Cette année, fut la première à laquelle j’ai eu la chance de voir de mes yeux la fierté des Acadiens et Acadiennes. Il m’est impossible de décrire en quelques mots cette grande fête qui rassemble tant d’Acadiens. Caraquet est une ville qui détient un cachet spécial et les gens qui y vivent sont accueillants et chaleureux, ce qui en fait une ville très agréable à visiter. Festival ou non, Caraquet est un endroit où l’on aime bien aller visiter de temps en temps. La route du littoral acadien est superbe avec ses beaux paysages, que ce soit à Pokeshaw avec son île aux oiseaux ou Grande-Anse avec ses plages et falaises impressionnantes. Ils nous est impossible de passer à Caraquet sans faire un arrêt à la boulangerie Grains de folie et un petit souper au Mitchan Sushi lorsque le temps nous le permet.
Cette année, avec le Congrès mondiale acadien, Caraquet était d’autant plus vivante avec beaucoup de divertissements à différents endroits tels le violon fantastique qui s’est déroulé à la place du vieux couvent de Caraquet. Il est évident que cette année le tintamarre du 15 août qui se déroule entre 18h et 19h suite au son de cloche de l’Église Sainte-Pierre-aux-Liens ne pouvait passer inaperçu. Avec plus de 50 000 personnes présentes pour démontrer qu’encore une fois les Acadiens sont bien vivants et là pour rester. Lili Tintamarre escorté de musiciens y à fait sa première apparition, une géante d’environ 20 pieds de haut dessiné et construit par l’artiste Bernard Dugas et sa soeur Pauline.
Lili Tintamarre créer par Bernard Dugas et sa soeur Pauline
Environ 50 000 personnes ont assister au tintamarre de Caraquet
Lézardom Labo lors du tintamarre
If you ever go to Halifax, you should plan on being there on a Saturday to get the chance to wonder around the the Halifax Farmers Market. It’s the oldest operating farmers market and by far one one my favorite market, you can almost everything you’d be looking from fresh flowers to pottery while having local play guitar or the violin. It’s open year round from 7am till 1pm and located in the old historic Keith’s Brewery Building downtown Halifax. You can easily spend 1h exploring the market, there are lots of different section each of them different from the others.
On a side note, if you’re planning a trip to Halifax, make sure to visit Nova Scotia’s Official Tourism Website to plan your trip, a few highlights downtown Halifax is the visit of the Old Historic Keith’s Brewery, the Public Gardens and while you’re at the door of the largest port in Atlantic Canada why not hop on a sailboat for the evening.
Entrance of the Halifax Farmers Market
Fresh flower area, Halifax Farmers Market
Yes I know, I know, I was inactive for most part of summer with my blog, although I must say we’ve been traveling, hiking and enjoying summer to the fullest. In July the weather was not cooperative but it did not stop us from climbing the northern terminus of the Appalachian trail, Mount Kathadin with an elevation of 5, 268 feet. Last time we had tried to climb it without any luck, we went back in July, it was foggy/rainny but able to hike with precaution has there was a chance of thunder/lightning. Once at the top it was pretty exciting but we’ll climb it again, I sure hope so anyway. I’d like to be able to witness the beautiful scenery of a clear sky day.
Plateau at about 4,300 feet, Mount Kathadin
A few weeks later, me an my wife decided that on our vacation week we’d hike Mount Carleton which is relatively small compared to the previous mountain I had made. Mount Carleton is still one of the highlights of the Canadian portion of the International Appalachian Trail and the highest elevation in New-Brunswick with 2, 690 feet. The day started with the same foggy weather, we took the short way up to mountain and had lunch in the old fire tower. I knew the weather forecast was good before we left so we decided to wait until the fog would lift. We waited about an hour for it to clear up but it was worth it.
View from top of Mount Carleton toward Bathurst Lake, Park NB
Which will be the next one you might think, I still have to discuss with my wife but I’d love to do Mount Jacques Cartier, which is one of the Moutains of Chic-Chocs located in the central Gaspé Peninsula.
Spring is almost over and I was only able to enjoy one evening outside to relax without having to worry about time. Flowers are starting to bloom while some are dancing in the wind with their striking colors and vibrant green foliage. What I intended on capturing with my digital camera that night was movement. How could I accomplish this task around 7pm at night when light isn’t an issue, I could’ve added a polarizer, set my ISO and Aperture to the lowest and use a slow shutter speed but I wanted to try something else.
There are things we tend to forget, it’s always good to try and think outside the box, it can sometime create the most artistic shot and you’ll learn from it. For this one I’ve used the in camera multiple exposure setting, about 8 shots were taken. After looking at my Summer Snow Spirea for a few minutes, I’ve notice that everything was almost moving in the same direction in circles everytime the wind would blow. Here’s a shot done after a few try.
Down the Spirea (Multiple exposure, 8 shots done in Camera)
People usually try to avoid it around sunrise/sunset or even at night but it during that time that the scenery strikes you. I’ve driven on many road in NB and I consider this one to be the best, but the road condition are in bad shape. Driving that road you’re 100% sure to see wildlife so driving carefully is a must. I took it earlier this week, heading toward Edmundston on Sunday night I was in a hurry to get home before dark and missed most of the magic light but I knew I’d be taking the same road to come back home around the same time.
On Monday the weather was really cold for the month of May, wind was blowing with lots of cloud. The light was peaking thru the big white clouds at times but it wasn’t lasting very long before it became overcast again. I’ve stopped the car to one of my most favorite spot on that road and waited for that newly grown green weed be lighten up.
This past weekend I took the opportunity to get out early, something I’ve not done in a while. The alarm clock went on around 6am, grabbed my equipment, 2$ for a Tim Horton coffee that I would grab on my way back home for my wife and left, it was windy, cold but at least sunny.
It’s harder to find places you’ve never seen before or simply overlooked when you’ve been shooting 2-3 years around the same area, you basically have to think outside the box, be creative and open your mind. This is one shot taken on my outing that morning, and yes, my wife was quite happy to get he large coffee with 2 milk. I must say, she kinda like it when I get up early for a photo shoot, I guess she has an idea what I’ll be back with.
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
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