Tag: photographic composition

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Ship photography

Ships passing near Quebec City.

The Solar Sally from Shandong Shipping sailing south of Île d'Orléans. Summer 2023.
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 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 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
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.
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.

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

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

The Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier during winter.

Hiker entering the Jacques-Cartier National Park's forest, Winter 2024.
Hiker entering the Jacques-Cartier National Park’s forest, Winter 2024.

The province of Québec offers in 2024 a free admission to Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier a few days a week. This means more visitors than ever before head for the park. Hikers seeking absolute peace and quiet should opt for the paid days.

Even so, if you look carefully, it’s always possible to spot a lone walker, as in the photo above. Most people take the marked trails for ease, but others, like the individual above, venture out on snowshoes near the Jacques-Cartier River, which is completely covered in snow at this time of year.

Jacques-Cartier National Park's landscape, Winter 2024.
Jacques-Cartier National Park’s landscape, Winter 2024.

Approximately three kilometres from the Discovery and Services Chalet is a bridge. From here, the hiker can capture some very beautiful scenes. In winter, an interesting effect can be achieved by positioning yourself close to the banks.

November in the Jacques-Cartier National Park in Quebec, 2023
November in the Jacques-Cartier National Park in Quebec, 2023

This scenery relaxes me so much, yet there are no spectacular elements. Rather, all the components are in perfect harmony: reflections in the water, some bluish snow here and there, brushes and a few leaning trees lit from the side by a soft late afternoon light. As the large trunks occupy the majority of the scene, I chose a vertical format for the photographic composition.

Photo of the Jacques-Cartier national park, Winter 2024.
Photo of the Jacques-Cartier national park, Winter 2024.

Above, the landscape attracts the eye with its combination of horizontal, vertical and oblique lines, as well as its alternating black and white in the foreground. I positioned myself to include in the scene a large branch that enters the photo from the top right-hand corner.

The foreground features open water, snow-covered ice, pure ice and snow-covered ice again. In the middle ground, coniferous and deciduous trees. In the background, a forest revealing the snow on the mountain floor. I’ve left only a hint of sky, as the latter offers no particular interest on this cloudy February day, other than to add some white to complete the alternation of colours.

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

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

November in the parc national de la Jacques-Cartier.

Parc national de la rivière Jacques-Cartier, province of Quebec 2023
Parc national de la rivière Jacques-Cartier, province of Quebec 2023

In November, in downtown Quebec City, green still predominates on the grounds of properties, even if the trees have lost their leaves. But a short twenty-minute excursion north to the Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier reveals the arrival of winter.

Jacques-Cartier river, November 2023.
Jacques-Cartier river, November 2023.

Fifteen centimetres of snow already cover the ground and, after kilometer 10 in the park, the road becomes inaccessible to cars. At the main kiosk, there’s a large parking area for those wishing to continue on foot along the surrounding trails. You’ll come away more relaxed, and with a few photos.

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

Categories
Photos of Quebec

Nature around Québec City

The Domaine Cataraqui early morning in fog.
The Domaine Cataraqui early morning in fog.

If you get up early enough, you can capture the morning fog. The photographic composition respects the rule of thirds, especially regarding the lone tree, my main subject. I included the picnic table to signify the presence of human activity in the vicinity. This often adds interest to a scene.

Flowers on the Plains of Abraham, Quebec City. Summer 2023
Flowers on the Plains of Abraham, Quebec City. Summer 2023

Above, I’ve captured flowers by limiting the aperture of the Canon EF 85mm f/1,2 L II USM lens. The flowerbed is on the Grey Terrace in the Parc des Champs-de-Bataille. The emphasis is on the middle row, leaving the others out of focus to create a different effect.

Picking blueberries in Saint-Nicolas.
Picking blueberries in Saint-Nicolas.

There’s no shortage of space in Quebec when it comes to picking berries. Although it doesn’t appear so in the picture, the Vire-Crêpes business had many customers on its grounds that day. But the estate covers such a large area that it offers people a fairly private zone.

Blueberries in Saint-Nicolas.
Blueberries in Saint-Nicolas.

This last photo shows a blueberry plant from Saint-Nicolas, south of Quebec City. The fruits require more time to reach full maturity, but the different colours visible at this stage of growth makes for a more interesting shot.

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

Categories
Photography Photos of Quebec

Photographing Old Quebec.

An Old Quebec view with the Château Frontenac in the distance using a Canon 11-24mm zoom lens.
An Old Quebec view with the Château Frontenac in the distance using a Canon 11-24mm zoom lens.

Luck plays a significant role in the acquisition of an original shot. To put chance on our side, we need to go on photo expeditions frequently, whatever the weather, and seize opportunities when they arise.

For this outing in Old Quebec, I thought I’d use a Canon 11–24mm f/4L USM super-wide-angle zoom lens. It allows you to get very close to a tall building and obtain vertical lines without the top of the structure disappearing.

Indeed, many high-performance zooms require the utilization of image-processing software to produce an almost perfect vertical effect. But doing so cuts off the top of the edifice.

So, I was looking for a different perspective to shoot the Château Frontenac. I saw it more in the background, as a point of arrival for the eye, rather than taking up all the space. Even as a small edifice in a photo, you recognize it before any other structure.

To do this, I chose an architecturally interesting building as my starting element. It reminded me vaguely of the Flatiron Building in New York. Naturally, it’s not as high and offers that rounded effect when captured in wide-angle format.

I’ve observed a lot of representations of Old Quebec so far. However, I don’t recall previously noticing the street and the old edifices in this way. Usually, the building in the foreground is partially visible.

Lost in the analysis of the ideal angle, I heard a strange engine sound. On my left, a vintage car was moving slowly and would pass in front of the Canon 5DSr lens in a few seconds.

I quickly lifted the camera and placed it in the right spot. The auto was already gaining speed and I had to seize the opportunity. This vintage car blended perfectly into the scene. Only the slightly more contemporary station wagon indicates a more recent picture.

Modernity and the past still come together in harmony in a developer-protected Old Quebec. To capture interesting pictures, you need to get out into the old town frequently.

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

Categories
Photography Photos of Quebec

Line study in photography.

Old Quebec Stairs May 2023
Old Quebec Stairs May 2023

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
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
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.

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

Categories
Photos of Quebec

A Storm on Île d’Orléans.

Sea kayaks at Saint-Laurent-de-l'Île d'Orléans 2023
Sea kayaks at Saint-Laurent-de-l’Île d’Orléans 2023

Unstable weather presents two advantages for a photographer on the Île d’Orléans. Firstly, the fear of rain means that visitor numbers are greatly reduced. In fact, most of the people who come to the island are interested in the outdoor activities on offer, such as fruit picking, cycling or sea kayaking. So, we’ve got the road all to ourselves to stop whenever we feel like it!

Île d'Orléans before the storm, July 2023.
Île d’Orléans before the storm, July 2023.

Secondly, unstable weather means the possibility of thunderstorms, with all their interesting cloud formations. It is therefore essential to check the radar and weather forecasts before setting off for the island.

The two photos above were taken with a Canon 5DSr full-frame camera equipped with a Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM ultra wide zoom lens.

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

Categories
Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

Old Quebec in Summer.

Summer 2023 in Old Quebec.
Summer 2023 in Old Quebec.

Some companies organize themed guided tours of Old Quebec at dusk in summer. The guides dress up in costume and regularly follow the same routes. With a little patience, a lantern-wielding person can be included in a photo, as well as the old stone houses and the Château Frontenac. This adds another interesting detail to the scene.

The picture above presented several challenges, some of which have been solved. Ideally, the HDR method would have provided a better control of luminosity, but the hostess holding the lantern would have disappeared in the process carried out by the Photomatix software. This person played an important role in the scene, so I decided to take just one shot, but in RAW format to optimize the sky light correction in post-processing.

I wanted to use the smallest aperture possible to get a precise focus from the foreground to the Château Frontenac. But due to the lack of adequate light and the movement of people towards the camera, I had to maintain a sufficient shutter speed, even at ISO 6400. Unfortunately, the aperture suffered a little.

So, this is a photo full of compromises, where you do the best you can with the situation and the photographic equipment available.

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

Categories
Photography Photos of Quebec

A Canon lens avoids the garbage.

The Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec , April 28th 2023.
The Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec , April 28th 2023.

A sixteen year old Canon 14mm f/2.8 L lens that was narrowly saved from the garbage allowed me to take this wide angle photo of the Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral in Old Quebec.

The visit being improvised, I did not have a tripod. So, I put the full frame camera Canon 5DSr directly on the ground. However, the lens was pointing straight ahead, preventing me from capturing the architecture and colors of the vault. I put my wallet and the lens cap on the floor to provide support for the camera to point towards the ceiling. Considering the circumstances, the result could have been worse.

Two months earlier, this 2007 Canon 14mm lens broke and could not focus automatically or manually anymore. I had sent it to Canon in Toronto. The company had written back that the lens was beyond repair and that I would unfortunately have to get a new one, at an estimated cost of $2700.

With nothing left to lose, I took the chance to have it repaired in Quebec City in a small workshop that repairs just about everything. The technician only needed a few hours of work on the lens and I received a bill for $200 plus taxes.

It was explained to me that the big camera companies do not repair equipment that is fifteen years old or more: they declare it “irreparable” when a few hours are all it takes for an experienced and competent technician to do the job.

The breakdown came just in time as the technician retired within a few weeks…

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

Categories
Photos of Quebec

Spring in Quebec City

Joe Fafard's sculpture photographed during Spring in Quebec City.
Joe Fafard’s sculpture photographed during Spring in Quebec City.

Nature comes back to life with the arrival of Spring. This is a good season for black and white photography. In the case of the photo above, the melting white snow uncovers a dark colored ground. The almost black main subject also stands out against a fairly light horizon, so this can only help the photographic composition.

I imagined the effect of the photo when transformed into black and white, with this continuous alternation of light and dark from the foreground to the horizon.

The horse, now free of snow, is galloping past the trees. The multiple trunks seem intertwined with the horse and give the illusion of a ghostly apparition. To avoid too much confusion, however, I had to make sure that the horse’s head and tail were clearly visible. A vertical shot was better because of all the branches that fill the first third of the picture and seem to be part of the horse.

The all-metal animal is part of a set of eight horses created by Joe Fafard, a renowned Saskatchewan artist and Officer of the Order of Canada. The City of Calgary and the Calgary Stampede donated the sculpture to Quebec City and it is located along Champlain Boulevard near the Cap Blanc stairs, just before entering Old Quebec.

Click on the link for more photos of Quebec City in the Spring on my blog.