeing. I realized that the child was holding the image of an adult man directly in front of his face.
The child with a man’s face (enlarged photo)
There was a group of adults that were standing nearby. One of the man called the child, who rapidly stepped down from the statue. They told me that the picture held by the child represents the sensei of a karate club that came all the way from British-Columbia for a national competition of Shotokan style karate being held at Laval University in Quebec City. The mystery was solved!
Jeanne d’Arc and the snow geese. Parc Jeanne d’Arc, Quebec City, 2017.
When someone wants to do street photography, he must continually ask himself: “What don’t I see, but that is there? What do I take for granted but that would deserve a different approach?”
While I was heading to Old Quebec, I walked by the Jeanne d’Arc park. This park is known for its beautiful flowers and its huge statue of Jeanne d’Arc. But how could I get the statue without the flowers?
I was looking left and right when I finally looked straight up to see, in the background, hundreds of snow geese flying at high altitude and enroute for the Arctic. I had to very rapidly find a way to photograph the statue and the snow geese.
A few seconds later, the tip of Jeanne d’Arc’s sword was pointing towards the snow geese, making a link between the two subjects.
On a more theoretical note, an abstract diagonal line crossed the photo, starting from the front of the horse and going through the rider, the tip of the sword and following the two lines of geese, ending in the upper right corner of the picture.
The picture was taken with a Canon 5DSR full frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM.
(Remorquage à vos frais = Towing at your own expenses)
Street photography is also about noticing anomalies in commercial signs. In the picture above, the commercial establishment offers parking space, but if you use the parking you will be towed because it is forbidden to park.
On the store’s door, you can see that many credit cards are accepted. So, if we follow the same reasoning, you will have problems if you use those cards. It is better to pay with Diner’s Club or American Express. The washrooms are also available for whoever does not need to go. The bankrupted establishment is also open except when it is closed.
An excellent way of keeping warm…but not keeping your feet.
Street photography sometimes means having to take risks. But this time, it was not me who was at risk. During the Quebec Carnival 2018, I saw this young tourist who had found an original way of keeping her feet warm. With this method, it is never necessary to bother warming up your feet a second time!
A young girl plays piano on Willows Beach in Victoria.
The photo above was taken with a Canon 5DSR full-frame camera in Victoria, British-Columbia. The exact location is a beach in Oak Bay called Willows Beach.
In many cities around the world, the trend is to install used pianos in unusual places hoping that citizens and tourists will take a few minutes to try their hand at the instrument. While a young girl was starting to play on this piano left beside Willows Beach, a young boy appeared in my viewfinder, upside down on his father’s shoulder. To each his own.
In the distance, it is possible to see the sailboats of the Oak Bay Yacht Club and the Washington State Olympic Mountains, in the United States.
These teens from Quebec City work hard at walking on the side of a stonewall near the St. Louis Gate in Old Quebec. Their efforts deserved a picture.
The picture was taken from far away, that is from a point located on the other side of the St.Louis street.That way, they did not realize that they were being photographed, which allowed them to stay natural. That is one of the principles of street photography.
Behind the people is Quebec City’s lower town. The city lights are visible since it was close to 9 PM when the picture was taken.
I was able to take a sharp picture from really far away only with the help of a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens mounted on a Canon 5DSR full frame camera that is equipped with a 50.6 megapixel sensor. Some significant cropping was then necessary to bring the action even closer to the viewer.
Children are playing on a beach in Parksville, British Columbia
The children in the picture above immediately reminded me of my youth. In the ‘60s, video games had yet to be invented and we were often outside trying to create new situations in which we could take risks without serious consequences.
The kids are playing on a beach in Parksville, British Columbia. For how long will the boy be able to stay dry in his rubber boots? His sister seems to realize more than him the situation in which he has put himself. Maybe it is already too late to return to the beach before the next wave…!
The scene was caught with a Canon 5DSR full frame camera.
Two Porter Airlines Bombardier Q-400 on the Toronto Billy Bishop airport
That is what happens when there is only one taxiway and both pilots refuse to give way…
You have certainly realized that there are no conflict here and that, a fraction of a second later, both Porter Airlines Bombardier Q-400 aircrafts continued taxiing, one towards the ramp and the other one towards one of the runways of the Toronto Billy Bishop airport in Ontario.
Few seconds before, I was watching both aircrafts getting closer with each other. Being of the same format, it was possible to get a special effect. Every fraction of a second counts when doing street photography so I took several shots and chosed the one that allowed the minimal space between the two aircrafts.
