At -10 degrees, the weather was decidedly more enjoyable yesterday than recent days to be outside taking pictures. So I headed over to île Sainte-Hélène for a late afternoon/early evening photowalk.

The only downside to the warmer temperature was that there was no steam rising off the river. Last year when I shot the steamy Saint lawrence I almost got frost bite, which has made me a little more careful when venturing out when the thermometer falls below -30. Having said that, I will hopefully get to shoot the ‘steam’ rising from the river sometime during this winter.

Before getting to some of the shots I took yesterday, I first want to apologize for not posting yesterday. The reason was that I got home late and then had some computer issues, thankfully the computer seems to be behaving itself today.

Okay time for some pics. I took quite a few during my 4 hour walk and so will share over the next few days – at least that will give me time to do my Christmas shopping, which I have yet to start :-/

I will start with some shots of the Montréal skyline taken at and around the L’Homme sculpture by Alexander Calder – A sculpture that was commissioned for the 1967 World Trade Fair. For more on this sculpture (and some other public art works on île Sainte-Hélène), check this previous post.

L’Homme sculpture by Alexander Calder
ISO 100 – 17mm – f5.3 – 1/160 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Montreal skyline
ISO 100 – 20mm – f9 – 1/80 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

There was quite a bit of ice flowing down the river, so I decided to take a long exposure (with the help of the B&W 3.0 ND filter) to smooth the ice flow. It also helped capture some nice skyline reflection.

Skyline from île Sainte Hélène
ISO 100 – 38mm – f8 – 15 secs

Here is a shot at a faster shutter speed to capture more detail of the ice flow…

Ice flow on the Saint Lawrence
ISO 100 – 18mm – f7.1 – 1/80 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Winter wonderland on île Sainte-Hélène
ISO 100 – 70mm – f4.5 – 1/20 sec

Jacques Cartier Bridge
ISO 100 – 70mm- f8 – 1/30 sec

I took a zoomed in shot of the Des Groseilliers, a Canadian Coast Guard medium class arctic icebreaker that was moored below the Jacques Cartier bridge. The ship was named after Médard Chouart des Groseilliers (a French explorer and fur trader who was a founder of the Hudson Bay Company).

Des Groseilliers Ice Breaker
ISO 100 – 200mm – f8 – 1/125 sec

That’s all for today, but I will have more pics to share from my wander around île Sainte-Hélène and île Notre-Dame over the next few days, including my first night shots of the illuminated Biosphère.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

-Martin

Montréal in Pictures

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