Trick Or Treat

'Tis the season for ghosts and goblins.  I caught this one going through the kitchen hoping to raid the candy reserves.  He thought he was fast enough to avoid my camera, but all of that chocolate in his bag must've slowed him down.  In all seriousness, I had some free time and decided to play around with the camera and my little spooky friend.  To create the photograph, which was taken at f/16, 4sec, ISO 100 at 60mm, I put the little ghost on my black jacket, which was resting on the table.  I then set my focus for a certain spot on the table, slid my jacket back a little bit and then pulled the jacket back to my designated spot on the table while the photograph was being taken.  I made sure to stop pulling a little before the four seconds ended so that he'd be in focus, while leaving a nice streak of his form behind him.  Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go see if he left any candy behind for me.

Bridging The Season

Went out for a nice Autumn walk the other weekend, looking for some colour in the trees and before I had been out even 10 minutes, I found myself looking at the Victoria Bridge.  It opened in 1859 and will probably be around long after the new Champlain Bridge that is being built.  Though it freaked me out a little bit as a kid, it is easily my favourite of the bridges that lead to Montreal.  On this sunny Saturday afternoon, I found myself at the foot of the bridge, looking up at one of the iron trusses that make up the rail portion of the bridge.  There were some wild bushes growing nearby which were turning colour, and against the blue of the sky the whole scene caught my eye.  The photograph was taken at f/9, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 43mm.  I played around with the contrast a little bit to darken the structure, making it look more like a silhouette against the blue sky.  Just the kind of thing I like to look for.

Orange Zest Chocolate Chip Cookies

As is the usual case around here, the year seems to have passed by very quickly.  Here we are in October, and me with a serious backlog of photographs.  My Lovely Assistant has been busy creating all kinds of tasty treats this year, making sure Your Friendly Neighbourhood Photographer has a full belly.  This update is a very sweet one, chocolate chip cookies with orange zest.  To photograph the cookies, I filled up an elevated grill and placed them on the kitchen table.  I used a large aperture and focused on the cookies in the front row so that the ones behind would slowly fall out of focus.  I bounced some light off of the ceiling with my flash which not only gave the cookies a nice colour, but also created the little shadows under the grill.  The first photograph was taken at f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 24mm and since I know that I asked for seconds, here is a second photograph.

f/6.3, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 43mm

Same basic set-up as the first, only I focused tighter on a smaller group.  After that, my focus quickly turned to the fridge in order to get a tall glass of milk to help wash those cookies down.

Autumn Colours

As previously mentioned, My Lovely Assistant and I took an apple picking trip last weekend and after the apple bag was full, it was time to open the camera bag and snap up some of the fall colours.  In an effort to keep my out of control archives from ballooning even more, here is a group of photographs I took of the changing leaves on Mont Saint-Hilaire.  After getting clear of the apple trees, I had a nice view of the line of red trees that you can see in the first photograph, which was taken at f/9, 1/400sec, ISO 100 at 135mm, as well as a few puffy white clouds in the blue sky.  All kind of nice colours to look at.  Here are a few more photographs I took that afternoon.

f/9, 1/400sec, ISO 100 at 182mm

f/9, 1/200sec, ISO 100 at 90mm

f/9, 1/125sec, ISO 100 at 200mm

It was nice to be able to grab a few Fall colours since the winds of the last week have done some serious damage to the leaves of my neighbourhood.  There are still a few left out there though, so get out and enjoy the colour while you can.

Living In Colour

Went apple picking with My Lovely Assistant this past weekend and after filling our bag with a delicious selection of apples, I took a moment out from eating my fresh apple donut to take a look around.  I saw this nice line of trees that were changing colour and a nice swath of green brush separated by a row of houses.  I kind of liked how the grey of the houses was broken up by the colour both above and below them, so I snapped away.  It's simple as that sometimes.  The photograph was taken at f/9, 1/200sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  There's all kinds of colours out there right now, head out and see them.

Victoriaville Vulkins 30 vs Champlain Cavaliers 14

What better place to spend a chilly Saturday night than on the 40-yard line of a windy football field, watching a bunch of youngster run up and down the field. I once again trekked down to the old college campus to watch the local football team do battle with the visiting Victoriaville Vulkins.  Things started off well for the Cavaliers as they scored on their first possession, but they didn't get any more points until late in the fourth quarter.  I walked around the field a little more during the game.  Still patrolling my little area between the 40-yard line and one of the end zones, but also going to the back of the endzone for a few plays, catching a Champlain running back diving into the end zone for a score, and also to grab a photograph of the new scoreboard which was installed before the season began.  Sadly, the score wasn't very flattering for the home team at the time.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 3200 at 88mm and the second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took during the game.

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 145mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 168mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 170mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 135mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 170mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 105mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 168mm

With this loss, the chances of the Cavaliers hosting a play-off game took a hit, so this may have been my last game of the season.  We'll keep our fingers crossed for them, and maybe I'll find myself back on the field for a chilly November afternoon or evening in a few weeks.

Just Hanging Around

While enjoying some deck time with My Lovely Assistant's family this summer, I found this little guy hanging off an evergreen.  I guess he was enjoying a warm summer evening out as well.  His web was so fine that you can't see it at all, giving the illusion that he's just floating in the air.  I played around with Photoshop a little bit to make everything a little darker and to add a little bit of blue to the sky.  It makes the final image look a little bit more pleasant to the eye.  Or I sure hope that it does.  The photograph was taken at f/4, 1/500sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  I'm not a big fan of spiders in the house, but once outside, I become much more happy to see them.

Big Red Sky

It's been rather grey and cloudy in these parts over the last few days, but that doesn't mean that all fun is lost.  While all of the clouds make things rather bland during the day, they tend to pick up lots of colour in the night.  Over the last few years, the area around the Jacques Cartier Bridge and the islands of Île Notre-Dame and Île Sainte-Hélène have seen the addition of many lights.  Add to that the already numerous lights around the waterfront, including the Radio-Canada building which you can see peaking over the mountain, the sky can turn several different shades of colour.  On this night, there was a little extra blue and red in the air.  The photograph was taken at f/16, 20sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  I did cheat a little bit by using Photoshop to make the sky a little brighter than it really was, but the cloudy evenings still always have a touch of colour to them over here.

Champlain Cavaliers 30 vs St. Jérôme Cheminots 6

The arrival of October means that we're getting into one of my favourite sporting times of the year.  Football has begun, the baseball play-offs are about to begin and the puck is about to drop on another season of hockey.  I made the short trip over to my old school to watch the Champlain Cavaliers take on the St. Jérôme Cheminots in RSEQ football action.  Much like the summer concerts, I was able to get right on the sidelines for the game, getting me right next to the action.  I grabbed a spot between the 40-yard line and one of the end zones, then waited for the action to come to me.  With football being a somewhat violent sport, there are always a variety of bodies flying around, which can make for some pretty dramatic photographs.  When shooting, I try to focus on the quarterback at the beginning of the play, and if there isn't a sack, I try to quickly track what direction the ball is going so that I can maybe snap off a catch, interception or big hit.  Part of the fun for me is that there is something happening every play.  I may not get a clear shot all the time as the odd player, referee or goal post sometimes get in the way, but it's that much more fun when I look my screen afterwards and find that I managed to catch a great play.  The first photograph was taken at f/5, 1/1000sec, ISO 400 at 200mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/2000sec, ISO 400 at 200mm and the third photograph was taken at f/5.6, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 200mm.  Here are some more photographs that I took during the game.

f/5.6, 1/400sec, ISO 400 at 160mm

f/5, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 182mm

f/4, 1/1250sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/4, 1/1000sec, ISO 400 at 130mm

f/4, 1/1000sec, ISO 400 at 185mm

f/3.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 400 at 130mm

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 400 at 160mm

f/3.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/2500sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/2000sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/2000sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/6400sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/6400sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

There is still one home game left on the schedule.  Since Champlain is currently 4-1, there is also the chance of a home play-off game in the future.  Hopefully I'll be heading back out to the gridiron another time before the season comes to an end.