Weekly photo of 20 March 2016
This week the temperature was up and down, the morning I took that shot it was very foggy and the Old Canal was particularly interesting. I waited until the sunrise so i would be able to include it in my composition. I didn’t push the contrast too much during the processing since I wanted to keep the mood of that morning.
Taken with my Canon 7D and 24mm STM, ISO 100 at f/10.
Ducks on a cold Canadian morning.
Yesterday it was -28°C (-38°C with the wind chill factor), a good occasion to go to the St-Louis river in Beauharnois to photograph the Mallard Ducks that stays there all winter. At these temperatures it’s important to be well dressed if you want to stay warm and keep shooting, especially your hands, i did put hand warmers in my mitts to keep my fingers warm.
First, here is some photos of the river to show you the habitat:
Here is a photo taken at the base of the waterfall, down the river there is less ice and the Ducks have access to open waters and foods. Taken with my Canon 7D and 10-18mm STM at 12mm.
Taken with my Canon 7D and 10-18mm STM at 11mm.
Since it was very cold, there was a thick layer of fog over the river and it was difficult to get accurate focus on the Ducks.
Canon 7D with my 70-200mm/4 L.
Canon 7D with my 400mm/5.6 L.
This Male is trying to stay warm in the water. Canon 7D with 400mm/5.6 L.
Time to eat to get some fuel to stay warm, it’s tail was covered with ice. Canon 7D with 400mm/5.6L
I also found Cedar leaves in the snow in the forested area along the river, so I took close-up shots.
Canon 7D with my 24mm STM.
Pentax K50 with DA 40mm XS
The Rouge River, another beautiful autumn morning.
For some years now, i like to take a day off to drive the dirt road along the Rouge River in Grenville-sur-La-Rouge to photograph the colorful autumn display ! The night was cold (around 1 °C), clear and with calm winds, so everything was set for a good foggy morning over the river. I woke-up early since it’s a little more than an 1 hour drive from my home and arrived at least 45 minutes before sunrise.
For sure there was fog everywhere along the river and the surrounding mountains as well, great photo opportunities to come 🙂
The fog was very thick, at times i couldn’t see the shore on the other side of the river. Fuji X-E1, XF 55-200mm, tripod.
The light level was very low, i liked the trees hanging on the rocky shore. Fuji X-E1, XF 14mm, tripod.
Close-up of an Oak Tree seed amongst Cedar leaves and Pine needles in a rock crevice. Fuji X-E1, Tamron 90mm/2.8 Macro, tripod.
I always look on the ground for interesting subjects, i saw that there was a lot of Pine needles on the ground, so i looked around to find something and finally found those 2 Maple Tree leaves on needles in a shallow waterhole. Fuji X-E1, XF 55-200mm, tripod.
Along the road small rivers comes down from the mountains to finish in the Rouge river, i always stop at one of them for more intimate landscape of a river running in a forested area as well as some close-ups of leaves on rocks.
As you can see in the forest in the background, fog was also present in the forest. Fuji X-E1, XF 14mm, tripod, Polariser.
A vertical version of the same scene but this time i put a rock covered with leaves and Pine needles. Fuji X-E1, XF 14mm, Tripod, Polariser.
One of the thing i like to do in autumn is to explore the wet rocks in the river to find colorful fallen leaves. The rocks are very slippery, so you have to be careful while walking on them but it’s worth the risk. When setting a tripod in the flowing water you need to raise the ISO to get a faster shutter speed because the water causes vibration and your shots will be blurred. Fuji X-E1, XF 18-55mm, Tripod, Polariser.
Here the fog was very thick, i decided to do a B&W conversion since the color version looked almost B&W anyway. Fuji X-E1, XF 55-200mm, tripod.
As the sun got higher the atmosphere became warmer and the fog started to evaporate, from now on i had to shoot quickly before all the fog would dissipates.
The sun came out and the fog was quickly evaporating. Fuji X-E1, XF 55-200mm, tripod.
The fog is almost all gone, after i finished shooting those Aspen trees and got back to my truck it was completely gone. Fuji X-E1, XF 55-200mm, tripod.
After the Aspen photo i decided to head back to the small river in the forest to see if i could get some Macro and close-up shots of small subjects. There was many red Maple leaves fallen in a secondary shallow channel of the river, after some not so good photos i finally found a good composition.
I didn’t use my Polariser here because i wanted the fastest shutter speed and also keeping the reflections on the flowing water. Fuji X-E1, Tamron 90mm/2.8 Macro, Tripod.
My last composition of the day, 2 dead leaves on a rock with reflected yellow trees on the water in the background. I had some difficulties positioning myself and my tripod to get that one, water got into my knee high rubber boot ….. that water was so cold ! Canon 7D, 400mm/5.6L, a 20mm extension tube, tripod.
This was a fun and productive 5 hours photo session, i will go back for sure next autumn, i might go back in November when there is no snow but it’s cold enough that ice will have formed in the rivers making for new interesting subjects !
Weekly photo, 21 September 2014
This week we had our first night with temperature at the freezing point (0°C), so in the morning there was some frost on the ground and fog in the fields near my house. I took that photo of a small river that is close to my home, i drive by that river everyday and i knew that on cold mornings fog is usually present over the river.
Fuji X-E1 with XF 55-200mm, tripod.
Common Goldeneye Ducks in a birdscape photography.
This morning it was cold for the month of March (-20C ), also the wind was blowing and with the windchill factor it was around -30C. I was seeing the shake caused by the wind in my viewfinder, so a high shutter speed combined with good long lens technique was required to get a sharp shot.
I spotted some Ducks on the river and the rising sun added some life to the scene. I took some with them in flight but they were not beautifully placed or their surrounding was not as photogenic as the one below.
Here they are swimming on the fog covered river, they are small in the photo but i wanted to show them in their habitat, it’s what i liked when i saw the scene. I cropped the top and bottom of the photo for composition purposes.
Canon T3i with 70-200mm/4 L at 200mm, tripod.
Weekly Photo, 16 February 2014
This week i’m posting a landscape photo that i took this week on my way to work. I knew that there would be some fog over the St-Lawrence river since it was -26C when i woke-up.
Electrical Pylons in the fog at sunrise along the St-Lawrence river.
Canon T3i, 70-200mm/4L, tripod.
Weekly photo, 02 February 2014
This time it’s a photo of a Black Duck that i took last week-end on a cold morning (-22C) around sunrise. The fog add to the atmosphere of the silouhetted Duck.
Canon 7D with 400mm/5.6L, tripod.
Weekly photo, 12 January 2014
Yesterday was a rainy and foggy day, i went to get some meat for the dinner and decided to brought my gear just in case. Well it paid off, took the following shot of a farm that i drove everyday in front of it but never took a second look. This time it was just screaming “TAKE MY PORTRAIT”.
Pentax K-01 with DA 20-40mm Limited at 40mm, Tripod.
Weekly photo, 15 December 2013
This week was a colder week with temperature below – 15C, yesterday morning it finally dropped to -23C which i was waiting for to get some fog photos over the St-Lawrence river. Everything was coated with frost and the wind made the fog rolling in and out of my compositions, so every frame was different. I selected that one because i can feel the cold better in that one.
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