Large Format, from Rimouski to St-Ulric: The good, the bad and the ugly

This past August, I took my annual trip to the Bas-St-Laurent and Gaspésie regions, which gave me the chance to shoot some large-format photos on my Tachihara. Some worked. Others? Not so much.

All the photos below were shot on CatLABS X FILM 80 MKII and developed with a Rodinal developer (Blazinal), some at 1:25, some at 1:50, and some semi-stand developed at 1:100, for a full hour.

The first stop, in Rimouski-Est, is Pointe-au-Père, at the site of a museum dedicated to the wreck of the Empress of Ireland, where the submarine Onondaga was moved in 2008 and is now an attraction which can be visited.  Over the years, our kids have visited the museum and the submarine, and climbed to the top of the lighthouse.

Next stop on the road heading east is Sainte-Luce-su-mer, a pretty town on the water with a spectacular beach that runs for many kilometres:

In this second shot from the same spot, using an ND100 filter, I missed the exposure, but did my best in post to recover the image:

Further East, Sainte-Flavie beckons, and I couldn't resist taking a photo of a restaurant to which we would make an annual pilgrimage with the kids: the incredibly kitschy Captaine Homard. Fresh lobster and seafood, and a unique vibe with the interior chock-full of marine and fishing-themed knick-knacks.  There are road-side signs announcing the distance to Capitaine Homard, starting about 200 KMs away. But I somehow messed this one up...

At the Centre d'Art Marcel Gagnon, these statues/sculptures are on the beach and out into the water. The view is constantly changing with the tides.  I think I captured this image as the tide was going out, on a blustery day:

Métis is the next community along the 132 and is the location of the Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens, another favourite spot that I photographed (medium format and 35mm) and blogged about last year. I also took digital photos at les Jardins this past year, which can be found here.

...and an unintentional semi-selfie:

This residence is not too far from the house we rent.  The property,next door to the Ranch à Donald, is called Le Manoir Donald Charest, and it has some very unusual features, including turrets and gargoyles:

There are plenty of wind farms in the region.  This one is near St-Ulric is owned by Northland Power and features 1.5 MW turbines:

St-Ulric's covered bridge, a couple of KMs from the St-Laurent, up the Rivière Blanche:

...and just a little further upriver are these beautiful waterfalls, the Chutes de Ti-Mé, first with shot without a filter:

...and a photo with an ND1000 filter:

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