Lantern people

One autumn evening it was finally time to see the Chinese garden light show hosted in Montreal's botanical garden. The display was pretty nice, with some of the most prominent paper figures reflecting in the water. Lots of crowds and they did not allow tripods though.

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/50s @ f/2.2, iso 800

Autumn reflected

Another picture from the enchanted place on the Shawinigan River.

This time I felt like bumping up the reflection to be almost on par with the real trees and also added a bit of a white vignette. Enjoy!

Nikon 7100, 50mm, 1/50s @ f/6.3, iso 400

Life and death

Sometimes you just take a camera and go around your neighbourhood, not sure what it will be that you will be photographing. In the rain, plants and flowers are a good bet though.

In this case, I took a few pictures with my Nikon and also a shot directly on the phone, for Instagram. I am pretty much satisfied with both of them.

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/50s @ f/3.2, iso 400

iPhone 5s, VSCOCam, Instagram filter

Enchanted place

While in Quebec City during the long Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, we visited Montmorency Falls. What a disappointment! Not only the falls are not that pretty (though large they are!), but also the crowd was almost unbearable. So we just turned around and left without taking a single picture.

On our way to Montreal we decided to visit the town of Shawinigan. Another disappointment. Someone decided to build as many supermarkets in the middle of what could be one of the nicest places to live.

Then, on our way out, we encountered the enchanted place. In the afternoon light, the fall colours looked almost unreal. Add few little waterfalls here and there, play of shadows between areas still lit by the sun and those already dark. You get the picture :)

Speaking of which - I am extremely grateful for the Lightroom panorama feature - it was not intended to be one, but of the few shots I've taken, none was framed right. Only combining two shots gave the effect you see below.

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/6s @ f/22, iso 200

Color my world...

In a stark contrast to the previous picture, this one was taken on the same day, but not in the morning fog, but in the strong noon daylight.

As I said before, autumn is just starting here in Quebec. You have to observe the hills and mountains to see the colors, because on the road level they are still just a few specs of yellow here and there. But when you take your eyes a bit higher this is what you're going to see...

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/100s @ f/10, iso 100

Chopsticks

Fujifilm X100s, 125s @ f/4.0, iso 1000

Something else entirely. Most (if not all) of my pictures are either landscapes, cityscapes or street photography. But sometimes everyday objects arranged carefully for display make a "landscape" you cannot miss with your camera.

And for the record: I love chopsticks. Bamboo chopsticks. Not those reusable plastic counterfeits. Seeing such a variety was a pleasure to the eye and a reminder of well deserved tom yum.

Good morning Chiang Mai

iPhone, Camera+, auto

Sometimes you don't need a fancy camera, just be at the right place at the right time. This is how Chiang Mai, Thailand greeted me the morning after I arrived there.

The picture was taken with Camera+ 5 and edited on the phone.

Autumn morning by Nature's brush

Fujifilm X100s, 1/680s @ f/5.6, iso 400

Fujifilm X100s, 1/400s @ f/5.6, iso 200

Code: RED

Fujifilm X100s, 1/125s @ f/11, iso 1000

RGB

Fujifilm X100s, 1/240s @ f/11, iso 400

Live color picker found in Ottawa. Now, where's my brush?

Dreamy vs. edgy

 Fujifilm X100s, 1/125s @ f/11, iso 250 - clarity -100

Fujifilm X100s, 1/125s @ f/11, iso 250 - clarity +50

It's been a long time since I last posted, but I just wasn't in the mood and I didn't want to push it. But then, the fall came and all the colors simply beg to be photographed...
The shot above was literally the last take of the long Thanksgiving weekend - with the sun almost too low to be any good. And I liked this picture so much I tried two different variants of it. While the sharp version looks better on the screen to me, the dreamy soft one is more in line with the spirit of that day.

And the girl who played

Nikon D5100, 35mm, 1/2000s @ f/2.0, iso 100

Unlike the photo of the wet-eyed girl from the previous post I did not have any reservations about this picture. In fact, I totally adore it. Check out more faces in my album called "People of Titicaca".