On April 2 I took a walk up Mount Royal. I didn’t start out with a plan for what to shoot and ended up doing quite a few long exposure shots at various points along the path that winds around the top of Mount Royal.

The first shot was taken on the north side that overlooks the Notre Dame des Neiges cemetery with the dome of Saint Joseph’s oratory in the distance.

The sun was trying hard to peak through the clouds and I wanted to try and get the sun rays that periodically appeared above the cemetery. I first attempted a multi-bracket shot to create an HDR image, but the best result I was able to achieve came from doing a 5 second exposure with the ND filter. The only problem was that being windy the trees in the foreground became blurred above the horizon, but I liked the softness of the clouds that resulted from the fairly long exposure.

Clouds over Mount Royal
ISO 100 – 18mm – f9 – 5 secs

My next stop was at the base of the Mount Royal cross. Again, I went for a long exposure to try and capture the movement of the clouds. In processing the image I turned to my trusted friend Topaz Labs Lens Filter to add some blur to the base of the image.

Mount Royal cross
ISO 100 – 22mm – f14 – 10 secs

Kondiaronk Belvédère
ISO 100 – 35mm – f6.3 – 5 secs

Kondiaronk lookout
ISO 100 – 18mm – f10 – 10 secs

Montreal skyline
ISO 100 – 18mm – f10 – 10 secs

I headed inside the chalet to warm up a little. I wanted to take an HDR shot of the large room but discovered there was a cleaning bucket in the middle of the hall which didn’t really add to the shot.

I did however notice a group of guys in suits that I thought might make for a nice ethereal image, particularly with the bright light flooding through the windows. I was going to process in black and white but decided to paint back in a little colour of the paintings and ceiling.

Inside the Mount Royal Chalet
ISO 100 – 20mm – f7.1 – 1/3 sec

Twins, triplets and quadruplets

When I had warmed up, I headed back out and found the same group of 6 guys standing outside admiring the view. I decided to take multiple shots (7) to capture their movements as they left the lookout.

Twins triplets and quadruplets
ISO 100 – 20mm – f7.1 – 1/320 sec (7 images)

I’ve been wanting to try this for sometime and this seemed like a perfect opportunity. One thing I learnt from the exercise is to leave a bit longer between exposures so as to make the layering process a bit easier.

It was funny that having since taken this shot I came across the work of local photographer Yves Médam who has produced some amazing collage images – reminiscent to the English artist and photographer David Hockney. If you are down in the Quartier des Spectacles you can see one of his images in the current Loto-Québec exhibition at the corner of boulevard de Maisonneuve and rue Clark (ends April 28)

So I revisited my mutliple shots used to create the above shot and attempted a collage effect…Not close to Hockney or Médam quality, but I like the effect…I just need to find my own Hockney/Médam-esque style (and improve on my shooting and processing skills), but always good to have a challenge (or 3).

Collage experiment

My last shot was of the staircase that leads from the lookout…always better going down, than up.

Mount Royal staircase
ISO 100 – 12mm – f7.1 – 1/50 sec

Fine Art America store update

For those interested, I’ve been slowly adding more images to my gallery on the Fine Art America store where you can buy a selection of my images in a range of sizes and in different materials (canvas, metal, acrylic) in addition to standard prints and a choice of over 250 frames. I’m adding more each day, so check back often, or if you would like a specific image added, give me a shout.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

Montréal in Pictures

Your virtual guide in and around Montréal

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