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.
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.
