Inviting Foregrounds

Those of us who live in Quebec City (on the north shore of the St. Lawrence) rarely see its true old-world beauty. Last Thursday, Paulette and I joined our walking group (the TamaLOUPs) for a three-hour promenade and chilly picnic along the south shore bike path. As we headed west from Lévis towards the Pont du Québec, I kept turning back to see when I had a foreground element that would lead the eye into the background and the spectacular Château Frontenac atop the cliffs. The Canadian Coast Guard boats are a little distracting but, with no ice to break, this is where you find them! 

Canon 7D, EF 70-200mm f/4L lens at 113 mm; 1/1250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100, hand held

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Friday, we went to see the snow geese at Cap Tourmente. With temperatures below freezing not a goose was to be seen; a first in all our many visits there during the spring and fall migrations. Mont Sainte-Anne stands invitingly behind le Marais de la Petite-Ferme. Again the foreground helps leads the eye towards the main subject in the distance. The snow and ice in the marsh with the snow-covered ski trails reinforce the cool, early-spring feeling in the photo.

Canon 7D, EF-S15-85mm lens at 59 mm; 1/400 sec at f/8, ISO 100, hand held

Click here to see the snow geese from April 12, 2010

Cap Tourmente, Québec

November, dark and damp, is upon us. This picture from Cap Tourmente helps me hang on to the warm colours and temperatures of October.

Two times annually (and more) Paulette and I drive an hour downriver (NE compass bearing) to this Federal natural wildlife area where we commune with the snow geese ( Chen caerulescens atlantica ).

Their fall migration begins in September after breeding on Baffin Island and passes directly over Cap Tourmente where they feed (primarily on the rhizomes, or roots, of bulrushes) for three weeks in October before continuing south to their winter range along the Atlantic seaboard of the southern USA. The photo below shows a small sample of the 40,000 geese in the area on October 17.

A myriad of ducks, great blue herons and peregrine falcons feed in-and-about this small marsh (Marais de la Petite-Ferme) shown above.

Canon 7D with 70-200mm lens, focal length: 109 mm, ISO 640, 1/200sec (a little slow for hand holding a non-stabilized lens), f / 5.6. Taken at 4:30 pm

See my May 14th post for spring migration pictures.