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Photography Photos of Quebec

Tulips and Tourny fountain in Quebec City.

Tulips and Tourny fountain in front of the Parliament building in Quebec City in spring 2023.
Tulips and Tourny fountain in front of the Parliament building in Quebec City in spring 2023.

This photo taken in May 2023 shows the tulips planted in front of the Parliament Building in Quebec City, near the wall surrounding Old Quebec. The Tourny Fountain can be seen in the center, but it seems to suffer from inadequate water pressure. Indeed, we have seen much more spectacular water jets with this fountain.

The photo was taken using a miniature tripod and a Canon 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens mounted on a Canon 5DSr.

Click on the link for more pictures of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in the spring on my blog.

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Pope Francis in Old Quebec.

Motorcycle policemen lead the convoy bringing the Pope to Old Quebec in 2022.
Motorcycle policemen lead the convoy bringing the Pope to Old Quebec in 2022.

If you don’t have privileged access, the main difficulty in photographing the arrival of Pope Francis in Old Quebec in 2022 lies in the vague and sometimes contradictory information offered to journalists in an obvious effort to protect the itinerary of the head of state.

You also have to deal with the strong police presence and the barriers that open and close according to the mood of the moment, blocking bicycles and pedestrians long before the Pope has crossed the Saint-Louis gate. As a photographer, you don’t want to find yourself suddenly stuck in a place of no interest.

Other aspects to consider are purely photographic, such as the ambient light and the distance from the subject at the time of the photo, which will influence the choice of equipment carried.

The official convoy arrives on Saint-Louis Street. It is important to know that in the afternoon, the sun crosses directly the axis of the Saint-Louis Street in its slow descent towards the west. If you position yourself along this street to take the picture, there is no physical obstacle, but you photograph against the light a convoy which passes at full speed. The camera sensor does not appreciate backlighting, because it has difficulty evaluating which light takes precedence. The choice of a straight line on Saint-Louis Street is therefore not very interesting.

The crowd greets Pope Francis on his arrival in Old Quebec in 2022.
The crowd greets Pope Francis on his arrival in Old Quebec in 2022.

The Pope’s driver sits on the left (at least in Canada). The Pope will therefore be on the right, whether forward or backward. If one stands in the Place d’Armes, one gives priority to the driver rather than to the Pontiff.

As the sun travels progressively from the axis of St. Louis Street to the west, the tall trees of the Place d’Armes will create a natural veil blocking the effects of backlighting. This will increase the chances of successful photos.

On St. Louis Street, the convoy is moving quickly in a long straight line. The chances of getting a good picture decrease. When the security cars reach the end of Saint-Louis, they have to brake because of a sharp curve near the Château Frontenac. If you position yourself immediately after the curve, the chances of getting an acceptable picture increase greatly.

As for photographic equipment, a camera lens that requires little light will help optimize shutter speed and depth of field, especially in the late afternoon. The Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens offers more flexibility.

A camera with a full-frame sensor will also allow the cropping necessary to magnify the photo without loss of quality. For the photos included in this article, the camera used was a Canon 5DSR.

The riskiest technique which therefore requires a little more experience is to take the picture of the head of state in his car in focus while leaving the outside blurred, to show that the car is moving fast. You follow the car with the camera’s viewer. The closer it gets to you, there is an obvious feeling of acceleration. It is thus necessary to increase the rotation of your body to adjust to the car’s relative speed change. The autofocus does its job as the vehicle approaches.

There is only a fraction of a second where you get a completely clear view of the head of state. A second too early and you only see a portion of the face with a piece of the car, a second too late and you get a three-quarter rear view. A continuous shooting mode becomes absolutely necessary.

Pope Francis arrives in Old Quebec on his trip to Canada in 2022.
Pope Francis arrives in Old Quebec on his trip to Canada in 2022.

An adequate shutter speed captures the face of the head of state accurately and keeps the background blurred. A shutter speed that is too fast makes the whole scene clear and sharp, and the photo loses its dynamism. Too slow a speed and the face lacks definition. There is only one chance to get it right.

So, those were a few ideas to remember if you want to photograph important events in Old Quebec. A prior knowledge of the terrain and of the sun’s position at specific times remains essential if you want to increase your chances of success.

Enjoy your photography!

Click on the link for more photos of Quebec City in summer on my blog.

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Photos of Quebec

A Blue Fairy in Old Quebec.

A young girl dances through the water jets near Quebec City's city hall.
A young girl dances through the water jets near Quebec City’s city hall.

The water fountains near the Quebec City’s City Hall Gardens attract crowds during the summer season. The changing colors of the lights offer many opportunities for night photography.

Patience becomes the first rule when it comes to capturing the scene that will stand out. Usually, children run indiscriminately left and right. But there are exceptions, like that evening when a young girl started dancing through the programmable fountains. She moved quickly, adding more dynamism to the scene. I had to take a chance with a night photo.

As far as the photography technique is concerned, the challenge was interesting. I wanted to capture the feeling of movement in her dance. But this demanded a high shutter speed to avoid too much motion blur. On the other hand, the low ambient light called for a slow shutter speed. Those two requirements were completely opposite.

A Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens mounted on a Canon 5DSR    camera was part of the solution. A recycling garbage can positioned near the scene also served as a support for the portable tripod. Both Canon lens and tripod allowed for more light to be captured while avoiding unnecessary vibrations.

However, those two actions would not have been enough to allow the scene to stand out. There were still too many contrasts between light and shadow. A digital image processing software facilitated the use of the essential data included in the RAW file of the photo, revitalizing the background while diminishing the foreground’s highlights of the water jets.

Some purists lose sleep over the idea that contemporary photographers use digital processing software to get a better picture. When a RAW file contains 50 million megapixels and you refuse to use its data on principle, it’s a bit like Charles Leclerc deciding to drive his Formula 1 car using only the settings of the ’60s, for nostalgia’s sake.

Click on the link for more night photos on my blog.

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Winter photography 2020 near Old Quebec (5)

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.
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
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
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.

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Ship photography

The oil tanker Nave Equinox in front of Lévis.

The Nave Equinox oil tanker with Lévis in the background during winter 2020.
The Nave Equinox oil tanker with Lévis in the background during winter 2020.

Last week, there was virtually no ice on the St.Lawrence Seaway near Quebec City. Since the beginning of the winter, very mild temperatures had allowed ships to travel the St.Lawrence without encountering any obstacles. For the past week however, more seasonal temperatures with some days between -15C and -22C have been changing the appearance of the seaway.


The photo above shows the oil tanker Nave Equinox, a ship built in 2007 approaching Quebec City. Even at -15C, the day was still ideal for photography because the cloud cover was fragmented allowing the diffuse light of the January sun.


The photo was taken from the Dufferin Terrace near Château Frontenac.The vessel was quite distant and a significant cropping was applied to bring the vessel closer. The photo was taken hand-held and the image sharpness was retained using a very fast 1/8000 sec shutter speed. Doing so limited vibrations.

 
The camera used was a Canon 5DSr with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens. A 50.6 megapixel sensor limited image pixelization when cropped.

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/cameras/eos-dslr-and-mirrorless-cameras/dslr/eos-5ds-r

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

St-Jacques de Leeds and the autumn colors.

St-Jacques de Leeds in Autumn.
St-Jacques de Leeds in Autumn.

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.
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.
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.
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.

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/cameras/eos-dslr-and-mirrorless-cameras/dslr/eos-5ds-r

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Light effects in Old Quebec

Light effects in Old Quebec 2019
Light effects in Old Quebec 2019

This photo was taken near the Quebec City Townhall in Old Quebec with a handheld Canon 5DSR full frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens.

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Photos of Canada

The Château Lake Louise and Mount Richardson.

A view of Château Lac Louise and the surrounding mountains.
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.

For other pictures of Canada, click on the following links in my blog:

Other Provinces and Territories of Canada Photos
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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

The blue light in Old Quebec.

Beautiful evening in Old Quebec.
Beautiful evening in Old Quebec.

The light is always interesting when a picture is taken just before the nightime or the sunrise. The scenery above was captured in Old Quebec during Summer 2018. The use of a lens requiring very little light, like the Canon EF85mm f/1.2L USM mounted on a Canon 5DSR made the task easier.

I wanted to ensure that the people were not mere shadows and that the water effects in the fountains were visible. The shutter speed was adjusted to 1/50 and the ISO set at 6400. The aperture was limited to 4.5 to respect the shutter speed. Photography is always a matter of compromise…

For other pictures of Quebec City, click on the following links of my blog :

Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Autumn
Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Winter
Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Spring
Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Summer
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Street photography

Jeanne d’Arc and the snow geese

Jeanne d'Arc and the snow geese. Parc Jeanne d'Arc, Quebec City, 2017.
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.

For other street photos, click on:

Street photography