There were a couple of images I took back on May 8 that I neglected to share in my last post. So before I move on to some shots taken in and around Square Victoria, here are a couple of shots taken along the Promenade du Vieux-Port.

The Porchetta food stand was not yet open for the season (it opened May 15) but I thought the logo would make for a fun shot. Porchetta is the second Muvbox to open in the Old Port of Montreal and serves up Italian cuisine. The other transformed shipping container food stand is Lobster Roll (serving lobster and chowder)…both worth checking out if you are looking for a bite down in the old port near the #5 Grain Silo.

Porchetta in the Old Port of Montreal
ISO 100 – 50mm – f8 – 1/640 sec

After taking the above shot, a freight train was slowly making its way to the port of Montreal. If you have ever been in the Old Port when one of these freight trains passes through, you will know that these trains are long and you will have a quite a wait until you can pass over the tracks into Old Montreal.

Passing freight train
ISO 100 – 14mm – f5 – 1/400 sec

Thankfully, it was a gorgeous warm sunny morning and while I was trapped in the old port waiting for the train to pass I sat at a bench opposite Habitat 67 and enjoyed taking in the view and a bit of people watching.

Habitat 67
ISO 100 – 140mm – f8 – 1/640 sec

Complexe Maisonneuve and Square Victoria

On May 14 – another beautiful spring day – I spent a little time wandering around Square Victoria in the International Quarter. Like I did during my recent photowalk near Place du Canada, I wanted to find a few new angles that I had not shot before.

One particular spot that I had in mind was the terrace at Complexe Maisonneuve that’s at the North West corner of Victoria square (corner of côte du Beaver Hall and avenue Viger).

Square Victoria from Complexe Maisonneuve
ISO 100 – 16mm – f11 – 1/320 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

The staircase that leads up from avenue Viger is a great spot, offering some interesting angle and line composition shots.

View from Complexe Maisonneuve staircase
ISO 100 – 14mm – f4.8 – 1/640 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Staircase at Complexe Maisonneuve
ISO 100 – 16mm – f5 – 1/400 sec

Looking up at Complexe Maisonneuve
ISO 100 – 10mm – f4 – 1/4000 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Looking up at Complexe Maisonneuve
ISO 100 – 10mm – f11 – 1/500 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

I made a mental note that I should try to shoot here at various times of the day, plus with the ivy overhanging the stairwell there could be some nice juxtaposition shots to be had during the summer months – I was a few weeks early on this occasion.

After playing with some angles at the Maisonneuve Complex, I headed over to Square Victoria to get a few more shots.

I was happy to see that the tulips were in full bloom at the base of the Queen Victoria monument. For the purpose of providing some orientation, the shots above were taken between the 2 office towers in the center of the following image.

Queen Victoria Monument
ISO 100 – 10mm – f13 – 1/125 sec

Tulips at the base of the Queen Victoria monument
ISO 100 – 70mm – f6.3 – 1/500 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

By the way…belated happy Victoria Day (May 19) for those of you that celebrate it in Canada. In Quebec the day is marked as National Patriot’s Day…so as a slight detour from the main subject of this post, here is a shot to commemorate Patriot’s Day (which I shot on the actual day at Place des Patriotes).

National Patriot’s Day
ISO 100 – 20mm – f8 – 1/640 sec

Okay, back to a few more shots taken on May 14. Just in front of the main entrance of the Montreal Stock Exchange tower is a monument to Joseph-Xavier Perrault (1836-1905). Perrault was an educator in agronomics and a politician. His bust in front of the stock exchange tower is most likely in recognition of the fact that in 1886 he was instrumental in creating the Chambre de Commerce du District de Montréal.

Joseph-Xavier Perrault Monument
ISO 100 – 14mm – f7.1 – 1/200 sec

To end today’s post, I have a couple of other random shots that I took during the same day.

I really like the covered seating area on boulevard René-Lévesque at the side of the IBM tower. Just as I was passing a lady in a red dress sat down at the end bench and with the light casting a line of shadow leading toward her I thought the composition worked pretty well.

The Lady in Red
ISO 100 – 85mm – f11 – 1/250 sec

It seemed like the trees were turning greener by the second, so I wanted to get a shot looking up McGill College Avenue from Place Ville-Marie before Mount Royal turned totally green.

McGill College avenue
ISO 100 – 85mm – f5 – 1/1000 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

The final shot of today is of a Car2Go community share car that I saw parked on a street in the McGill Ghetto. Car2Go operate in (I believe) almost 30 cities around the World and in Montreal over 200 cars can currently be found in the Plateau and NDG districts. Perhaps one day I will do a post comparing Car2Go with the other car sharing service in Montreal – CommunAuto.

Car2Go
ISO 100 – 20mm – f5.6 – 1/100 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

That’s it for today…hopefully I will have time to do a few more posts during this week so that I can get back up to date.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

Montréal in Pictures

Your virtual guide in and around Montréal

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