On the road in Chaudière-Appalaches, a beautiful region in the province of Quebec, I saw an interesting landscape in my rearview mirror. This was the perfect start for autumn photography.
Rather than getting out of the vehicle to capture the scene and its autumn colors, it seemed to me that a modified « frame in the frame » technique could be applied very well to capture most of this bucolic landscape.
In order for the photo to be sufficiently in focus, it is necessary to stop the engine. Otherwise, the minute vibrations are transmitted to the rearview mirror, making it impossible to obtain a correct focus, even when using the manual mode.
The photographic composition is determined in the rearview mirror by a zigzagging path through houses and forests. The leaves are starting to change color and the buildings in the foreground as well as the shades of green in the fields help bring the scene to life.
Old American Ford pick-up on the road to Lyster in Québec in 2020
This photo was taken at the end of a beautiful day in the Chaudière-Appalaches region. The sun is almost on the horizon and is hitting the sides of the trees directly, further enhancing the autumn colors .
By this time, people are home having dinner and there are hardly any vehicles on the road. Rather than photographing an empty road, which certainly would have been a logical choice, I waited for a vehicle to show up and advance into the foreground of the photo. We are in the countryside and, luckily for me, the old Ford pick-up fitted perfectly in the landscape.
In terms of the photographic composition, the ideal position to capture the scene seemed to be near the curve, so as to use the white line of the road as a guideline leading to the subject of interest. The 16×9 format also allowed for a photo large enough to include the set of transmission line poles on the left, which itself was certainly as old as the pick-up. The latter was positioned according to the rule of thirds, without any compromises being necessary.
The posts on the left allowed a better framing of the subject. In the distance, the sun shines on the road and we assume there is a field on the left that lets the sun’s rays pass through.
The picture was taken with a Canon 5DS R full frame camera.
The picture above was taken from my car as I was driving on the roads of Quebec in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, looking for interesting subjects that would show the first autumn colors. The sound of the engine idling attracted the curiosity of the animals. Ears are pointed and the two cows kept their eyes on me the whole time I was adjusting the camera. Coincidentally, they stood in an ideal position for a photo taken in vertical format. The photographic composition was thus simplified. A few yellow leaves in the tree show that Autumn was only starting. The picture was taken with a Canon 5DS R full frame camera.
Blue jay and Russian Mountain Ash. Autumn 2020 in Quebec City.
Every Autumn, a Blue Jay lands on our patio knowing he can stock up for the winter. After hearing his calls, I quickly get the peanuts and the camera.
The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 5DS R which allows significant cropping without loss of quality. In the photo above, the branches of the Russian Mountain Ash surround the bird and provide a natural setting.
I place the peanuts in front of the tree, just to include a few small red fruits in the photographic composition.
Blue jay with a peanut in front of a Russian Mountain Ash. Quebec City 2020.
Capturing the blue jay in flight is a bit more difficult, but in the digital age and with a Canon EF 70-200mm f / 2.8L IS II USM lens, photographing birds in flight is made much easier. The photo below was taken with a shutter speed of 1/8000, an aperture of 4.0, and an ISO set at 1250.
Blue Jay in flight. Quebec City 2020.
I have yet to see a Blue Jay eat the fruits of our Russian Mountain Ash. On the other hand, the ravens of the neighborhood have no problem with them.
Winter photography holds great surprises during snowstorms. The picture above was taken on February 27, 2020, a day when Quebec City received between 30 and 35 centimeters of snow.
This little street in Quebec City still has its old wooden posts from which hang many electric wires. In several new neighborhoods, the wires are now buried and the lampposts are no longer made of wood.
The photographic composition did not require much effort, because everything attracted me to this traditional winter scene: the people, the diffused light at the end of the day, the horizon obscured by snow, the steeples in the background, the traditional architecture of buildings pressed against each other and the cars buried under the snow.
As for people, there was only the person shoveling her
entrance when I took my first photo. Then a man walking his dog appeared in the
distance. I took the photo when he was well in view but not in the foreground.
The scene was captured with a Canon 5DSr full-frame DSLR camera. Image processing software was then used to refine the final result.
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 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.
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.
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
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.
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
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 contrastsrequires 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.
A view of Château Lac Louise and the surrounding mountains.
The picture above shows Château Lake Louise and, in the background, Mount Richardson. Lake Louise is in Alberta but only a few kilometers from British Columbia.
This picture was taken during summer 2018 while several forest fires were raging in western Canada. Luckily for us, the smoke had not yet reached Lake Louise when the picture was taken. A few days later, the visibilty worsened and the air quality in the area degraded considerably.
At the time of the picture, the sky was cloudy and I had to wait for the sky to clear in order for more intense sunrays to light part of Château Lake Louise. This provided a greater contrast between the hotel and the mountains in the background.
I thought it was appropriate to keep the canoe with its passengers to add dynamism to the scenery. The photographic composition was planned so as to include the reflection of the bright part of the hotel on the lake.
In order to make an acceptable picture at this time of the day while sitting in a canoe, I used a Canon EF85mm f/1.2L II USM lens mounted on a Canon 5DSR camera. The outstanding performance of the lens in low light allowed me to keep the ISO at 200, thus limiting the photographic grain.
The shutter speed was adjusted to 1/5000 to compensate for the movement of my canoe and the effect of the wind. It seemed to me that for this particular landscape picture, a 16 x 9 format was better suited than the traditional 3X2 associated with full frame sensors.
Click on the following links for other pictures of Quebec and Canada on my blog.
Le navire Zuiderdam ancré dans le Port de Québec à l’automne 2018.
During a beautiful autumn day in Quebec, it is worth making a detour by the “promenade des Gouverneurs”. This promenade is accessible through the Dufferin Terrace and the Battlefields Park. The staircase has a few hundred steps but it is worth the effort.
During this period of the year, several cruise ships, among them the MS Zuiderdam, are anchored in the Quebec harbour. This adds an additional interest for photographers.
The photographic composition of the picture above required a lot of attention since several essential elements had to be included in the picture, without the latter being overloaded.
The main obstacle was the huge difference in lighting between the background and the tree in the foreground. Using RAW files helped a lot when correcting the luminosity with Photoshop. The picture was taken with a Canon 5DSR camera.
The Zuiderdam cruise ship, property of Holland America Line, has a 1916 passenger capacity. It made its first cruise in 2002. The vessel is decorated with numerous artwork, among them a painting of Queen Beatrix (without surprise!) painted by Andy Warhol.
For other ship pictures, click on the following link of my blog:
