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.

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

Tips for Better Summer Photos

Darwin Wiggett wrote an article in Photo News (Volume 19, No. 2) entitled Tips for Better Summer Photos. Paulette and I were heading downtown to visit our library and to do some shopping for our trip to Iceland. I carried my camera as usual and thought about Wiggett's tips as we circumnavigated the old city.

#1 Get Up Early - well, I read the article too late in the day to follow this tip! I am up early this morning; perhaps I should be out photographing instead of blogging!

#2 Use a Polarizer - yup, you can see the blue sky is richer and colours more saturated.

#3 Go Light - going light is relative; but I took the minimum (Canon 7D and one zoom lens)

#4 Shoot the Shade - no shade in sight here but it is great for flattering portraits

#5 Capture the Big Vista - I used the widest angle setting on my 15-85 mm lens at f/18

#6 Steady it with a Tripod - done using my new light carbon fiber Induro tripod (1 kg)

#7 Action Made Easy - see previous post, Thunderbirds

#8 Experiment and Have Fun! - this is a pretty postcard photo and low in experimentation but I did have fun taking this shot. And I especially enjoyed walking about our beautiful city with Paulette!

Our Rivière Cap-Rouge

Early morning winds and blowing snow prevented us from driving out of town for a snowshoe near Lac Beauport. Instead, I headed down to the Cap-Rouge River that runs just below our house. Since I was alone I took the time to set up my tripod and compose a series of shots highlighting the trees loaded with sticky snow. I love this natural view of the river combined with urban elements of bridge and rustic split-rail fence.
I used a hot shoe bubble level (Manfrotto #337) to guarantee a straight horizon. Pentax K10D, focal length 45 mm, f/13, 1/20 sec, ISO 100