Montreal Part Deux: Montréal is a gastronomic paradise. Photos with the Pentax K-7

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

If you're into food, Montréal is the place for you. Montréal's gastronomic reputation is renowned world wide. It is also well-deserved. The culinary specialties of Countries around the world are represented. No matter what taste or budget, a great meal can always be had! You'll find several good French restaurants in the "Vieux Montréal"  (Old Montreal). In the downtown area, Crescent Street is famous for its lovely terraces and restaurants.

You'll find several good restaurants in the "Vieux Montréal"

Boulevard Saint-Laurent is noted for trendy restaurants and home of the famous Schwartz’s smoked meat. Schwartz has been in operation in Montréal for eighty years. Here's a small list of people that have dined at Schwartz; Celine Dion, Angelina Jolie, Tim Allen, The Rolling Stones, etc, and the list could fill this page. Proponents of Montreal's smoked meat claim that it cannot be obtained in its tastiest, or most authentic form, outside of Montréal. Schwartz's is a very small restaurant, and there are lines of hungry people from opening to close. It's not a fancy place and if there are only one two of you, you will be sitting at a table along with other smoke meat lovers. It is truely a Montréal experience.

Schwartz's is a very small restaurant.

There are lines of hungry people from opening to close



Proponents of Montreal's smoked meat claim that it cannot be obtained in its tastiest, or most authentic form, outside of Montréal.

Rue Saint-Denis, as well as many popular establishments located on Rue Prince-Arthur and Avenue Duluth serve somptuous meals and you can purchase wine at the local SAQ (Société des alcools du Québec - Quebec controlled alcool stores) and bring your own wine. It is much cheaper that way and all restaurants in that corner of the City will gladly serve your wine.

While in Montréal, you have to taste a big bowl of Poutine. Poutine is a dish consisting of French fries topped with fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce and sometimes additional ingredients. Poutine is a diner staple which originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada. It is sold by national fast food chains, in small "greasy spoon" type diners (commonly known as "cantines" or "casse-croûtes" in Quebec) and pubs, as well as by roadside chip wagons. Along with fries and pizza, Poutine is a very common dish sold and eaten in high school cafeterias in various parts of Canada.

While in Montréal, you have to taste a big bowl of Poutine

Poutine is a diner staple which originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada.

There is no doubt that Montreal is a vibrant, unique and intriguing travel destination. The many cultural activities, lively festivals, and countless bars and nightclubs of all kinds, make this a fascinating city with something for everyone.

Countless bars and nightclubs of all kinds

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

Jasper Gray's " The making of Uncle Jack with the Pentax K-7" presentation at Samy's Santa Ana last Sunday Oct, 24, was just great.

Jasper is a very nice guy and what I learned about video with the K-7 was really informative

 

The presentation at Samy's Santa Ana was a success, The room was full and chairs had to be brought in as there wasn't enough stations

Visitors to this page also like "Recommended Reading" on the right column. Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

For those who didn't have a chance to attend, you missed a very good presentation. Jasper is a very nice guy and what I learned about video with the K-7 was really informative. It would take many months of practice on your own before discovering the "tricks of the trades" that Jasper showed us. Today's DSLRs are equipped with great video capabilities and not to use that is missing the boat. In technology, you either stay with it or you're left behind, and we all know how fast technology is advancing. What a great era we live in.

It's amazing what you can do with the DSLRs with video capabilities. First of all, because of their smaller size, when compared to professional video film making equipment, you can place the DSLRs in locations not possible with pro-videocams. Because the lenses are interchangeable and the sensors of DSLRs are bigger than videocams,  you have mouh more lattitude with the depth of field. There are a lot of advantage in shooting videos with DLRs, but instead of expanding this post at this time, Jasper has accepted my interview invitation. In the coming weeks, I will conduct an interview with Jasper about the advantages of using DSLRs for short films, and how he used the K-7 in the making of Uncle Jack and the actual short movie Uncle Jack. The presentation at Samy's Santa Ana was a success, The room was full and chairs had to be brought in as there wasn't enough stations.

If you have any reasonable questions you would like me to include in this interview, add them to the comments section of this blog.

Thank you for reading,

Yvon Bourque

My favorite City, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, with my Pentax K-7

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Hi Pentaxian friends.

In this Essay, I am presenting Montréal, the City where I first saw the light of day. Although I now live in Southern California, it is still my favorite place in the world...but as I turn the pages of life, the City has become too cold, for my older bones, in the winter. If only I could bring Montréal to Southern California! In this first of three posts, here are the generalities of the City:

Mass transportation is accomplished with the use of a subway system (The Metro)

Photo - Public Domain

Image - Public Domain

 
Montréal is the second largest City in Canada and the second largest French speaking City in the world, second only to Paris. The city was named in 1534 when Jacques Cartier first landed there. The native Indians called it Hochelaga. (We often forget that the land, of both Canada and the United States, were really stolen from the native inhabitants, by our ancestors...but that's a whole separate subject) Cartier named the place Mount Royal, from the elevation that rose in rear of the site, a little way back from the St. Lawrence River. Later on the name was changed to "Ville-Marie" by Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve, then to "Ville-Marie de Montréal". Today the name is simply: Montréal.

The City is progressive with new Buildings overshadowing Old and Historical Edifices.

Photo © 2010 – Anne Bourque, Pentax K-x

The current population of Montréal is nearly two millions and approaching four millions with the suburbs. The City is a multi-cultural melting pot where people of many ethnicities, religions and cultures live in close harmony, or as harmoniously as it can be in this day and age.

The City is progressive with new Buildings overshadowing Old and Historical Edifices. Mass transportation is accomplished with the use of a subway system (The Metro) that allows displacement of the thousands of workers, shoppers, students and tourists alike, from one end of the City to the other in less than twenty minutes. Most of the downtown buildings, including apartment complexes, are connected to the Metro via tunnels and underground walkways, allowing “Montrealers” to go out and about in the frigid Canadian winters without ever really going outside. The underground Montreal is one of the largest in the world.

Photo © 2010 – Yvon Bourque, Pentax K-7

Photo © 2010 – Yvon Bourque, Pentax K-7

 

The "Vieux Montréal" (Old Montréal) is the most visited area

Photo © 2010 – Yvon Bourque, Pentax K-7

To me, Montréal is one of the most vibrant and exciting City. There's always something to do in Montréal. The "Vieux Montréal" (Old Montréal) is the most visited area and where most street performers, artists and painters gather. The food is known to be excellent and from all corners of the World. The City is one of the safest major City in North America. We had no fear of walking around late at night as we walked all the way to the top of Mount Royal to see the City lights. The area was alive with tourists and couples looking over the City. It’s actually quite a romantic place.

We had no fear of walking around late at night as we walked all the way to the top of Mount Royal to see the City lights.

Photo © 2010 – Yvon Bourque, Pentax K-7

Since the summer is relatively short in Montréal, every summer day is cherished and festivals abound in the fair weather Months. The Montréal Jazz Festival is the largest in the world. There are festivals all summer long, from “Art” to “JazZ” and everything in between. There must be a reason why the City is renowned as a City of Festivals.

To be continued...

Thanks for reading...Montréal Je t'aime.

Yvon Bourque

Update: They will have the K-r and the K-5 for all to handle. Good news! Pentax is bringing one of their popular workshops to three Samy's locations in California this weekend.

Visitors to this page also like "Recommended Reading" on the right column. Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

Update: They will have the K-r and the K-5 for all to handle.
Good news! Pentax is bringing one of their popular workshops to three Samy's locations in California this weekend.


 Please try to attend this event, as this will encourage Pentax to do more stuff in California. I will be attending and it would be fun to meet all of you from Los Angeles and the surrounding locations in Southern California. It's this coming Sunday at Samy's Santa Anna and Jasper Gray will do a presentation on video making with the K-7. Uncle Jack was Jasper’s first film shot exclusively with a digital SLR. Prior PENTAX work includes short videos of each PENTAXian featured on www.pentaxian.com

Pentax representatives will bring select camera bodies and lenses for workshop participants to demo. Discounts will be offered to workshop participants.

Registration:

Pre-registration is required for this class or workshop. To register, please go to: http://www.samys.com/index/page/product/product_id/37524
or call 323-938-2420 and speak to the receptionist for registration. Please call or email us at edu@samys.com if you have any questions regarding this class.

3309 S Bristol St, Santa Ana, CA 92704-7262

It would be fun to finally meet some of the members of this forum in person.


Yvon Bourque

Off to Montreal with the K-5...actually with the K-7 as I had to give the K-5 back to Pentax.

Google Images File

Visitors to this page also like "Recommended Reading" on the right column. Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

I will be off to Montreal for the next 10 days. While there, I was going to test the K-5 and post a review, however, I had to return the K-5 to Pentax. There is a big Camera show in New York during that Period and they needed all of the beta K-5 DSLRs for the show. Oh well, I still have my K-7 and my K-x.

I will do a photo essay on Montreal and post that upon my return. Montreal is where I was born and is still  home in my heart. It's the right time for the changing of the leaves in Montreal and the surrounding country sides.

Watch for my post after my return. I will post many pictures and a complete article about Montreal.

P.S., I will probably post some pictures during my stay as well.

Thank you for being loyal followers and Pentaxians,

Yvon Bourque

Global Pentax sites have different presentations of the new K-5 with and without images. Take a look.

Visitors to this page also like "Recommended Reading" on the right column. Email: brqyvn@gmail.com

Hi Pentaxian friends.

I found that Pentax U.K had one of the best description of the new Pentax K-5, along with accompanying images. It's also in various languages, depending on the Country;  Pentax France, Pentax Germany, Pentax Netherland, My native Land, Pentax Canada is still stuck in the K20D era!, Pentax Japan is the most detailed presentation...but I can't read a word, Pentax China looks like chinese to me, and of course we are familiar with Pentax USA.

Pentax K-5 Highly Sensitive:

High-resolution, low-noise, true-to-life image reproduction

PENTAX K-5 incorporates a new generation CMOS sensor, combined with the reliable PRIME II Imaging Engine, which produce high-resolution, rich-gradation digital images.

The K-5 also offers a wide sensitivity range, from ISO 100 to 12800, which can be expanded to ISO 80~51200. As the Analog/Digital conversion is done within the sensor, K-5 features an impressive noise management.

Responsive, high-precision autofocus system

The K-5 embeds the same new-generation SAFOX IX+ autofocus system as PENTAX 645D Medium Format camera, which features 11 sensor points (with 9 cross-type sensors in the middle) to assure pinpoint and fast.

K-5's new-generation sensor combined with highly performant autofocus algorithms ensure accurate and quick contrast AF operation during Live View shooting. With the addition of a Golden Section display, the K-5 offers a choice of three different grid patterns to facilitate image composition.

Continuous shooting at 7 images per second

The K-5’s high-speed continuous shooting mode records up to 22 images (in JPEG recording format) in a single sequence at a maximum speed of 7 images per second, allowing you to take sharp pictures of active, fast-moving subjects with great ease.

Recording of Full HD-proportion movies

The K-5 captures beautiful, true-to-life movie clips in 16:9 Full HD proportions at a frame rate of 25 frames per second. This extends many the benefits of high-quality SLR photography to the world of movie shooting. For instance, reduce the depth of field to make a subject stand out, or use different interchangeable lenses to create distinctive visual effects. The K-5 also allowes to add specific visual effects during shooting.

Compact, solid, functional camera body

The K-5 is exceptionally solid and durable, with a body of sturdy yet lightweight magnesium alloy, and a chassis of highly-rigid stainless steel. Thanks to the inclusion of 77 special seals, it also boasts a dustproof, weather-resistant and cold-resistant (-10°C) construction, assuring reliable operation even under harsh environment.

Bright, clear viewfinder with 100% coverage

The K-5 features a pentaprism finder with a 100% field of view which assures a great visibility in outdoor shooting and improves the accuracy of focusing and image composition. It also comes with the renowned Natural-Bright-Matte focusing screen to assist you with manual-focus operation.

Shake Reduction mechanism with user-assisting options

The K-5 features the PENTAX-Shake Reduction, which effectively compensates the effect of camera shake by up to 4 shutter steps to produce sharp, blur-free images. This innovative mechanism works with all PENTAX lenses — even those designed for analog cameras. K-5 also features an auto level compensation function to assure effortless adjustment of horizontal alignment, and a composition adjustment function to automatically compensate for the camera’s inclination during handheld shooting — vertically, horizontally, and in the direction of rotation.

Large 3.0-inch wide-view color LCD monitor

The K-5 features a large, high-resolution color LCD monitor with 921,000 dots. Its wide-view design assures a clear view of the monitor image from 170 degrees horizontally and vertically.

Innovative image-processing functions to produce distinctive photographic expressions

(1) Custom image function for distinctive finishing touches

The K-5 offers a choice of 9 Custom Image modes, which allows you to easily select a desired finishing touch for a particular image in order to more faithfully express your creative intention or emphasize the prevailing atmosphere.

(2) Digital filters function

This function allows you to process recorded images and produce highly creative visual expressions without the need of a computer. You not only have a choice of 18 different filters, but can also apply different filters one after another to a single image to create more visual effects.

(3) Cross process mode with three options

The K-5 features the unique Cross process mode, in which the camera automatically shifts photographic parameters for each exposure to create eye-catching images with unique, dramatic colors — just like pictures treated with the cross process in film photography.

(4) HDR (High Dynamic Range) function

The K-5 features the HDR (high dynamic range) function to create one composite image with an extra-wide gradation range from 3 images with different exposures, without requiring a computer.

Other features

1) Electronic level function, with a newly added tilt confirmation tool.

2) Extended-exposure NR (Noise Reduction) function, with a choice of Auto, On and Off modes.

3) High-sensitivity Noise Reduction function, with a camera-dependent Auto mode and a user-adjustable reduction strength preset for each ISO setting.

4) RAW/Fx button, for single-action switching of image file format, as well as for assignment and instant recall of a specific function.

5) 77-segment multi-pattern metering system for extra-accurate light measurement.

6) Dust Removal II mechanism, to shake dust off the CMOS image sensor as effectively as any other dust removal device.

7) Long battery life, for recording of 980 images with full recharge.

8) User-friendly Hyper control system, to flexibly and accurately respond to the photographer’s creative intentions.

9) Dynamic-range expansion function, to compensate for both overexposed and underexposed areas.

10) Automatic compensation of distortion and lateral chromatic aberration (available with DA-,DFA- and FA Limited-series lenses).

11) CTE mode, to automatically adjust the white-balance level to emphasize primary colors of scenes.

12) Attachment of copyright credits on recorded images.

13) D-BG4 Battery Grip (optional) for extra power supply with an exclusive rechargeable lithium-ion battery or six AA-size batteries.

14) Color-specific control buttons/dials for easy recognition and quick access, based on the universal color design.

15) PENTAX Digital Camera Utility 4 software package, including a RAW-data processing and browser application (based on the popular SILKYPIX RAW-data processing engine developed by Ichikawa Soft Laboratory) and a browser application.

Copyright pictures: degresfahrenheit.com, tempete2pixel