Sunday, August 02, 2009

Gaspe Peninsula - Quebec

I arrived yesterday on the Gaspe Peninsula in eastern Quebec. It's my first time here and I am blown away by the scenery. The southern coast of the St. Lawrence Seaway reminds me of the Big Sur Coast in California.... vibrant green undulating hills dropping into the sea.

I'm only here for a couple days, so have been busy shooting some of the regional icons. This morning I work up at 3:45 am to hike up a painfully steep 1.8km trail to a lookout tower over Cap-Bon-Ami in Forillon National Park. The pre-dawn light was bright red, but I couldn't shoot it from the trail (no vantage points). I made it to the tower right just in time for sunrise, which was dulled by thin clouds. There were a few breaks in the clouds with decent light for photos.

Sometimes I become so focused on a destination (the tower) that I overlook better - and easier to get to - locations. After hiking back down to my van, I found that the most photogenic spot was right below the parking lot. By that time I got there, the light had become too drab to shoot. There's a good reason to get back there again.... and I look forward to not having to do that brutal hike again!

The following three photos were shot from the lookout tower.


EOS 1DsIII; 24-70/2.8; Singh-Ray Gold'n'Blue Polarizer; 2-stop hard edge ND grad; mirror lock-up & cable release


EOS 1DsIII; 24-70/2.8 lens; Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer & 2 stop hard edge ND grad; mirror lock-up & cable release


EOS 1DsIII; 24-70/2.8 lens; Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer & 2 stop hard edge ND grad; mirror lock-up & cable release


This evening I made it to the famed Perce Rock and found a beautiful patch of Fireweed, which I used for a foreground.


EOS 1DsIII; 24-70/2.8 lens; Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer & 2 stop hard-edge ND grad; mirror lock-up & cable release

12 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:02 PM

    Great Shots! This is our homeland area and you have captured the look and feel. Excellent!

    Shell&Chris MacLEAN

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11:48 PM

    Great tips on locations, Ethan - I may be driving out to that general area in a couple of weeks myself to do some shooting. Happy travels!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Paul Smith3:20 PM

    Ethan that second shot its amazing, love the effect you captured in the sky.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Are you going to Bonaventure to shoot gannets?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the comments!
    Bryan, I did indeed make it to Bonaventure for a day. Check back in a day or two and I'll have a blog posting with some of the photos - that place was non-stop amazing shooting!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous4:51 PM

    i'd like a print of the rock and Fireweed!

    ReplyDelete
  7. These are four professional looking photos - well worth the hike I must say. Quebec - beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. wow beautiful place, it's just amazing, I wishI could be there haha I'm going to you will see haha
    Thanks for sharing, excellent post.

    ReplyDelete
  9. hello, this post remember me when i was a child, i do not know why....

    ReplyDelete
  10. hello, this post remember me when i was a child, i do not know why....

    ReplyDelete
  11. You captured a lovely moment. FYI, the hike up from the Grande Greve wharf to the tower is markedly easier than going up the Cap Bon Ami side. I have gone up the difficult side twice, and will enjoy the view again, with much less pain and work by taking the easier route.

    ReplyDelete