When I was down in the Old Port Thursday night shooting the sunset at Bonsecours Basins, I was very pleased to see that at last the Quai des Convoyeurs was now open following restoration work.

I can’t actually recall if/when the quay was open to the public, but it is certainly great to have a new perspective to take shots from. Unfortunately the tower will not be accessible due to safety concerns. A shame since I think the top would provide some nice views of Montreal 🙁

The marine tower at the end of the quay – the last of its kind in the port of Montreal – was built in mid-1950s and was used for unloading grain from boats to the grain elevators.  At the time, there were two marine towers on the Conveyor Quay. If interested, a bit more information is available over on the Old Port of Montreal website.

The quay and tower were featured in the final scenes of the Québec film Bon Cop Bad Cop – a great film if you haven’t seen it !.

Quai des convoyeurs Night shot
ISO 400 – 20mm – f14 – 6 secs

Montreal skyline at night from Quai des Convoyeurs
ISO 400 – 17mm – f11 – 6 secs

I was interested to check it out during daylight, so this afternoon I made another quick visit.

Quai des Convoyeurs tower
ISO 100 – 20mm – f5.6 – 1/800 sec

Quai des Convoyeurs tower
ISO 100 – 17mm – f5.3 – 1/200 sec

As I mentioned, it isn’t possible to enter the tower itself and there is a large fence preventing you getting up very close. I was able to get the camera under a section of fence though to at least manage a closer view.

Quai des Convoyeurs tower
ISO 100 – 20mm – f5.6 – 1/800 sec

Quai des Convoyeurs tower
ISO 100 – 18mm – f11 – 1/200 sec

One nice thing about the quay opening is that it gives a slightly new vantage point to shoot the city skyline from.

Montreal skyline from the Quai des Convoyeurs
ISO 100 – 15mm – f11 – 1/200 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Montreal skyline from the Quai des Convoyeurs
ISO 100 – 70mm – f11 – 1/125 sec

Montreal skyline from the Quai des Convoyeurs
ISO 100 – 14mm – f11 – 1/200 sec

I tried a slightly longer exposure to soften the clouds a bit…

Montreal skyline from the Quai des Convoyeurs
ISO 100 – 14mm – f25 – 1/25 sec

One particular new view is of the Palais de Justice building behind the King Edward Quay and Montreal Science Center.

Palais de Justice building
ISO 100 – 70mm- f11 – 1/125 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

Palais de Justice building
ISO 100 – 116mm – f11 – 1/125 sec

I hope you agree – another great addition to the Old Port.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

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