A single-day visit to Île d’Orléans for a photography session was enough to capture a wide variety of cloudy conditions in April 2024. In spring, when unstable, humid air crosses the mountain range north of the St. Lawrence River, you can expect anything on the island. Above, a kitesurfing enthusiast practises his art between localized showers. All he cares about is strong winds.
A few kilometers from route du Mitan, colourful houses and a bit of blue-sky contrast with the showers elsewhere on the island. You can see that the cloud layer in the distance is not very thick.
Above, a towering cumulus (TCU) approaches the St. Lawrence River in the late afternoon from the north. It is likely to cross the river towards the island, if it has not lost some of its strength, in the meantime, due to subsidence, the phenomenon that forces air to compress and warm as it is forced down a mountain range.
The shape of the clouds in the photo above gives a good indication of the strength of today’s winds. You can hear it whistling through the ropes and between the masts of the sailboats at the marina in the municipality of St-Jean, île d’Orléans. At the time of my visit, some owners were preparing their boats for the warmer periods of May.
I really like the scene above, but I admit that some might find it dark, if not sinister. It was this slightly disturbing aspect that caught my attention and that I tried to capture.
In this last photo, the sky is practically clear. It is then easier to obtain better contrasts. A pseudo-HDR treatment brings out the paintwork on a boat that has seen better years.
Click on the link for more photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Spring on my blog.