Tag: Old Quebec

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Winter photography 2020 near Old Quebec (5)

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.
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
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
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.

Click on the link for other photos of Quebec City and île d’Orléans in Winter on my blog.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Winter photography 2020 in Old Quebec (4)

February 7th 2020 snowstorm at Place d'Youville in Quebe City.
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 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.
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.

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

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Winter photography 2020 in Old Quebec (3)

Place d'Youville under moderate snow. Seen from the Porte St-Jean during Winter 2020.
Place d’Youville under moderate snow. Seen from the Porte St-Jean during Winter 2020.

The photography technique adopted above uses the arch offered by Porte St-Jean to frame the main photo showing Place d’Youville and its buildings at the time of heavy snowfall.


This winter night photograph represents several challenges, including the need to show the snowflakes falling in front of the headlights of moving cars while respecting the natural light of the buildings in the background.

The two pedestrians strolling on St-Jean Street add a human touch and depth to this scene.

The photo below shows part of Pub St-Patrick with some of its Christmas decorations during the snowstorm of February 7, 2020. Old Quebec is full of decorated buildings long after the holiday season is over.

A pedestrian in front of Pub St. Patrick in Old Quebec, Winter 2020
A pedestrian in front of Pub St. Patrick in Old Quebec, Winter 2020

The photo was taken just before nightfall because the light is particularly soft at that moment. I waited for a rare pedestrian to add a bit of humanity to this scene.

The photographic composition takes into account the two diagonal lines starting from the upper and lower left corners and meet on the right side of the photo, roughly in its center.

The diffuse light coming from a lamp post located on the right and outside the frame of the photo adds a little warmth to this winter scene.

The pictures above were taken with a Canon 5DSR full frame camera.

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

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Winter photography 2020 in Old Quebec (2)

A narrow street in Old Quebec during a winter storm in 2020
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
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 contrasts requires 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.

The photos were taken with a Canon 5DSr.

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

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Winter photography 2020 in Old Quebec (1)

Old Quebec during the February 7 2020 snowstorm.
Old Quebec during the February 7 2020 snowstorm.

A winter photography project can consist of planning a photo session during a huge winter storm. The next few articles related to photography will concern the snowstorm that took place on February 7, 2020 in Quebec.

The photo above was taken near Côte de la Fabrique, in Old Quebec, after the storm which left 35 centimeters of snow. I chose a black and white photo because the colors added nothing significant, even going so far as to distract the viewer.

The technique of black and white photography works very well here at showing the contrasts between light and dark. The pedestrian and the vehicle headlights emerge much better and the blowing effect near the buildings is more visible.

Delayed snow removal in Old Quebec.
Delayed snow removal in Old Quebec.

Interestingly, the rise and fall of tides in the St. Lawrence Seaway impacts snow removal in upper town of Old Quebec.

If the storm occurs during high tides, there may be an overflow of the St. Lawrence Seaway on certain sections of the highway in the lower town. The trucks responsible for collecting snow then have to make a long detour which brings them back to areas already affected by automobile congestion and where speed limits are considerably lower.

While the snowblower is on site and ready to clear the streets of Old Quebec, trucks are caught in traffic, thus slowing the snow removal process. (To be continued).

The photos were taken with a Canon 5DSr.

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

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Old Quebec at twilight

The St-Jean Gate in Old Quebec 2019
The St-Jean Gate in Old Quebec 2019

This young man found a quiet spot on the St-Jean Gate in Old Quebec. On the other side of the wall, at Place d’Youville, a band plays during the Quebec Summer Festival.

Click on the link for other photos of Québec City and île d’Orléans in Summer on my blog.

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Light effects in Old Quebec

Light effects in Old Quebec 2019
Light effects in Old Quebec 2019

This photo was taken near the Quebec City Townhall in Old Quebec with a handheld Canon 5DSR full frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens.

Click on the link for other pictures of Québec City and île d’Orléans in Summer on my blog.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Ephemeral creations in old quebec

Old Quebec,autumn 2018
Old Quebec,autumn 2018

Ephemeral creations are part of the constantly changing portrait of Old Quebec. The public art installations are visible only for a few weeks at a time. The photography lover must stroll through numerous areas of the city in order to find and immortalize an installation before it definitely disappears!

Click on the link for other photos of Quebec in Autumn on my blog.

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Photography in the rain in Old Quebec.

Two Quebec pubs on the St-Jean street, in Old Quebec.
Two Quebec pubs on the St-Jean street, in Old Quebec.

Photography under the rain often allows for fairly decent results, even if it is a bit less comfortable for the photographer.

In the picture above, I first considered a close-up plan of the St-Alexandre English pub (Pub St-Alexandre ) and of the Chez Murphy’s Irish pub (Pub Chez Murphy’s) on St-Jean street, in Old Quebec. Both pubs belong to the same owner; this is an excellent way to curb the eventual competition.

I then waited for pedestrians holding colorful umbrellas to show up in front of the pubs. That took some time since today’s fashion is all in for black: black cars, black clothing, black hats and …. black umbrellas!

Water reflections on the sidewalk and an appropriate light completed the scenery.

For other pictures of Quebec City, click on the following links of my blog :

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 Street photography

Street photography in Old Quebec.

Playing with the fountain in Quebec City.
Playing with the fountain in Quebec City.

The boy tests the water temperature before running across the water jets located beside Quebec City’s City Hall.

The light in the water jets required an exposure correction of + 1/3. The shutter speed was set at 1/80 which allowed to see the boy clearly at a time when he was not moving too much. This shutter speed also allowed to visualize the water jets effects while limiting the ISO to 1250, even with such a low light. The aperture was only 6.3, just enough for what had to be photographed.

The picture was taken with a Canon 5DSR full frame camera equipped with a Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens.

Click on the link for more on street photography on my blog.