Cooper’s hawk in flight in British Columbia, Canada.
At first glance, you don’t know what to look for. Nature’s mimicry has done its work. Then the Cooper’s hawk appears, wings outstretched, flying in our direction.
I took the photo in a British Columbia park. The RAW file makes it possible to correct areas that are too light or really dark, but you still have to respect the bird’s ability to blend in with the landscape. By over-lightening the bird, we take it out of the environment where it hides to watch its prey.
The fact that the hawk is advancing rapidly towards the camera makes it difficult to focus, especially through high light contrasts. The result is a slight blurring of the head, which is easily corrected by artificial intelligence.
A Cooper’s hawk is airborne in Oak Bay, British Columbia.
Several companies sell a product capable or claiming to be capable of correcting blurred areas. As far as I’m concerned, I use Topaz AI. All you have to do is position the cursor on the spot where a slight improvement is desired and you’re done.
However, don’t expect miracles with such software. The photo has to be good enough for the program to make a tiny improvement.
The Solar Sally from Shandong Shipping sailing south of Île d’Orléans. Summer 2023.
Above, Shandong Shipping’s Solar Sally photographed south of Île d’Orléans. I positioned the horizon according to the rule of thirds and gave plenty of room to the sky, filled with beautiful contrasts. The clouds let the sun filter through for a brief moment, bringing out the vegetation and horses. All that remained was to wait for the ship to enter the field of vision before taking the shot.
The Soulanges in front of Lévis in 2015.
The photo above shows the Soulanges, a tug built in 1905, on the St. Lawrence River in front of the city of Lévis. Seen from a distance, this type of vessel always looks like it’s sinking. The water seems to be overtaking the stern of the boat, but there are very few waves.
The Barcelona Express and the MSC Tuxpan on the St.Lawrence Seaway 2023
The Barcelona Express and the MSC Tuxpan meet in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, off Île d’Orléans. Lacking a telephoto lens on hand, I captured the scene with a Canon Ef 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens and enlarged the photo. The boats were at a much greater distance than they appear here. I used an image processing software with artificial intelligence to improve the focus after cropping.
The Federal Skye and Mona Lisa ships on the St. Lawrence seaway near Quebec City
Above, the Mona Lisa (green hull) sails from Montreal to the port of Tanger Med in Morocco. The container ship sails under the Liberian flag. The port of Tanger Med boasts an exceptional geographical location when it comes to transshipping goods to Europe, the Mediterranean and Africa. Also visible in the photo, the Federal Skye arrives from Vila do Conde Brazil (BR VDC) and heads for Les Escoumins in Quebec, Canada (CA QLE). This port has a dry dock where major repairs can be carried out. The Federal Skye sails under the flag of the Marshall Islands.
The MSC Tampa vessel by Quebec City in 2024.
A final photo shows the MSC Tampa sailing between Liverpool, Great Britain (GB LIV) and Montreal, Canada (CA MTR). This 294.12-meter-long container ship sails under the Liberian flag. The photo was taken from the Grey Terrace in Quebec City’s Parc des Champs-de-Bataille.
The Norwegian Joy cruise ship docked at pier 22 in Quebec City in 2023.
The Norwegian Joy cruise ship, which weighs close to 168,000 tons, is one of the biggest ships to dock in Old Quebec in autumn.
Le navire de croisière Norwegian Joy amarré à Québec à l’automne 2023.
It can accommodate 3,852 passengers and, for onboard service, there are 1,851 crew members – almost one employee for every two holidaymakers. The ship was built in 2017. Despite its young age, it benefited from renovations in 2020.
Sliding down the tube on the Norwegian Joy cruise ship
In the photo above, you can see a transparent tube raised above the upper deck in the top left-hand corner. With an enlarged photo, you’ll see that people are sliding down this water slide upside down. The shot below will help you get a better look at the guy in the red and blue swimsuit speeding by. The camera’s shutter speed had to be set to 1/2000 to avoid motion blur.
Sliding down the tube on the Norwegian Joy cruise ship 2023
That day, I was only carrying a Canon EF 11-24 mm f/4 USM zoom lens. I had to crop the photo a little to enlarge it, but you can still see the scene quite well. Part of the tube gives the sportsman the impression of suddenly plunging to the ground, as the installation protrudes over the sides of the ship.
Looking for dangerous goods on the Norwegian Sky cruise ship in Quebec City
While people are enjoying themselves on the upper deck, a whole team is busy refueling the ship and ensuring its safety. In the photo above, a dog can even be seen going around the pallets to detect any dangerous or illicit products.
The Norwegian Joy cruise ship in Québec.
Here’s a final photo of the Norwegian Joy, taken from inside a recently built cedar gangway near Quay 22 in the Port of Quebec. The sun filtering through the rungs provides a beautiful play of light, all captured by a Canon EF 11-24 mm f/4 USM zoom lens set to 11 mm. The effect is further enhanced by the pseudo HDR mode offered by digital processing software.
Photographers make little use of the intense midday light when it comes to achieving an interesting effect. However, as in this HDR photo of the stairs of an Old Quebec street above, bright light can be used to create shadow effects with horizontal, vertical and oblique lines.
Quebec City HDR Spring 2023
Above, another staircase with lines running in all directions. But it plays only a partial role in this HDR photo, the rest being taken up by the scene in the distance. I was looking for a double effect of chiaroscuro and atmosphere. The foreground, dark and cold, contrasts with a brighter background with an uncertain sky. On the right-hand side of the photo, the tension eases and the blue sky and sun appear.
Street photography at the “station de la Plage” 2023
This image is what is known as “street photography“. Chance has placed this person in the right place with the right dress and the right umbrella. She is wearing a horizontally lined dress and holding an obliquely lined umbrella in front of the vertically lined fence of the “station de la Plage” in Quebec City. The gray sky avoids distractions and focuses attention on the main subject.
For this last photo, I didn’t have my full-frame camera, but a cell phone. The file was of inferior quality, so I had to improve the focus using photographic software with artificial intelligence capability.
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.
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.
Here are some photos of Toronto that were taken in February 2016 with a Canon 5D MKII DSLR camera. The photos were all saved in RAW and JPEG files to facilitate any additional work that could have been required with an image editing software.
Architecture and photography both offering unlimited possibilities, I did not impose any limitations. The primary goal was to profit from any opportunity that would arise while profiting from the softer light offered by the winter season.
Toronto Harbourfront, Winter 2016
The first article with regards to photography in Toronto that was published on my website showed only one subject: the CN Tower. It was published during Winter 2016:
In the present article, I develop other angles of Toronto which is a city in constant evolution and where you can find multiple styles of architecture. In the picture below, a recent rain shower helped to add unexpected reflections.
Toronto and CN tower by night. Winter 2016
Some architectural subjects are naturally imposing. This is the case when all you have to do is look straight ahead, enjoy what you see and immediately try to compose an interesting photo.
A good example is the interesting reflected shapes that can be seen on the windows of a building. I could not help to take the picture below as I was surprised that a windowed building could send back images that were so totally different from each other. I am curious why there is so much distortion between the windows…
Toronto building reflections (2016)
Instead of taking pictures of the newly designed Art Gallery of Ontario, I used its reflective properties to capture something a lot older, which was the design of the row of older houses on the other side of the street.
Some houses are reflecting on the Art Gallery of Ontario (2016)
It is also possible to add variety and fun to a photo session by looking for special shapes, angles or contrasts that are not already obvious.
As I was walking downtown, I passed by the Brookfield head office. The architecture of this relatively new building is quite interesting. The architects were able to preserve the facades of older surrounding buildings by integrating them and assigning each one a role inside the new construction, possibly because the city required their protection in case of any new development.
But it is only once I was leaving the sky rise that I found the idea for the next photo: a vertical wide-angle shot from which all lines would be straight, all this possible by using the advantages of the Canon 5D MKII full frame sensor coupled to a Canon 14mm 2.8L wide-angle fixed lens. Image sharpness was insured through manual focus, a tripod, a remote trigger and the mirror lock-up function.
Toronto sky rise, Ontario 2016
The last photo is essentially about contrasts: the colour contrasts (light and dark) and the density contrasts that one can find in different constructions of Toronto.
In the foreground, we see the aquarium, with its pale and inviting colours, as well as lots of space where only few people are visible. In the background, there is the exact opposite, with very dark high-density condo towers, very close to each other, where every inhabitant hopes to have an interesting view on the Lake Ontario. All this in a photo divided in two parts and cropped very tightly to increase the differences and eliminate any visual distractions.
Contrast between the Ripleys Aquarium of Canada and the condominiums in the background. Toronto, Ontario (2016)
For more articles in the category « Photos of Canada », click on the following link : Photos of Canada
In June 2016, I spent a few days in Montreal to look for photo opportunities in the city and in the Old Port. I had never seen so many construction projects going on at the same time in that city. We could feel that the city managers wanted everything to be perfect for the 375th anniversary of the city in 2017. Here are 2 percent of the photos that were taken during that photography session. (The files were in RAW and JPEG).
Photography and architecture. Habitat 67 in Montreal
The picture above represents Habitat 67, created in time for the 1967 Universal Exhibition by the architect Moshe Safdie. You can click on the following link if you wish to obtain supplementary details in regards to the conception and construction of Habitat 67: Moshe Safdie and Habitat 67
To take the photos, it was better to wait for the evening, a few minutes before nightime, in order to benefit from a better luminosity and prioritize the reflection of light sources on the water. Several boats passed by while I was taking the pictures and it momentarily diminished the quality of the light reflections. Eventually, after several trials, I benefited from a flat water surface. With ISO at minimum, I was able to limit the digital noise that would unavoidably become visible after cropping the images.
Habitat 67 Montreal
A photographic exposure lasting a few seconds helped to flatten the water surface and emphasize the light reflections. I made sure to keep the tugboats in front of the buildings since I consider that they added some dynamism to the scene. As usual, the use of a tripod, remote trigger and mirror lock-up helped to reduce the camera vibrations. Liveview was activated and the focus was done manually to ensure optimal image sharpness.
The picture below shows the abandoned grain silos in the Old Port of Montreal. They are protected since 1996 and will possibly be given a new role next year, just in time for Montreal 375th anniversary.
Grain silos in the Old Port of Montreal in 2016. Photo taken with a Canon 5DSR.
The bulk carrier Venture (formerly called Balder), built in 2002 and belonging to the CSL company, was docked in the Old Port. I tried a few shots, among them one with a telephoto lens Canon 14 mm 2.8L.
The Bulk Carrier Venture (CSL) in Montreal in 2016
To get a privileged access to the harbor installations, where all the loading and unloading operations are performed, would have been really interesting, but, since it was not the case, I had to try to capture an idea of the Port activities from a distance. I wanted to include the wagons loaded with containers and the ships. The use of a polarizing filter allowed the enhancement of the colours of the wagons. I thought necessary to include the venerable Molson Brewery building in one of the shots.
View of the Montreal Harbor, Molson Brewery and the Jacques-Cartier bridge in 2016
Then, profiting from the cancellation of the low pass filter in the Canon 5DSR DSLR, as well as the impressive enlarging capacities offered by the 50.6 megapixels full frame sensor, it was possible to capture a bit of the Port activities by cropping the photo later on, without any loss in quality, using an image editing software. The picture was taken with a telephoto lens Canon EF 24-70 mm f/2.8L USM at 70 mm.
Port of Montreal with ships and containers. Photo taken with a Canon 5DSR in 2016
For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:
Gruyères and the Moleson in the background, Switzerland 2013
The city of Gruyères is located in the Prealps, in the Friburg County in Switzerland. It is a very charming small medieval town where cars are forbidden (the white van shown in the picture above is only used for morning delivery). In the city, one can visit the Gruyères Castle (Château de Gruyères), the H.R.Giger Museum (creator of the “Alien” in the movie Alien), the Tibet Museum, a cheese factory and boutiques. There are also some restaurants.
In the picture above, shot with a Canon 5D MKII, it is possible to see the Moléson in the background, a mountain that rises only 512 metres above the surrounding terrain but is still at more than 2000 meters above sea level. It is a tourist attraction that should not be neglected since it is very well equipped for all types of visitors, with a funicular and cable car. The visitors also have access to very interesting walking paths, for all ages and experiences.
Moleson cable car, in the Gruyeres region, Switzerland 2013
When you use a cable car and do not see where it is leading due to the presence of clouds, you have to trust human engineering. But we are in Switzerland, so it should be all right!
The Moleson cable car, Switzerland 2013
The Moléson summit offers superb views. The small cumuliform clouds visible in the morning around the mountain progressively lift up due to daytime heating and eventually become beautiful cumulus clouds that add life to any pictures.
Moleson summit in the clouds, Switzerland 2013
Once on top of the Moléson, it is possible to use a modern metal stairway to gain even more height and access a platform allowing an unobstructed panoramic view. The picture above was taken with a Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8L II USM wide-angle zoom lens equipped with a polarizing filter.
Metal stairs leading to an observation post on top of the Moleson, Gruyeres region, Switzerland 2013
When ready to go down the mountain, the visitor has two choices: travel with the cable car and funicular he used when coming up, or slowly walk along an easily accessible path through beautiful green landscapes. The more experienced trekkers might decide to walk along the crests of surrounding mountains. We chose to walk on paths covered with flowers.
Path on the Moleson, Switzerland 2013
Back to Gruyères, a visit of the Château de Gruyères and both museums is a must, as well as a tour of the cheese factory. You might want to spend some time in the boutiques too and try the local restaurants. It is also the moment to take a few pictures…
Inside the Gruyeres medieval city, Switzerland, 2013
The old architecture of the buildings in Gruyères as well as the neighbouring countryside allow for very interesting photographic compositions. A well-known photography technique consists in using an opening in a building and using it as a second frame (a frame within a frame). I made sure that the background was clear enough to improve the visual effect. An aperture around 16 allowed for an appropriate depth-of-field.
Spiraling stairs in the Gruyeres Castle, Switzerland 2013
The picture above shows a spiraling staircase inside the Château de Gruyères. I can barely imagine what the results would have been if I had had access to the new Canon 11-24mm wide-angle lens. But nonetheless, the Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8L II USM zoom lens did a good job.
The beauty of the full frame sensor mounted on the Canon 5D MKII DSLR is that a wide-angle shot taken at a 16mm focal will stay at 16mm while with a smaller sensor, like the APS-C, the photographer is facing a conversion factor of 1.5 or 1.6X, which transforms the 16-35mm wide-angle into a 24-52mm, in the best of cases. The APS-C sensor is interesting when used with a telephoto lens but a bit less when comes the time to take wide-angle shots.
The picture below presents the Château de Gruyères seen from a neighbouring field.
Gruyeres old architecture, Switzerland 2013
As the sun was setting down, I tried a shot from inside the castle. It was interesting to see the two little boys standing up alongside the wall and admiring the sunset. At the same time, it was possible to see the Moléson in the distance, its summit hidden in the clouds.
Due to the strong light contrasts, it was necessary to use a Hi-Tech ND graduated filter installed on my Canon 16-35mm wide-angle zoom lens. The Digital SLR Photography magazine, in one of its recent editions, made a comparison between ND grad filters and indicated that the Hi-Tech filter had a slight magenta coloration instead of a neutral grey. I think it is easily visible in the picture below. The photo could have been corrected with Photoshop but I thought of keeping it as it was since the scenery looked somewhat unreal already.
View from the Gruyeres Castle and the Moleson, Switzerland 2013
Once the sun was below the horizon, the more subtle colours gave a totally new look to the countryside. On the picture below, it is possible to see on the right a small path that a visitor can take to head down to the nearby village.
Gruyeres region in the sunset, Switzerland 2013
All the sceneries are not that easy to capture and it is sometimes necessary to use HDR photography to extend the dynamic range and take care of extreme light contrasts. The photo below needed five different exposures that were subsequently processed with the Photomatix image editing software. Useless to say, it was necessary to use the mirror lock-up function, a tripod and a remote control release.
View from the Gruyères Castle, Switzerland, in HDR 2013
Here is, as the final picture, an idea of what is waiting for you at the H.R. Giger Museum. If there is a strange but very interesting museum, it is this one.
Artwork in front of the H R Giger Museum, Gruyeres, Switzerland 2013
Other pictures of Europe and around the world will be posted in the coming months…
