Gateway To A Continent, a photo from Quebec, Central

Photographer's Note

The St. Lawrence River is one of the most important rivers in North America. From its source in the Great Lakes, the river is 1200 kilometres in length and the gateway to the interior of the continent. For over 200 kilometres the St. Lawrence forms the border between the United States and Canada.

Riviere-du-Loup is one of the oldest settlements in Canada and was first mentioned in 1615, seven years after the founding of Quebec City. Today it is a bustling little city which services a large part of the Lower St. Lawrence region and acts as a tourist gateway for exploration of the Gaspe Peninsula.

Note on PP: Neat Image for serious noise removal; contrast increased in Paint Shop Pro 9.

Paolo, Clairedelune, ciggiebarbie, nwoehnl, isabela_sor, carper, papagolf21, riclopes, weswang, ndb1958, singuanti, MLINES, ChrisJ, Fixfocus, MarekP, Cricri, Tue, Emile, huynt, alvaraalto, aloyho, sarju, kebek, L2K, quantabeh has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Paolo (41258) 2006-01-08 11:31

Hi John, wonderful shot today!
there are many tones of blue, a wonderful soft light and a perfect and large view on the horizon!
great POV and focus too.
great shot too.
thanks, ciao

xavshot (69835) 2006-01-08 11:45

Hello John
impressionnant ces teintes de bleus ! Il faut vraiment ouvrir la vignette pour voir ce paysage comme il se doit. J'aime beaucoup... on dirait une peinture
Bravo
Xavier

Clairedelune (4923) 2006-01-08 11:54

Hi John,
Thank you first, for that information about St. Lawrence River. Taking quite ofter pictures of it, living not far from it, it is a good piece of information! ;) What I like about this picture is its blue, silvery tones. It looks like silk. Very nice effect! I like also the long and narrow land (I don't find the exact word in English, but I think you understand what I mean!), very dark. I'm not a big fan of the white sky though. Still, I do like that silky picture! Thank you!
Claire

nwoehnl (122) 2006-01-08 11:58

Hi John, and a slightly belated "happy new year" wish to you. This is a nice minimalistic take on the St. Lawrence, with an appealing use of horizontal layering for the framing, and a good interplay between the silhouetted pieces of land and the vast body of water. Even though I'm not too fond of "rules" in photography, I guess this one would be a good example on the "thirds" rule regarding the compo.

carper (96) 2006-01-08 12:10

Well John it's an artful job you did here,
It's well composed, with good lines in it and a good balance,, well seen shot.
gr. jaap

poulinp (4528) 2006-01-08 12:59

I like the way in which the photograph is striated with blue lines. The photograph is well balanced also. Well done.

naxius (16685) 2006-01-08 13:51

Hi John,
Wow, very nice! I like all those layers, with distinct tones..
Really well managed and composed.
Bravo!
Alex

Graal (103040) 2006-01-08 14:15

Hi John,
beautiful view, very nice composition and colours. Interesting lines of colours. Well done.
Rgs, Aleksander

Fis2 (170807) 2006-01-08 14:36

Witaj John!
Very interesting photo. Super colours, super effect! Very impressive picture! Good job.
Regards
Krzysztof

papagolf21 (152607) 2006-01-08 14:46

Bonsoir John,
La rivi鋨e semblable � de longs rubans forme un joli cama髾u de bleu qui s'彋ire sur un fond de montagnes en arri鋨e-plan est d'une beaut� presque surnaturelle.
Tr鋊 belle composition.
Amiti廥.
Philippe

rosaline (0) 2006-01-08 15:10

John
A very peaceful scene. The lines in particular, are drawn out excellently here and the blue cast is great to emphasize these lines. The penninsular is a good compositional element as it divides the picture in a balanced way. The sky looks a little burnt out though. I usually guard against this with some filters.
The silky smooth nature of he shot has won through and delivers an impressive composition.
Thanks
Aubrey

riclopes (35577) 2006-01-08 15:30

Hi John,
This is a very beautiful minimalist image! The contrasts bettween all these horizontal layers are wonderful and the dark silluette of land enhances that nice effect. Although the look of the water surface seems strange (may be because of the heavy ws you submited to the image) like as if it was iced (may be a part of it is in foreground, but I can't tell), I love the result of it. May be I would crop a little of the white sky to give it a more horizontal look, more balanced with the dark stripe of the mountains in the background (just an opinion - hope you don't mind). Thanks a lot. Have a nice evening, Ricardo

weswang (18247) 2006-01-08 16:06

Hi John, An amazing photo with all the straight lines on the lake and the monotone color to this picture. An impressive composition and a nice shot.

ndb1958 (9289) 2006-01-08 16:09

Reminds me to an aquarell painting. Amazing. Great tones of BLUE. Nino

coco (30439) 2006-01-08 16:21

Hi John.
Well seen and composed. The landscape here is only a giant play of lines and blue tones.
Really is a very different landscape, but always nice.

Thanks for share.

richtersl (3546) 2006-01-08 19:41

The predominance of blue and the smooth shapes make this look like an abstract. I like the way the peninsula breaks up the composition.

Ann75 (0) 2006-01-08 22:30

Hello John,

A very interesting picture with a great view. Beautiful colors and amazing use of light with a great reflection of the colors on the water. A beautiful place where I haven't been yet, but hope to do so some day. Great composition and great POV!

Greetings,
Ann

Cormac (26565) 2006-01-08 22:40

I like the linearity (is that a word - not sure but I think it applies) of this. The series of horizontal lines, all in a beautiful ice blue monochrome, is a very striking image. This is so simple in appearance, but so mesmerizing. A true example of 'less is more'. Excellent!

maphoto (8082) 2006-01-08 22:40

Nice shot John with pleasant tones, a beautiful ergion indeed, well composed. Strong light in the sky but not excessively, good work.

danyy (0) 2006-01-09 2:27

Bonjour John,
j'adore l'esth彋ique de toutes ces lignes horizontales de teintes de bleus diff廨entes.
Tout cela donne une impression de douceur et de calme dans les eaux, du moins � cette distance.
Best regards.
Daniel.

greg64g (11193) 2006-01-09 3:53

Hi John

This is one of my prefered from your portfolio, i must say most of them are superb but you alway surprised me, the the so simple but graphic line and tonal range are very good to me, the sky is wonderful i love it
cheers
greg

Didi (61589) 2006-01-09 5:05

Bonjour John.
Du bruit avec un Canon 20D ? C'est 彋range !
Cependant le paysage est admirable et parfaitement cadr�.
Le capteur s'est ajust� sur la luminosit� de l'avant-plan au d彋riment du ciel.
J'ai r嶧lis� un WS pour compenser cet 嶰art de luminosit�.
Hello John.

Noise with a Canon 20D ? It is strange !
However the landscape is admirable and tallied perfectly.
The sensor was adjusted on the luminosity of the foreground to the detriment of the sky. I realized a WS to compensate of this variation of the luminosity.

[workshop] [compare] +

ChrisJ (171852) 2006-01-09 6:00

Hi John

Wonderful sharpness, color, & graphism, with a superb pov. I like the layering, & blue monochromatic colors. Good work!

fabio_ts (13696) 2006-01-09 6:40

Another spectacular view John, this one had a great graphical impact, I like how the black silhouette comes out of the different tones of blue.. perfect DOF and definition too..
EXCELLENT WORK!!

thanks,
Fabio.

Fixfocus (9385) 2006-01-09 12:52

Hello John,
I like the wide range of different blue tones and the superb graphism.Nice mood too.
Greetings,
Hermann

bertolucci (14052) 2006-01-09 15:05

Hi John, what an astonishing capture, I love all those layered blue gradients and hues, forming an exquisite natural graphism that has a high level of abstractness. It also conveys the feel of vastness of this area very well. The limited amount of hues strengthens is further. Xcellent work.
Regards from Rotterdam,
Bert

MarekP (4750) 2006-01-09 15:07

Hi John,
A nice graphism with strong rythm of alternating horizontal lines of different shade of blue. It really looks like silk, as Claire wrote above. Very well seen and done!

Thanks,
Marek

Cricri (176) 2006-01-09 15:41

Bonjour John,
Magnifique ses tons de bleu diff廨entes, belle compo, tr廥 joli image rep盭sante. j'aime.
Amiti廥
cricri

bantonbuju (51815) 2006-01-09 16:11

hi john,
i like this image a lot - it is (to me) a definition of tranquility; the quiet water supported by vastness of the place and intriguing blue - it all makes for a very special seascape;
i like this image to the bits;
best wishes, jerzy

Tue (92402) 2006-01-09 18:10

Hej John,
Beautiful capture of this landscape. The horizontal layers with all the different tones of blue really gorgeous. Excellent work!
Hilsner,
Lars

singuanti (15250) 2006-01-09 22:03

Hi John. A simple but beautiful image. I'd say you successfully got rid of all the noise. But I wouldn㦙 want any more blurred look. Did you have the ISO accidentally too high? Good one John.

Emile (20352) 2006-01-10 1:11

Hola John.
Nice shot with all this layers in blue and the silhouette of land. Good work. Very well captured. Impressive composition and POV.
Very well done. TFS.

huynt (5081) 2006-01-10 4:32

Hi John
Wow it is really a great shot. I like the color and composition. Thanks

jmdaoudal (82) 2006-01-10 5:45

Lazer paralleles, great colors and a very good framing for the technique.
For the view its realy teh annnounced gateway and I supposed it was what Jacques Cartier saw when he arrived there...
Great powerfull and peacefull mood for this river.
Compliments
Jean Michel

anesugur (18789) 2006-01-10 15:38

Hi John,
Very nice picture. Great composition. Very good colors and details.
Well done. Uğur

MvS (4163) 2006-01-10 16:12

Beautiful calm shot. I love the piece of land coming into the picture from the right and the soft colours and tones. The sky is a bit blown out though.
Thanks,
Magnus

Stepan (27210) 2006-01-10 16:47

One of the most graphic natural shot on TE for a long time...
The layers are impressive, the blue colors so multiple, the dof excellent.
Great job.
St廧hane

alvaraalto (42804) 2006-01-10 18:22

Hi John,
Talking about painterly. This picture can be mentioned as one too! What a superb composition of horizontal lines and surfaces. And than the fascinating blue colours. I saw lately in Denmark an exhibition of art from Greenland and this picture could be one of the paintings there.
Groet Rob

aloyho (6798) 2006-01-10 20:18

Hi John,
This is a very calm and almost static composition if not for the outline of the mountains and the little streaks of white which suggests movement. I like this simplicity and yet it challenges our perception. The dark peninsular helped to break the rhythm and create interest. Well done and very well seen!! All the best.

cam (9043) 2006-01-10 22:33

Hello John
Good view of the st-Lawrence river,all in horizontals and bluish.Very romantic.
The north shore,on the other side is also region rich in panorama and nature well worth a trip by themselves.
This is almost a winter scene,due to the blue tint.
I read your answer to Stephen.I hate it when this happen or something like this.I have a tendancy not to verify my settings before beginning,so I have sympathy with you.
Have a nice day
Charles

Steft (6109) 2006-01-11 7:08

Wow John, splendid photo. I like this one very much, because the colours are very strong. I find them very strong, cause we only see white, grey, blue and black. The lines are very strong, althoug the boarder between the sky and the mountains is a bit soft, I gues that happend during the scanning process in Neat Image. But apart from that, beautiful graphic winter photo.
TSF,
Stef

aralda (1240) 2006-01-11 7:41

What a great composition in tones of blue and white. Congrats for the frame; goes well with the black shape of the ship in the image.
Thanks for sharing, and thank you for the informative note as well,
Raluca

feather (51130) 2006-01-11 9:11

If it wasn't for the sky this would be a very abstract image and a very pleasing one; I like it, especially all the horizontal lines.
I read several of the comments about cropping and PP. I think the amount justified is something we could debate all day and still not reach agreement. My view is obviously do all you can in-camera to re-create what you see with your eyes, but if the image fails to match memory why not do adjustments? With film the labs adjusted all the time but no-one complained.
Kath

sarju (5324) 2006-01-11 14:30

Now this one is an excellent shot.
just some parallel lines and a very smooth texture to the landscape.
Excellent work here John .. me very impressed with this one
thanks for sharing this .... cheers ... sarju

kebek (5438) 2006-01-12 12:26

Serwus John !
Magic colours of the water in this splendid composition. Good contrast handling, fine light. Well taken.
Mat

toni_al (15875) 2006-01-12 16:41

Hi John
Tr鋊 belle lumi鋨e et douce. encore un joli paysage.
Well done
Toni

vincent24 (9060) 2006-01-13 12:42

Hi John,
It's realy like a paint in a lovely grey/blue range,Neat image is a great soft but sometimes it eat some details.. may be a bit here,anyway the atmosphere is magic,
have a nice week end,
vincent

DLM (6479) 2006-01-13 15:24

Hi John,simple yet stunning,lovely composition.
Well done.
TFS
Dave.

fayeulle (27827) 2006-01-14 9:20

Hi John
I like the graphic aspect of this shot. I dont understand the 1/800s. Water look like milk ! often yhis aspect is given using low speed. Reading after the note I understand. Sometime NI give this effect.
Cheers
JP

quantabeh (5205) 2006-01-16 10:01

Hi John,
This is really a masterpiece! Simplicity and beauty have both played a great hand here. The different many shades of this smokey blue color is amazing.
great shot! and thanks for the info.
Behrang

hdl (7035) 2006-01-24 6:39

Hi John, this is a surreal shot. I like the lines and different colour schemes. This is a masterpiece! Well done.

HOBO (5282) 2006-01-25 0:14

Good morning from Hungary!
I like your rhapsody in blue, John. A very grafical work; perfect!
Regards
Knut