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.