Finding a new passion has to be one of the best feelings in the world. You become so consumed with achieving your goals that your focus turns laser-sharp. In this case, back in 2009, my mind was so set on capturing the stars at night that I didn’t even mind the -20°C temperature.

I drove an hour and a half outside Quebec City in search of darker skies and eventually found an area with low light pollution near a marina. I walked around the docks and nearby streets for quite a while, looking for an interesting composition. That’s when I stumbled upon a boat sitting on repair stilts. I set up my tripod and started the timelapse sequence.

Once I pressed the shutter, I laid down on my back in the snow and stared at the stars for a solid hour. When I finally got back up, I looked around and realized I was standing right in the middle of someone’s backyard. It was the middle of the night, in freezing cold weather, so no one was around, but I couldn’t believe how deep in my own head I had been.

While rushing to pack up my gear, I quickly checked my camera preview and felt absolutely ecstatic about what I had captured that night. I was hooked.