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.
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.
Some companies organize themed guided tours of Old Quebecat 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.
During a photography session in Old Quebec, at Place d’Youville, I met this group of young people dressed as characters from a video game they like. I find it quite charming and entertaining. It’s important to think outside the box and not be afraid to express what drives you the most.
I saw them a few hours later at the Dufferin Terrace as tourists insisted on having their picture taken in their presence.
The visit being improvised, I did not have a tripod. So, I put the full frame cameraCanon 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…
In the St-Jean-Baptiste district of Quebec City, a muralist and a tagger each use their favorite art to express themselves in the same place. The expression ” Fuck tes murales anti-tag (Fuck your anti-tag murals) ” directly applied on the mural adds very little effort to the whole work, but hey, I’m not an art historian. Maybe a new way of communicating between artists has just appeared!
The Old Quebec in winter is always exciting to photograph. The continually changing weather presents new opportunities that must be seized. Moreover, for the same weather system, each hour that passes also offers a different luminosity. The photographer is spoilt for choice.
For the picture above, taken with a Canon 5DSr, I positioned myself in a place that is normally off-limits during winter. That’s why you can only see my footprints in the snow. But hey! The risk was minimal and the angle of view perfect to capture the Château Frontenac.
The street lamp emits a light that needs to be corrected in the camera. Instead of “AWB”, select “tungsten”. This adjustment allows you to reflect exactly what you see, rather than ending up with tones that are too contrasty. HDR photography allows for some correction of large contrasts in brightness.
The lights on the roof of the Chateau Frontenac illuminate the snow falling around the building. This snow makes for interesting sky tones, even though the blue hour has long since passed.
In terms of the photographic composition, the low wall and fence serve as the entry point into the photo. The lamp post is located at a point respecting the rule of thirds. The building on the right blocks the view and invites the eye to continue its exploration to the left of the photo, which leads the viewer to the Chateau Frontenac.
The photo below, taken a few minutes later, uses the stairs as an entry point into the photo to quickly lead the eye to the Château Frontenac. In this case, a vertical format lends itself better to the scene.
The Château Frontenac, winter 2023.
The snow on the railings and steps adds an alternating black and white effect. Otherwise, everything would be quite dark and we would lose a little interest. A nearby street lamp provides enough ambient light to illuminate the scene; however, I was careful not to include the light source directly in the photo, as it distracts the viewer from the main subject.
In winter as well as in summer, I use a tripod to reduce camera shake and improve resolution in low light conditions.
Café La Maison Smith on l’Île d’Orléans and autumn colors
Not yet ready to leave the beautiful colors of Fall? Here is one of the last pictures of this season in 2022: the “Café La Maison Smith” on Île d’Orléans. When you want to take a leisurely tour of the island, this is the first place you stop for a good coffee and a croissant to go.
As soon as the visitor enters the café, the relaxation begins. Then comes the ride around the island, the “42 milles de choses tranquilles (42 miles of quiet things) ” of the singer Félix Leclerc. A few hours later, you leave the island fresh and relaxed!
Want to try an out-of-the-ordinary excursion in the Quebec City area? Here is an idea: if you have a car, start by parking (for free) in one of the spaces available at Domaine Cataraqui. The new staircase designed in 2022 in the forest behind the domain allows you to go from the heights of Sillery to the bottom of the cliff giving access to the Promenade Samuel-De Champlain (Note, however, that the Promenade is not maintained in winter). Walking from this point to the Petit-Champlain district in Old Quebec takes two hours, without hurrying. If you do it in the Autumn, you may even be able to see the cruise ships.
A section of the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, docked in the Québec City harbour in 2022.
The photo above shows a section of the Caribbean Princess cruise ship moored in the port of Quebec. When it comes to a floating hotel, this ship is a good example.
A section of the Château Frontenac, in Old Québec.
Price building and houses in Old Quebec 2022
You now have the option of staying in Old Quebec for as long as you wish, and then take St. Jean Street and walk a few minutes to Place d’Youville to take bus #25 which will bring you back comfortably on St-Louis Street, at a stop very close to the place where you parked your car initially.
You will have had a great day that allowed you to exercise, see the St. Lawrence Seaway and the beauties of Old Quebec. All this for the price of a bus ticket ($4.00).
Cruise ships in the Port of Quebec in the fall of 2022
Another great time for Quebec City merchants begins with the arrival of multiple cruise ships each fall. Not only do the thousands of tourists pour into Old Quebec and its Petit-Champlain neighborhood, but the ships must also be restocked in anticipation of the continuing voyage.
In terms of photography technique, the Promenade des Gouverneurs and its staircase act as an entry point to the center of the photo above. It is of course important to preserve some autumn colors, as they are so ephemeral. A wide-angle lens helps the photographic composition, but it certainly distorted the street lamps on the left of the photo, which had to be straightened with an image processing software. Finally, the rule of thirds worked perfectly here to highlight the magnificent view from the heights of Quebec City.
The Queen Mary 2 arrives in Québec City on September 29th 2022.
The Queen Mary 2 in the Quebec City harbour in 2022.
The exhibition of Mosaïculture of Québec City 2022 , entitled “Once upon a time… the Earth“, ends in a few days, after having been a great success throughout the summer.
Two elephants at the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022
More than six million plants were used to build 200 animals and insects in the Bois-de-Coulonge, not to mention the flowers along the way to further enhance the tour.
Four zebras at the Mosaïcultures Québec 2022
In a few months, hundreds of thousands of visitors will have walked through the circuit of 90 minutes to visit the largest edition of mosaiculture since its creation in 2000 in Montreal. In Québec City, more than 80% of the works were exposed for the first time.
A beekeeper and his bees at the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022
The site had to be prepared nine months in advance. As intensive watering became mandatory, Québec City temporarily modified its watering regulations, explaining that it was an exhibition and not a horticultural production.
The man who plants a tree at the Mosaïcultures de Québec 2022
Above, a shepherd plants a tree in a place that seems to be very unfertile, indicating at the same time the need not to give up when it comes to saving the planet.
These Québec 2022 mosaicultures will have been another major tourist attraction for Québec City, after a cascade of other summer events. In fact, there have been times when so many tourist activities overlapped at the same time, that residents and tourists had to make choices. A spectacular rebound from a pandemic that forced people to make sacrifices for two years!
