Wild Spring Flowers

The Lady's slipper (above) and the Painted trillium share the same habitat along a hiking trail on the hills above Lac Beauport, a half-hour's drive north of Quebec City. Both are flashy, spectacular flowers and a pleasure to encounter during a forest walk. The trillium is easy to spot and to photograph since its very white petals marked with a red "V" face upward towards the sun and viewer. The lady's slipper is much more discrete, low to the ground and often hiding under taller plants. Photographing it requires some effort. Getting the camera down to its level (between 30 and 40 cm off the ground) and looking through the view finder is an athletic feat, especially with a heavy backpack. I knelt and crooked my neck to take this shot at f/8 and 1/80s hand held. My shotting buddy, Jean-Yves, suggested using Live View that would allow a lower camera position without the bent neck. Probably the best control and composition would be achieved by getting supine and using a tripod. Perhaps next time!

Wild Prune

I've been putting in a lot of kilometers along the Saint-Charles River this past week. Loaded down with heavy gear, we (three sweating friends and I) are preparing for a trek in the White Mountains (Mount Madison, Adams and Washington) in early June. Luckily Jean-Yves is a fellow photographer so, periodically, we took time to stop, admire and photograph ferns, flowering trees, straw lilies and other spring flora.

I think this is a wild plum tree blossom: flowers white with a pink tint, large and abundant, 3-5 in number; wide distribution across Canada having escaped from ornamental planting; grows in rich soils along rivers and on the margin of marshes.

I like the dark background contrasting with the bright white flower as well as circular arrangement of the surrounding unfurled pink petals.

Canon 7D, 15-85 lens set at 110 mm (35 mm equivalent), f/11, 1/400s, ISO 320, hand held

ENSEMBLE

This has been a week for walking the trail the runs across the city of Quebec along la rivière Saint-Charles: one four-hour training session in preparation for a trek in the White Mountains and one afternoon walking together with Richard, Mahdi and members of the association du Québec à Compostelle.

Richard and Mahdi are two of three exceptional pilgrims (one Christian, one Muslim and one Jewish) who walked from Jerusalem to Compostelle in Spain (11,000km) promoting fraternity and peace. Go to Pas de Paix for more information.

In their words (loosely translated); Walking, with free and inexhaustible energy, gives us time for encounter. It leads to solidarity between people and dissolves social differences. Walking goes beyond the superfluous and is the road to humility.

A fraternal moment between Richard Bois, André Doucet, a founding pilgrim of the Association du Québec à Compostelle, and Mahdi Alioui during a rest stop along the trail.

One of many stairways along the wooded Saint-Charles.

Fascinating Snow Geese

Snow Geese are endlessly fascinating. At high tide they move en masse to the fields adjacent to the St. Lawrence. Numbers swell as small groups of two or three glide overhead. Suddenly, they burst into the air, swirling in unison only to land in the next open area. When you watch long enough you begin to sense this explosive moment. I think a critical mass is reached and the geese erupt to release the pressure. I'd like to hear other explanations of this behaviour please.

I love spring time when each tree shows it individual shade of greenery. On April 12, during our last visit, grays and brown dominated a cool landscape.

Canon 7D, 70-200 f/4L lens adjusted to 110 mm, f/7.1, 1/2000s, ISO 400, focus set on Auto-Servo (continuous focus for following moving objects)

Park rangers estimated 42000 snow geese present on May 11. Below, you can see some of them feeding offshore along the tidal flats.

Down by the Stream

Under a cloudy-bright sky I took a midday stroll along the Cap-Rouge River looking for Trout Lilies, aka Adder's tongue, American trout-lily, Dog's tooth violet, Serpent's Tongue, Yellow Adder's-tongue, Yellow fawn-lily, Yellow Snowdrop and, en français, Erythrone d'Amérique. They grow in moist soil, close to the ground and flower in early May. To photograph the downward-facing flowers, I made like a snake, mounted my Canon on a Gorillapod, turned on Live View and focused manually.

I like the warm yellow petals and orange pistils contrasted against the intense green background.

Having contorted my neck observing the lilies, I wandered stream side looking to photograph another favourite subject, unfurling cinnamon ferns. Behind my back this mallard snoozed on a warm rock. Nonchalantly I approached and shot him: this time locking my Canon to a full-size Manfrotto tripod. I Live-viewed, focused manually and shot in RAW. I adjusted the white balance, added a little contrast and sharpened the cropped image.

A very handsome duck wouldn't you agree?

Cherry Blossoms

Our favorite means of exploring a new town is on foot. Niagara-on-the-Lake, hailed as "the prettiest town on Canada" (I don't know about that!) is bordered by the Welland Canal, Lake Ontario and the Niagara River and hugely popular with tourists. One is drawn by the multitude of wineries, Fort George and the historic battles of 1812/13, the Shaw Festival Theatre, Niagara Falls just up the road and its clement climate (some refer to NOTL as Canada's Florida!). Whatever the attractions, it's a quiet and friendly place away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities nearby.

I took these cherry blossom pictures on April 25. Obviously spring comes much later in QC! I used a telephoto zoom to compress the perspective of the row of trees above and to remove the sky (35 mm focal length equivalent of 313 mm, f/8, 1/500s).