An alley cat that has been in a few fights, judging from its bruised eye. Surprised by the sound of the camera’s shutter release, he stopped dead in his tracks, assessed the danger, and continued on his way.
I framed the animal tightly to avoid visual distractions. The ball in the background represents leisure time, while the cat is in a totally different mindset: he must fight and find his food.
Click on the following link for more street photography on my blog.
The exhibition of Mosaïculture of Québec City 2022, entitled “Once upon a time…the Earth“, ends in a few days, after having been a great success throughout the summer.
More than six million plants were used to build 200 animals and insects in the Bois-de-Coulonge, not to mention the flowers along the way to further enhance the tour.
In a few months, hundreds of thousands of visitors will have walked through the circuit of 90 minutes to visit the largest edition of mosaiculture since its creation in 2000 in Montreal. In Québec City, more than 80% of the works were exposed for the first time.
The site had to be prepared nine months in advance. As intensive watering became mandatory, Québec City temporarily modified its watering regulations, explaining that it was an exhibition and not a horticultural production.
Above, a shepherd plants a tree in a place that seems to be very unfertile, indicating at the same time the need not to give up when it comes to saving the planet.
These Québec 2022 mosaicultures will have been another major tourist attraction for Québec City, after a cascade of other summer events. In fact, there have been times when so many tourist activities overlapped at the same time, that residents and tourists had to make choices. A spectacular rebound from a pandemic that forced people to make sacrifices for two years!
Click on the link for more pictures of Québec City in Summer on my blog.
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.
Click on the link for other photos of British-Columbia on my blog.
There are dogs that have a more difficult life than the dog above. For many years, this dog has accompanied his master who works as a coachman in Old Quebec.
This picture was taken with a hand held camera using a shutter speed of 1/60, which is very little considering the 200mm focal length. Normally, with 200mm, a photographer would have to use a speed of 1/200. But the light was not ideal and the ISO already at 3200. I stabilized my position as best as I could by using one of the Château Frontenac’s wall, which is solid enough!
The lens used was a Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM mounted on a Canon 5DSR camera.
For other pictures of Quebec City, click on the following links of my blog :
Obviously, the Canon 5D MKII is not the ideal camera for sport photography, but it still can offer very good results with its full frame sensor. You don’t get a high number of frames per second, but you get the benefit of a bigger image than one produced with an APS-C sensor. I was thus able to capture the full take-off run of this Canada goose in Victoria, British Columbia, while leaving enough space on the right side of the frame, which was essential for a balanced photographic composition.
Deer move freely in Victoria’s Uplands sector and you can easily find them on private property lots. Since they are so numerous and have no natural enemies, the city has imposed new regulations to control their ever growing number. The picture above was taken from my vehicle: it was only necessary to slow down and proceed quickly to capture the animal while it was looking at the car.
There are numerous herons in Victoria’s Oak Bay sector. This picture was taken very early in the morning, while there was a mixture of mist and low clouds and the rising sun was still blocked by some low clouds. The wind was calm. A graduated filter was nonetheless necessary to tone down the contrasts caused by a horizontal light.
Every bird has to fight for its own territory and those two herons are no exception.
While taking a little scenic cruise in British-Columbia’s Campbell River area, we were able to see numerous eagles diving to catch fishes then climbing back up in high trees to deliver the catch of the day. Pictures were hard to take since the captain had to keep the boat at a good distance from the eagles to respect their hunting territory. Moreover, it was windy and the boat was constantly moving.
The two pictures of eagles were taken with a Canon 5D MKII equipped with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens. An extender (2X) was also added to increase the focal distance to 400mm. Even then, I had to crop quite a lot to bring the birds to an acceptable distance, which increased the digital noise. A quality APS-C equipped camera (like the Canon 7D MKII) would have been very useful here (10 frames per second and a reduced amount of cropping, if you are ready to compromise on the size of the image).
A full frame camera like the Canon 5DSr would have also been appropriate, with its 50.6 MP resolution, as long as a high shutter speed is selected. Due to all those pixels crammed on a regular full frame sensor (not a medium format), the slightest camera movement is recorded. But if you succeed in totally freezing a long distance shot, the exceptional resolution of the Canon 5DSr would allow you to greatly increase the size of the bird while protecting the sharpness of the image, especially now that the low pass filter has been neutralized in the model R.
On the car ride between Lake Louise and Jasper, we had to stop on numerous occasions to take pictures in the fantastic Jasper National Park. At one point, a little chipmunk, familiar with rest areas, paid us a visit hoping to add something new to his diet. The picture’s depth-of-field has deliberately been adjusted to make sure the chipmunk would be easily visible, since both animal and background had the same colours.
It was hot, very hot, during summer 2014 in the Jasper National Park. The car’s thermometer was recording 38C between Lake Louise and Jasper. Numerous forest fires were raging. So much so that we had to delay our trip towards Jasper by 24 hours since Highway 93 had been closed by authorities. Mountain goats nonetheless had to endure part of their winter fur in that very high heat…
Near Kamloops, in Alberta, we were able to observe about twenty Canadian bighorns coming down from the surrounding mountains to help themselves from the cultivated lands in the valley. The picture above was taken with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens, almost without cropping, the bighorns being close enough.
The picture above was taken alongside the Yellowhead Highway in Alberta. We saw the bear in a field and when he detected our presence, he changed direction and started moving toward us. Here, everything is about moderation and although I love photography, comes a time when a bear is big enough in the viewfinder to indicate that it is time to retreat…
Other pictures on Western Canada will be available in the coming months…
For more articles in the category « Photos of Canada », click on the following link : Photos of Canada
Tanya Nagar is an award-winning photographer from London. Her book, “The new street photographer’s manifesto” is perfect for those who aim to improve their street photography techniques. The present article is not a comprehensive critic of her book but an overview of what a reader will find. I also highlighted some tips in photography that will help to improve the street photographer’s performance.
Tanya’s manifesto not only contains technical advices helping a photographer to improve his shots but also some tips to avoid common mistakes. Subjects include: timing, composition, shooting portraits, framing and juxtaposition, perspective and angles, the choice between landscape and portrait, depth of field, shutter speed, exposure, night photography, rule of thirds, etc.
The book’s content is divided in six categories: 1. Street Photography 2. Where & What to Shoot 3. Seize the Moment 4. Equipment 5. Digital Processing 6. Showcase.
1. Street photography requires the ability to seize a life moment with precision and timing. It is about candid shots and does not have to include humans, as long as it fixes a moment in life. It certainly can include animals (in fact, animals are a very popular subject).
2. It is best if you use a light, discrete camera (even an I-Phone). Walking with a huge camera with big lenses makes you look like a professional photographer and people will see you coming. The trick is to avoid drawing attention. Coughing while clicking drowns out the sound of the camera. You might also think of “shooting from the hip” or “shooting blind”. Those techniques are explained in the book and can be mastered with a bit of practice.
3. It takes a bit of courage to photograph situations that include people since you never know what to expect when you raise your camera. Respect the different cultures and personal space and don’t be afraid to smile and explain what you are doing. If somebody refuses to be photographed, move on, don’t dwell on the situation.
4. In order to gain experience and a feeling of security at taking pictures of people on the street, start with protests or parades.
5. It is a good thing to know the laws pertaining to photography of the country you are visiting. Police officers in some countries might be tempted to order you to delete a shot while they actually don’t have the right to. Often, a misunderstanding by police or security guards of anti-terrorism legislation leads to different interpretations and subsequently to abuse towards a photographer. Just make sure you stay up to date with the country’s regulations.
6. You might think of shooting from within your vehicle to obtain interesting results (while respecting the country’s laws).
7. Use graffitis, signs, graphical billboards, text and advertising logos.
8. Use contrasts like big versus small, light versus dark, rich versus poor, etc.
9. Bear attention to details and look for second degree interpretation of a situation.
10. Look for amusing, funny and unusual captures.
11. Make sure you master your camera in order to be quick when the perfect opportunity comes. Set most of the parameters of the camera before actually arriving on a scene (you already have an idea of the light intensity in the area and the ISO setting that will be required to obtain the speed you desire).
12. Be cautious when it comes to taking pictures of children. Societies change and authorization from the child’s parents is required almost every time.
13. “The only way to avoid missing a moment is by carrying your camera at all times”. Therefore, get something small and light.
The book holds a section dedicated to multiple types of cameras: rangefinders, SLR and DSLR, four thirds and micro four thirds, medium format, point-and-shoot compact cameras, camera phones, toy and pinhole cameras. Their advantages and disadvantages are clearly explained.
The reader will also find some information about lenses (the best for street photography and what to avoid) and the effects obtained through the use of different type of films (colored, black and white, expired).
The fifth section of the book relates to digital processing and the basic image editing techniques like cropping, rotating, the use of the “Curves” command, as well as dodging and burning.
The final section, “Showcase”, presents many well-known street photographers from around the world, including few photos taken by each of them to allow the reader to have an overview of each photographer’s personal style and creativity. Presented in order are: Antonio Navarro Wijkmark, Brian Quentin Webb, Charlotte Gonzalez, Claire Atkinson, Danny Santos II, Felix Lupa, Ferhat Çelik, Mustafa Abdulaziz, Ronya Galka, Seamus Travers and Severin Koller.
This is certainly a very interesting and practical photography book that will help you avoid costly mistakes (missed photo opportunities or buying the wrong photography equipment) while helping you to improve your knowledge on street photography as much as the quality of your shots.
Here is a link towards Tanya Nagar’s website: Tanya Nagar
For other photography book reviews, click on the following link: Other photography books
Title: The new street photographer’s manifesto.
Author: Tanya Nagar
©The Ilex Press Limited 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4547-0417-1
February 1990 in Iqaluit, on Baffin Island, Canada. Activities have slowed down a bit today. A temperature of -43C combined with 35 mph north-west winds means that the wind chill factor has gone down to -85C (NOAA Wind Chill Chart). We see far fewer pedestrians and even less motor vehicles on the city’s few roads. Many engines refuse to start and the motor oil has almost the consistency of maple taffy.
A special day indeed as, from the Transport Canada flight service station (FSS) tower, we can watch a very interesting performance. Huge ravens have picked that very windy day to have fun, regardless of the temperature. Flying under the wind near the FSS cab, they benefit from the venturi effect. There is no need flapping their wings. They just glide while occasionally correcting the angle of attack to adjust for the gusting wind.
The wind chill factor affecting living organisms, I find it quite spectacular to see those huge black birds having fun while we would expect that, with a -85C factor, ravens which must not absolutely fly would stay under cover until the weather improves a bit.
We can clearly hear the noise made by the wind on the wings of a huge raven when it glides over us. One day, I was walking near the Apex village under total silence. Suddenly I heard a raven glide low over my head. He was possibly checking if there was anything eatable out of that deformed shape transformed by multiple layers of winter clothing. There was only the rustling of the wind on its large open wings and no other sound. That was a very special experience.
For more real life stories as a FSS in Iqaluit, click on the following link: Flight service specialist (FSS) in Iqaluit
(Un précis sur le droit de la photographie au Québec et au Canada)
For those of you who can read French, here is a very interesting handbook. The author, Jean Goulet, is a lawyer by profession and was a full time teacher at the University Laval Faculty of Law in Québec. Himself an amateur photographer, he decided to develop on the many legal questions pertinent to amateur and professional photography.
The author skims through national and international legislation and takes a moment to discuss the Berne Convention. He uses real life examples in order to help the photographer understand the legal consequences of his actions when taking a picture.
Mr Goulet uses Canadian, Québec, French, American and English jurisprudence to highlight the legal aspects in the Aubry, Théberge, Snow, Roby, Ateliers Tango argentin, Xprima affairs, etc.
The reader is informed as to copyright, counterfeiting, reproduction of photos legal limitations, as well as monetary compensation granted regarding defamation. The amateur or professional photographer can learn about the legal obligations pertaining to filming of taking pictures during a show or a theater piece. Details are also provided for anyone interested into photographing animals, expensive private properties, people on a private or public lot, political figures, etc.
Many other aspects are brought forward in this really well done handbook but I cannot present them all in a short article. All you should know is that it is easy to find the information you need and that reading this handbook will help you to take informed decisions before taking pictures.
Here are few points, among many more present in the book that a photographer should know:
[My translation] “The right to take pictures in a private property exists as long as the property owner gives you his authorisation, or is non-existent when the law strictly forbids it”.
[My translation] “ Everybody possessing a personal and exclusive right on his image, nobody can photograph a person and transfer the photo in the public domain without the person’s personal consent, if the photographed person can be recognized and if that person does not hold in the scene a role that is only an accessory role ”.
As well, [My translation] “ If the photographed person is a minor, the photographer will have to obtain the full consent from the child’s parents in order to publish the photo; if the parents cannot come to an agreement, the case will have to be brought to Court (a.604 C.c.Q) ”.
When it comes to copyright: [My translation] “ Photographers hold a copyright as soon as they have used the camera shutter, this copyright protecting their economic rights and including a moral right that they keep even if they have sold copies of their original work, unless they have explicitly gave up that privilege ”.
[My translation]: “Owner or holder of rights, the independent photographer still remains the only master of the photography he created. It is the basic rule when it comes to ownership or rights linked to photography”.
Title : Grand angle sur la photographie et la loi
Author : Jean Goulet
©Wilson&Lafleur Ltée, Montréal, 2010
ISBN : 978-2-89127-972-7
(Precedent story: acquisition of an Inuit sculpture in Inukjuak in 1982)
When I was working in Inukjuak (CYPH) in Northern Quebec as a flight service specialist (FSS) for Transport Canada, in 1982-1983, I liked walking along the Hudson Bay coast. One day, I got for company a big Canadian eskimo dog belonging to an Environment Canada employee. The dog had found a way to free itself from its leash and I took advantage of his company to explore the coast.
It was not and still isn’t frequent to witness unattended dogs on a territory inhabited by Inuits. During summer, the latter normally carry the dogs on nearby isolated islands along the Hudson Bay and Ungava coasts. Naturally, the Inuits come back at regular intervals to feed them. This was still going on in 2013 as it serves multiple useful purposes. According to an Inukjuak Inuit with whom I was discussing recently, the island allows the dogs some freedom of movement since they don’t need to be tied all day long to a short rope. Also, the dogs are more comfortable on the islands since there is far less mosquitoes.
In 1982, I heard rumors according to the fact that dogs left free might be brought down, but I did not witness such a thing. Local policy was such that stray dogs would not be tolerated because they presented a threat for the population. Of all that has been said concerning dogs that were brought down for the most diverse reasons, the recurrent story is the allegation of massacres of Eskimo dogs during the fifties and sixties. The documentation found in this respect states that about one thousand dogs were brought down during those two decades, most pointlessly, in the various villages along Hudson Bay, Ungava Bay and Davis Strait.
An interim report about the investigation on this subject was handed in 2009 to the Makivik Corporation and to the Government of Quebec by the retired judge Jean-Jacques Croteau from the Quebec Superior Court. We learn of this report that the RCMP as much as Sûreté du Québec police forces had participated in the elimination of sled dogs during those years, by interpreting in a personal and fairly restrictive way a law dating from 1941 and dealing with “The Agricultural Abuses Act“. When it was created, this text of law aimed at creating a system of non-responsibility for a person who would shoot down a stray dog according to specific conditions stipulated in the text of law. Reference was made here to actions taken against stray dogs attacking sheeps and farm animals.
The police quickly made excessive use of this section of the law to apply it on a territory which was not targeted by the law. I can make a mistake, but I believe that nobody ever observed an Inuit sheep farmer on a farm in the Arctic. The most important events occurred after the RCMP gave back the responsibility of the territory to the Sûreté du Québec. That police force showed a complete misunderstanding of the Inuit culture. According to the proofs presented in the report, policemen arrived in a village without warning and killed stray dogs, chasing them even under houses, without having taken care of verifying if the dog was sick or dangerous. We find in the report the testimony of two Kangiqsujuaq Inuits asserting having seen two policemen arriving by seaplane, and without saying a word to whoever it is, begin to chase stray dogs through the village. Thirty two animals were eliminated and the policemen left the village without giving explanations.
The report states that the Northern Quebec Inuits were never consulted as to the impact of the law on “The Agricultural Abuses Act”, a totally inappropriate law for them, not taking into account their ancestral rights. The Inuits depended completely on dogs for transportation, to go hunting and fishing. We can read the following passage, in the last sections of the report: “after 1960, the actions and the behavior of the police force went too far. Nothing was to be understood. The officers demonstrated a total lack of consciousness with regard to the fundamental rights of the Inuits, their culture and the importance of dogs for their subsistence. The behavior of the officers, which could not be ignored by the provincial and federal civil administrations, had a damaging effect on seventy-five dog owners and their family, compromising their capacity to meet their needs in food “. No help was offered by the authorities to compensate for the loss of dogs.
The judge finally noted that he had no other choice than to declare that Canada and Quebec did not respect their fiduciary obligations towards the Inuits. I imagine that monetary compensations have since been offered, unless this report was only the first step in the process aimed at establishing the responsibilities and some future compensation.
(Next story: the UFO invented in Inukjuak in 1983)
For more real life stories of a FSS in Inukjuak, click on the following link: Flight service specialist (FSS) in Inukjuak