Here’s what artificial intelligence has to say about an industrial scene: “An industrial scene can evoke a variety of feelings, often linked to the urban environment and human activity. For some, it may inspire a feeling of power and dynamism, due to the energy and activity that prevail. Others may feel melancholy or nostalgic about the impact of industrialization on the environment and communities.
The textures, colors and shapes of industrial structures can also evoke a sense of strangeness or raw beauty. In short, the emotions that an industrial scene can generate depend largely on one’s own perspective.”
Photography theory
On the original RAW file, colors faded due to insufficient brightness, preventing the desired dramatic impact. Digital processing was the best solution to solve the problem.
I chose a single tone of steel blue to accentuate the effect of strangeness, prevent distractions of any kind and highlight the central tower, smoke columns and light contrasts around the installations.
To respect the age of the White Birch Paper buildings, I kept the digital grain fairly high. Polishing an image too much makes it look more modern, which I wanted to avoid.
The full harvest moon rises in the Matane sky in September 2024.
The photo above was taken in Matane, Quebec, in September 2024. It’s more a matter of chance than planning. I was on the beach photographing the sunset, and when the sky got too dark, I turned around to see if there was anything interesting left to capture. And I came across this full harvest moon rising in the firmament.
Photographing a full moon is a good challenge. We often capture only an almost white, very bright disk, losing the nuances of colour and the details of the lunar geography.
The advice available on the Internet on how to successfully shoot a full moon with a normal camera goes in all directions. But one thing’s for sure: to improve your chances of success, it’s best not to wait until nightfall, because then the very high luminosity of the star becomes impossible to attenuate while still retaining a view of the planetary topography.
Most of the time, the choice is between an excellent photo of a full moon, but a very dark surrounding earth relief where nothing is discernible, or a visible earth relief of acceptable quality, but a moon that represents nothing more than a large, white circle of light.
The method that works for the photo above is as follows: you have to be on the spot at the right time, i.e., during the blue hour and not the whole night. So, in my case, I was lucky because it wasn’t planned.
You need a tripod and an extension cable. There are two reasons to avoid long exposures: firstly, the moon is a moving object. The longer the exposure, the more the disk moves. You end up with an oval rather than a round moon. A long exposure also picks up more light, and the moon’s disk turns completely white.
Full harvest moon rising in Matane, Québec 2024
Compromises become necessary. Trying to get a perfect moon and foreground at exactly the right brightness is quite a challenge. By the time every attempt has been made to achieve a flawless result, the moon is already too high in the sky. We have to act quickly.
We’re advised to lower the ISO to 200, but if I do that, I’m increasing the exposure time and introducing too much light into the camera. Instead, I use a higher ISO to reduce exposure, and use all the camera functions likely to reduce the amount of light entering the camera: higher shutter speed, if necessary, strong negative exposure compensation, and so on.
By not overdoing the settings and using RAW files, there’s still enough flexibility to bring out the foreground, in this case the houses lining Matane’s beaches and the surrounding lights.
In short, shoot during the blue hour, act quickly, accept compromises, limit exposure time in every way possible and use RAW files to facilitate post-production work.
In the photo above, a Red-winged blackbird is stalking bugs in flight. But it’s about 100 metres from the shore. A shot at this distance and on a small, fast-moving subject poses a problem. I try my luck with a Canon 5dsr equipped with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM lens.
The bird has just spotted its meal. It swoops down on two dragonflies, braking at the last second to adjust to the insect’s changing trajectory. The agility of the little creatures presents a colossal challenge to the predator.
Once the photo session is over, it’s time to process the Canon 5dsr’s 50.6 megapixel RAW files to correct and bring the bird as close as possible. At this stage, I note the two dragonflies that were difficult to see as I concentrated on following the bird in flight.
For this kind of scene, the photographic technique always remains the same: we prioritize shutter speed while lowering the ISO, because we’ll have to enlarge the main subject considerably during digital processing. We want to avoid enormous graininess on the final print.
The last processing phase for this photo of a small, distant and fast-moving bird is the use of artificial intelligence software. This will enable the focus to be improved slightly if the need arises.
But even with AI, there are no miracles. You can’t turn a bad initial photo into an excellent one unless you completely recompose it. That’s when you step out of the world of photography and choose digital creation.
Green heron at the Marais-Léon-Provancher 2024
Above, a shot of a green heron caught at the end of a photography session. But it seems to me that I’d call it more of a blue heron when the plumage is captured from this angle.
Female Red-winged Blackbird at the Marais-Léon-Provancher in 2024
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.
A part of the promenade Samuel-De Champlain in winter by -27C.
The photo above shows a portion of the promenade Samuel-De Champlain in Quebec City. People are walking under a temperature of -27 C, but the windchill factor is actually more like -40 C.
Where I was standing, a cliff was blocking the last sunrays. But a little further, the perfectly clear sky and the sun setting diretly in the axis of the St-Lawrence River allowed to obtain amazing color contrasts.
The promenade Samuel-De Champlain with the Adobe “Content Aware” function.
I used the first photo above to familiarize myself with Adobe CC 2022. The software’s “content aware fill ” feature allows you to quickly erase elements of a photo without it being too noticeable. So, I tried the experiment with the person in the foreground. In a few seconds, the lady disappeared without a trace. Artificial intelligence now plays an increasingly important role in the fast and efficient editing of images.
Old rusted Ford pick-up alongside the Yellowhead highway in British-Columbia.
Old Ford and Ford Mercury pick-up trucks alongside the Yellowhead highway in British-Columbia in 2014.
These two photos of old Ford and Ford Mercury pick-up trucks were taken in British-Columbia in 2014. As we were driving between Mount Robson and Kamloops, we saw the trucks parked alongside Yellowhead highway. I could not resist a few shots that were later digitally processed.
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.
A narrow street in Old Quebec during a winter storm in 2020
The few Christmas decorations still remaining in Old Quebec enhance the winter scenery during a snowstorm on February 7 2020. The presence of several interesting elements add to the photographic composition: the color of the lights in the fir tree and its reflection on the snow, the yellowish lights , the pedestrians walking in the snow covered alley, the smoke escaping from one side of the building and the « blue hour », a period that lasts a few minutes before darkness when one can still see the color of the sky.
Winter storm in Quebec in 2020
The black and white photo above has received infrared treatment. This way, the characters passing in front of the car’s headlights are clearly visible, while also making it possible to distinguish the surrounding objects. Night photography with moving characters and such dramatic light contrastsrequires a higher ISO if you do not want to leave out objects that would be of interest in the photographic composition.
Despite an adjusted ISO, the car’s headlights made it harder for the camera’s sensor to correctly read the average brightness of the scene. Without digital image processing, the surrounding buildings would all be extremely dark. Using infrared solved part of the problem.
Digitally modified photo of Place d’Youville in Old Quebec
This digitally modified photo shows a part of Place d’Youville, in Old Quebec.
I wanted to capture the church in the background, which seemed to be squeezed between two bigger buildings. It became the principal subject of the photo and it was positioned according to the rule of thirds. This rule is far from mandatory in photography but it often provides interesting results.
I liked the repetitive effect of the windows on each side of the picture and the fact that there were diagonal lines that lead the eye to the church. The vegetation in the foreground added a nice touch to the scenery. There was only one thing missing: a human presence.
With a little patience, three girls stopped on the sidewalk and started to talk, exactly where I wanted them to be. The wet sidewalk on which they stood helped to reflect the ambiant light and also lead the eye to the church, the principal subject in the photo.
I rarely digitally transform a photo in such a drastic way. The reason was simple: normally, when the ambiant light is not favorable, you can sometimes use the black and white setting. However, the light on that day did not offer the required contrasts to get sufficiently interesting results.
I did not want to leave Place d’Youville without having captured the energy I felt there. I opted for a radical option after having cropped the image in order to keep only the essential features.
The picture was taken with a Canon 5DSR full frame camera.
For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:
The photography book « Full Frame », by David Noton, was written in 2010 but the content is still totally pertinent today. It’s possibly the best photography book I’ve ever read. The images are fantastic and the text is loaded with practical and accessible information.
Photography book “Full Frame” by David Noton
The author is known as one of the best landscape photographer in the world. Every page of his book is divided in three sections: before, during, after. This means that you read about everything that the author had to deal with as he travelled around the world with his wife to capture landscapes: the preparation, technique, priorities, obstacles, successes, etc.
All along the book, I had the feeling that a friend was writing me since the text is written with a light and humoristic approach in mind, and certainly without pretend. Here are some of his remarks and advices:
“Luck is where preparation and opportunity combine.” (p.38) This certainly applies to everything we do in life.
“Stick with the full frame quality and crop as when required, keeping all the [sensor’s megapixels] information in reserve”.
“Sometimes a new lens or format will serve as a catalyst for a whole new way of looking. It’s all part of the evolutionary process.” (p.64)
Sharpen all digital images. Pictures are made of square pixels and need microadjustments.
To choose among your interesting similar photos which one is the best, start with a very good one and compare it with each other photo, one at a time, throwing away the ones that are inferior. You will save a lot of time.
A bit of blinking in the highlights is not terrible since RAW files can easily be adjusted. Don’t forget that the camera’s monitor shows an histogram adjusted for JPEG files.
Use a grad filter to control the contrasts only, not to add mood or create an artificial contrast.
There is no need to always show the tops of mountains.
“The best pictures are the simplest. Composition is the art of knowing what to leave out.” (p.71)
“Be flexible and strive to extract the most from seemingly adverse conditions.” (p.77)
“For wide angle views on the world, a full-frame sensor is imperative.” (p.93)
Back cover of the photography book “Full Frame” by David Noton
“Scout the location, analyse the options in different lighting situations, previsualize the image, plan the shoot then keep returning until it’s nailed.” (p.113)
“Location finding is everything; the photography is the easy bit.” (p.125)
“Don’t be afraid of “blinkies” in the brightest part of the sky where the sun shines through […]. We don’t expect to see detail there.” (p.138)
“Using movement is an essential technique in a photographer’s repertoire.” (p.143)
“The classic, golden rule of thirds is a good starting point, but it’s only a guideline to ignore at will.” (p.149)
“A camera’s sensor is not a linear device so the right half of the histogram contains far more information than the left. Those apparently overexposed images, when processed with the brightness brought back to the desired density, will have richer tones and less noise than a frame exposed to the left.” (p.153)
“We photographers can only continue to improve if we keep pushing ourselves.” (p.187)
