Gear familiarity and scouting are essential photographic elements. It starts on the computer using Google Maps and Photo Ephemeris applications. The big question is: Where are the good spots within a 20-minute drive from home?

Doing so, I found several spots; look at these images.

Here are a few of them:

https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/10/06/2024/the-twin-suns-montreal-quebec-canada

https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/18/03/2024/moon-star-montreal-quebec-canada

https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/17/04/2022/moonrise-montreal-quebec-canada

https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/12/07/2024/dreamed-sunset-montreal-quebec-canada

https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/01/07/2024/magic-sunset-montreal-quebec-canada

https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/26/05/2024/spring-sunset-montreal-quebec-canada

https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/17/07/2024/thunderstorm-montreal-quebec-canada

https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/01/03/2021/ile-a-laigle-montreal-quebec-canada

https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/24/06/2024/la-coulee-grou-sunset-montreal-quebec-canada

Again, on the afternoon of September 22, 2024, the sky was full of fine white clouds. I remembered the above pictures, so I returned to the Rivières des Prairies sector.

Half an hour before sunset, I reached the sector to find an interesting spot to seize sunset.

Fifteen minutes before sunset, with the clouds and sun’s position, I safely parked the car on the side of the road and reached the river shoreline.

I installed my tripod, camera, Leica DG wide-angle lens and cable release. I also installed my 10-stop ND filter for a long exposure.

My Leica DG lens produces beautiful star effects when set at a very small aperture. Look at this image: https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/08/02/2021/lake-ouareau-st-donat-quebec-canada

To compose the image, I used the shoreline as a leading line to the amazing sun topped by lovely clouds. I framed the scene using a 36 mm focal length and a very small aperture.

After a couple of tests, I raised the ISO to 1600 to reduce the exposure time to under 30 sec.

I envisioned a long exposure to smooth any wind ripples on the water's surface, increase reflections, and augment the impact of the clouds. As always, I used the Live Time feature on my Olympus camera to achieve a perfect histogram (ETTR). It took 29 seconds.

Montreal is a big city. I am very happy to have found a local sunset paradise location close to my home with no city visual distractions. It allows me to have fun with my camera and Mother Nature.

Later, in postproduction in Lightroom, I created a sky mask and performed a dehaze set at +15. I duplicated and inverted this mask and set the shadows to +100. Then, I pressed the AUTO button in LR to let the software perform all the other adjustments automatically! LR is very good at reducing noise using high ISO.

Looking at the final image, I was very proud to have captured this magic moment.

To be honest, if you are looking for a full paradise, have a look at the Scottish Highlands. My LPM portfolio contains 30 images captured in this photographer’s paradise.

To easily identify the images, search the word “Scotland” on the page. But it will take you more than 20 minutes to get there!