In October 2019, I spent a week with friends in the marvellous Charlevoix region. We chose that time of year because the area is so spectacular in autumn. As planned, we arrived at the St. Lawrence River shoreline 45 minutes before sunrise. The weather forecast was good. I wanted to show the coastal mountains, the textures on the rocky beach, and the river.

I was hoping for a beautiful sky. To compose the image, I used a wide-angle zoom at 16 mm (35 mm eq.). I added a 10-stop ND filter to lengthen the exposure time in order to flatten the small waves and to create cloud lines. I love the Live Time feature on my camera: it allows me to have a perfect histogram (ETTR) each time without blowing the highlights. Looking at this photograph, I always say, “Nature is so beautiful. I have to go back to Charlevoix!”