For today’s post I have a selection of images taken during July in and around Old Montreal and a couple more on rue Ann and rue University, finishing up at Place Ville-Marie and McGill University campus. So excuse the randomness of this post.

Old Montreal and Vieux Port

One of my favourite buildings on rue Notre-Dame is the Sauvegarde building (built in 1913). I wanted to shoot it from the front but a bus was parked opposite blocking my view, so I decided to just shoot straight up.

Édifice La Sauvegarde
ISO 100 – 10mm – f5 – 1/1250 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Having photographed the Montreal skyline from the Old Port so many times, I’m always looking for new angles and vantage points. The yellow flowers next to the lake drew my attention and went for a low level shot…I like how it came out and is pretty different to most of my other shots from this area.

Old Montreal skyline
ISO 100 – 18mm – f6.3 – 1/500 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

In a recent post, I shared some pictures of the first 2 sand sculptures on the Promenade du Vieux Port. Here is the third (and final) sculpture of this years’ Coppertone Art en Sable event.

Boat sand sculpture
ISO 100 – 18mm – f3.5 – 1/2500 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Boat sand sculpture
ISO 100 – 32mm – f4.2 – 1/2500 sec

Another place I’ve photographed so often is Place d’Armes and the Maisonneuve Monument. It was particularly bright when I was passing through and although not the best light to photograph, particularly since the sun was directly behind the Basilica, I went for it. I really liked the strong shadow of Maisonneuve leading down into the bottom right corner, providing a nice leading line. I found processing in black and white with a high key and some added tilt-shift (to further enhance the shadow) the result was to my satisfaction and glad I took the shot.

Place d’Armes
ISO 100 – 12mm – f6.3 – 1/500 sec

Maisonneuve monument fountain
ISO 100 – 11.5mm – f6.3 – 1/640 sec

I love playing with various textures and is something I want to explore further, In particular, I want to shoot my own textures to use as layers on images. Until I have a good selection of my own to play with, I often turn to the texture library in Snapseed and process using my Samsung tablet. It involves a bit of a detour from my usual workflow, but sometimes the results are worth the extra bit of time.

I used Snapseed to give a grunge vintage feel to a shot of the Farine Five Roses sign I photographed from across the Peel Basin.

Farine Five Roses grunge
ISO 100 – 40mm – f10 – 1/320 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

The above image was based on the following HDR image (with a slight tilt-shift effect):

Farine Five Roses and Bonaventure Expressway
ISO 100 – 40mm – f10 – 1/320 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Rue Ann

I was walking up rue Ann where there’s a nice view and juxtaposition of the 1000 de la Gauchetière skyscraper against an old Griffintown warehouse in the foreground.

1000 de la Gauchetière from Rue Ann
ISO 100 – 66mm – f5.3 – 1/1600 sec

The bricked up windows on the old building on rue Ann provided perfect canvases for Philippe Mastrocola (AKA @spaycam on Instagram).

Philippe Mastrocola canvases on Rue Ann
ISO 100 – 18mm – f7.1 – 1/2000 sec

Rue University

Another shot of the Farine Five Roses sign, but from rue University. The planned redesign of the Bonaventure Expressway (at the bottom of rue University) will probably lead to this view disappearing eventually, due to the plans for mixed-use towers to be built between the north/south lanes. I look forward to the redevelopment, but would miss this view of the iconic neon sign if it were to be blocked by condos.

Rue University
ISO 100 – 70mm – f7.1 – 1/640 sec

There were some wonderful reflections on the glass windows of the office building on the corner of rue University and boulevard René-Lévesque…

Reflections on the corner of René-Lévesque and University
ISO 100 – 18mm – f7.1 – 1/100 sec

Place Ville-Marie and McGill University

One I have taken many times, but can never pass by and not take another photograph. This was taken at around 9am and I love the light in Place Ville-Marie at this time of day.

Place Ville-Marie
ISO 100 – 70mm – f8 – 1/200 sec

A final picture for today. Looking up towards the Macdonald Engineering building from beside Burnside Hall on the McGill downtown campus.

Beside Burnside Hall at McGill University
ISO 100 – 35mm – f4 – 1/1600 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Some recent Cafe Press store sales

In addition to prints, I also have a number of designs on various items (apparel, household items etc) available over on my Cafe Press store and recent items purchased include:

I recently added a new design featuring the Biosphere in a pop art style:

Biosphere Pop TShirt

I hope to add more designs soon and will keep you posted. It would be nice to get a selection of items in some local stores, but until then, check out the Cafe Press store. If you have a retail outlet and are interested in talking 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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