I sometimes visit the regions of Quebec and I don’t always have my complete camera equipment with me … On this trip, I noticed the sunset in the sky devoted of clouds. I anticipated the gradient color of the blue sky and the sun that was leaving the horizon. Obviously, I had to stop to take pictures … but no tripod … Difficult to make long exposures while hand holding the camera! The place I stopped is called “Le Domaine” in the Vérendry Park on Route 117. At this time of year, only the restaurant is in operation. The outfitter is closed. I went to the lake to assess the situation. It was then that I noticed an old wooden fence: the kind with a horizontally pole attached between two vertical poles. I had found my “tripod”!
I installed the camera making sure it is firmly stuck to prevent any movements. The other mishaps: no remote trigger … So I used the self-timer set to 2 seconds and chose a maximum exposure time of the camera: 30 seconds. I wanted to ensure that a few jolts of water were smoothed by the long exposure. I “stretched” the settings by opening up to a focal length of f/16 in order to avoid diffraction.
I was “lucky” to have a lamppost behind me that lit the area. 30 seconds of exposure gave just enough light to illuminate the sand and the pier. With a “long” exposure time like this, the stars turned into small trails that I corrected in post-production.
