Sun Sets On 2017

It is often said that time flies, and as proof, here we are at the end of another year.  As has become a bit of a tradition here on the old blog, I'm ending the year with a nice sunset.  2017 was another fine year seen through the lenses of my camera.  Sporting events, concerts, fireworks, insects and illuminated bridges were all among the highlights of my photographic year.  Chief among the highlights was a third photography exhibition, Point Of View/Point de vue, which took place back in March.  I once again also managed to get two photographs broadcast on the CTV evening news and was glad to know that several others enjoyed my photographs thanks to the visits both here, and on the Eric Mahannah Photography Facebook Page.  This particular photograph was taken at f/9, 1/100sec, ISO 100 at 25mm.  I was standing near the Victoria Bridge and really enjoyed the view with the changing colours in the sky against the silhouetted skyscrapers of Montreal and the other section of the bridge.  As the sun sets in the photograph, so it does on 2017.  Here's to wishing all of you out there in Internetland a very happy and healthy 2018.  Happy New Year to you all!

Paul Mahannah's Barn

I suppose that I could be described as a sentimentalist.  On most trips to visit my parents, I often find myself driving a little bit extra out of my way just to pass in front of the homes where, once upon a time, both sets of my Grandparents used to live.  The barn located where my paternal Grandparents used to live has been slowly deteriorating, to the point where I'm pretty sure that some of the roof has caved in.  Sensing that time may be running out before the building comes down for good, and seeing a nice fresh coat of snow on the barn, I stopped and got out of my car long enough to snap off a photograph.  From information gathered from my father, the larger part of the barn with the triangle roof dates back to the early 1900's and the smaller addition on the right was added in the 1930's.  The hay rakes were found on the property and placed in this location by the current owners.  I can still remember looking out the yellow doors of the smaller part of the building, as well as the old window and the little knickknacks, tools, bottles and assorted items that would hang on the walls and window sills.  The photograph was taken f/11, 1/100sec, ISO 100 at 34mm.  The building may be falling down, but it still has lots of character and holds many years worth of memories.

Merry Christmas To All

While I wasn't looking another Christmas has managed to sneak up on us.  It's time to shut things down for a couple of days and visit with my parents to see what will be hiding in their Christmas tree this year.  That's where I found this shiny little trinket last year.  I liked the whole teddy bear/rocking horse combination as it reminds me of Christmas gifts.  I moved it to a different part of the tree that had a few more lights and tried to aim it towards some of the brighter kitchen lights to get that extra shine on it.  The photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/50sec, ISO 800 at 24mm.  I hope that you all get all kinds of nice gifts this Holiday Season and that you all get to spend as much time as possible with family and friends.  Merry Christmas from My Lovely Assistant and myself to all of you out there.

Christmas Dessert

Since we're now officially in the Holiday Season, family gatherings and huge meals are to be scheduled and attended.  This means that it is time for My Lovely Assistant to shine.  She created this wonderful three-layered cake with caramelized pears and almond cookie trees.  It took her a fair amount of time, yet still much less time than I spent trying to photograph it.  I tried to find just the right amount of flash to properly light the cake, yet also keep the background darker so that we can see the reflection of the Christmas lights on the glass table surface.  I ended up taking the photograph at f/3.2, 1/20sec, ISO 800 at 24mm while bouncing some flash off of the ceiling down onto the cake, and also using up a four-pack of AA batteries while taking all of the test shots in the process.  The neighbours must have thought that we were having one heck of a party with all of the lights going off.  Hats off to My Lovely Assistant and her wonderful talents.

A Little Shaky

In order to be successful when taking photographs of fireworks, there are two things that much any photographer should have.  You need a sturdy tripod and a remote switch to trigger the shutter.  Sadly, about ten minutes before the fireworks show from the Old Port of Montreal was to begin, my remote switch took its last photograph.  I was taking some test shots to make sure that everything was in focus when I hit the button....and nothing happened.  I wasn't just going to pack up and leave, I do like to watch fireworks displays after all, but I was reduced to trying to take photographs by pressing my finger against the shutter button on the body of my camera and holding it in place.  The method works, but it also leaves open the possibility of the photograph being ruined by camera shake.  Since the exposure time on these types of photographs is a couple of seconds, and it's really hard for the human body to remain perfectly still, the reality is that even the smallest of movements gets recorded in the form of broken lines and things appearing out of focus.  As a result, I was only able to salvage two photographs from the evening and had to do a few Photoshop tricks to mask the lines and make it appear sharper.  The first photograph was taken at f/16, 20secs, ISO 100 at 28mm and the second photograph was taken at f/16, 8sec, ISO 100 at 28mm.  There are a few more of these winter fireworks shows, so I'll be getting myself a new switch and I'll be getting back out there soon enough

Stairway To Apples

Sometimes when I'm playing around with some of my photographs I like to take a few seconds to see what they would look like as black and whites.  When I first began to take photographs, it was exclusively using black and white film so I will probably always have a little soft spot for those colourless photographs.  After finishing up with this photograph of a ladder up against a tree that I took while out picking apples with My Lovely Assistant this Fall, I thought that it would probably look as nice without all of the colour.  While I usually just press the Grayscale button in Photoshop to get rid of the colour, I also like to use some of the other functions, like Curves, in order to darken or lighten the photograph.  Doing those little steps brings out a little something extra in the photograph and keeps me safe behind the computer instead of being out in the world getting into trouble.  Not that I'm a troublemaker or anything. Wouldn't want my Mom to be getting any bad ideas.  The photograph was taken at f/9, 1/200sec, ISO 400 at 24mm and I actually climbed up on one of those things at one point to grab an apple.  See, this is an example of the kind of trouble that I get into, and those of you who are aware of my complete lack of balance should be well aware how much trouble my being on a ladder without adult supervision can be.

Well Deserved Treat

Those of you who live in my neck of the woods are currently shoveling out of our first snowstorm of the year.  This was a fairly mild one at about 15cm's of the white stuff, but it still needs a good deal of shoveling to clean everything up.  After doing my fair share of shoveling both at the Day Job and afterwards at home, I felt that I was due a little treat.  Since I like to share, I have a little treat for you as well.  Some nice Jujube candies.  It's been a while since we've had some candy on the old blog, and the bright red kind of fits the season.  The photograph was taken at f/5, 1/60sec, ISO400 at 60mm.  I focused on the design on top of the candy and then framed it in the bottom corner of the photograph so that it would stand out from the others that blur away the further they go into the background.  Now I had best see if the snow is still coming down and if I'll be needing another little treat later.

Head In The Flowers

Visiting the parents always provides an opportunity to grab a photograph or two along the way.  My Mom always has a variety of flowers around the house.  They're very colourful and prove to be the perfect addition to the blog when we're going through a series of grey days.  This moth orchid was on a table during one visit and the colours immediately grabbed my attention.  The purple on white made for a nice pattern, and then the yellow on the long petals.  Then, after giving the whole thing a look-over, I noticed what looked like the head of a bird right in the middle of the darn thing.  That became the focus of what I tried to look at while I'd play around, looking for just the right light and angle.  I not only wanted to capture the nice colours, but I wanted to get a good look of that bird head as well.  I grabbed my Macro lens and took the photograph at f/4, 1/125sec, ISO 400 at 60mm, trying to keep as much of the head in focus while letting the larger purple and white petals fade off and flow into the background.  There's always fun to be had photographing flowers.

Coming Soon

Over the Winter months I sometimes take a few extra photographs that I save to be posted a little later in the Summer when I need a little mental reminder of cooler days ahead when dealing with a sweltering hot day.  Luckily, in my opinion anyway, this was a more comfortable Summer than usual in these parts, which is good news for me.  It's also bad news for the archives as it means a few photographs that should have been posted, have not yet appeared.  With another Winter season about to knock on our door, it means there will likely be fresher snow photographs to come, so I had better get this one posted up before it ends up getting forgotten on my hard drive.  The photograph was taken during a snowy walk at f/9, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 68mm.  I like the peacefulness that freshly fallen snow gives to things.  A fresh layer of snow just seems to make things look a little bit nicer to me.

Spotlight Montreal

I mentioned a little while ago how I was trying my hand at some silhouette style photographs.  I found this one in one of my many file folders and thought it might look good with a little treatment.  This was a photograph that I took while on a ferry ride back home after spending the day biking in Montreal with My Lovely Assistant.  The photograph was taken at f/8, 1/3200sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  I then used the Curves and Colour Balance tool in Photoshop in order to adjust the contrast a colour of the photograph, darkening the skyline of Montreal and adding a little bit of blue to what was an otherwise grey sky.  All of these adjustments aren't usually my cup of tea, but I must admit that it is kind of fun, especially since I'm enjoying the final results.

They Turned On The Lights

Last week I made my way up the new staircase that links Longueuil to Montreal via a sidewalk on the outside of the Jacques Cartier Bridge.  When I went up there the first time, I was disappointed because though some new lights were installed on the bridge and have been lighting it up at night, on that evening it seem like a bare minimum of them were being used.  Having a bit of a hard head, and being disappointed because I didn't get what I wanted, I decided to climb back up those 108 steps a couple of nights later and just moments after sunset, the lights came on and I had a smile on my face.  Over the next several minutes as the sun disappeared, I snapped several photographs as the sky went from red to light and then dark blue.  I still didn't understand why the lights were suddenly back to normal, when the last time I had been there, they seemed frozen.  It was My Lovely Assistant who finally was able to find the answer to that question.  She read that the first night I had gone up the bridge, the lights were purposely dimmed due to it being Remembrance Day.  Mystery solved.  The first photograph was taken at f16, 3/10sec, ISO 100 at 200mm and the second photograph was taken at f/16, 5sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took while I was up there.

f/16, 6sec, ISO 100 at 200mm

f/16, 30sec, ISO 100 at 200mm

f/16, 8sec, ISO 100 at 200mm

Obviously when looking at the shutter speeds involved, I used a tripod, but I still ended up getting lots of blurry photographs.  This was because the passing cars were causing some vibrations on the metal staircase.  It was a little frustrating at times, but as you can see, I still came away with some nice shots.  Much like the other update, I used the Curves and Colour Balance feature in Photoshop a little bit to get the sky to be a little more red, but as usual, my manipulations were limited to that.  Even though it seems this bridge has been featured several times on the blog this year, it was still fun to be shooting from a new spot.

Red Sky, Black Buildings

Mother Nature hasn't been as generous with the sunsets this year, so I've had to give her a bit of a helping hand.  I took this photograph of the skyscrapers of Montreal while walking along the bicycle path just off of the Victoria Bridge that leads to Île Notre-Dame.  There was a bit of reddish glow still behind the buildings as the sun had just set, though not quite as much as we see in the photograph.  I used the Levels and Curves tool in order to adjust the colours and contrast, while also adding a little more red to the sky using the Colour Balance tool.  I also cropped the photograph to give it a more panoramic look.  In order to show the differences, here is the original.

The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/100sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  Just so that you're not overly disappointed, I did purposely underexpose the photograph while I was taking it in order to bring out the most colour possible from what was left from the sunset.  So, while they was some trickery involved, there was a little bit of knowledge involved as well.

Turn On The Lights

Those of you out there who live relatively around my part of the world are aware that some lights were installed on the Jacques Cartier Bridge earlier this year as part of the 375th birthday celebrations for the city of Montreal.  Over on my side of the river, some work was also done on the steps that lead up to the walking path that allows pedestrians to cross the bridge.  I noticed it a few days back, and it is a staircase that features several little observation decks that give different views of the city and the bridge.  So, this past Saturday I decided to walk up that staircase and waited for the sun to go down a little bit to photograph some of those new lights from an angle I had never before used.  Sadly, there must have been some kind of bug with the lighting system as everything appeared to be locked in place.  The lights usually move around and change colours, but on this night they remained exactly as they appear in the two photographs here.  The first was taken at f/16, 4sec, ISO 100 at 200mm and the second at f/16, 13sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  This lack of diversity also inspired the title of this little update.  It was kind of chilly with a wind on Saturday evening.  As a result, I would vent a little bit of my frustration by saying 'turn on the lights' in my head, and potentially out loud as well.  There might have been a few more colourful words tossed in there as well, but that's between me and the motorists who were passing by.

Relaxing Sunset

Most of my anticipation from earlier this week has disappeared as the week that I thought would have been terrific for sunsets has kind of turned out to be a dud.  Luckily, the one night that did turn out to have an interesting sunset was the night that I headed out with my camera to the Victoria Bridge.  There are no bridge photographs in this update, but they should be around eventually.  Rather, I decided to go with this shot of the sun setting over the waters of the Saint-Lawrence river.  The clouds and electricity poles kind of create a bit of a calming feeling.  The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/200sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  Helps to calm the frustration caused by the cloudy skies that have haunted me for the rest of the week.

Cracks In The Sky

This is one of my favourite times of the year because it's when the sky turns all kinds of different shades of red as the sun sets.  Last night was my first opportunity to grab some of the colours in the sky, but some heavy cloud cover ended up eating the sunset before it really had the chance to give us a light show.  Some of the red did manage to fight through the clouds and gave me this reddish glow over some of the buildings of downtown Montreal and the new Grande Roue de Montréal, which just opened this summer.  The photograph was taken at f/4, 1/250sec, ISO 400 at 200mm.  Hopefully the sky will be a little more clear in the coming days as these first few weeks of November, in  my experience, are always the best for sunsets.

Ladybug Feast

I suppose that this little update puts to test my theory about being able to photograph anything.  Bugs eating a rotten apple is probably not going to win the award for photograph of the day, but I think that it's still somewhat interesting.  My Lovely Assistant doesn't quite agree with me, but she was the one who pointed out this happy meal to me in the first place.  It's true that this one probably won't be making it to the final cut of any future potential exhibitions, but it's still something different to see.  The colours are nice, the ladybugs are cute and the background is nicely blurred.  The photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/125sec, ISO 400 at 70mm.  A Ladybug Feast may not be as cute and cuddly as a Teddy Bear Picnic, but who knows, maybe there's a future in photographing rotten fruit after all.

Under The Bridge

I have this fascination with bridges.  Which is kind of odd because when I was younger, there was nothing I hated more than having to cross one.  Now, I can't stop taking photographs of them.  This is another photograph of the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal.  It was taken from the deck of a ferry that My Lovely Assistant and I took late in the summer to complete a bike ride home.  The sun was beginning to set as our boat was about to go under the bridge, leaving a nice golden glow on the metal frame.  The photograph was taken at f/8, 1/1000sec, ISO 100 at 54mm.  I cheated a little bit by adjusting the colour balance to add a bit of blue to what was an otherwise overcast sky, but the rest is all natural.  The way the light strikes the metal and the curve of the bridge, these are but a few of the things that always grab my attention and keep pulling my eyes back to something I see almost daily.

Tasty Skulls

It's that time of the year when all of the little spooks will be hitting the streets, looking to fill their bag with all kind of tasty treats.  Some of those treats might be some little candy skulls, much like the ones here that found their way in front of my camera.  It has been a while since we've had some snacks here on the old blog, so this seemed like a good time to bring a little bit of sugar back to the masses.  I spread the candies out on a plate and used the sunshine coming in from the window as a light source.  I also used a couple of different apertures and views to create a couple of photos of a bunch of colourful skulls looking back at me.  The first photograph was taken at f/4, 1/60sec, ISO 400 at 60mm and here is the second.

f/6.3, 1/100sec, ISO 400 at 48mm

Have fun out there tomorrow night filling up your treat bags.  If you happen to find yourselves with more Smarties than you know what to do with, feel free to send some my way.

Sunday Showdown

For lack of a better term, I think that it is time for a fresh update to get the taste of the last one out of our collective mouths. As previously mentioned, this past Sunday I took in part of a football game between the local Champlain Cavaliers and the visiting Shawinigan Electriks who represent their respective schools in the RSEQ.  Though the field is only a few minutes away from me, this is the first time I've been able to catch a game this year.  I still wasn't able to watch the whole thing as other affairs came up, but I managed to make the most of the little time I did have.  That should be rather evident by looking at the large amount of photographs in this update.  Who knows how many I would have come home with had I been there for the whole thing.  When shooting the action, I try and follow where the ball is.  For me, a football photograph isn't complete unless you can see at least some of the ball in there somewhere.  Otherwise, it's just a bunch of people piling on top of each other, though as with most things, there are always exceptions.  The first photograph was taken at f/7.1, ISO 400, 1/400sec at 125mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 200mm and the third photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 200mm.  Here are several more photographs of game action.

f/7.1, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/7.1, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/7.1, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 130mm

f/7.1, 1/400sec, ISO 400 at 182mm

f/7.1, 1/400sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/7.1, 1/400sec ISO 400 at 200mm

f/7.1, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/7.1, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/7.1, 1/2000sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/7.1, 1/2000sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/7.1, 1/2000sec, ISO 400 at 70mm

f/7.1, 1/2000sec, ISO 400 at 170mm

f/7.1, 1/2000sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

Shortly after that kick the teams went in for Halftime and I made my way home.  It's always fun to be able to mix two of the things that I like.  In this case, football and photography.  The Cavaliers ended up winning big and are currently fourth in their division.  That means that there is the chance of them hosting a play-off game.  Should that happen, maybe I'll be able to drag my camera out to catch a full game before the year ends.

An Upsetting Play

I suppose that a warning to those of you with weak stomachs might be appropriate, but if you're reading these words than the odds are pretty good that you've already seen this photograph so I just hope that you aren't seeing it during meal time.  Sometimes you end up getting more in a photograph that you intended, such is the case here.  I thought I was photographing a simple football play, but ended up with something a little more.  I caught this unfortunate moment for #7 of the Shawinigan Élektriks while going through the photographs that I took of a game between them and the Champlain Cavaliers.  I'll have more photographs from the game up here soon, but felt that this one, taken at f/7.1, 1/400sec, ISO 400 at 200mm, deserved to have an update all its own.  How did I come to that decision, I guess you could say that I listened to my gut....  Sorry about that, hope you all enjoy your meals.

Not Ready To Be Friends

Halloween is rapidly approaching, which is kind of appropriate since this update features something that looks like it came fresh out of an Alice Cooper nightmare.  Through some quick research, I discovered that this creepy little thing is called a Black & Yellow Argiope spider and is considered to be a 'friendly' spider.  Good to know because this is a clear case of appearances being deceiving.  When My Lovely Assistant and I accidentally came upon this thing during a walk in the Boucherville islands, being friendly was not the first thing that came to mind.  After convincing myself that this thing wasn't going to jump off its web and eat me, I got much more closer than I was comfortable being and shot this photograph at f/9, 1/125sec, ISO 400 at 68mm.  I didn't wait to find out if it is really true that the spider is more afraid of me than I was of it.  That is one mystery that will remain unanswered for the immediate future.

Room For One More

As promised a little while ago, apple picking season is upon us.  This past Sunday, My Lovely Assistant and I visited our favourite orchard in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Les Vergers Petit et Fils.  It was an overcast morning, and we were pretty much the only ones there.  It was kind of a private apple picking session.  After filling up our bag to the point of nearly losing some of our profit, as the orchard attendant mentioned as an apple fell from our bag and rolled around the parking lot, we took some time for a little artistic fun.  My Lovely Assistant thought it would be cool to place one of our apples on the rung of one of the ladders, and I found another ladder in the background.  I took the photograph at f/5, 1/125sec, ISO 400 at 70mm.   I like putting objects in the background of my photographs, and this blurred out ladder and apple tree seemed like perfect supporting act for the situation.

You Promised Me Peanuts

Contrary to what my furry little friend on the left may want you to believe, I at no time promised to reward him with a snack if he posed for a photograph.  Past visits to see my parents have usually yielded photographs of various flowers or landscapes, but lately I've also been coming home with some shots of the local critter community. This time being this little chipmunk who made his way up out of the flower bed next door as we were gathered outside.  A quick trip inside to grab my gear and I was soon kneeling on the driveway to get a nice shot of this little guy.  The photograph was taken at f/4.5, 1/400sec, ISO 400 at 200mm.  The little guy then scurried off, maybe upset that he didn't get a modeling fee.  I just hope that his quest for a snack doesn't turn him into a snack for the cat that lives next door.

Colours Starting To Change

Though many would be quick to disagree based on the unseasonably warm temperatures we have been experiencing of late, Autumn is, in fact, here.  Which means that the leaves will soon be changing colours, a process which you can see in the photograph to the left, that has begun.  This is a view that I caught while watching the Dragonboat competition a few short weeks ago, and then shot with my camera at f/9, 1/320sec, ISO 100 at 300mm.  I really liked the sight of the metal superstructure of the Jacques Cartier Bridge peeking over the trees of Île Notre-Dame.  All of that without a cloud to be seen in the sky.  A little mix of nature and modern construction all in one.

Looking For A Snack

On of my favourite autumn activities is to go apple picking with My Lovely Assistant.  It's usually a great couple of hours outside.  We fill our bag with apples, some of which are eaten on the spot.  Others make their way home with us where they are transformed into tasty creations.  Some of them, such as this apple here, end up as models before my camera.  This was the brightest red apple we found last year, so I found a relatively flat tree branch, a nice green background, put the sun at my back and snapped away.  This photograph was taken at f/4.5, 1/640sec, ISO 100 at 40mm.  As for the apple, I'm not sure what happened to it, but I'm sure that it met a delicious fate.

Rockpocalypse Now!

Though we've had some unusually warm temperatures of late, I can confirm that we have indeed arrived in the month of October, or Rocktober as the local DJ's would call it.  So, what better way to begin Rocktober than with this photograph I took at a concert back in April by the group Citizen Zero.  I found myself near the back of the room for this show, but still managed to grab this pretty cool shot.  I noticed during one of their songs that after the chorus the stage lights would point out into the crowd, who would then respond my raising their hands up, giving the two-finger salute to rock made popular by the late, great, Ronnie James Dio.  After witnessing this a few times, this shot, which was taken at f4, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm, was my final choice as it had the most arms raised in the air.  With the bright lights pointed right at me, it almost looks like we're about to experience the end of the world, and everyone is welcoming it.