Tag: night photography

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Photos of Quebec

Château Frontenac and the winter wonderland of Old Quebec

Old Quebec in winter seen from Parc Montmorency in 2025
Old Quebec in winter seen from Parc Montmorency in 2025

It’s time for another winter outing in Old Quebec. The night photography session will be devoted to architecture.

The temperature is about -14 C and the winds are blowing at 15 km/h. Without gloves in order to manipulate the little buttons on the camera, the skin feels -22 C. A regular break is essential to thaw out the fingers!

I took the photo from Parc Montmorency, just up the côte de la Montagne. This historic site is a major tourist attraction in Quebec City. Louis Hébert, Canada‘s first farmer, cultivated the land here on his arrival in New France. It’s important to understand, however, that the natives knew about farming and cultivated the soil long before the arrival of the French settlers.

On the left is a sculpture of Sir Georges-Étienne Cartier, one of the Fathers of Confederation. The Château Frontenac and Price Building are also visible in the distance. In the foreground is a building that has changed function many times. It was originally the first Episcopal Palace.

Photography technique

For this shot, I planted my tripod in 40 centimetres of snow. I used a Canon 5 DSr camera equipped with a Canon EF 11-24 mm F/4L USM ultra wide-angle  zoom lens. I could have set the ISO to 200 thanks to the stability of the tripod, but the wind demanded a faster result due to possible vibrations. ISO and shutter speed are therefore dictated by ambient weather conditions rather than low light.

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

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Photos of Quebec

A tugboat advances through the ice off Quebec City.

Ocean's tugboat on the St.Lawrence river in front of Quebec City in winter.
Ocean’s tugboat on the St.Lawrence river in front of Quebec City in winter.

This Ocean tug advances through the ice on the St. Lawrence River   in front of Quebec City. The photo was taken from the Dufferin Terrace in Old Quebec. The relatively mild winter still leaves passages open for ships.

Photography Theory

Good technique recommends using a tripod and an extension cable. This limits vibrations. But the wooden decking transmits vibrations caused by pedestrians. I wait for them to move away to improve the chances of a well-defined photo.

Night photography combined with a moving boat increases the risk of poor results. The shot requires a minimum shutter speed of about 1/125 to 1/160 and an appropriate ISO. The grain should be as small as possible, as you’ll need to crop to bring the tug closer.

In this case, I sacrificed depth of field, as the main focus is on the ship and the surrounding ice. The lights of Lévis in the background add a little dynamism to the scene.

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

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Photos of Quebec

Holiday Magic in Old Quebec 2025.

Beautiful Old Quebec in winter 2025
Beautiful Old Quebec in winter 2025

Here’s an HDR photo of the wooden staircase leading from the Dufferin Terrace to the Petit-Champlain district, two well-known tourist attractions. All the holiday decorations make Old Quebec even more special.

Taken in the evening, the shot features five photos with different apertures. This allows us to deal with the great difference in luminosity between the foreground and the city of Lévis in the distance.

The clouds and snow help to reflect the city’s glow during the night. Even so, I’ve enhanced the light in the background to make the buildings more easily visible.

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

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Photos du Québec Photos of Canada

Reflections on Saint-Louis Street in Quebec City in winter.

Beautiful Old Quebec night reflections on Saint-Louis Street. Photo by François Ouellet, 2025.
Beautiful Old Quebec night reflections on Saint-Louis Street. Photo by François Ouellet, 2025.

Another perfect evening to photograph Old Quebec in winter! I consider myself very lucky to have daily access to this magical place. It is as you know a UNESCO jewel and one of Canada’s major tourist attractions.

Photography theory and technique

It’s all there: calm winds, light snow, acceptable temperature, low cloud ceiling. Here is a great opportunity to improve one’s photography technique. What’s more, Quebec City finds itself between two busy tourist periods. This means fewer blurred people during night photography.

The snow melts immediately upon reaching Saint-Louis Street. It creates multiple reflections, ideal for special effects.

The quality of the lighting is superb, even in the middle of the nighttime. The city’s glow mirrors off cloud bases and precipitation. This in turn illuminates the old buildings.

Now it’s a question of locating an unusual angle to capture rue Saint-Louis. I’m trying to avoid the over-rehearsed postcard frame!

The viewer’s eye must remain focused on the street and the architecture. It must travel towards the background to discover a section of the National Assembly structures in the distance. The photographic composition is easily achieved.

In order to reach the objective, the viewer’s attention must be captured. A nice object can serve as foreground. It can also remain partially hidden. The vase installed on the Monument Samuel-de-Champlain will be good enough. We’re not really interested in it, but it serves as an entrance to the scene.

Those are simple but efficient photographic tips for winter photography in Old Quebec!

Click on the link for more winter photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans on my blog.

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Photos du Québec

Photo of Quebec City and Château Frontenac by night.

Scène de Québec et du Château Frontenac la nuit. Photo par François Ouellet
Scène de Québec et du Château Frontenac la nuit. Photo par François Ouellet

Photographing a tourist attraction like the Château Frontenac at night, with all its lights, is a good challenge for both the Canon 5 DSr camera and the photographer. Here are a few photographic tips to help you repeat the experience:

1) For a special effect, you might as well go all out and capture the château, including all the lights in the buildings near the Petit-Champlain district.

2) Photographic composition is based on the rule of thirds. You don’t always have to respect the fundamental theory, but this time it works well.

3) The viewer first notices the brightest structures, all of which have a similar luminosity. He then detects the castle on the cape.

4) The contrast is deliberate. The castle is not depicted in all its architectural splendour, but as a few lines lit up in the night.

5) The observer no longer needs to see all the forms of the castle to recognize it. It’s the most photographed castle in the world. The brain quickly analyzes the visible shapes and completes the building in a fraction of a second.

6) Being photographed from this angle and in this light gives a more mysterious aspect to this hotel overlooking the smaller buildings.

7) HDR photography solves some of the lighting problems. I superimposed five photos to obtain the final result.

Click on the link for more autumn photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans on my blog.

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Rue Dauphine in autumn in Old Quebec.

A photo of Quebec City with winter approaching.
A photo of Quebec City with winter approaching.

For this photo of rue Dauphine in Old Quebec, I chose a period when everything changes rapidly. The blue hour still allows us to make out the most significant details of this night photography session. Winter is just around the corner and the rain showers, momentarily halted, are trying to erase the snow that now lingers on the ground in early December.

The freshly fallen rain reflects the light from the streetlamps on rue Dauphine and from the windows of the former church, now the Maison de la littérature.

This kind of photo can only be taken with frequent visits to the old town, in all seasons and weather conditions. The photographer’s eye immediately catches sight of a scene around a bend in the road that needs to be captured.

Click on the link for more autumn photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans on my blog.

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

The “rue du Trésor” in Old Quebec.

Being watched in rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024
Being watched in rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024

On an evening when isolated showers were continually changing the atmosphere in Quebec City, I visited the old part of the town, especially “rue du Trésor”. Today’s article features four photos of the same street captured from different angles. About three hours separates the shots.

Above, passers-by seem to be followed by an individual. I’ve maximized the effect of tension by taking advantage of a moment when the tourists in the background are in the light and the lone walker remains in shadow. To accentuate the discomfort, I opted for a cold tone and undersaturation in post-processing.

Below, two young people chat quietly at the entrance to rue du Trésor, while pedestrians go about their business. The tiles have had time to dry out a little since the last shower.

Conversation near rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024
Conversation near rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024

The photo is legal in Quebec because it’s not just about the two persons in the foreground. There’s a street setting where other passers-by are also present. This is always a factor to consider when publishing for non-commercial use. If the couple is alone in the scene and it’s a close-up, I can capture the scene, but under Quebec law, I don’t publish. For added precaution, it is sometimes better to wait a while between the moment the photo is taken and its distribution. Finally, I make sure that people are not portrayed in such a way as to damage their reputation. So, there are always multiple factors to consider before a photo is taken and distributed.

Reflections after the rain in the rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024
Reflections after the rain in the rue du Trésor, Old Quebec 2024

Above, a couple takes a walk immediately after a rain shower. I set up the camera a few inches off the ground, in front of a puddle to get a reflection.

The goal of the picture is the water reflection but, since I want to publish the photo, I have to think about the persons. The couple becomes possibly the main subject for some viewers. Using added precaution, I put an artificial obstacle in front of the man’s eyes to make him less recognizable. As for the woman, her head turned to one side makes identification impossible.

Below is a view of the Rue du Trésor during the “blue hour,” after the showers. The last tourists take the opportunity to choose a piece of art before the shopkeepers leave.

Rue du Trésor in evening in Old Quebec, 2024
Rue du Trésor in evening in Old Quebec, 2024

Click on the link for reference books about photography in Canada and Quebec on my blog. Also use the following link for more photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in summer on my blog.

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

The umbrellas of Old Quebec.

Series of colorful umbrellas in Old Quebec, 2024
Series of colorful umbrellas in Old Quebec, 2024

Umbrellas cover part of Rue du Cul-de-Sac in Quebec City. Most tourists are unaware of this installation when they set foot in the Petit Champlain   area. Surprised, they whip out their cell phones and capture the moment as best they can. Since they’re just passing through, most don’t have the luxury of choosing the most appropriate light for their multiple shots.

The situation is different for someone who has easy and frequent access to the location. They can wait for the “blue hour” on a fine summer evening, and at the same time capture the golden hue of the lights in front of the many restaurants lining the alleyway.

The main challenge in taking the above shot, however, is the sharp contrasts in light.

For example, the tourists in the foreground are standing in the half-light, but the viewer still wants to see the details. Just above the people, the lighting contrasts sharply with the shaded area at the bottom of the photo. It’s hard for the camera to decide which brightness to prefer.

To top it all off, the soft blue light of late evening illuminates the umbrellas from above, while the restaurant lights illuminate the installation from below.

Image processing software is used to optimize the information contained in the RAW file of the photo, helping to highlight the different areas of brightness in the scene while avoiding areas that are too light or too dark.

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

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Photos of Quebec

McWilliam Street in Old Quebec at night.

Corner of Saint-Stanilas and Saint-Jean streets in Old Québec in the evening Summer 2024.
Corner of Saint-Stanilas and Saint-Jean streets in Old Québec in the evening Summer 2024.

The photo above shows an evening view of the intersection between rue Saint-Stanislas and rue Saint-Jean in Old Quebec. For several months a year, a section of rue Saint-Jean is reserved for pedestrians only. This attracts many tourists. Just behind this popular street is McWilliam Street, with a radically different feel, especially late at night.

The McWilliam street behind the Cochon Dingue restaurant in Québec City.
The McWilliam street behind the Cochon Dingue restaurant in Québec City.

To produce an HDR effect of the location, I plan to stack five photos. I set up the tripod and begin the session. Just as I’m about to finish, a door suddenly opens. A man steps out and lights a cigarette.

I need to capture this very brief moment when the individual is just a stealthy shadow in motion with the intense fluorescent lighting in the background. In this rather dark alleyway, this could generate an interesting effect.

The smoker asks me what I’m doing. It’s an employee on break working for the popular Cochon Dingue restaurant on Rue St-Jean. What a contrast between the modern façade and the back of the same building on McWilliam Street.

At home, HDR processing begins. But it’s impossible to use all five shots together as planned initially. The software combines a closed and an open door at the same time. The result is a kind of butchered wicket door, with almost no light filtering through.

I abandon the idea of an HDR montage and fall back on the single photo where the man is standing in front of the door. I wasn’t counting on this presence, but it adds a touch of humanity to a scene that’s still not very inviting.

Life often presents photography enthusiasts with unexpected opportunities. It’s all about being flexible and capturing the moment, even if it’s not part of the initial planning. Click on the link for more photos of Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Summer on my blog.

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

The full harvest moon of September 2024.

The full harvest moon rises in the Matane sky in September 2024.
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
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.

Click on the link for more photos from the province of Quebec on my blog.