End of December 2022. It’s hot in Quebec City. The city was first swept by a storm that left hundreds of thousands of Quebecers without power, some for more than a week. A heat wave then swept through the province of Quebec for several days.
One positive aspect of this warm air is that it melted the thick layer of ice and snow that had accumulated on the roofs of homes during the December 23 storm, resetting the clock for the remaining portion of the winter to come.
But when it comes to winter sports, it’s a different story. One had to walk around town on the last day of 2022 to see the changes in just a few days.
Passing by the public skating rink maintained by the municipality on the Battlefields Park, I took this picture that sums up the situation: a warm rain falling on the snow and accelerating the melting to the point where a thick fog sets in, puddles of water several centimeters thick covering a layer of ice.
I use this water to add the reflections of the skaters in the photographic composition. Fortunately for them, the sportsmen benefit from a mechanically cooled ice rink to continue practicing their favorite activity.
I took this picture of the houses in Old Quebec one day before the great storm of December 23, 2022 that left hundreds of thousands of Quebecers without electricity. At the time the picture was taken, the winds were already blowing pretty hard and the windchill factor was around -20C. The tripod had to be held securely to avoid unnecessary vibrations.
The scene captured during the “blue hour” consists of three photos superimposed in order to obtain an HDR result .
As I finished the shoot, I saw a young couple walking up the snowy slope in the foreground in the photo above. The young man approached me and asked me to make a video of the proposal he was about to make to his girlfriend on his cell phone. She didn’t know anything about it.
He got down on one knee, proposed and she said yes. Then came the ring, the kisses and hugs. Without gloves to hold the cell phone for several minutes, I was hoping for the most concise ceremony possible. A few moments later, half frozen, he came back to get his cell phone. Everything had gone as he had planned. You never know what to expect when you go out for a photo shoot!
Caf La Maison Smith on l’Île d’Orlans 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 “Caf La Maison Smith” on Île d’Orlans. 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 caf, the relaxation begins. Then comes the ride around the island, the “42 milles de choses tranquilles (42 miles of quiet things) ” of the singer Flix Leclerc. A few hours later, you leave the island fresh and relaxed!
The Fall colors are particularly intense in Quebec towards the end of the first week of October. Rather than sticking to pure landscape photography by framing only the trees and mountains, one can choose to include in the foreground the result of the work of one or more people. Far from distracting, the addition of people or objects related to everyday activities often increases the interest of a photo.
In the photo above, an apple grower from Île d’Orlans is spreading out his harvest.
The exhibition of Mosaïculture of Qubec 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 Qubec 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 Qubec 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 Qubec City, more than 80% of the works were exposed for the first time.
A beekeeper and his bees at the Mosaïcultures de Qubec 2022
The site had to be prepared nine months in advance. As intensive watering became mandatory, Qubec 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 Qubec 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 Qubec 2022 mosaicultures will have been another major tourist attraction for Qubec 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!
Cyclists turning for côte Gilmour in Quebec City in 2022
An interesting vantage point to photograph the Grand Prix Cycliste de Qubec is at the intersection of Grande-Alle and the avenue leading to the famous Gilmour hill. The cyclists are riding at high speed and must brake hard before making a sharp left turn to begin the descent to the portion that will take them along the St. Lawrence River. There are no obstructions for the photographer at this point.
2022 Quebec City Grand Prix Cycliste
To capture the effect of the cyclists’ movement, the shutter speed must not be set too fast, preferably between 1/125 and 1/160. Otherwise, everything looks immobile, even the wheel spokes.
Quebec City Grand Prix Cycliste in 2022
Positioning yourself immediately after the curve allows you to capture a long line of bicycles. You can focus on the cyclists on the right in the viewfinder and leave the line of cyclists around the curve out of focus. To do this, make sure that the chosen aperture will blur the background. It is also important to follow the movement of the cyclists with the camera. If you stand still, all the riders will be out of focus, as the shutter speed is too slow for the high speed of these riders.
Cyclists racing on Grande-Alle in Quebec City 2022
An occasional close-up obtained through cropping allows us to see details that we would otherwise miss. In the case of the photo above, it is clear that not only is the rider in the front relaxed, but he has also recently crashed, with his right arm still in recovery. Sometimes we also see the result of deformities in the knees of cyclists following numerous surgeries.
Quebec City Grand Prix Cycliste 2022
The cyclists want to maintain their position in this tightly packed group that must maneuver in a small space. With a telephoto lens, one can see the facial expressions change as they approach the turn for the Gilmour hill. Note the concentration on the faces of the cyclists in the foreground…
Grand Prix Cycliste in Quebec City in 2022
Following moving cyclists with a camera remains a difficult art to master. Several pictures are taken before a successful one is achieved. Fortunately, film photography is behind us and we don’t worry as much about missed shots. The important thing is to have fun and try to get a little better with each photo session!
A bee approaches a flower on the beach in Île d’Orlans
Near the Saint-Jean de l’île d’Orlans church, there is an easily accessible beach. One can observe mostly rocks with interesting colors and some plants beaten by the wind. If you look carefully, you may find tiny pink flowers at the end of the beach. As I was about to take a picture, a bee approached the flower.
To counteract the effect of the strong winds, I opted for a high shutter speed, which at the same time helped to freeze the moment when the insect suddenly appeared in the viewfinder. Because of the very small size of the flower, a lot of cropping was required to enlarge the details.
Motorcycle policemen lead the convoy bringing the Pope to Old Quebec in 2022.
If you don’t have privileged access, the main difficulty in photographing the arrival of Pope Francis in Old Quebec in 2022 lies in the vague and sometimes contradictory information offered to journalists in an obvious effort to protect the itinerary of the head of state.
You also have to deal with the strong police presence and the barriers that open and close according to the mood of the moment, blocking bicycles and pedestrians long before the Pope has crossed the Saint-Louis gate. As a photographer, you don’t want to find yourself suddenly stuck in a place of no interest.
Other aspects to consider are purely photographic, such as the ambient light and the distance from the subject at the time of the photo, which will influence the choice of equipment carried.
The official convoy arrives on Saint-Louis Street. It is important to know that in the afternoon, the sun crosses directly the axis of the Saint-Louis Street in its slow descent towards the west. If you position yourself along this street to take the picture, there is no physical obstacle, but you photograph against the light a convoy which passes at full speed. The camera sensor does not appreciate backlighting, because it has difficulty evaluating which light takes precedence. The choice of a straight line on Saint-Louis Street is therefore not very interesting.
The crowd greets Pope Francis on his arrival in Old Quebec in 2022.
The Pope’s driver sits on the left (at least in Canada). The Pope will therefore be on the right, whether forward or backward. If one stands in the Place d’Armes, one gives priority to the driver rather than to the Pontiff.
As the sun travels progressively from the axis of St. Louis Street to the west, the tall trees of the Place d’Armes will create a natural veil blocking the effects of backlighting. This will increase the chances of successful photos.
On St. Louis Street, the convoy is moving quickly in a long straight line. The chances of getting a good picture decrease. When the security cars reach the end of Saint-Louis, they have to brake because of a sharp curve near the Château Frontenac. If you position yourself immediately after the curve, the chances of getting an acceptable picture increase greatly.
As for photographic equipment, a camera lens that requires little light will help optimize shutter speed and depth of field, especially in the late afternoon. The Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens offers more flexibility.
A camera with a full-frame sensor will also allow the cropping necessary to magnify the photo without loss of quality. For the photos included in this article, the camera used was a Canon 5DSR.
The riskiest technique which therefore requires a little more experience is to take the picture of the head of state in his car in focus while leaving the outside blurred, to show that the car is moving fast. You follow the car with the camera’s viewer. The closer it gets to you, there is an obvious feeling of acceleration. It is thus necessary to increase the rotation of your body to adjust to the car’s relative speed change. The autofocus does its job as the vehicle approaches.
There is only a fraction of a second where you get a completely clear view of the head of state. A second too early and you only see a portion of the face with a piece of the car, a second too late and you get a three-quarter rear view. A continuous shooting mode becomes absolutely necessary.
Pope Francis arrives in Old Quebec on his trip to Canada in 2022.
An adequate shutter speed captures the face of the head of state accurately and keeps the background blurred. A shutter speed that is too fast makes the whole scene clear and sharp, and the photo loses its dynamism. Too slow a speed and the face lacks definition. There is only one chance to get it right.
So, those were a few ideas to remember if you want to photograph important events in Old Quebec. A prior knowledge of the terrain and of the sun’s position at specific times remains essential if you want to increase your chances of success.
An American Robin and its fledgling in Sillery, Quebec City.
In Quebec City, an American Robin came to make its nest near our back door. Since it had been there brooding without giving birth to anything, we were beginning to believe that the mother was sterile.
Major construction work was to begin shortly at our home and would last a few weeks. We were almost glad that no chicks were born, as this would simplify the transportation of materials.
A day before the renovations were to begin, the first chick was born. From then on, all construction workers would have to be blocked off and asked to make a detour each time they needed to take scraps out of the house or bring in new material.
All labor groups agreed to our request without a second thought. For two weeks, electricians, plumbers, floor layers, delivery people and installers of all kinds came and went, sometimes asking for updates on the condition of the mother and her chicks.
In Quebec City, three two week old American Robins.
The photo above shows the three chicks one day before they fledge. The lack of light due to the location of the nest, as well as the desire not to disturb the fledglings, necessitated the use of a powerful telephoto lens and a camera capable of cropping without loss of quality. A full-frame cameraCanon 5DSR with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto made the job easy. The ISO was set to 200 and I severely limited the depth of field to get the best possible shutter speed to avoid motion blur.
This morning, all the birds had left the nest. The parents were flying around nervously, attacking predators while the young were quickly learning to become independent. The blue jay that regularly visits us for its “dish of the day” was denied access to the backyard by both parents.
There are now three new American Robin in the area and it is almost certain that the mother will return next year to the same location, given the success this year.
Tonight, the weather is too nice to stay at home. Thousands of people are already walking in the streets of Old Quebec on this day of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, the national holiday of Quebecers.
The fontaine de Tourny in Quebec City on June 24th 2022.
People are positioning themselves early around the Tourny Fountain and on the Parliament grounds in anticipation of a multimedia show whose images will be projected on the façade of the National Assembly.
The Grande-Alle in Quebec City on June 24th 2022.
Once the show is over, it’s the rush to Old Quebec or the restaurants of the Grande-Alle. The photo above was taken from the top of the St. Louis Gate.
North sector of Quebec City Summer 2022.
I love this view of the northern sector of Quebec City in the late evening. Normally, a filter would be needed to neutralize the intense light generated by a setting sun. But tonight, the clouds act as a natural attenuator and the sensor of the Canon 5DSr camera can do its job well.
The last picture below is of St-Jean Street, in Old Quebec, in the late evening of June 24, 2022. This street is being revitalized and new businesses and restaurants have recently settled there. During the summer, a section of the street is reserved to pedestrians and the strollers have access to many terraces.
