Tag: Canon lenses

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Ship photography

The Harlequin near Lévis and heading to Rouen, France

The Harlequin in front of the Jean Gaulin refinery in Lévis, 2017.
The Harlequin in front of the Jean Gaulin refinery in Lévis, 2017.

The picture above shows the Harlequin, a bulk carrier built in 2012 that has a 9.7 meter draught. It sails under the Cyprus convenience flag. On June 18th 2017, when the photo was taken, it was in front of the Jean Gaulin refinery in Lévis, Quebec, and was about to cross the Atlantic heading to Rouen, France. The Jean Gaulin refinery is Quebec’s largest refinery and ranks second in Canada when it comes to refining crude oil.

The photo was taken at 21:07, just before nightime. Since I was positioned on the highest floor of the Quai des Cageux wooden tower, there were constant vibrations associated with people going up and down the stairs. The tower’s movement combined with a moving vessel made the use of of tripod totally useless. It was thus necessary to make a handheld photo, which seriously increased the risk of a blurred picture considering the lack of light.

A Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 II USM fixed lens installed on a Canon 5DSR full frame camera helped to make a successful shot. The fact that this kind of lens requires very little light increases the photographer’s margin of manoeuver. It would obviously have been possible to increase the ISO to 6000 and more to compensate for the poor lighting, but that would have degraded the photo’s quality. The ISO was thus limited to 2000, with a shutter speed of 1/200 sec and a 1.6 aperture.

In order to limit the risk of a blurred picture, it was necessary to follow the movement of the ship with the camera. The closer one gets to immobilizing the ship in the viewfinder, the better the chances of a defined photo.

Since the ship was farther than it appears on the picture above, some cropping was mandatory to bring the vessel to a decent size. If the ISO had been too elevated to start with, the ensuing photographic grain would have been too big after the cropping and the quality of the picture would have suffered. With an ISO limited to 2000, the image kept a decent definition.

For other pictures of ships on my website, click on the following link : Ship photography.

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Ship photography

The Chilean sailboat Esmeralda at the Tall Ships Regatta 2017 in Quebec City

The chilean vessel Esmeralda and its crew during the Tall Ships Regatta 2017 in Quebec City.
The chilean vessel Esmeralda and its crew during the Tall Ships Regatta 2017 in Quebec City.

In July 2017, the four masted Chilean sailboat Esmeralda arrived in Quebec City for the Tall Ships Regatta 2017. The arrival was quite spectacular, as the whole crew sang together for several minutes for the people standing along the pier.

In order to avoid any distraction, the full frame picture has been taken in the portrait mode and the cropping was tight enough to bring forward the crew members standing up high away on the masts.

The picture below offers another point of view of the sailboat masts but this time the importance is given to the colored chairs directly installed in water, allowing the tourists to cool down during a particularly hot summer day. The wide angle lens used for the shot was a Canon 14mm f/2.8L. Two diagonal lines created by the pool in the foreground progressively meet with each other in the distance, in front of the sailboat.

The vessel Esmeralda during the Tall Ships Regatta 2017 in Quebec City.
The vessel Esmeralda during the Tall Ships Regatta 2017 in Quebec City.

When the Tall Ships Regatta 2017 ended, several small boats approached the Esmeralda and other sailboats to slowly travel with them from Quebec City until they cleared île d’Orléans. In the picture below, you can see the cruise ship Maasdam, which has been repositioned to a new pier in the Port of Quebec in order to accomodate the sailboats.

The ship Maasdam and the vessel Esmeralda during the Tall Ships Regatta 2017 in Quebec City.
The ship Maasdam and the vessel Esmeralda during the Tall Ships Regatta 2017 in Quebec City.

In the picture below, the sailboat Esmeralda his heading towards the north of île d’Orléans as the final parade is completed. On the left, you can see the Château Frontenac and, directly behind, the Hotel Le Concorde Québec, with in its upper ring a revolving restaurant offering a superb view of Quebec City. The hand held photo was taken from île d’Orléans with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens. This lens is equipped with an integrated stabilizer.

It would nonetheless have been quite difficult to succeed with such an important cropping without the performance of the 50.6 megapixel full frame sensor used in the Canon 5DSR. Considering the great distance over water that is present between the camera and the sailboat, it is possible that you notice a mirage effect, even with the small picture presented here.

The vessel Esmeralda in Quebec City during the Tall Ships Regatta 2017. In the background, the Château Frontenac and the hotel Le Concorde.
The vessel Esmeralda in Quebec City during the Tall Ships Regatta 2017. In the background, the Château Frontenac and the hotel Le Concorde.

I thought the crew would use all of the sailboat’s sails once passed île d’Orléans, but it was not the case. The picture below was taken from the top of a wooden tower installed at the north east extremity of île d’Orléans, while the Esmeralda is still navigating using its engine.

Even without the sails, the photographic composition benefited from a yellow field, a merchant ship and a lively horizon line showing the Appalachian mountains. No tripods were used for the shot as the wooden tower was constantly moving. The telephoto lens used was a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM and a slight cropping was necessary.

An approximative rule of thirds is behind the composition of the photo : you can imagine three fictive horizontal lines dividing the frame. The sailboat also finds itself on one of the rule of thirds vertical line on the right.

The vessel Esmeralda, from Chile, sailing on the St. Lawrence Seaway after its departure from the Tall Ships Regatta 2017 in Quebec.
The vessel Esmeralda, from Chile, sailing on the St. Lawrence Seaway after its departure from the Tall Ships Regatta 2017 in Quebec.

For other pictures of ships on my blog, click on the following link : Ship photography.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

The Quebec Summer Festival and Metallica

Quebec Summer Festival 2017
Quebec Summer Festival 2017

On the picture above, there is a sign indicating that the Quebec Summer Festival does not garantee an access to any sites. Under normal circumstances, this makes sense.

Part of the crowd waiting to enter the site for the Metallica show at the Quebec Summer Festival in 2017
Part of the crowd waiting to enter the site for the Metallica show at the Quebec Summer Festival in 2017

But to say such a thing to the crowd who came to see Metallica would have been quite a challenge : « Ladies and gentlemen, as the person in charge of the Quebec Summer Festival, I would like to take the opportunity to remind you that the ticket you bought does not garantee an access to any specific site. A sign has been posted to that effect and the people at the beginning of the waiting line for the Metallica show can actually read it. Today happens to be such a day where you do not have access to the site. But there are other shows in town, so have a good festival and have fun! »

But all went well and the Metallica show, as well as the other shows presented at the Quebec Summer Festival were a success in 2017.

On a more technical side, the full-frame camera used to take the huge crowd was a Canon 5DSR equipped with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens. The top of the St.Louis Gate, on Grande-Allée, was the perfect place to capture all those people waiting for Metallica.

For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:

Province of Quebec Photos
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
Categories
Photography

The White Birch Paper’s Stadacona installations in Quebec City

White Birch Papers in Quebec City, June 17 2017
White Birch Papers in Quebec City, June 17 2017

The picture above, that shows the activities of the White Birch Paper company in Quebec City, was taken on June 2017 from a moving car on a highway heading to Quebec City’s east side.

The shot was taken with a Canon 5DSR full-frame camera at 19:33 when the light was quite weak. There was also a bit of mist and an overcast sky at the time of the picture.

In order to compensate for the lack of adequate light, and also for the fact that the camera was moving, it was necessary to use a lens requiring very little light. That prevented from setting too high of an ISO (only 2500). The shutter speed was set to 1/1250 sec. The perfect lens for this picture was the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM.

Some cropping had to be done to recenter the main subject according to the rule-of-thirds.

Finally, an image editing software helped increase the cloud and smoke effects around the two chimneys.

Click on the link for more photos of Québec and île d’Orléans in summer on my blog.

Categories
Ship photography

Ship photography: the Havelstern between Quebec City and Lévis

The Havelstern is a chemical tanker sailing under Canadian flag which was built in 1994. Its draught is of 8.5 meters. It is photographed here on June 3rd 2017 in front of Quebec City, with Lévis in the background, heading to Point Tupper in Nova Scotia, Canada.

The Havelstern between Quebec City and Lévis on June 3rd 2017
The Havelstern between Quebec City and Lévis on June 3rd 2017

Several vessels are visible in the picture above. In the foreground, it is possible to see the two chimneys of the Louis Joliet, a boat essentially used for tourist excursions. Then there is one of the two ferries constantly traveling between the south and north shore of St. Lawrence Seaway between Lévis and Quebec City.

The small boat riding by the Havelstern is used to carry one of the St. Lawrence Seaway pilots. A pilot who masters the navigation specifications on this part of the seaway boards the ship and takes control until he can transfer the control to another pilot farther down the seaway ( Pilotes du St-Laurent ). In the background is the second ferry used to carry passengers and cars from one shore to the other.

The full-frame camera used to take the pictures was a Canon 5DSR equipped with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens. With a 5.0 aperture and the ISO set at 200, the shutter speed allowed was 1/1000 sec.

The Havelstern ship and île d'Orléans in the background, June 2017
The Havelstern ship and île d’Orléans in the background, June 2017

While the tourists are having fun in Quebec City, the picture above shows the Havelstern heading to Île d’Orléans in a rain shower.

The picture below represents the Havelstern making a wide turn to navigate around the southern portion of Île d’Orléans. The ship was quite far away and some serious cropping would have to be done in order to enlarge the image. In order to get a picture that would not be blurred, I had to increase the shutter speed a bit.

The Havelstern ship is approaching Île d'Orléans in June 2017, heading to Point Tupper in Nova-Scotia
The Havelstern ship is approaching Île d’Orléans in June 2017, heading to Point Tupper in Nova-Scotia

The ISO was adjusted to 200 and the focal length was set to 200mm. The aperture was only 4.0, allowing a shutter speed of 1/2500 sec.

For other pictures of ships on my website, click on the following link : Ship photography.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Night photography of Quebec City

Quebec City Summer 2014
Quebec City Summer 2014

Here is a night picture that speaks volume about the ambiance that generally prevails in Quebec City. Wherever he walks, the photographer will notice citizen and tourists admiring the town.

The photo was captured with a Canon 5D MKII full-frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 fixed lens. This kind of maximal aperture allows to take pictures at this time of the day without the need of a tripod and without grossly increasing the ISO, thus protecting the picture’s quality. The use of a tripod is always giving better results, but for the occasions where the photographer does not have one with him, the maximal aperture of 1.4 (or even better 1.2 for the lucky ones) can save the day.

The stars surrounding the city lights do not result from using a special photography equipment. Instead, they are produced by the multiple elements present in the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 fixed lens. Since every lenses available on the market are not of equal quality, some lenses naturally offer a much nicer bokeh than others.

It is quite difficult to obtain something else than human silhouettes when the light is so weak. The lower third of the image also proves to be a problem for the camera, as the luminosity created by the streetlights is much more intense. Nonetheless, it was not too difficult to correct the contrasts using an image editing software, since the photo was taken using RAW files.

For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:

Province of Quebec Photos
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
Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

A few snow sculptures at the 2017 Quebec City Carnival

In 2017, Quebec City has opted for a decentralization of the Carnival activities which where always organized on the Plains of Abraham. Part of Grande-Allée was blocked to traffic and other activities where also held in the parc de l’Amérique-Française, the parc de la Francophonie and at Place d’Youville, in the hearth of the touristic sector.

Quebec Carnival 2017 symbols
Quebec Carnival 2017 symbols

This new formula seems to be a success, according to the number of people met during my photography sessions on the different sites. Children, as usual, were not really bothered by the cold temperature et found a way to have fun. The picture below was taken while the wind chill factor was -20C.

Child playing at the parc de l'Amérique-Française during the 2017 Quebec Carnival
Child playing at the parc de l’Amérique-Française during the 2017 Quebec Carnival

The parc de l’Amérique-Française was receiving the international snow sculpture contest. Many countries were present: Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Peru and the United States. Italy won the first prize with an excellence award from the Quebec Carnival, added to an award from the public and the benevolent staff. The Italian sculptors were Pietro Germano, Samuel Bonapace and Gino Casagranda. The picture below represents one Italian sculptor at work.

An Italian sculptor at work during the 2017 Quebec Carnival.
An Italian sculptor at work during the 2017 Quebec Carnival.

The second prize, with a Government of Quebec award, was offered to the team from France, who was composed of Pascal Veuillet, André Marastoni and Éric Margery. The pictures below show the work in progress and a French sculptor taking a few minutes to talk with a citizen. He does not seem too annoyed by the cold weather…

French sculptor at the 2017 Quebec Carnival
French sculptor at the 2017 Quebec Carnival
A French sculptor at the 2017 Quebec Carnival
A French sculptor at the 2017 Quebec Carnival

The  team from Canada won the third prize, with an award from Quebec City. In the team were Jessy Armand, Michel Proulx and Mathieu Béchard. The pictures below represent two of the Canadian sculptors at work.

A Quebec sculptor at work on the Canada snow sculpture during the 2017 Quebec Carnival
A Quebec sculptor at work on the Canada snow sculpture during the 2017 Quebec Carnival
French Canadian sculptor at the 2017 Quebec Carnival
French Canadian sculptor at the 2017 Quebec Carnival

Some sculptures had a really original look. Instead of capturing the whole creation, I decided to frame a section of one of the sculpture in order to emphasize the artwork.

Section of a snow sculpture at the 2017 Quebec Carnival.
Section of a snow sculpture at the 2017 Quebec Carnival.

All the pictures have been taken using a Canon 5DSR full-frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 II USM lens, with or without tripod, depending on the amount of light available. The picture above was shot using a 1.2 aperture to maximize the blurred effect in the background. It was then reworked using two different image editing softwares.

For a better idea of all the activites organized by the Quebec Carnival, head towards the following official and bilingual site: Quebec Carnival official site

For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:

Province of Quebec Photos
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
Categories
Photos of Canada Ship photography

Merchant navy vessels in the Juan de Fuca Strait in British Columbia

Merchant navy vessel in the Juan de Fuca Strait near Victoria (2016)
Merchant navy vessel in the Juan de Fuca Strait near Victoria (2016)

Photographers know that the most interesting hours of the day are either early in the morning or late at night, but before nighttime. These periods are ideal for subtle colors and very atmospheric shots.

The Vancouver Island coast offers absolutely everything to attract many categories of photographers: the wildlife, the mist over water bodies in the morning or late at night and the mountains that are visible almost everywhere.

Travelling through British Columbia, I noticed the great number of merchant navy vessels passing through the Juan de Fuca Strait. But to try to photograph them during daytime would only have given average pictures. Waking up early to get the right picture is never easy, but it always gives interesting results.

The only problem with regards to ship photography is that the latter often navigate quite far from the photographer, thus becoming tiny uninteresting dots on a picture. However, the Canon 5DSR camera and its 50.6 megapixels full-frame sensor solve that problem: new experiments are then possible
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The scenery above was shot from a beach in Victoria, very early in the morning. It was mandatory to ensure of the total immobility of the camera since some serious cropping would be needed later on in order to significantly enlarge the ship. The slightest vibration would have been amplified through enlargment and the picture would have been useless.

Here is the method that was used: the ISO was set on 250, the tripod planted on the beach (but not in the soft sand part where the tripod could have moved a little during the photo session). Moreover, the remote trigger was used, as well as the mirror lock-up function. In order to achieve an optimal focus, the latter was done manually using Liveview with a 16X enlargment.

A Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens was installed on the camera, with a 200mm focal setting. A ND graduated filter was installed to compensate for the rising sun’s brighter light behind the mountains. Being early on the beach also allowed for a minimal wind speed, limiting even more any tripod vibrations. I tried several shots and decided to keep the one with a bird in the scenery, so as to add a touch of life to the scenery.

For other ship photos posted on my website, click on the following link:

Ship photography

For more articles in the category « Photos of Canada », click on the following link : Photos of Canada

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Night photography: the Quebec City German Christmas market

German Christmas market stands in Quebec City (2016)
German Christmas market stands in Quebec City (2016)

The German Christmas market is back again this year in Quebec City, for the ninth consecutive year. The market is located near the City Hall and the activity is an initiative of the German community of Quebec. European German Christmas markets have existed for centuries and have kept virtually the same formula throughout the years.

Amateur of delicacies and handicrafts always find something interesting when stopping by the sixty little wooden houses located in the City Hall’s gardens.

German Christmas market in Quebec City (2016)
German Christmas market in Quebec City (2016)

My family and I always stop for an evening meal at the heated chalet where we find an excellent white beer and many choices of meals. The site is ideal for photography enthousiasts and the thousands of multicolored lights add a very special atmosphere. If you visit the market when there is a snow shower, this will add even more interest to your pictures.

The photos shown here have been taken with a Canon 5DSR  full-frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM fixed lens, which allowed me to walk around the site without carrying a tripod.

German market at Christmas in Quebec City (2016)
German market at Christmas in Quebec City (2016)

I would like to offer my condolances to the German people with regards to the terrible challenge they went through in December 2016 when many citizens visiting the Berlin Christmas market were killed or hurt by a madman from Daesh.

For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:

Province of Quebec Photos
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
Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Landscape photography: Quebec City in winter

Quebec City in winter, in the Cap-au-Diable area (2016)
Quebec City in winter, in the Cap-au-Diable area (2016)

The picture above was taken in December 2016 at Cap-au-Diable, in Quebec City, with a Canon 5DSR full-frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L US telephoto lens. A polarizing filter was not really needed here due to the soft light and the sun being in line with the lens. The exposure was still corrected by +1/3.

At this time of the year, the temperature is not too cold for the photographer’s bare hands and the light intensity is ideal throughout the day. The temperature hovering around 0 °C favors wet snow showers. This snow lightly sticks to the tree branches and, as long as the wind does not increase too much, it is possible to take interesting winter pictures. But it is necessary to act quickly

For the photo above, I was able to profit from a St-Lawrence Seaway that was still unfrozen, which allowed to capture the winter sun reflection. I had to proceed rapidly since there were clouds moving from the west, visible to the right of the picture. One minute later, the sun and its reflection were no longer visible.

The photos below were taken during in the same park.

Parc du Cap-au-Diable, Quebec City (2016)
Parc du Cap-au-Diable, Quebec City (2016)
A house in the Cap-au-Diable park, Quebec City (2016)
A house in the Cap-au-Diable park, Quebec City (2016)

For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:

Province of Quebec Photos
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