Tag: shutter speed

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Aviation photography

The Patrouille de France and the Alpha Jets over Quebec City.

Alpha Jets from the Patrouille de France flying by Quebec City July 2026
Alpha Jets from the Patrouille de France flying by Quebec City July 2026

In July 2026, the Patrouille de France arrives from the United States and makes a stopover in Montreal and Quebec City for the last time with its Alpha Jet twin-engine jets. These aircraft will be replaced by Pilatus PC-21s starting in 2030.

Photographing the flyover of Quebec City requires choosing between a close-up of the Alpha Jets—aircraft we will never see again—or a wide-angle shot showing the contrails in the colors of France as the pilots fly over the Quebec Bridge.

The Alpha Jets are moving quickly over the St. Lawrence River. The photographer cannot change lenses to capture both a close-up and a super-wide-angle shot in a single pass. He must choose…

A telephoto lens is ideal for capturing the details of aircraft as they fly by. The Canon EF 70-200 mm f/2.8L IS II USM will do the trick. Set to ISO 200 and mounted on a Canon 5DSR full-frame camera, it allows for significant cropping without any loss of quality when zooming in. The excellent light conditions allow for a fast shutter speed.

But every choice involves a trade-off. So, I have to forgo a high-quality super-wide-angle shot taken from the base of the bridge. It would have shown the entire metal structure along with the planes flying by. But the planes would have been too small to be identified.

The Quebec Bridge cannot be overlooked, as it is the world’s largest cantilever structure. Furthermore, the structure—which is over a century old—collapsed twice during its construction.

The Patrouille de France flying over the Québec bridge in 2026
The Patrouille de France flying over the Québec bridge in 2026

The telephoto lens will allow for a decent photo of the Patrouille de France and the Quebec Bridge in the distance, but nothing more. Viewers will have to settle for a scene full of compromises where neither the planes nor the bridge are clearly visible. However, it did allow for some impressive close-ups of the Alpha Jets, as shown in the first photo.

Click on the link for more photos of airplanes on my blog.

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Photos of Quebec

The Price Building and the fountain at Quebec City Hall.

City Hall Fountain and Price Building 2026
City Hall Fountain and Price Building 2026

Photography Tips

Here are a few photography tips for taking a decent photo of the Price Building, the only skyscraper in Old Quebec, with the multicoloured fountain at Quebec City Hall.

Ideally, you should use an ultra-wide-angle lens. In the picture above, I’m using the Canon EF 11–24 mm F/4L USM zoom lens. At 11 mm, it frames the Price Building and the fountain without cutting anything out.

It’s best to photograph the scene during the blue hour. At this time, the cloud formations that are still visible create a more vibrant sky. The colours of the water jets also stand out better. Of course, a tripod and a camera shutter release cable are necessary.

The height and colour of the water jets vary constantly. It takes several attempts to get the jets high enough and achieve the desired colour. This way, you’ll capture large reflections on the tiles that ultimately create long, straight lines of colour.

It’s well known that fountains attract children… and parents. The main challenge when taking photos comes from the number of people making selfies and standing still in the water jets. It’s during those rare moments when no one enters the frame that you capture the scenery.

Shooting in RAW format allows you to enhance the data recorded by the camera later on. I use a fairly low ISO and a shutter speed between 1/60 and 1/125. A slower shutter speed also produces good results and alters the texture of the water jets. The depth of field is around 9.0.

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

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Aviation photography

The first visit of the Canadian CC-295 Kingfisher to Quebec City.

First visit of the Canadian search and rescue Kingfisher aircraft at Quebec Jean-Lesage intl airport
First visit of the Canadian search and rescue Kingfisher aircraft at Quebec Jean-Lesage intl airport

In July 2025, Quebec City Jean Lesage International Airport (CYQB) welcomed its first visit from the Canadian CC-295 Kingfisher. This is the Canadian Forces’ new search and rescue aircraft. Sixteen units of the aircraft have been ordered.

The Kingfisher is equipped with sensors that can locate objects or people up to a distance of 40 kilometers, even in low light conditions. Its range allows it to remain in flight for over 4,500 kilometers.

Photography tips

I arrive too late at Quebec City airport: the plane is already parked. However, information obtained from the pilots indicates that takeoff is scheduled within the next hour on runway 06.

Ground traffic provides excellent opportunities to photograph an aircraft while benefiting from an interesting background. The photography technique required for this first visit by the Kingfisher is really basic.

Communications with the control tower indicate when the CC-295 is starting up. It will stop just before entering runway 06. A 200mm telephoto lens would normally do the trick, provided the ISO is not too high. But today, I am trying out a recent acquisition: a Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 L IS II USM fixed telephoto lens.

In the middle of the day, a photographer deals more with the quantity of light than its quality. However, the goal here is not to capture a bouquet of flowers or a wedding, so the harsh light should be fine. The flamboyant color of the aircraft will distract attention from the lack of interest in the ambient light.

With the shutter speed reduced to 1/125 and the ISO set to 200, I wait for the moment when the Kingfisher is opposite the control tower. This will provide a high-quality background. Twenty photos later, the plane is nothing more than a memory.

Click on the link for more aviation-related photos on my blog.

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Aviation photography

Aviation photography: PAL Airlines Dash 8-400 in Quebec City.

The Dash 8-400 is also known as the DH8D or Q400 (Q standing for “quiet”). It is pictured here at the threshold of Runway 29 at Quebec City’s Jean Lesage International Airport. It is awaiting takeoff clearance.

PAL Airlines DH8D aircraft and Pascan Saab-340B at the Québec Jean-Lesage international airport.
PAL Airlines DH8D aircraft and Pascan Saab-340B at the Québec Jean-Lesage international airport.

Photography technique

I focus on the back of the aircraft. The limited depth of field blurs the rest of the image. The shutter speed is between 1/80 and 1/125, so as not to freeze the propellers. The result is a more dynamic photo.

With the plane’s back to the camera, interest is limited unless something special is happening. The frequency scanner indicates that a Pascan Saab-340 (SF32) will shortly be taking off from runway 24. With a bit of luck, I’ll be able to capture it and include it in the shot of the Q400.

A few seconds later, the aircraft enters the lens’ field of vision. The idea is to capture it while it’s still vis-a-vis the gasoline fumes from the engines. I took a few photos and kept the one with the best photographic composition.

Below is a photo of an Air Canada Rouge aircraft taking off from 24 after a heavy downpour.

An Air Canada Rouge Airbus jet takes-off from a wet runway at the Québec Jean-Lesage international airport.
An Air Canada Rouge Airbus jet takes-off from a wet runway at the Québec Jean-Lesage international airport.

This time, there’s no question of limiting the shutter speed to 1/125. The plane has no propellers, so you can choose 1/1000 without making a mistake. For greater dynamism, wait until the nose of the plane starts to lift. You can also keep a long trail of water splashes.

Finally, it’s often best to show a bit of landscape in the foreground to better situate the aircraft in its environment.

Click on the link for more aircraft photos on my blog. There are also photo galleries in the menu.

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Aviation photography

Aviation photography: The Fantastic Snowbirds visit Quebec City.

Snowbirds in formation over Quebec City
Snowbirds in formation over Quebec City

The day after Quebec’s national holiday, the Snowbirds make a few flybys over Quebec City. Although not an air show per se, their formation flights always dazzle the crowds.

The Quebec flag, the Price Building and the Snowbirds in flight in Quebec City
The Quebec flag, the Price Building and the Snowbirds in flight in Quebec City

Photography technique.

As the flight over the city takes place at around 17:00, it’s a good idea to position yourself so as not to have to pose against the sun. Normally, a photographer located in Lévis captures excellent shots of Snowbirds passing by the Château Frontenac. But at 5:00 p.m. with the sun directly in front of you, all plane photos taken from the south shore mean uninteresting washed-out skies and far too strong contrasts. Snowbirds deserve better.

Considering the position of the sun, the citadel is the best location for a successful photo session. The light comes from behind as the aerobatic team flies over the St. Lawrence River, around the Château Frontenac and towards the Dufferin Terrace.

The Snowbirds are in flight formation near Château Frontenac in Quebec City.
The Snowbirds are in flight formation near Château Frontenac in Quebec City.

Spectators know that the performance will only last about fifteen minutes. A photographer needs to prepare accordingly to maximize the chances of getting some memorable shots.

Photography theory

I use a Canon 70-200 mm f2.8L IS II USM lens to give me better leeway between the distant and close passages of the nine military jets. Coupled with a Canon 5 DSR full-frame camera, a quality zoom produces surprising results. You can crop at will without losing definition, provided the initial ISO is 200 and the shutter speed is fast enough. You don’t really need to go beyond 1/1000.

The Snowbirds in flight formation approach the Dufferin terrace in Quebec City.
The Snowbirds in flight formation approach the Dufferin terrace in Quebec City.

With Canada Day a few days later, I now have an interesting photo of the Snowbirds and the Canadian flag.

Snowbirds in flight and the Canadian flag over the citadel of Quebec City.
Snowbirds in flight and the Canadian flag over the citadel of Quebec City.

Click on the link for more aviation-related photos on my blog.

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

The full harvest moon of September 2024.

The full harvest moon rises in the Matane sky in September 2024.
The full harvest moon rises in the Matane sky in September 2024.

The photo above was taken in Matane, Quebec, in September 2024. It’s more a matter of chance than planning. I was on the beach photographing the sunset, and when the sky got too dark, I turned around to see if there was anything interesting left to capture. And I came across this full harvest moon rising in the firmament.

Photographing a full moon is a good challenge. We often capture only an almost white, very bright disk, losing the nuances of colour and the details of the lunar geography.

The advice available on the Internet on how to successfully shoot a full moon with a normal camera goes in all directions. But one thing’s for sure: to improve your chances of success, it’s best not to wait until nightfall, because then the very high luminosity of the star becomes impossible to attenuate while still retaining a view of the planetary topography.

Most of the time, the choice is between an excellent photo of a full moon, but a very dark surrounding earth relief where nothing is discernible, or a visible earth relief of acceptable quality, but a moon that represents nothing more than a large, white circle of light.

The method that works for the photo above is as follows: you have to be on the spot at the right time, i.e., during the blue hour and not the whole night. So, in my case, I was lucky because it wasn’t planned.

You need a tripod and an extension cable. There are two reasons to avoid long exposures: firstly, the moon is a moving object. The longer the exposure, the more the disk moves. You end up with an oval rather than a round moon. A long exposure also picks up more light, and the moon’s disk turns completely white.

Full harvest moon rising in Matane, Québec 2024
Full harvest moon rising in Matane, Québec 2024

Compromises become necessary. Trying to get a perfect moon and foreground at exactly the right brightness is quite a challenge. By the time every attempt has been made to achieve a flawless result, the moon is already too high in the sky. We have to act quickly.

We’re advised to lower the ISO to 200, but if I do that, I’m increasing the exposure time and introducing too much light into the camera. Instead, I use a higher ISO to reduce exposure, and use all the camera functions likely to reduce the amount of light entering the camera: higher shutter speed, if necessary, strong negative exposure compensation, and so on.

By not overdoing the settings and using RAW files, there’s still enough flexibility to bring out the foreground, in this case the houses lining Matane’s beaches and the surrounding lights.

In short, shoot during the blue hour, act quickly, accept compromises, limit exposure time in every way possible and use RAW files to facilitate post-production work.

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

Categories
Photos of Quebec

How to photograph fireworks?

Fireworks in Quebec City, August 2024.
Fireworks in Quebec City, August 2024.

This year, the Grands Feux Loto-Québec are lit from a barge in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, between Lévis and Quebec City. A tugboat from the Ocean Group company secures the barge with a cable for the duration of the event.

I took the above shot with a Canon 5DSr full-frame camera equipped   with a remote shutter release and a tripod-mounted Canon EF 11-24 mm F/4L lens. The super-wide-angle lens can capture both the Château Frontenac and the lights and city of Lévis across the river.

The BULB mode lets you set your own exposure time and take creative initiatives. The brilliant path from launch to explosion is captured in a single photo.

As soon as the bursts begin, you try a five-second exposure and observe the result. Then adjust by stretching the exposure time until good effects are achieved.

One mistake to avoid is leaving the shutter open for too long. When this happens, flashes of light build up on top of each other, and all you see in the final photo is blurry, glowing white.

Working with a RAW file offers much greater flexibility than with a JPEG file when processing the image on the computer.

ISO 200 seems the best option here for several reasons: even if the activity takes place in full darkness, we want to avoid significant digital noise. A low ISO will also lengthen the exposure time and allow us to capture beautiful streaks at the moment of the explosions.

What’s more, the lights will illuminate the scene, reducing exposure time to a reasonable length. Finally, a layer of altocumulus cloud above the Château Frontenac serves today as an artificial light reflector in the photo above.

Grands Feux Loto-Québec, August 2024
Grands Feux Loto-Québec, August 2024

A depth of field between 8 and 13 ensures sufficiently accurate light at a reasonable distance.

Whether to focus manually or automatically remains a matter of taste. It should be noted that darkness can cause problems for autofocus. However, trial and error can sometimes produce interesting effects.

If you’re using manual focus, use the camera’s backlit screen to magnify the scene as much as possible and adjust the focus as required. You then return to the normal size display for the duration of the fireworks, taking care not to inadvertently touch the focus adjustment ring when changing the zoom.

Fireworks at the Grands Feux Loto-Québec 2024
Fireworks at the Grands Feux Loto-Québec 2024

Consider using a heavy tripod. In windy conditions, it will better resist vibrations during long exposures.

A final word of advice: fireworks attract a lot of people, some of whom are content with a fairly limited personal space, if they have one at all. Protecting your photographic area becomes an important objective, to avoid the tripod getting snagged or someone moving in front of you when enthusiasm takes over. So, arrive well in advance to choose the best location for you to work in, while protecting your work area.

For example, for the photos above, I had set up between a ramp fixed on a steep slope in front of me and a bush at the rear. No one could stand in front of me and no one could pass behind me because of the bush. I thus had only the sides to worry about. It sounds like an unnecessary concern, but these days everyone is filming fireworks and continually repositioning themselves without regard to their neighbors. Make life easier for yourself by making the necessary arrangements before the show.

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

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Photos of Quebec Ship photography

The Norwegian Joy in Québec City

The Norwegian Joy cruise ship docked at pier 22 in Quebec City in 2023.
The Norwegian Joy cruise ship docked at pier 22 in Quebec City in 2023.

The Norwegian Joy cruise ship, which weighs close to 168,000 tons, is one of the biggest ships to dock in Old Quebec in autumn.

The Norwegian Joy cruise ship docked in Quebec City in 2023
Le navire de croisière Norwegian Joy amarré à Québec à l’automne 2023.

It can accommodate 3,852 passengers and, for onboard service, there are 1,851 crew members – almost one employee for every two holidaymakers. The ship was built in 2017. Despite its young age, it benefited from renovations in 2020.

Sliding down the tube on the Norwegian Joy cruise ship

Sliding down the tube on the Norwegian Joy cruise ship

In the photo above, you can see a transparent tube raised above the upper deck in the top left-hand corner. With an enlarged photo, you’ll see that people are sliding down this water slide upside down. The shot below will help you get a better look at the guy in the red and blue swimsuit speeding by. The camera’s shutter speed had to be set to 1/2000 to avoid motion blur.

Sliding down the tube on the Norwegian Joy cruise ship 2023
Sliding down the tube on the Norwegian Joy cruise ship 2023

That day, I was only carrying a Canon EF 11-24 mm f/4 USM zoom lens. I had to crop the photo a little to enlarge it, but you can still see the scene quite well. Part of the tube gives the sportsman the impression of suddenly plunging to the ground, as the installation protrudes over the sides of the ship.

Looking for dangerous goods on the Norwegian Sky cruise ship in Quebec City
Looking for dangerous goods on the Norwegian Sky cruise ship in Quebec City

While people are enjoying themselves on the upper deck, a whole team is busy refueling the ship and ensuring its safety. In the photo above, a dog can even be seen going around the pallets to detect any dangerous or illicit products.

The Norwegian Joy cruise ship in Québec.
The Norwegian Joy cruise ship in Québec.

Here’s a final photo of the Norwegian Joy, taken from inside a recently built cedar gangway near Quay 22 in the Port of Quebec. The sun filtering through the rungs provides a beautiful play of light, all captured by a Canon EF 11-24 mm f/4 USM zoom lens set to 11 mm. The effect is further enhanced by the pseudo HDR mode offered by digital processing software.

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

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Photos of Canada Photos of Quebec

The Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec 2022

Cyclists turning for côte Gilmour in Quebec City in 2022
Cyclists turning for côte Gilmour in Quebec City in 2022

An interesting vantage point to photograph the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec is at the intersection of Grande-Allée 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
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
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-Allée in Quebec City 2022
Cyclists racing on Grande-Allée 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
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
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!

Click on the link for more pictures of Quebec City in Summer on my blog.

Categories
Photos of Quebec

Flower and Bee on Île d’Orléans

A bee approaches a flower on the beach in Île d'Orléans
A bee approaches a flower on the beach in Île d’Orléans

Near the Saint-Jean de l’île d’Orléans 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.

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