Photographic Experimentation

Sometimes a little bit of photographic experimentation is called for.  I took these photographs while riding a ferry from the Old Port of Montreal back to Longueuil.  I liked the image of the buildings against the Jacques Cartier Bridge.  However, when I got back I discovered that the images where full of 'dust'.  Sometimes when I feel a little adventurous , I go back to those dusty photographs and play around with them.  With this particular photograph, taken at f/16, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 70mm, I cropped it to 12" by 6", used the Curves tool in Photoshop to brighten the sky and darken the buildings and bridge, then used the Colour Balance tool to add some more blue to the highlights and midtones.  I also used the Clone Brush tool to get rid of some of the larger dust spots that still remained and for fun, I also used it to create a few extra small clouds.  All that and voila!  A photograph that would have otherwise been ignored suddenly gets new life and a couple of minutes of fame here on the blog.

Deja Vu All Over Again

Back on May 17, the city of Montreal had a special lighting of the Jacques Cartier Bridge as part of the 375th Anniversary celebration of the city.  I had a bit of an adventure trying to find a good spot to photograph the show.  You can read about it, as well as see the photographs, by following this link.  I was trying to avoid such drama this time and decided to stay a little closer to home on the other side of the river, but despite a few weeks of looking, I couldn't really find a good spot.  I decided to try a spot under the bridge, but the location ended up being ruined by a police car that was stationed along the street.  The actual car wasn't the problem, but rather its flashing lights.  The car was so close that the flashing lights would end up bleeding into my shots and just ruining all of my test shots.  I moved to the other side of the bridge, but this wasn't much better as the illuminated part of the bridge was just too far away.  As a result, the evening ended up turning into a bit of a practice for the upcoming fireworks competition that begins next week.  The first photograph was taken at f/16, 10sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/16, 8sec, ISO 100 at 70mm and the third photograph was taken at f/16, 13sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  Here is another photograph that was taken at f/16, 13sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.

My first location offered me a better view of the bridge, but this one offered me a better view of the fireworks.  I was a little disappointed in that I was hoping for better shots of the bridge, but seeing as how I also like fireworks, I won't be complaining for very long.  Bring on the fireworks competition!

Magnolia Blooms

It has been a few years now that I've been getting invited to my brother's home to photograph his magnolia tree when it blooms in the spring.  Timing always seems to be an issue, but a rather chilly Spring, couple with a Mother's Day celebration at his place meant that I had a small chance.  Most of the petals had already fallen to the ground, and those left were really showing their age, but I managed to find a few that I could take close-up shots of their carpels and stamens.  These were taken late in the afternoon, so I ended up using my flash to make sure that all of the details and colour came out.  The flowers only remain in bloom for a week or two, so I was happy to get these photographs at all.  The first photograph was taken at f/9, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  Here are a couple more photographs taken that afternoon.

f/9, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 70mm

f/9, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 51mm

It had sprinkled on and off that day so the little rain drops were an added bonus.  Seems that the actual tree is quite the sight to see when it was in full bloom.  We'll have to see if I can fit it into my schedule next year.

Feeling The Heat

It's hot outside!  It's so hot that I'm sweating just thinking about the possibility of going outside in this weather.  The temperature is a usually bearable 28C, but with this humidity, it feels like 41C.  For my older or American friends, that comes to 104.1F which is very far outside of my comfort zone.  In times like these, other than lock myself in a dark, air conditioned room, I like to dig through my archives and find a nice 'cool' image, such as this one.  This photograph, taken while on vacation in Gaspé at f/11, 1/200sec, ISO 100 at 24mm has just the things needed to take my mind away.  A nice blue sky with puffy clouds and an inviting body of cool water.  Just imagining jumping in on a day like today is enough to lower my body heat by a few degrees.  Keep cool out there.

Checkered Flag

Yesterday the Formula One Grand Prix made their annual stop in Montreal, and I usually try to stick in a racing themed photograph for the event.  I saw this checkered flag logo from a classic Ford Thunderbird and thought it would make a cool photograph.  Unfortunately, while I was making sure that my framing was good, I failed to notice the reflections of the trees across the parking lot on the hood.  That meant cropping in a little tighter than I had planned, but you can still see the branches in the lower right-hand side of the photograph.  What I liked about the photograph, was actually the little detail of the chipped gold paint on crown portion of the logo.  Just a small thing like that which catches my eye.  I like taking these kind of photographs where I can turn something as simple as a hood ornament and turn it into something that I think would look great hanging on the wall of any car fan out there.  The photograph was taken at f/8, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 38mm.  For those of you who are curious about the results of the race, it was won by Lewis Hamilton.

Winter Cardinal

The weather finally seems to have taken a turn towards warmer temperatures, so I guess I should take that as a cue that my unused winter photographs are soon to find their way into the archives until they possibly find a way out next winter.  Or, during a particularly warm day later in the Summer when I need to find a happy, snowy place to hide from the heat.  I took these photographs back in January while attending the Classique Montréalaise.  I had originally spotted these cardinals on my way to the event, but was in kind of a rush to get there.  As a result, I passed up on photographing the birds and hoped that they would still be there on my way back.  Once the final goal was scored, I quickly hopped back on a bus and made my way back to see if my feathered friends were still flying around. Though the sun was beginning to go down, I was happy to see that the cardinals were still there.  Luckily for me, not only were they still there, but they were used to humans being around so I didn't have to hide very far away to get some photographs.  The first photograph was taken at f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 200mm and the second photograph was taken at f/4, 1/200sec, ISO 400 at 200mm.  Here is another photograph that I took.

f/4, 1/400sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

I enjoy looking at birds, especially when they're as colourful as these were.  Placed against a rather colourless background and they really stand out.

Festival Classica & CHOM Present Back To The Beatles in Saint-Lambert

Outdoor concert season is upon us, and for me, the first big show of the year is usually the Festival Classica in Saint-Lambert.  My Lovely Assistant and I usually attend the annual Classica Rocks open air concert put on with the sponsorship of local radio station, CHOM FM.  As usual, a full orchestra and choir play classic rock songs under the stars. This year, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their releases, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles were given the classical treatment and played in their entirety.  As in years past, we got their fairly early because in Saint-Lambert they seem to like attending their concerts in deck chairs.  We planted ourselves a fair bit behind the rows of chairs, but were still treated to some rather unneighbourly pushing and shoving by some locals who decided the ideal place to watch the concert would be about 5cm's in front of us.  Back to the concert, the music was handled by l’Orchestre symphonique du Conservatoire de musique de la Montérégie (OSCM), le Chœur Radio Ville-Marie as well as l’Ensemble vocal Katimavik, all under the direction of Simon Fournier.  Since I was fairly back from the stage, I decided to shoot using a telephoto lens, but near the end of the show as the crowd was beginning to thin out, I managed to sneak around the concert site a little bit and found myself right at the front of the stage where I was able to snap off a couple of photographs, including a rather cool shot of the conductor in midair.  From my position further back, I tried to get some shots with the conductor's arms stretched out, as he is kind of the star of the show, despite having his back to the crowd for the majority of the show. I also tried to play around with different aperture settings and shutter speeds to play with the lights as a series of photographs that all looked the same would get a little tiring after a while.  I also did the same thing while editing the photographs, using some different sized crops along the way.  I think that I ended up with a rather diverse set.  The first photograph was taken at f/11, 1/25sec, ISO 800 and 70mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/13, 1/100sec, ISO 1000 at 180mm.  The third photograph with all of the lens flares was taken at f/16, 1/30sec, ISO 1000 at 70mm.  The fourth photograph was taken at f/5.6, 1/160sec, ISO 800 and 155mm and the fifth photograph was taken at f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 800 and 135mm.   Here are several more of the photographs that I took during the concert.

 f/5.6, 1/160sec, ISO 800 at 168mm

f5.6, 1/80sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/5.6, 1/80sec, ISO 800 at 24mm

f/6.3, 1/125sec, ISO 800 at 40mm

f/6.3, 1/200sec, ISO 800 at 32mm

f/6.3, 1/160sec, ISO 800 at 27mm

f/6.3, 1/125sec, ISO 800 at 34mm

Though the weather was a little chilly by June standards, not that I am complaining, the atmosphere was warm as everyone on hand enjoyed the performance which included two encores.  The Beatles and classical music made for a great mix.

Bird On A Wire

If there is one thing that I can appreciate, it's the incredible feeling of a good nap.  That appears to be something this pigeon has discovered as well.  I spotted this little guy hanging out on a telephone wire while visiting my parents one day.  With an extra long telephoto lens, I was able to grab a photograph of it resting on the wire.  I was quite happy that I got a clear look at  it's half closed eyes.  I either caught him in a nap, or planning to do something nefarious like dive bombing my car.  The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/5000sec, ISO 400 at 300mm.  The little guy has inspired me, I think I may go and lay down for a little bit myself.