Tag Archives: Ursula Wicker

July 14, 2014 · 5:35 am

Notre-Dame Basilica Montreal — Part 1

Notre-Dame Basilica Montreal

As impressive as the exterior is, this twin-towered façade dating back to 1829 does nothing to prepare you for the sights awaiting inside the Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. Once you step inside you are greeted by a stunning yet calming sea of blue that stretches from floor to wondrous vaulted ceiling.

Facing the altar and ambulatory

As magnificent as are the great churches of Europe, Montreal’s Notre-Dame rates right along with them. Over the course of this week we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the beauty of this incredible structure, culminating in some of my favorite shots of it during this week’s Fun Photo Friday.

View of the pulpit

Not only will we look at the whole, we’ll also concentrate on the subtle details that make Notre-Dame Basilica one of the world’s truly outstanding examples of church architecture, such as this statuary of Saint Mark, Saint John, and Saint Peter:

Saint Mark, Saint John, and Saint Peter

As well as the stunning stained glass commissioned in 1929, designed by Quebec’s own Jean-Baptiste Lagacé, and assembled in Limoges, France, by Francis Chigot:

Stained glass designed by Quebec artist Jean-Baptiste Lagacé

The Great Casavant Organ boasts 7,000 pipes ranging in length from ¼-inch to almost 33 feet (six millimeters to ten meters).

Organ pipes nearly 33 feet long

We’ll continue our tour on Wednesday. Until this, click on any of the images below to bring up today’s slide show:

Notre-Dame Basilica Montreal

Another view of Saints Mark, John, and Peter

Magnificently decorated ambulatory

Looking back toward the organ

Side aisle

Above the pulpit

Notre-Dame Basilica Montreal

Pews beneath vaulted blue

5 Comments

Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel

Tagged as cruise, Holland America, Montreal, MS Maasdam, Notre-Dame Basilica, photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, Ursula Wicker

July 11, 2014 · 5:35 am

Fun Photo Friday — Tour la Nuit Montreal

Tour la Nuit

Once a year just around sunset approximately 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of Montreal streets are blocked off from automobile traffic. As night falls on Montreal thousands of cyclists from the very young to very old mount their trusty two-wheeled steeds and take to those closed streets for an evening of pure magic. It’s the Tour la Nuit.

Tour la Nuit

Night is falling. No tripod. Not even a monopod. Cyclists are whizzing by with no means for me to photograph the event. Or was there? At Ursula’s insistence (and her assurances that the cyclists whizzing by would look great) I decided to get creative by switching my Canon G1 X to “Handheld NightScene” mode. In Handheld NightScene the Canon takes three pictures in rapid succession, then combines those images in-camera to produce a single image with low noise and good resolution. If I held the camera very still, that would have the effect of giving me reasonably solid backgrounds while creating a flowing effect with the bikers. In other words the triple shots would combine images of stationary objects, but anything that moved (such as the cyclists) would appear in three locations spaced at intervals of up to several feet depending on the speed at which they were traveling.

Tour la Nuit

I was a bit apprehensive at first, until I reviewed the shots and found that I liked the effect. Here are some more examples:

Tour la Nuit

7 Comments

Filed under Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel

Tagged as cruise, Holland America, Montreal, MS Maasdam, photography, R. Doug Wicker, Tour la Nuit, travel, Ursula Wicker

July 9, 2014 · 5:35 am

We Began It All in Montreal

Montreal

We were back in the U.S following our transpacific cruise (subject of a later series) for a grand total of some three weeks before we were boarding yet another flight headed out of the country. This time we were traveling to Montreal where, after two nights, we would board Holland America’s MS Maasdam for a cruise down the St. Lawrence River; around Canada’s Maritime Provinces; and a turn south for Bar Harbor, Maine; with a final destination of Boston, Massachusetts.

Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places

I’m rather glad that Ursula insisted we arrive in Montreal early, for there is much to see and do. Even with a full day at our disposal, all we managed was Old Montreal, China Town, and Notre-Dame Basilica. As it was we just happened to hit Montreal for the annual Tour la Nuit (which you’ll see on Fun Photo Friday).

I’ll have a lot more on most of these Montreal topics, including several blogs on the Notre-Dame Basilica, over the next several weeks. After that we’ll hit the cruise ship and begin our journey in earnest. Until then here’s a little to tide you over. As always, click on any image below to bring up today’s slide show.