I managed to find a few minutes to get out and shoot today, so headed to a back alley between avenue Laval and avenue de l’Hotel de Ville  in the section just north of rue Prince Arthur. I know the alley fairly intimately having lived backing onto it for a few years after arriving in Montreal.

It’s certainly not one of the more beautiful alleys on the Plateau, but nevertheless has a charm about it with the high fences and walls, most of which are covered in graffiti.

Another shot taken a few steps back and processed in monochrome with a grungy grainy feel.

Despite all the graffiti, there is some nice hanging foliage to offset the grunge…

A discarded pack of playing cards scattered down the alley caught my eye.

I decided to process as a split tone since the bright colors in the background pulled attention away from the playing card in the foreground. With hindsight I should have shot a bit closer and at a lower angle to the card 🙁

Here is a color version for comparison.

The final two shots were each processed using Topaz Labs Adjust.

For the first, I gave it a pseudo HDR look to bring out the detail in the wall and fences as it looked a bit flat otherwise.

The last shot is on the other extreme, having used the whisperly preset as a starting point, giving it a softer more painted look, which I thought went well with the foliage and helped draw attention to the room built over the alley.

The little trip down memory lane made me miss my old home, but glad I’m still close enough to visit often 🙂

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

 

 

 

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