March 27th :|

The same morning, different place. Unlike the picture from the previous post, this one really captures the feelings of every person in Montreal right now. Which are: will it ever stop?? And - believe it or not - this photo looks even sadder in colour...

No matter. This weekend showed signs of spring. And yes, I've already went to buy coffee wearing only a t-shirt. Because I can! :D

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/200s @ f/10, iso 3200

Let it snow?

This is probably the most frustrating thing about Montreal in March: after a few days of sunshine and (relative) warmth there comes a morning like this... BAM!

The world is suddenly dark, the sky is cloudy, and the dreaded frozen flakes are falling from up there... It is nice in November, exciting in December, normal in January, already depressing in February, but March??

However, a beauty can be found in this, too. What I like about the picture below is how great the bokeh looks in ISO 3200. Usually I would shoot this kind of picture with ISO 100-200, but I may experiment with that high ISO grain a bit more.

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/1600s @ f/5.6, iso 3200

Through the Looking-Glass

This picture reminds of Fringe, the science-fiction TV show (mostly) about parallel worlds. Granted, there are no zeppelins anywhere in sight. Another easy to find parallel (sic!) would be that with Alice in Wonderland (Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There).

Mirrors are very special. Everything looks almost the same, but is not. And - even if it's only a moment of distraction - one can sometimes see something that can be only seen in the parallel world. Or at least I'd like to think so... :D

iPhone 5s, VSCOCam

Lights of McGill

And again, having the heavier camera in my backpack paid off (too bad I did not pack a tripod too)! I've been just returning home from a meet-up when this sight caught my attention. It was almost dark, only the sky was a bit lighter with one of those cloud formations that make pictures interesting.

Not having a tripod I improvised by resting my tele lens against the fence. With high ISO and VR mode active I managed to get a pretty decent shot at 70mm (105mm in 35mm terms) and f/10. I tried 85mm too (the second photo), but I like the framing in the first one better. On afterthought, I could have tried to step up the aperture a bit.

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/6s @ f/10, iso 3200

Nikon 7100, 127mm, 1/6s @ f/10, iso 3200

Dark Hedges of Mont-Royal

North Ireland has got its Dark Hedges, in Montreal - at least for me - that would be the park alley, an extension of Rue Rachel, that leads to the Monument of Sir George-Étienne Cartier. I pass this place almost every morning on my way to work. Today was a very sunny day, so I took my tele lens to make the most of it.

I tried two different versions - the original picture was the darker one. Then I tried the overexposed settings of the Silver Efex software. And I have to admit, the lighter variant looks better, more along the spirit of the season, which in Montreal - unfortunately - is still winter.

Nikon 7100, 255mm, 1/200s @ f/9, iso 100 (overexposed)

Nikon 7100, 255mm, 1/200s @ f/9, iso 100 (dark variant)

Stop winter!

A snowy Montreal Sunday morning - from a week ago. Not that this weekend was any different.

This time I tried a tele-zoom. Has a nice way of bringing the object on the picture closer.

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/100s @ f/9, iso 1000

When the lights go out...

The evening view form one of the restaurants - even though I've already covered the sunset experience, it is something you can go back over and over again. The sky is different every day and you can experiment with angles and lenses.

Now that I'm back to Montreal, I not only remember this beautiful sight, but also lying on a mat, sipping a fresh watermelon smoothie and enjoying the cooling breeze from the water.

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 8s @ f/11, iso 80

Low-hanging fruit

Another very typical view from Vang Vieng: mountain ridges in the background, hint of a river in the foreground, afternoon golden time and some kind of activity the visitors love to try there. This time it is a hot-air balloon allowing to admire all the beauty from above.

I did not try it personally - was too busy kayaking and hiking, but I've heard the view was indeed breathtaking. 

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/80s @ f/16, iso 400

In passing...

Almost leaving the Rosemont subway station, rushing to see a prospective apartment to rent, I was faced with this scene. Lucky for me it was a day when I took my camera to take some nice winter pictures. Unlucky that the settings were still in the "landscape mode".

But, considering it all, it is a pretty nice "still life" kind of picture.

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/8s @ f/16, iso 3200

Morning rush

Back to Laos...

I exhausted the pictures from the Kong Lor Cave area already, but there is so many more from the other places. Vang Vieng was already mentioned once, so I will not repeat myself telling why this place was so awesome.

But it only takes one look at the picture below to see why it was an ideal spot for a photographer: water, mountains and amazing colours. It is hard to take a "peaceful river" kind of shot in this area though - the people are getting busy quite early. Most of them rushing to do "sunrise cruises", but also setting up their nets or just going up river with some supplies.

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 1.3s @ f/11, iso 80

The perfect moment

This is the last photo of the series. I mean, I still have a few that would be a good material, but it is time to move on to another location. Mind you, all the pictures posted this week are from the same day in Adirondacks Park: a morning spent on the lakes and the afternoon/evening at hiking.

The capture below is actually the first of that day - when the sun was still below the horizon, just preparing to set. It was taken just 50 minutes before that one. 

I do not remember whether I used any ND filters to achieve 10s exposure - probably did not have to. The result is a very smooth, silky surface. However, what I like the most are the colours, similar to this and this, but somehow even more deeper and astounding.

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 10s @ f/16, iso 100