One of the first thing I like to tell people is that the more they understand their camera, the better they will be able to unleash their creativity, so a good start is to play with your camera and even read the user manual.

Next you want to find a way to make your photo stand out from what everybody else can do. One of the very simple ways of doing this is simply get an unusual perspective. Laying down on the ground and taking the shot upwards usually gives great results. On the opposite, if we had a ladder or a vantage point, we could use that to make the difference. If your subject is a person or a group of persons, make them do something special, make them jump in the air, stand on a chair, anything but make sure they do something unusual! If it’s an object, place yourself in a way to make that object stand out.

Another good thing to keep in mind is that you don’t always need to see the whole subject, sometimes taking just a part of a body can make the photo somewhat special!

Furthermore, you can also make a photo more interesting by using a large aperture and shallow depth of field! It will make the viewer of the photo look where you want him to look! The blurred section of the photo makes it simple to look at and not overcrowded with useless sharp details.

All in all, keep in mind that these are just some of the many many ways to make photography interesting. Now go out and play with your camera and give us another perspective of your subject!

The wonderful thing about this is recipe is that it takes the sweet taste of the port to counter the sourness of the cranberries. Just look at the photo and tell me if it tastes good……. !

On our way to Boulder City by car, it was impressive to see the dryness of the land and seeing how the people make use of the little water available. How can a golf course be so green in such a place? We then went to Boulder City Airport where our helicopter was waiting for us! We made a 15 minutes test flight over Hoover Dam, Colorado River and Lake Mead (pictures below) to make sure the helicopter was in good shape.

Once the papers were cleared, we took off southeast bound towards Tucson, Arizona. The scenery was stunning! Flat desert surrounded by mountains. We saw many huge cactus as well as many wild animals. Halfway through Tucson, we stopped to fuel in Buckeye Arizona, a small town near Phoenix where livestock is the primary source of employment in the little town.

It’s amazing to see how green the fields are in the above photo! In the middle of the desert, people manage to irrigate the water and grow plants just like we would here in Québec in the summer. After three hours of flying and 565 km, we finally took a good night sleep in the beautiful city of Tucson!

Stay tuned for day two of helicopter Robinson 44 November Seven Two Zero Delta Papa (N720DP)

In the following photo, we see a plane that is about to land on runway 06 (behind the photographer) at Jean Lesage Int. Airport

For those who may have missed it, I also took a nice photo of the Restigouche river on that same trip.

Image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center.
Photo taken on January 22 2010 – Download large size image 3.5MB

Many articles, including one of the New York Times, mentions that the lack of snow in the nearby mountains requires that trucks, snowmobiles and even helicopters carry in snow to the competition areas for the Vancouver winter Olympic Games. Hopefully everything will be in place ready for athletes to compete at their best!

Note that the satellite image was taken from crew 22 on the International Space Station. I enhanced the photo in Photoshop and imitated the photo style of the excellent Earth Observatory website.

In the following photo you can see the irresistible view from the observatory where the event took place. Printed copies of this photograph are also available on demand.

Related article:
Tweetup au sommet de la Capitale-Nationale : un succès (French only)

To prevent corrosion and keep the blades healthy, it’s best to repaint them as the paint goes away and the bare metal starts to be visible. In the following pictures, you will see the preparation of the paint as well as a Robinson 44 wrapped with plastic to prevent the paint and fume from sticking to the fuselage. I have also included a quick time lapse of the helicopter wrapping. The video represents 7 hours of work in approximately one minute and half.

Timelapse video

To make a long story short, I have quit my job as a web designer/developper at EducExpert and I must say that I have spent two great years with this company full of young talent!

The reason for this major change is that I found another great job in a whole new world: The world of helicopters! I will slowly start flying as a helicopter pilot over the next year which I feel extremely privileged. The year 2009 was extremely difficult for this industry and for me to find a job only 6 month after my course is something that I can be proud of.

Another thing that can explain the absence of new posts on my site is the fact that I didn’t carry my camera very much these last 2 months. I find November & December extremely boring months for photography since the trees have lost their colorful leaves and the white fluffy floor has yet to fall from the sky.

Theoretically speaking, I should have more time in January 2010 to post articles on a regular basis. Until than, I leave you with this photograph that I have taken in 2007. The two photos featured in this post are some of the best photos I have taken in that year and that very few people have seen.

Peace! Maxime