Always Darkest Before Dawn

As I continue my little trip through the archives during this little period of everything being closed, I found this photograph in the same folder as the 'Lockdown' photos of our last update  They shouldn't be far down the page, but feel free to follow the link to see it.  A nice sunny blue sky is fine to look at, but I've always been drawn to the bright lights of the big city.  The 'big city' in question is going through a tough time right now, so how about a little reminder of how good looking it can be.  I took this photograph from the observation deck on the Jacques Cartier Bridge.  The photograph was taken at f/20, 20sec, ISO 100 at 68mm.  Patience is necessary when taking photographs on a busy bridge.  You have to wait and make sure that there are no big trucks about to pass by as they made the deck I was standing on shake quite a bit.  Patience is also key in these times, but like a series of rumbling 18-wheelers, this too shall pass.

Before The Big Bang

Our little trip through the archives continues with this little photograph taken a while back.  Long time followers of the blog know that I've been photographing the annual fireworks displays over Montreal for several years now.  Going back to before the creation of the blog even.  In order to get a good clear view, I often show up a couple of hours before the explosions begin in order to get the spot that I want.  Once set up, I periodically snap off a photograph or two while waiting for the big bangs to begin.  About a half hour before the show begins there is often a test shot that goes off, with a second one shortly afterwards.  Knowing this, I kept my eyes on the sky, waiting for the first test shot so that I would be ready to get the second.  My timing was perfect on this one as not only did I get the explosion, but the little fire trail as well.  The photograph was taken at f/14, 20sec, ISO 100 at 43mm.  If you'd like to see the photographs of the fireworks that came later, just follow the link.

Lockdown

We're into the second week of forced quarantine in this part of the world.  It is estimated that about 80% of the population is on lockdown.  Which reminded me of a couple of photographs that I took a few years back and were hanging around in the archives.  These were taken during an evening walk on the Jacques Cartier Bridge.  I had wanted to take a photograph of the light steaks of the passing cars going through the superstructure portion of the bridge.  Feel free to go back in time to visit that photo by following the link.  As I was walking back, I noticed how the lights from the bridge were glowing against the bars and creating some ominous looking shadow.  Like something out a film noir movie of the 1940's and 50's.  With the bars overhead and the harsh lights, it really felt light walking through a cell block...not that I would know the feeling personally. Both photographs were taken at f/2.8, 1/13sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm.  If I could go back in time I'd probably use a smaller ISO and smaller aperture.  I know that I had a tripod with me because it would have been impossible to get the shot of the streaking car lights without one.  It must have been one of those times when I adjusted my ISO to try something and then forgot to put it back.

Pretty In Pink

The arrival of Spring is usually met with a great deal of fanfare.  A chance to look forward to warmer times as we shake off the last of the Winter cold.  This has taken a bit of a backseat this year as the planet deals with something a little stronger than a winter chill.  Seems like a good time to remember why I enjoy the Spring.  I'm a big fan of flowers as I love their bright colours and interesting shapes.  They tend to make interesting photographs, and excellent models as you can pretty much move them around at will with nary a complaint.  This little fella was photographed in my Mom's garden a few years back and was dug out of the archives to try and bring a little colour to these grey days.  The photograph was taken at f/8, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 60mm while using a macro lens.  Hang in there, some more colourful days are hopefully just around the corner.

Back To The Future

It's a kind of interesting time right now.  Everything is shut down as the planet deals with the virus that's going around.  As I watch the world go by from the comfy window seat of my couch, I figured I'd take a dip into the deep end of my archives.  I found this guy in a folder dated 2015, so I guess after 5 years of waiting, it was time to play with it a bit.  I cropped to a nice wide format in order to get as much of the downtown skyscrappers into my shot as possible.  There are even a couple more that have sprouted up since I took the photograph.  It was taken at f/5, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 55mm.  There are still lots of photographs floating around in the archives, seems like this might be a good time to dig some of them out.

Pi(e) Day

While the world is going  little bit crazy right now, how about we all calm down for a minute and have some dessert.  Today is March 14th, and in math circles it is Pi Day.  Pi being one of those never ending numbers from math class to measure the circumference of a circle, but the first three numbers are 3.14, thus the reason why it is celebrated on March 14th.  I don't have any numbers to photograph at the moment, so I figured this tasty creation My Lovely Assistant would fill the void.  It certainly filled our tummies.  She always tells me that I spend more time photographing her creations than she does making them, and that is probably true.  She has some good presentation ideas too.  It was her who though that adding the apples to the photograph would be appropriate and a good use of the empty space.  She know what she speaks of.  The photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/200sec, ISO 100 at 50mm with some flash bounced off of the ceiling to get some better light.  It was also cooked in the oven, but for any more cooking information, you'll have to convince My Lovely Assistant to open her own cooking blog.  Maybe one day.  I hear she knows a good photographer.

Cotton Candy Clouds

It was kind of a grey day so I decided to take a little stroll through the old archives to see if I could find a little bit of colour.  That's when I stumbled upon this photograph of a sunset that I took last Spring.  This photograph was taken a few minutes after a photograph that I featured here last year and which got a little bit of publicity thanks to CTV Weather Specialist Lori Graham and the La Presse newspaper.  While you're here, click the link to check it out.  I was happy with the orange glow of the original, but I hoped that the clouds would get a little colour on them as well.  They didn't quite get as red as I had hoped, but the little bit of colour that was added did give them a kind of cotton candy look.  The photograph was taken at f/5, 1/200sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  I always stick around my shooting site a little bit after I've taken a photograph.  If I may speak photographically, you never know what might develop.

Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood

Visitors to the blog are well aware that we moved our Head Office a few months ago.  I'm still getting used to the area and My Lovely Assistant has been taking The Heir Apparent and I on walks around the new neighbourhood.  During one of those walks, we walked past this group of bare trees just as the sun was getting a little lower in the bright blue sky.  It seemed like a scene worth capturing, so I snapped away.  I took the photograph at f/16, 1/320sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  A nice small aperture helped create the star effect around the sun and I played around with the shutter speed until I got the trees just dark enough to get a silhouette style of look while also keeping the sky a nice blue.  It was a nice little walk through the new neighbourhood.  Still looking for new things to discover.

Félines Du Richelieu 3 vs Westlake Wild 3

I know some people will say that a tie is almost like a loss, but when you've been carrying a guilty conscious about being a bad luck charm, a tie doesn't seem that bad.  Especially when the team has been having a rough season and was going up against the best team in the league.  Thus, that is how Friday night ended with lots of smiles after the Félines du Richelieu battled back from 2-1 and 3-2 deficts to tie the Westlake Wild 3-3 in one of the last games of the season.  My favourite goaltender, Florence Bouchard-Maynard was in nets and the game was nearby, so when she invited me to head to the arena in Greenfield Park for some game action, there was no way I was going to refuse.  Things got off to a rough start as the Wild scored two quick goals early in the first period after Les Félines had opened the scoring, and I was wondering if I should just pack up my bad karma and sneak out the door before things got worse.  It's a good thing I stuck around though, as Les Félines didn't give up and fought back to get the well deserved point after scoring the tying goal with a little more than four minutes left in the third period.  The Wild went all out in the final minutes of the third, but weren't able to get the lead back thanks to some good defense from Florence and her battling teammates.  I ended up taking most of these shots close to the ice from the first row behind the glass.  I was worried that shooting through the glass might have an effect on my photographs, these local rinks don't have those handy holes like you see in the NHL arenas, but after doing some test shots during the previous game, I figured I'd give it a go and shoot from a different angle for a change.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 102mm and the second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 130mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took of the action.

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 90mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 125mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 135mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 168mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 102mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 88mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 155mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 155mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 125mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 123mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/3.5, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 155mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 175mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 142mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 142mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 130mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 123mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 130mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 125mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 135mm

That was quite a selection of photographs.  I took as many as I could as this was possibly my last time photographing Florence in action.  She'll be going away to University in the Fall, so this was likely her last season on the ice, at least locally.  Florence, thank you so much for always inviting me out to your games to capture the action.  I had a great time, and I hope that you enjoyed the photographs.  All the best at University in the Fall and everything beyond that as well.