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

Autumn accents

So the summer is gone, the days are shorter and shorter and the nights cold enough to scare Sunday campers :)

But this means there will be soon more and more shades of yellow and red around. Hunting for them, I went to the parc national de la Mauricie. Even this far north there are only few signs of coming autumn, mostly on higher hills. As this picture was taken on the river bank, only this one tree was not green. The scene looked so nice in the fog though that I decided to make it monochrome with just one color accent.

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/125s @ f/9, iso 200

Pine kindergarten

Another nature picture from the Frontenac National Park (see the previous one). It gives a certain pleasure to use the telephoto lens. However, it is still difficult for me to operate the depth of field, so I chose a small aperture for this one and added bokeh in the post.

Nikon 7100, 360mm, 1/50s @ f/20, iso 1600

In the wild

It has to be the best "wild animal" picture I have ever taken in terms of sharpness, at least. It usually takes an enormous amount of patience to compose the image, check for sharpness and make sure the subject hasn't moved too much. Thankfully, Nikon 7100 has a lot better autofocus than my previous 5100.

This particular rabbit I spotted walking down La Tourbière trail in the Frontenac National Park in Quebec. I am guessing the animals there don't really feel threatened by humans. If they were, it would be gone before I even decided to set up my tripod.

Nikon 7100, 450mm, 1/250s @ f/5.6, iso 900

Fishing

Recently I experiment a bit with Affinity Photo software, which - at least for me and for now - is an "easier-to-grasp" version of Photoshop CC. Though not as powerful as PS, Affinity Photo has many interesting features and - being a new player on the market - it is easier to find tutorials that are actually relevant from beginner's and photographer's point of view.

Anyways, the picture was taken in the wonderful spot in Montreal - Parc des Rapides. Situated on the bank of St-Laurent River, it has multitude subject to photograph: from birds to far-away river landscapes to water cascades.

Usually, I don't take many bird pictures. This one, a heron I believe (?), was still pretty far, so this is the result of a small crop. And - as the contrast with the green grass wasn't particularly great, I decided to develop this picture in monochrome, using Lightroom for RAW development and then Affinity Photo for black-and-white conversion and this silver effect.

Nikon 7100, 450mm, 1/125s @ f/6.3, iso 200