They’re not easy to photograph, they run around, scream until you’re tired out but when you get the chance to capture their expression it’s rewarding. Sport is something I shoot often but I can honestly say it’s a bit harder with kids, I only shoot kids on request and when I have the chance since I prefer shooting landscapes and commercial stuff. When taking kids shots I tend to use natural light only and shoot them in an environment they feel comfortable and it can make the whole difference in getting natural expression.
Nathan, Shot with Natural light / Sun for back light
Mahée, Window light at ISO800 using 50mm at F1.8
There’s something about old houses that attracts me and I’m sure I’m not the only one. For me, when I get the chance to venture inside and old abandoned house/building time stops, I start thinking how life could’ve been at that time and the reasons why it was left behind. My uncle gave me permission to go inside with caution, the floor/ceiling are falling apart. The house was built in the early 1900’s, that’s where my uncle was raised, the sad part is that lots of vandals took many of the artifacts/furniture and have destroyed most of what was left. There’s one thing vandals can’t destroy and it’s all the history behind it, even if all the windows are damaged and most artifacts gone there’s something special.
It’s a two story house with a pretty big attic loaded with mason jar, old socks and horseshoe. Light was able to pass thru tiny holes on the roof, after being up there in the dark you can start seeing what’s around you. Although I must say it’s a bit freaky when you first put your head up since you have no clue what awaits you. Time was running out since we wanted get back for diner, I made sure with my uncle that if the house is still standing this summer I want to go back.
Glasses with handwritten book on old wooden chest
About a month ago I was asked to do a food shoot with fresh smoked salmon, something I had never done before. As some of you might know, food photography is probably the most difficult thing to shoot, as some will say, if you can shoot food you can shoot anything. So I took the challenge and started reading a bit more about food photography to better prepare myself for the shoot.
It’s good to review some of the information over the internet but you have to careful has you can get overwhelmed by all the information you’ll find. First know what you want the images to feel like, do you want to show the textures, translucency, colors etc… there’s always rules in photography but rules are made to be broken, in photography anyway 
In this case I had two lights source, one from the side, one back light to give the salmon a three dimensional feel and show the translucency and texture. The back light was set really low for that purpose and a reflector on the right. For those following shots I had Jacques Paulin as a food artist, he’s a professional Chef with fine cuisine experiences in Montreal and Acadia and owner of the Gite Authentique B&B in Bathurst, New-Brunswick. This 4 star B&B is a must if you’re ever around the Chaleur Region.
Fresh Smoked Salmon from the “Fumoir du Coteau” by René Lanteigne
Fresh Smoked Salmon from the “Fumoir du Coteau” by René Lanteigne
Whether you’re a smoked salmon lover or just an amateur, you can’t compare the taste of fresh smoked salmon from “Fumoir du Coteau” with any other brand sold in supermarkets. It has an authentic maritime taste! He also smokes trout and makes homemade smoked salmon mousse which can make a really good appetizer for guest. How can you get a hold of René from Fumoir du Coteau? Easy, you can either send him an e-mail at fumoirducoteau@yahoo.ca or if you’re around Bathurst you can also get some at McLean’s Fish Shop located on 560 Garden St. Bathurst, NB their phone number is 506-546-4131
But I’d like to warn you, if you get to taste it, you’ll be hooked.
This was our last day in Cuba and it was a hot one, about 32 degrees with just a little bit of clouds. We were pretty happy to have the full day at the beach, we needed to leave the resort by 8pm so that gave us plenty of time to enjoy the sun. Around 4pm the sun starts to get lower and it’s starts getting better for photography so I took my camera and left for a walk to capture the waves and rocks about 10min away on the West side of the beach. I’ve tried to go as close as I could to capture the crashing waves without damaging my camera with salt water.
Waves crashing on rocks, Varadero
In some areas the rocks were all eroded, crabs hiding everywhere they’d think no one could see them. What’s amaze me when I walk on the shore is to see all the little objects, species, rock and wood that the see pushes back to shore. Some of those will just gets washed away back to sea, I spotted an old branch that must’ve at some point in time hooked to the bottom of the sea by some sort of white rock or coral.
My very last shot was taken while talking with Carlo who was from Santiago de Cuba, he spends months walking the beach trying to sell starfish and shells for a living while his family lives kilometers away, unfortunately we can’t bring those in Canada. He had two bambino and to my surprise I’ve found that Cuban never/rarely ask for money but instead they ask for clothing… not new clothing, old. If you ever go down in Cuba, bring clothes, sneakers, flip-flops etc… it’s expensive to buy a good pair of sneakers where around here we can pay 5-10$ a pair. In some area they earn about 10 pesos per month, in Varadero it’s 20 pesos. For them to buy a T-Shirt it can cost 12pesos, now imagine having to buy clothes for all your family with your only income of 10 pesos per month.
Rocky beach in Varadero
Published on April 5, 2009
in Misc.
This weekend was busy but a lot of fun since I got to spend time with my wife and do what I like the most, photography. I’m currently working on a project and there’s a bit of traveling involved so Saturday morning we woke up, went to Tim’s to get our fuel for the day and took the highway toward Miramichi then all the way up to Caraquet. For lunch we went to the best bakery around, “Boulangerie Grains de folie” in Caraquet where I got homemade pizza with Feta cheese and brocoli salad and my wife got a quiche with a garden salad. The food is excelent, they have a good variety of cheese and good bread and you can’t go wrong with a chocolat croissant. Where are they located? Easy, 171 bldv. Saint-Pierre Ouest, Caraquet.
Boulangerie Grains de folie, Caraquet
After eating all that great food we headed to our next assignment, set the light and as usual I use my beautiful wife as a model to fine tune my lighting before the client comes into place. In this shot there was still a few tweaking to be done like to get a better rim light etc… We were limited in time and area that we could use for the shot so it had to be very minimalist while keeping an excellent photo quality.
As I mentioned before, one day in Havana isn’t long enough to enjoy and see all that should be seen. Maybe it would’ve been better if we did not had to make 2h drive from Varadero to Havana, that means that overall you kinda lose 4h of your day driving. Plus, the taxi driver wanted to come back before dawn because it gets dangerous to drive at night. Why you might think? Old cars don’t have good lights and lamppost are pretty rare, plus you have cattle, dog and condor everywhere in the valley so you have to be careful.
On our way back to Varadero at dawn
When I was there, one thing I’ve noticed was that locals really wants you to see the positive side of Cuba and don’t like visitors to in the older part of the city, I’ve asked many times to get to those places but our guide kept telling me I was already in the older part. He then said, we’re like clowns, we have to show the good side of Cuba and show that we’re happy but that’s not always the case.
Cuba reflection
Women posing with a cigar in Old Havana
Old Havana is a must see for everyone, the San Cristobal Cathedral is not the most luxurious Cathedral but is still and old piece of architecture dating back to 1748. Here’s a few shots of the ceiling inside the Cathedral for which I love the symmetry and the entrance door with a pretty neat door knocker.
Ceiling inside the San Cristobal Cathedral
Door knocker, San Cristobal Cathedral, Havana
To be honest, even though it’s the highlight of my trip I was pretty disappointed by what I was expecting to see… I’ll know better for next time. One main thing is that the next time I’d like to have a basic knowledge in Spanish and be able to meet locals and explore the non-touristic area of Havana.
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