Blurring Reality

The night time is the right time for grabbing some nice long exposure photographs.  Though I really like taking photographs once the sun has gone down, one thing that I don't do enough is experiment with different ways to photograph my subjects.  A while back when I was making an evening visit to the Jacques Cartier Bridge, I decided to take some regular shots, but also take a few more that were out of focus.  I must admit that I am a big fan of detail, so the first photograph, which was taken at f/18, 20sec, ISO 100 at 68mm is more something that I enjoy looking at.  The second photograph, taken at f/18, 13sec, ISO 100 at 68mm, has its own qualities as well.  The softness kind of reminds me of a watercolour painting.  The fact that everything isn't focus sharp, kind of makes it interesting to me as well.  Photography is fun, so break a couple of rules and have a little fun while you're out there.

Snowy City

Back in January while I was off, I spent many mornings out on the road taking photographs of the winter conditions. You can see some of the other photographs by going through the January updates on the old blog.  These are a couple of photographs that ended up getting saved for a later date.  But, before that 'later date' becomes 2020, I figured this was a good time to get them up.  For the first photograph, which was taken at f/16, 1/60sec, ISO 100 at 70mm, I liked how the big wheel looked as if it was resting on the trees.  It might not seem like much, but it's those little things that tend to catch my eye.  The second photograph, taken at f/16, 1/40sec, ISO 100 at 70mm, captured some of the frosted trees that lined the Pont de la Concorde.  Just over them was a nice view of Old Montreal, and some of the more recent buildings.  A nice view that was hidden by the falling snow.  I used a slow shutter speed to properly capture the flakes as they fell from the sky.  Some people might be more interested in a clearer view, but I think these have an added bit of character due to the weather conditions.  It also serves as a bit of proof to all you readers out there who hear me complain about the summer heat.  Yes, I do go out when it's minus 20 Celcius and snowing, and yes, I very much enjoy it more than the summer heat.

Félines du St.Laurent vs Rapides de Champlain

Despite my terrible record when attending these games, I still received an invitation from my favourite goaltender to take some photographs of the match this past Friday night.  Les Félines du St. Laurent were taking on their rivals, les Rapides de Champlain at the Olympia arena in Longueuil.  My plan for this match was to try and get some more emotional type of shots.  Happy faces during goal celebrations was what I was looking for, but things didn't quite go my way as only two goals were scored, and both at the opposite end of the rink from where I was positioned.  As the Rolling Stones said, you can't always get what you want.  Not many celebrations, but still lots of action shots as both teams played hard.  The Rapides took the lead with a second period goal, but the Félines didn't give up.  Battling and giving their all before getting a goal of their own to tie the game up just past the midway point of the third period.  The game ended 1-1, but considering my personal record while attending these games, I was more than happy with the outcome.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 88mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 150mm and the third photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 145mm.  As is the case, I took several other photographs during the game, so grab your favourite snack and get ready, because here they are.

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 142mm

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

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 150mm

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

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 160mm

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

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 115mm

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

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

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 110mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 3200 at 125mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 3200 at 130mm

 

Sadly, this was my last regular season game of the year.  Les Félines have had a tough year, but there is still a shot at the play-offs.  Hopefully I'll get back to the ice this year, but if not, I'd just like to say thanks to Florence and the rest of Les Félines.  It's been a blast to watch you play and I appreciate all of the nice comments I've gotten about my photographs.  Best of luck to you all.

Almost Full

I think I just said that it's good to have a nice surprise every once in a while.  Last night while I was preparing to step out, I took a look out my window at the setting sun and saw a bulldozer pushing snow over the local snow depot.  As it passed in front of the Biosphere, my inner photographer told me that it was kind of an interesting scene.  I grabbed my camera, opened the window and snapped away.  Since the photograph was kind of topical, we just received 40cm's of snow this week, I sent it off to CTV Montreal.  It didn't make the broadcast, but weather specialist Lori Graham did share it over her twitter feed.  The photograph was taken at f/5.6, 1/160sec, ISO 1000 at 200mm.  Thanks once again to Lori Graham for sharing my photograph.  It's always a pleasure to see my photographs and name on places other than the old blog.

Sweet Heart

It's always nice to find a surprise.  In the kitchen, My Lovely Assistant is a whizz.  I often find myself there keeping an eye on her wonderful creations.  During the preparation for one of her treats, she had halved some strawberries.  Upon further inspection, I saw that the center of one strawberry looked just like a heart.  I quickly grabbed the camera and shot away.  The photograph was taken at f/4, 1/30sec, ISO 1000 at 60mm.  Rather than use a flash, I used a white cardboard to reflect the kitchen lights towards the strawberry.  To keep the strawberry still, I propped it up with a smaller strawberry.  This way my model doesn't move, but the prop remains small enough to not be seen in my final photograph.  Just a couple tricks of the trade.

Big Sky

After a particularly grey couple of days, the sun broke through for a few minutes late yesterday afternoon.  I went to one of my favourite spots with the idea of catching the setting sun next to the big skyscrapers of Montreal, but found the sky and clouds to be much more dramatic once there.  I waited for the sun to be hidden behind the clouds and the tops of the downtown buildings.  It gave a halo like effect over the downtown core and nicely lit up the clouds as they stretched out to the large blue patch of sky in the upper left of the photograph.  The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/640sec, ISO 100 at 40mm.  I like how the photograph takes something that we perceive to be large, the skyscrapers, and shows how little they are in compared to everything around us.  A little fun with perspectives.

Forgotten Fireworks

I think I can say that 2019 got off to a rather explosive start here on the old blog.  I had four photographs appear on CTV Montreal, one of them appeared in the La Presse Online App, got to shoot some hockey at a tournament in Longueuil and finished things up by getting a photo pass to shoot The Damn Truth and The Sheepdogs at MTelus in Montreal.  I'm hoping that this means my year didn't peak in January, but rather it's the start of an interesting 2019.  With all that happened last month, it's not a stretch to believe that my famed archives ended up getting even bigger.  This batch of forgotten fireworks were taken during the annual Fire On Ice events at the Old Port Of Montreal.  I had wanted to try a new location, hoping to get the Biosphere into my photographs, as well as the buildings of Montreal.  The explosions ended up being a little bit more to the left of the buildings that I had hoped, lots even ended up being blocked by the Biosphere itself.  It was also very windy and that ended up ruining lots of my shots as well.  I still managed to grab  couple of shots that made it through quality control. The first photograph was taken at f/16, 15sec, ISO 100 at 68mm and the second photograph was taken at f/16, 20sec, ISO 100 at 68mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took of the explosions.

f/16, 20sec, ISO 100 at 68mm

f/16, 14sec, ISO 100 at 68mm

It was nice to try out a new spot. Though I was disappointed about not getting more of the buildings in my photographs, getting the string of lights at the base of the Biosphere was a nice little bonus, as were the occasional light streaks of the passing cars.

Super Bowl Sunday

Super Bowl Sunday is upon us, so before the big game tonight, it's time to get ready with a little bit of football on the old blog as well.  Back in the Fall, I attended a couple of football games played by the local CEGEP, and my former school from years ago, the Champlain Cavaliers.  As usual, I saved a couple of the shots for this yearly Super Bowl update. The team finished the season with a record of five wins and three losses, before being eliminated in the first round of the play-offs.  I always enjoy going to a few games a year as I get field access to photograph some of the action.  A fine way to pass an afternoon or evening.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 400 at 200mm and the second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/2000sec, ISO 400 at 200mm.  Here are some more shots of the action.

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

f/2.8, 1/2500sec, ISO 800 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 70mm

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

If you'd like to see the other photographs that I took of those games, you can do so by following this link for the first game, and this link for the second.  I enjoyed attending the games, and hopefully we'll all enjoy the big one tonight.  Save a spot on the couch and some pizza for me.