Winter Carnival For All Ages

Quebec City is enjoying its winter carnival. The young "tubers" and the not-so-young snowshoers find themselves at CFB Valcartier enjoying the clear cold air at the Centre Plein Air Castor.

New snow had fallen the day before and continued on-and-off today (February 2). I like these two panoramic shots as you can see the snow flakes against the dark trees in the background. The colourful winter wear also contrasts with the almost B&W winter tones adding warm elements to the two scenes.

I took both pictures in RAW with the white balance set to automatic. In Adobe Lightroom I corrected the overcast picture of the tubers to 6300K (a cloudy setting) and used 5600K for the snowshoers (close to a daylight setting) as the sun had returned after lunch. Using RAW makes it simple to make adjustments like this.

Click here to see more pictures from this day on picasaweb.

Nénuphars de Glace (Ice Water Lilies)

A week ago Paulette, Michelle and I snowshoed from the Centre Le Refuge-St-Adolphe-Stoneham down along the Rivière des Hurons. In the picture below you can see a waterfall (les trois chutes) cascading into a open pool of water in the foreground. Pretty, yes?

A week later (December 27) we returned with Fiona and Pete, family friends and snowshoe neophytes, to see the same waterfall, this time with the most amazing ice water lilies bobbing/undulating at its foot. What caused them to form? Why are they circular? Why the different sizes? Happily I don't need answers to appreciate their beauty.

Check out Morten Prom's flickr page to see Oslo Fjord ice lilies.

Canon 7D, 15-85 mm lens at 15 mm, 1/160 sec, f/8, ISO 320

Sugaring Off

The maple syrup season in Quebec started on February 28 in the Beauce (an hour's drive south of Quebec City and home to Marie-Philip Poulin who scored the two goals for the Canadian Olympic Hockey team).
Temperatures were mild all through January/February and snowfall less than average. Daytime highs are above zero and nighttime lows below; ideal conditions for pumping maple tree sap toward the awaiting leaf buds. This picture from March 4 illustrates the snow loss around tree trunks and on the south facing slope of Mont Écho. While the sky is a saturated cool blue we could feel the sun's warmth on our bare hands and faces. A perfect end-of-season snowshoe!
Pentax K10D, focal length 27 mm, f/9.5, 1/750 s, IOS 200, hand held.