Bredouille

It just wasn't meant to be.  Saturday night was the third week of the Telus Fire On Ice fireworks display at the Old Port of Montreal.  I decided to change things up and shoot the fireworks from Île Sainte-Hélène, just across the St. Lawrence River from Montreal.  I took some pictures from that same location waaaaaay back on Janurary 1st.  You can see those photographs by following this link.  However, a couple of dead batteries brought an early end to my night.  After putting my camera on the tripod, I turned it on, and nothing happened.  Both batteries were dead.  My Lovely Assistant, who doubles as an expert fisher, has a term she likes to use when she doesn't catch anything.  She says that she was 'bredouille'.  It means that she came home empty handed.  Such was the case for me.  So, you all get to see an extra photograph that I took last week, but didn't make the cut for that post.  I took it at f/9, 5sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  The dead batteries stopped me from using my camera, but atleast my tripod got put to good use.  Hello Qicheng Sun.  I met him while walking on the island.  He was using a really small tripod, so with my camera knocked out of commission, I offered to let him use mine.  I hope that your pictures turned out okay.

That's One Humble Bumble

I'm forever mystified by my flash.  Some days, it works exactly how I want it to.  Some days it decides that no matter what angle, diffuser or method of bouncing light I try, it refuses to co-operate.  That's one of the reasons why I end up using it so much.  It frustrates me so much, that I need to keep hauling it out of my camera bag and using it to take pictures in the hope that one day I'll understand it perfectly.  The model-du-jour in this case ended up being some little Christmas ornaments in the shape of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer and some of his friends.  I don't think I need to explain who Rudolph is.  Thanks to his bright red nose, we've all been fortunate enough to receive plenty of gifts from Santa Claus over the years.  I picked up these little guys a few years ago because the little kid that still exists in me manages to take over my adult mind from time to time.  Every December I'd look forward to seeing the story of Frosty the Snowman, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming To Town and of course, Rudolph.  That same inner child actually led me to buying most of those shows on DVD so I can watch them for the rest of my days, or until DVD's become obsolete and a new format takes over.  Though that rant is for another day.  Included in this set of ornaments was Rudolph, his girlfriend Clarice, Hermie the Elf and The Abominable Snowman.  The Abominable will forever be called 'a Bumble' in my house thanks to the inimitable Yukon Cornelius.  For some reason, Yukon wasn't included in the set even though he was as important a character in the cartoon than any of the others.  I sat down at the table the other day and brought our miniature tree with me.  I pulled out my Macro lens and flash and decided to try my luck with some little portraits.  I think I was having a good flash day because they all seemed to turn our fairly well.  It was only the Bumble that I had to photograph several times, but seeing as he's not exactly known for being very pleasant while having all of his teeth, I guess that was to be expected.  If you take a close look at the little silver ornament in the bottom right-hand corner of the photograph of the Bumble, you just might spy a reflection of yours truly and the blast of light coming off of my flash.  I though about hiding it with my watermark, but I finally figured I'd just leave it there and see if anyone notices.  We'll keep that little secret between us the rest of the internet.  The photograph of the Bumble was taken at f/7.1, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 60mm.  The photograph of Clarice was taken at f/4, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 60mm.  The photograph of Hermie the Elf was taken at f/4, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 60mm, and finally, the photograph of Rudolph was taken at f/4, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 60mm.  For those of you wondering about the different ISO levels, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I try all kinds of different methods while using my flash.  I even tried taking some of the photos withoutflash.  Since there wasn't very much light available, I raised the ISO to 1600 to try some handheld shots.  I didn't like the way they ended up looking so I turned my flash back on and ran smack into my old habit of forgetting to rest my ISO.  As for shooting the Bumble at f/7.1 instead of f/4 like the others, it once again came down to some trial & error.  Shooting at f/4 made some of the needles close to the Bumble stand out way more than I wanted.  I also have to admit to liking my reflection, which is a little clearer at f/7.1 than it was at f/4.

For those of you who have made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read this, and all of the other long winded posts that I put up here on the web.  I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Feliz Navidad, or however else your family says it.

POW, BANG, BRRRR

Those of you out there who were passing by this page over the summer are well aware of the fact that I enjoy taking photographs of fireworks.  Take a minute and check out some of the shots I took this summer by visiting my pages here, here, here, here, and here.  Before you complain about having to click on all of those links, count yourself as being lucky.  There would have been three more links to click had it not been for the fact that I was prevented from going out three times over the summer because of rain.  Getting back on track, in addition to the fireworks competition in the summer, there's also the Telus Fire On Ice, which takes place every Saturday night during the month of December (and the first week of January) down at the Old Port of Montreal.  I was tempted to go last year, but never actually made it down to the site.  This year, the event began last week but we were in the middle of a rather cold spell that saw the temperature drop into the -20's C with the wind.  The temperature was a little bit better this week, though there was still a fairly strong wind and it was very cloudy.  Those weren't my biggest problems.  I was more concerned about where I was going to place myself in order to get a good view of the show.  I headed down to the site early, and along with My Lovely Assistant, we walked around the area in the hopes of finding a good spot.  After a few minutes of being frustrated by obstructed views, unwanted light posts and poorly planted trees, My Lovely Assistant had a flash of brilliance.  She noticed a pile of snow that was sitting just off of the walkway and would, in theory, provide me with a nice elevated vantage point in order to capture the shots I was looking for.  She climbed the mountain rather easily while I followed, behind, a little bit concerned that I would rather quickly sink to the bottom of the snowy hill and find myself buried until Spring.  Lots of people were passing by, and a few were giving us some funny looks, as would be expected when seeing a person like myself standing about six feet off the ground on top of a mountain of snow.  The the show began, and horror of horrors, my location was terrible.  The wind was blowing the fireworks a little bit more to the right than I had thought and so it was time to scramble.  I tried to grab a few shots, and then with about half of the show complete, I scurried down the hill and took up a new location further up the sidewalk and away from the site. For those of you wondering at home, the first and fourth photographs you see here were taken from the hill while the other four were taken on the sidewalk.  The first photograph was taken at f/13, 5sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/13, 9sec, ISO 100 at 24mm and the third photograph was taken at f/13, 7 sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Here are the rest of the photographs that I took.

f9, 7sec, ISO 100 at 27mm

f/13, 6sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

f/13, 5sec, ISO 100 at 24mm

It was a fun outing.  I'll try and get down to the site one more time before the event comes to an end.  I'd definitely like to find a better spot to shoot from, so if anyone has any ideas, feel free to let me know.

Flowery Friend

Yes, the season as passed, but I took so many photographs of flowers in my Mom's garden this year that I probably have enough to play with for the next year.  Part of the fun that I have when taking photos of flowers is to find some with little insects on them.  One of my favourite photos from this past summer can be seen at this link, but this is another one that I really like.  I spotted this little guy while I was taking photos of Daisies, some of which you saw here back in August.  I know it sounds kind of foolish, but I like to consider myself a kind of insect whisperer.  You can read more about that "fascinating" side of my personality by following the first link in this message.  I used a Macro lens to take this shot to make sure that I'd get a good look at my little winged friend.  This shot was taken at f/4, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 60mm.  I cropped it a little bit afterwards to get rid of some of the empty space in the background.  I really like the detail of not only the insect, but also the center of the Daisy, and I've already mentioned several times here how much I like shooting flowers at large apertures in order to blur out the backgrounds.

Walking In A Frosted Wonderland

As I mentioned in the last update, My Lovely Assistant had made a couple of cakes a few weeks back for two different evenings.  I wanted to try and properly photograph these cakes, but I just couldn't get find the proper angle or lighting to do her work justice.  After a few frustrating minutes, I decided to go back to shooting something I felt much more comfortable with, nice close-ups.  This is a shot from the top of My Lovely Assistant's Black Forest Cake.  I really like the detail in the raspberries, as well as the flakes of chocolate on both the white icing and the cranberries.  I took the photograph at f/4, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 68mm.  I like taking colourful close-up photos of food, as you've all seen the last few weeks.  I think that they're real eye catchers.  I'll try to do a better job of photographing the whole thing next time I get the chance.

He Wanted Some Rockets

I don't usually do requests, mostly because I don't get any, but last month after I posted a picture of some jelly beans here and on my Facebook Photography Page (go there and 'Like' the page if you haven't done so already) I received a comment from one of my longtime fans.  He's also my cousin, but I'm kind of short in the 'fan' department.  The comment was "I need Rockets"  You need Rockets?  I got your Rockets right here.  I don't think I would have chosen to shoot these candies on my own since I don't really like them.  The only use I've ever had for Rockets in my life is from using them as an extra special ingredient in the snowballs.  They're real cool when they explode.  These Rockets rank third when it comes to my candy photos.  Rockets don't have the shine of Smarties or the brightness of jelly beans, but I kind of like their shape and the little glare of light left by my flash.  I'd been looking for a different way to light food and my friend Marilyn (a former Concordia classmate and pretty good photographer herself) had posted a couple of photographs of some cakes she had taken.  I asked how she lit them, and she told me that she had bounced the flash off the ceiling.  I decided to try it and I really liked the results.  I shot this photo at f/7.1, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 50mm.  Now I find myself with a bag full of Rockets.  Good thing it snowed here yesterday, might be time to load up a couple of snowballs.

Behind The Scenes

When last we spoke, I was patting myself on the back over an advertisement that featured my photographs.  I also promised a closer look at the photos that were featured and what I was thinking about during the whole process.  I won't spend much time on the first picture you see here at the top of the page.  It was already discussed back in April, but feel free to follow that link and step back in time.  Since the managerial staff was already taken care of, I was asked to take some photographs of a couple of departments in the store.  Specifically, the Meat, Bakery and Fruits & Vegetables departments.  It's important to take a moment to mention the hard work put in by the staff in those departments who went out of their way to make sure that there departments were well stocked for the photographs.  Up first, the Bakery.  I wanted to make sure that the logo for the store would be seen, which was against the far wall.  It was also important for the motto to be in the photograph as well.  Also, what better product to use for a bakery than some fresh croissants.  Luckily, they happened to be the Product of the Day.  Along with the store manager, we removed some price stickers and he did some re-arranging of the tables to make sure that everything would be nice and clean.  For lighting, the only option I had was to use the available lights in the store.  Not the best option, but as I mentioned, it was the only one I had.  I shot the photograph at f/7.1, 1/60sec, ISO 800 at 24mm.  In order to make sure that the logo and motto would be clear, I focused on them, but used a smaller aperture so as not to blur out all of the products at the front of the photo. Up next was the Meat Department.  For this one, the manager only wanted a shot of the service counter, which proved to be an adventure as there was a ceiling light just over the display case which cause all kinds of nasty reflections.  The manager was ready to have the neon bulbs removed from the ceiling, but I asked them to simply raise the glass windows that covered the counter, which proved to do the trick.  Get rid of the glass, get rid of the reflection.  This one was shot at f/7.1, 1/30sec, ISO 400 at 30mm.  I was able to shoot at a lower ISO due to the lights that were in the counter.  The final photograph in the set comes from the Fruits & Vegetables Department. As you can see in the photograph, there were this pillars all over the floor, blocking out the signs in the back.  While the manager was trying to arrange the boxes you see in the front, I was trying to position myself where I would get both the red and green signs with the motto of the company on them in the photograph.  I shot this photograph at f/8, 1/30sec, ISO 800 at 24mm.  Back to the wide open floor, back to a higher ISO so I could use a smaller aperture.  After that, a little bit of cropping was done and the photos were sent off to the magazine.  I next saw them two months later in the pages of the Guide St. Lambert 2014.  So there you have it, a little look into what was going through my mind while I was taking these photographs.  As you can see, it's a little bit more than stand back, point and click.  There are several things that needed to be taken into consideration.  The amount/quality of light that was available to me, making sure that the corporate motto and logo were visible, and the presentation of the food as well.  Everybody seems to be real happy with the photographs, which makes me real happy as a photographer.

Print Advertisement

I guess some could say that this has been a good week for getting my name out in print.  On Monday my photograph went on display at the Saint-Lambert Library for a Holiday Art Exhibition and there was a vernissage for the event on Wednesday evening.  Earlier that same day, residents of Saint-Lambert should have gotten the Guide St-Lambert 2014 in their mailbox where those people flipping to Page Five might have spotted a familiar name.  Here's a hint since the print is kind of small, it's mine.  I took the photographs for this advertisement back in October and it's always fun to see your work show up in a printed form.  This is the third time that I had the opportunity to take the photographs for Provigo Richard Gagnon (S.C) and I have fun with it every time.  The first ad was only distributed to local residents in the form of a flyer, but the second ad had a bit of a wider audience as it was distributed in a booklet similiar to the Guide.  Once again, I'd like to thank Provigo and Richard Gagnon for continuing to allow me to take these pictures for them.  It's always fun to be able to put my skills to use and see my work displayed in a printed form.  In an effort to shorten my blog posts, we'll end this message here, but in my next update, I'll show you the pictures I took in what I guess would be a behind-the-scenes look at my shooting of these photographs for the ad.

On Display All Month

The vernissage for the Holiday Art Exhibition was tonight in Saint-Lambert at the Library.  The exhibition will last until the 31st of December.  If you feel like passing by to take a look, my photograph is located just next to the main desk on the first floor and that's where it will remain.  There's also a wide variety of paintings, other photographs and some small sculptures on display.  I'm really happy that it's there, and if any of you are in the area, feel free to drop in and take a look for yourselves.  The library is located at 490 Mercille in Saint-Lambert.  A special thank-you to My Lovely Assistant for the photograph.

What You'll Be Seeing At The Saint-Lambert Library

I'm not really big on running double posts for my photographs, but this one does deserve breaking my rule.  The photo you see on the left of the page is the one that will be on display at the Saint-Lambert Library (490 Mercille) for the rest of the month of December as part of a Holiday Art Exposition.  The show officially began today and the vernissage for the event will be on Wednesday, December 4th.  I chose to submit this photo as it has kind of become the MVP of my portfolio.  The director of the Greenfield Park Library told me that it was based on this photo that I was chosen to have a solo exhibition at their library last year, so I felt it would be a good bet to put my best foot forward.  To read about how I shot the photograph, feel free to step back in time and read the original post.  I hope that some of you who live around the area will be able to take the time to go and see it.  The photo is much nicer at 10" x 15" than the small version you see here on your screen.