The picture above was taken from my car as I was driving on the roads of Quebec in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, looking for interesting subjects that would show the first autumn colors. The sound of the engine idling attracted the curiosity of the animals. Ears are pointed and the two cows kept their eyes on me the whole time I was adjusting the camera. Coincidentally, they stood in an ideal position for a photo taken in vertical format. The photographic composition was thus simplified. A few yellow leaves in the tree show that Autumn was only starting. The picture was taken with a Canon 5DS R full frame camera.
Blue jay and Russian Mountain Ash. Autumn 2020 in Quebec City.
Every Autumn, a Blue Jay lands on our patio knowing he can stock up for the winter. After hearing his calls, I quickly get the peanuts and the camera.
The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 5DS R which allows significant cropping without loss of quality. In the photo above, the branches of the Russian Mountain Ash surround the bird and provide a natural setting.
I place the peanuts in front of the tree, just to include a few small red fruits in the photographic composition.
Blue jay with a peanut in front of a Russian Mountain Ash. Quebec City 2020.
Capturing the blue jay in flight is a bit more difficult, but in the digital age and with a Canon EF 70-200mm f / 2.8L IS II USM lens, photographing birds in flight is made much easier. The photo below was taken with a shutter speed of 1/8000, an aperture of 4.0, and an ISO set at 1250.
Blue Jay in flight. Quebec City 2020.
I have yet to see a Blue Jay eat the fruits of our Russian Mountain Ash. On the other hand, the ravens of the neighborhood have no problem with them.
As I process these photos taken in February 2020, we are in full confinement because of COVID-19. It’s strange how life has changed in such a short time. Just a few weeks ago, I was freezing in Old Quebec and in the surrounding area while doing winter photography. There were lots of residents and tourists all around, and I could warm up in the cafes of my choice. There was no question of social distancing, masks, closed restaurants and daily press conferences of the federal and provincial governments!
Un chien attend son maître dehors durant une tempête hivernale en 2020.
The photo above was taken on rue St-Jean, around supper time. Citizens went out to have a bite in one of the many restaurants and cafes on this popular street, while others quickly went to specialty stores to get missing ingredients for the supper to be prepared. Dogs are not allowed inside the shops, so they have to wait a few minutes outside in the snowstorm for their owners.
Multicolored buildings near Old Quebec winter 2020
I enjoyed the digital processing of these multicolored dwellings. Indeed, although they are interesting, the original colors of the buildings were still less vivid than what I wanted to obtain for this winter scenery near Old Quebec. The saturation was therefore slightly increased to obtain the desired effect.
Crossing the Honoré-Mercier avenue in Quebec City winter 2020
Traffic time on Honoré-Mercier avenue. Pedestrians have just enough time to cross this very busy avenue before the numerous buses and cars block the passage again. The icy and sloping roadway, the wind and the snow make it more difficult than usual, but the time allowed to cross remains the same. Hurry up!
For this photography project, I used a Canon 5DSr full-frame camera with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens.
Winter photography holds great surprises during snowstorms. The picture above was taken on February 27, 2020, a day when Quebec City received between 30 and 35 centimeters of snow.
This little street in Quebec City still has its old wooden posts from which hang many electric wires. In several new neighborhoods, the wires are now buried and the lampposts are no longer made of wood.
The photographic composition did not require much effort, because everything attracted me to this traditional winter scene: the people, the diffused light at the end of the day, the horizon obscured by snow, the steeples in the background, the traditional architecture of buildings pressed against each other and the cars buried under the snow.
As for people, there was only the person shoveling her
entrance when I took my first photo. Then a man walking his dog appeared in the
distance. I took the photo when he was well in view but not in the foreground.
The scene was captured with a Canon 5DSr full-frame DSLR camera. Image processing software was then used to refine the final result.
February 7th 2020 snowstorm at Place d’Youville in Quebe City.
The photo above shows Place d’Youville, in Quebec City, during the February 7, 2020 snowstorm.
The original color photo practically showed only a general white veil. The processing in black and white photo helps to accentuate the effects of blowing snow in this winter scene. Transformation into black and white is a very useful photography technique when it comes to highlighting elements that are difficult to detect.
The subsequent enhancement using an image processing software also helped to highlight otherwise secondary elements.
Between the snow bank in the foreground and the buildings on the right, the cars are moving slowly along what is still visible of this entrance to Old Quebec.
The St. Louis street and the La Bûche restaurant in Old Quebec.
The scene
above shows St-Louis street partially obstructed by snow. On this Friday
evening, the Quebec carnival has just started. However, not everyone is
celebrating. The driver of the snow blower in the background is immobilized.
The trucks in which he would normally blow snow have been delayed.
In the foreground, the restaurant La Bûche. I’ve been there a few times since it opened. Always the same excellent recipes, impeccable service and an extra kilo after the meal. A very good restaurant in Quebec, near the Chateau Frontenac. And for those interested, what is happening in the kitchen is visible to some of the customers. (No I am not paid for this advertisement!)
A cyclist in a snowstorm in Old Quebec on February 7th 2020.
For the bravest, winter cycling is an alternative way to travel in extreme weather. The reduced visibility forces the cyclist above to use the sidewalk for his own protection. However, beware of walking down sidewalks at the corner of streets where ice sometimes accumulates. Having often been in Old Quebec to do night and day photography, I witnessed spectacular pirouettes that would make the elastic acrobats of Cirque du Soleil jealous.
The photos were taken with a Canon 5DSr full-frame camera.
Place d’Youville under moderate snow. Seen from the Porte St-Jean during Winter 2020.
The photography technique adopted above uses the arch offered by Porte St-Jean to frame the main photo showing Place d’Youville and its buildings at the time of heavy snowfall.
This winter night photograph represents several challenges, including the need to show the snowflakes falling in front of the headlights of moving cars while respecting the natural light of the buildings in the background.
The two pedestrians strolling on St-Jean Street add a human touch and depth to this scene.
The photo below shows part of Pub St-Patrick with some of its Christmas decorations during the snowstorm of February 7, 2020. Old Quebec is full of decorated buildings long after the holiday season is over.
A pedestrian in front of Pub St. Patrick in Old Quebec, Winter 2020
The photo was taken just before nightfall because the light is particularly
soft at that moment. I waited for a rare pedestrian to add a bit of humanity to
this scene.
The photographic composition takes into account the two diagonal lines starting from the upper and lower left corners and meet on the right side of the photo, roughly in its center.
The diffuse light coming from a lamp post located on the right and outside
the frame of the photo adds a little warmth to this winter scene.
These pictures were taken in October in the St-Gilles region, in Quebec. In the photo above, the sunlight was streaming through the leaves, giving the peach color even more intensity. To make the leaves the main subject of interest, I positioned myself under a branch and reduced the aperture of the Canon 5DSR to 3.5. The leaves in the foreground were now in focus while everything else became blurred, adding to the atmosphere.
Cows and autumn colors in Quebec.
St-Gilles countryside in autumn.
The owner of a nearby house in St-Gilles had a thought for walkers and left two chairs near the water. The chairs became the main interest in the photo and are therefore in focus. The forest and the colored leaves in the background are deliberately kept blurred.
The St-Jacques de Leeds region, in Quebec, offers interesting opportunities for photographers who like very diversified autumn colors.
A house in the St-Jacques de Leeds countryside in Autumn.
At the time
this picture was taken, most red leaves had already fallen. But the contrast
between the dark tones of the evergreens and the other colors still offered
beautiful landscapes.
To compose the picture above, I decided to keep the trail. It leaves the main road where I stood and heads, with a few curves, towards the house. The trail starts at the left of the picture and the observer naturally follows it to the house, then to the forest in the background. With my position, I was also able to hide part of the house with the colored trees.
St-Jacques de Leeds countryside in Autumn.
During late afternoon in Autumn, the light is quite softer than in Summer. It is not necessary to wait for the evening to get interesting results. The scenery above offered a natural contrast between the blue of the sky and the orange tones of the trees. I kept part of the evergreen, for its position in the foreground as much as for its dark tone, to add to the dynamism of the picture.
Autumn evening in St-Jacques de Leeds.
The tripod was necessary for the picture above. The Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM lens, that is normally used for portrait, requires less light than the human eye. It perfectly captured the atmosphere and the colors that were prevailing a few minutes before nightime. All the pictures were taken with a Canon 5DSR full frame camera.
This year I have searched for new sites to capture autumn colours. I drove by Val-Bélair and stopped by a house that looked abandoned. The colour of the chair and the yellow background allowed me to compose my first shot.
Multicolored trees near Val-Bélair.
There are superb trees between Val-Bélair and L’ Ancienne-Lorette. The picture above represents only a section of the forest.
Val-Bélair in Autumn.
Val-Bélair is a region with both agricultural and city life. It was natural to compose a picture that would include a car and a tractor. The colored leaves are used as a natural frame around the vehicles. The Canon 5DSR full frame camera’s aperture was adjusted to have only the middle ground in focus.
A fisherman profits from the beautiful morning to try to catch an Atlantic Striped Bass.
Since the fisherman will be on the beach for at least an hour, I have enough time to install a tripod on the beach and use the telephoto lens to bring in the man artificially. It is worth waiting for a few seagulls to fly nearby; this always add a bit of life to the scenery.
The compressed perspective offered by a telephoto lens and the significant cropping allow to increase the presence of the houses on the Ogunquit and Wells beaches, in United States.
Ogunquit fisherman with Atlantic Striped Bass web
The Atlantic Striped Bass can grow up to 1.5 meter (5 feet) in length and weight up to 35 kg (77 pounds). Fishing laws are different for each State. I believe that in Maine, a fisherman cannot keep a fish that is less than 71 cm (28 inches) in length.
Although I am quite far away from the fisherman, he has nonetheless noticed me. He turns around and proudly shows the Striped Bass that he just caught. A few seconds later, he puts the fish back in the water, knowing that the fish is still too small to be kept.
Click on the link for other photos of the United States on my blog.
