Hydro Pylon

I sort of liked the way the power lines all converged and then changed direction in this photo. Took it to file away in case it becomes a weekly topic at Digital Photography School.

Dixie

We babysat again the other day and I couldn't resist getting another black and white picture of Dixie. She is such a good old girl. Even though it was a little wet outside, she spent the entire day in the backyard. although puppies are cuter, old dogs have character to burn.

Canal de Aqueduc

This is a photograph of the canal from the previous post, looking towards downtown Montreal. Just the right time to catch some color coming into the leaves along the banks.

Jolicoeur Bridge

One of my favorite midday photo subjects is concrete. Concrete and shadows. All straight line, always moving. These images were taken on a small bridge spanning the canal on De la Verandrye. It has been earmarked as one of the 13 most critically dangerous structures on the island, so I went to take a few shots one afternoon because a shutdown and possible rebuild is in it's future. Of the eight bridges that cross the Canal de Aqueduc this is by far my favorite and has the best view of downtown.



The shadows of the pillars in the photo above almost give a stair effect, dividing the walkway into cells of white light. The picture would be so much more without the jumper fence, but what can you do?

Blooms In The Sky

In the same flower beds that were bordered with the wild Kale, the tall centerpiece were these beautiful orange flowers. This angle was necessary because the blooms the loftiest of the blooms were at least nine feet in the air. I looked them up and the are a variety called 'Wyoming' of Canna-Lily. The contrast of the orange against the blue sky made me glad they were that tall. It did take a while to wait for the wind to die down and get a shot without motion, but worth every second.

Kale In The Sun

I was exiting a metro station the other day and saw this green planted amongst flower beds in the parking lot.Vibrant purples, oranges and this waxy green. More and more, I am seeing gardens in the city incorporating vegetables as a decorative function, not just as a food source. I know my supermarket produce section very well. And now I know where I am going for my Kale next August.

Savory Cheddar Jalapeno Scones

So, I am a cook by profession. Food plays a big part in my life. From time to time I like to take some shots of plates I've created or a new beer I've enjoyed. And of course food is great depth of field practice.

A couple of months ago, Samantha brought home some rustic savory scones from a baked good kiosk downtown. Nice earthy tones from the use of whole wheat flour and lots of herbs. This triggered a memory of an internet friend of mine doing an experiment with french bread dough, cheddar cheese and jalapenos.




I set to work converting my regular scone recipe (which gets all kinds of use) for the savory taste. Cut the sugar by 80%, mix the flour half all purpose, half whole wheat and try to watch it with the fresh rosemary. They turned out amazing first shot. And they definitely called for a photo.

More From The Striking Sunset

This is another photo that I used Hue Shift to my advantage on. This time it was not by adding hue but by taking away. After adding the usual Recovery, Clarity and Vibrance in Lightroom, I went down a bit on the exposure to get the color blue I wanted. When I tried to add more orange and yellow with Hue Shift nothing happened, but I noticed when I dialed the yellow all the way down, it did change the color of the clouds closest to the horizon. I tried all the color and found that by taking away all the yellow and green I was left with the pink tones without it effecting the rest of the photo in any way.

September Sunset

You never know what you are going to see, so have your camera on you at all times. That is all.

Hue Shifts To Accentuate Colors.

This is a dog walking shot from this evening. The sky was full of amazing cloud bands and the sunset splash on this building made them the perfect backdrop. This was also the first time that I have played around with Hue Shifts in Lightroom to bump the green and orange on the building.

Framing With Foliage

Here is another image of Église Saint Irénée, but from across the street and with some foliage as framing. I like to get some framing in the upper corners of landscapes and architecture shots. Always have and probably always will.

Église Saint Irénée

I couldn't resist this shot against a sky that blue. These are the spires of Saint Irénée Parish at Atwater and Delisle in St. Henri. The sidewalks on the other side of the street are tree lined, so I had to sort of time it and step out into the middle of the street while traffic was caught at a red light two blocks away.

Originally built between 1903 and 1908, the church was damaged by a fire in 1911 and rebuilt. The amazing century old churches have always been the focal point of St. Henri and most of the southwest of Montreal for me.

Wall Art

I have really come to enjoy urban wall art. Wall art, not graffiti. Take your lame little tags and go away. Graffiti makes a neighborhood look sadder, wall art is interesting and cheers you up. I saw this on a wall in St. Henri and it made me smile. Hard to do at 9 Am before coffee. It gave me the energy and attitude to walk the 3 KM back home singing " Alright, alright, alright, alright....."

Cenobite Wall

I went out the other day and had to take the metro to a section of the city I don't get to often, so I took the camera along for the ride. This building caught my eye from a block away. The entire wall was coated in yellow insulating foam with metal pinions sticking out. I am assuming from the spacing that the exterior will be redone in cinder block. I picked the right day to stroll by for an interesting photo.

Nalin Black & White

There is nothing my dog loves more than laying out and sunning. that mid afternoon light hits out back porch just right. I have been working lately trying to find my aperture sweet spot for my different lenses. I read an interesting article last week that went a long ways to prove the point that most lenses don't work to their optimum at their widest ƒ stop. They suggested that each different camera and lens combo should be tested by taking the same picture over and over in Av and raising the aperture value on each one then checking the results. My Canon EF - S 18 - 55 mm IS has a max of ƒ3.5 at 18 mm and ƒ5.6 at 47mm and above. All round I have found that this lens works best at ƒ5.6. Thank you Nalin for being an enthusiastic test subject.

Dark Clouds Over Verdun

We had a severe thunder storm watch the other night so I headed out to the waterfront park to try and get some lightning photos. Unfortunately the bells and whistles of the storm passed to the northeast of us and I wasn't at a high enough vantage point to get the money shot. I did manage to get some of the dark clouds moving in over the church.

NBot So Full Moon

Did some more practice with the tripod and the moon this week. This image is from two nights before the full. The night of the full was marred by some fast moving cloud cover that that would have blurred in the long exposures, so I was glad I had taken the time despite the shape.

This image was taken at 100 Iso, ƒ16 and a shutter speed of 1/15th of a second in manual mode, including manual focus.



In Lightroom, I cropped it down then added Clarity, Highlight Recovery and some sharpening. Adjusting the exposure down 3/4 of a step gave it that nice blue color and some more definition to the surface features.

Depth of Field When You Don't Want It

This image was a mistake. I was shooting in full manual mode and had the aperture all the way open. When I realized that i shifted to Av mode and took a couple more. Even though isn't what i wanted it is a little interesting with everything focused on her nose. It almost looks like one of those late 40s early 50s pictures where the camera was in too close to the subject.

Indoor Dixie

I warned you I would be back with more pooch pics this week. We are babysitting Dixie this for a couple of days, and wanted to practice indoor lo light shots. She was laying in the kitchen doorway waching me fix supper and I couldn't resist snapping a couple off while she was still and I had her full attention.

I shot at 800 ISO for 1/8 of a second. She was being lit only by two small reflector bulbs in the stove hood and a standing lamp behind her. Even though the original came out dark I knew I could work with it.




In Lightroom I slid the recovery up to 75 to define stings in the background and added some Clarity. I upped the exposure almost a full step as well as the Brightness and Fill Light. It didn't need any cropping so this is the finished product. I like the orange effect.

Spider Senses Tingling...

One of the upsides of the end of summer are the great spider web shots. This fella is working hard to repair damage from all the rain and wind we have been getting lately. Pretty sure this is an orb weaving spider.


I have had no luck trying to get spider or spiderweb photos with Auto focus. Manual is definitely the way to go. Now working on the editing side to see what will make the web pop out.

Reducing Light With Shutter Speed

Thursday and Friday were super warm end of summer days. And bright. I took this picture of an old school telephone pole and decided to dial the shutter speed all the way up to 1/2000th of a second and see how dark the image would get. Surprisingly lighter than I expected and no glare anywhere. I'm going to try this more to see if it takes clearer photos because there is no time for shake to register. Could be good for animal pictures.

Old Faithful

I was out doing some clean up in the yard after the storm on the weekend and my faithful shadow came out to supervise the work. I grabbed the camera on the next trip inside and took a few shots of Nalin laying out on her back stoop. Yeah it's hers. Her cousin Dixie is coming over for a couple of days, so there will probably be a canine theme for most of the next week. Apologies for the cuteness in advance.

Blowing Around Like A....

One more image from the hurricane Irene set. These stubborn maple leaves did not want to go gentle into that good night. The cluster clung to the clothesline for about three hours in the high winds. The weight of the rain was probably what kept it anchored.I just had to take a shot in admiration of its tenacity.

Shelter From The Storm

The Sunday that hurricane Irene dumped her dregs on Montreal, trees got turned inside out, the things in your yard became your neighbors, his things became his neighbors, and everything was just trying to find something to cling to.

I took thing picture of a little grosbeak trying to find a dry spot out of the wind to perch for a breather. He had a partner that landed on the rounded outside of the pulley, but he didn't last long in the 60 km/h winds. Whatever your storm is hold on tight. It will pass.