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Quebec and Civilisation

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Choosing the first image of a post is usually hard – this time was extra difficult – so many good pictures and souvenirs. This one is a big of a postcard but getting the big boat was not easy (the two in front wouldn’t help much) while trying to do a treasure hunt !

Two weeks lost in the Canadian country side, 2500km, at least 5 different types of boats – almost as many maths workbooks. We wanted to avoid cities on this family trip – and we got what we came from. Hopefully Chiara is now less afraid of insects, Olivier of wolves – and both of them will be allies in getting the family to live ouf of a city at some point !

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Yourte in the park de la Jacques-Cartier. We got cold the first night (no fire) and hot the second night (fire too strong) – and that was the end of our trip, mastering wood-based overnight heating will be for another time.

We had a variety of accommodations – all in the serie, in the wild but still don’t forget my comfort. Fire and marshmallow some nights – stargazing for others – or wood exploration with flashlight. Needless to say, kids are happy outside, exploring – especially city kids like ours.

Moving every two days was tiring for us, but a bit less for the little ones catching up with sleep most of the time. Distance are not huge, but every journey feels slow.

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My personal favourite – iphone photography sometimes works.

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Canoe overnight trip in Mauricie. Wilderness, calm, paddling – slow life. This picture was taken with our GoPro with minor color correction.

I won’t embarrass myself with the exhaustive list of animals we saw in open zoo or parks but similarly – space not being at a premium in Canada – they have amazing outdoor recreations area where both animals and tourist enjoy encounters, without stress.

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Chiara has always been at ease with everything that falls out of the insect category – especially mammals, big or small – they are all her friends.

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Olivier getting out of his comfort zone.

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Morning coffee on our whale watching tour.

See you soon Canada – and congratulations again to Michel and Orchidee, thanks for the incentive to come and visit ! 😉 Being so far away from civilization as we know it has been so refreshing.

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Oh Laziness …

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iPhone 6. Chiara visiting the ruins of our sand castle T+1. Last day or our week-end in Picardie, it was windy like hell – sands in our eyes, beach empty and the castle was destroyed. But Chiara was happy, she has conquered the tide and made her mark. What a fantastic lesson.

It was last minutes – everything was booked in the UK – and our camping week-end was looking more and more unlikely – so we decided to head to north of France for a three days break in the “Baie de Somme” with the Samberger family – a return back for us as we were there three weeks before !

A unique opportunity to finally take some pictures, fresh air and some relaxed time with the kids – it was fantastic and ticked all the boxes. So let’s revive this blog on a high note !

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EOS 5D MK III (70-200mm) – Olivier the builder. Inconsistent and not always focused on the task – he did have the tool in hand for most of the time, and a smile on his face.

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EOS 5D MK III (70-200mm) – Chiara prentending to be tired, falling. Fresh air and outdoor increase their energy – they couldn’t stop.

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EOS 5D MK III (70-200mm) – The full crowd, dressed up (or dressed down) for the exploration of the baie. It’s the A team, revisited.

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EOS 5D MK III (70-200mm) – The houses of Pierre & Vacances, cropped like a marketing material and with a glorious sunny weather like they do in the North.

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iPhone6 – Nature morte. May be submitted for “Shoot with my iPhone”

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iPhone 6 – New shoes for everyone from the market, Chiara is still asking which one is the prettiest.

GoPro Hero 4 – Olivier swimming on his own underwater !

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EOS 5D MK III (70-200mm) – Chiara in one of her romantic and relaxed moment – picking up flowers and posing in full confidence with her new dress.

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EOS 5D MK III (70-200mm) – Without contest picture of the week-end. The kids in holding up the castle they built against Poseidon and the raising of sea level. Parents have gone long ago, focusing on saving their possessions where the next generation proves they won’t be giving up.

iPhone6 vs Canon DSLR vs GoPro Hero 4

iPhone 6 – A small dusting of snow makes things pretty but still non skiable

Family end of years are relaxing and usually do not result in great shots – mostly indoor portraits. This year was a bit more exciting on this front as I was experimenting the new GoPro Hero 4 Silver. In addition we are taking more and more pictures with our iPhone so after managing to get all the pictures in one places, here are the best of the crop on the three mediums.

GoPro Hero 4 – A typical selfie-wide-angle-portrait coming out of the GoPro, with a tiny bit of boost in coloring.

The best camera always being the one you carry on you – it is clear for this sort of casual sport/family photography the heavy Canon DSLR is loosing ground and there is less and less benefit for entry-level gear in this space. The pictures out of the iPhone and GoPro are perfectly fine for web/print use. Even more importantly they require less post-processing and dynamic range on both device is sometimes amazing.

In-camera retouching apps are getting great as well – so the whole workflow in mobile device makes things hassle-free. Obviously our Canon is still best for portraits and any sort of more serious post-processing.

iPhone 6 – This shot was done partially facing the sun and the amount of colors is still great. Decent results with limited efforts (slightly retouched on the iPhone using Enlight App)

Canon EOS 5D MkIII – Indoor portrait / low light and anything movement, the DSLR has still no match. Getting this picture with any other device would be a no-no.

GoPro Hero 4 – Getting your phone on a ski lift is not worth the risk when you know the GoPro could fall without major damage (I did not try) and with the wide angle get decent pictures.

Canon EOS 5DMkIII – On a cold evening Chiara is taking refuge in a library and try to read books. Similarly very low-light photography is still not possible as easily with the iPhone.

Canon EOS 5D MkIII – Probably the most frustrating thing about the iPhone is the impossibility to select an Aperture – so this type of portrait (at f2.8) done outdoor is not possible.

GoPro Hero 4 – Possibly the most interesting thing in GoPro photography (and filming) is that it triggers creativity as this is a camera which we are not afraid to use in any situation.