The Canadian weather never ceases to surprise. Last weekend people were enjoying sitting out on café terraces (albeit in their jackets), grass was beginning to come out of hibernation in places and the covering of snow and ice appeared to be shrinking in front of your eyes…

Then BAM we get 15-20cm of snow with high winds in a storm that began yesterday lunchtime and finally ended mid-morning today.

I did plan on going out last night to get some shots, but decided 2 minutes on the roof of my apartment building was enough for me…

Braving the storm
ISO 400 – 70mm – f4.5 – 1/60 sec

Snowy commute
ISO 400 – 70mm – f4.5 – 1/50 sec

The final picture from last night was out of focus, due in part to me not being able to see through the viewfinder and the live view screen being misted up, but I kind of like the bokeh that resulted.

Snow blur
ISO 400 – 10mm – f4 – 1/80 sec

Someone decided to begin snow blowing the area around the apartment at 2AM this morning and I decided I would get up early (although not until 6) and hit the streets in the neighbourhood in the hope of getting some nice shots of fresh snow before the roads and pavements got too busy with commuters. It was still snowing and pretty windy but my mind was made up and I headed down rue Prince Arthur.

Snowy morning on rue Prince Arthur
ISO 800 – 70mm – f4.5 – 1/13 sec

Café Campus on rue Prince Arthur
ISO 800- 70mm – f4.5 – 1/20 sec

Despite having my tripod with me, I wasn’t in the mood to stand around in the same spot too long and ended up ramping up the ISO. Then again, maybe with the blowing snow, longer exposure times would have ended up looking foggy :-/

Carré Saint-Louis
ISO 1600 – 70mm – f4.5 – 1/25 sec

Snow covered avenue Henri-Julien on Le Plateau
ISO 800 – 85mm – f1.8 – 1/60 sec

I crossed over rue Saint Denis and turned up rue Rivard where I found these wonderful doors…

The four doors
ISO 2200 – 19mm – f5.6 – 1/20 sec

Rue Rivard
ISO 2200 – 14mm – f4.8 – 1/60 sec

Rue Saint Denis
ISO 200 – 85mm – f1.8 – 1/60 sec

After a quick caffeine-fix I managed to get a couple more shots before calling it a morning…just as the snow was beginning to subside.

Parking sign buried in snow
ISO 200 – 70mm – f4.5 – 1/1600 sec

Bikes and graffiti
ISO 200 – 70mm – f4.5 – 1/1000 sec

I love winter, but I’m sincerely hoping that this was the last major storm for this season…but I doubt we have seen the last snow flake yet.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

Montréal in Pictures

Your virtual guide in and around Montréal

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