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.

Graffiti Tag Alley
ISO 100 – 10mm – f4 – 1/160 sec

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

Graffiti grunge
ISO 100 – 10mm – f4 – 1/125 sec

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

The Hanging Gardens of Plateau Alley
ISO 100 – 85mm – f2 – 1/500 sec

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

8 of Spades
ISO 100 – 85mm – f5.6 – 1/80 sec

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.

Playing cards – color version

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.

HDR alley
ISO 100 – 10mm – f4 – 1/125 sec

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.

A soft touch
ISO 100 – 85mm – f5.6 – 1/320 sec

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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