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Photography with the Canon 5DSR in the Port of Montreal

In June 2016, I spent a few days in Montreal to look for photo opportunities in the city and in the Old Port. I had never seen so many construction projects going on at the same time in that city. We could feel that the city managers wanted everything to be perfect for the 375th anniversary of the city in 2017. Here are 2 percent of the photos that were taken during that photography session. (The files were in RAW and JPEG).

Photography and architecture. Habitat 67 in Montreal
Photography and architecture. Habitat 67 in Montreal

The picture above represents Habitat 67, created in time for the 1967 Universal Exhibition by the architect Moshe Safdie. You can click on the following link if you wish to obtain supplementary details in regards to the conception and construction of Habitat 67: Moshe Safdie and Habitat 67

To take the photos, it was better to wait for the evening, a few minutes before nightime, in order to benefit from a better luminosity and prioritize the reflection of light sources on the water. Several boats passed by while I was taking the pictures and it momentarily diminished the quality of the light reflections. Eventually, after several trials, I benefited from a flat water surface. With ISO at minimum, I was able to limit the digital noise that would unavoidably become visible after cropping the images.

Habitat 67 Montreal
Habitat 67 Montreal

A photographic exposure lasting a few seconds helped to flatten the water surface and emphasize the light reflections. I made sure to keep the tugboats in front of the buildings since I consider that they added some dynamism to the scene. As usual, the use of a tripod, remote trigger and mirror lock-up helped to reduce the camera vibrations. Liveview was activated and the focus was done manually to ensure optimal image sharpness.

The picture below shows the abandoned grain silos in the Old Port of Montreal. They are protected since 1996 and will possibly be given a new role next year, just in time for Montreal 375th anniversary.

Grain silos in the Old Port of Montreal in 2016. Photo taken with a Canon 5DSR.
Grain silos in the Old Port of Montreal in 2016. Photo taken with a Canon 5DSR.

The bulk carrier Venture (formerly called Balder), built in 2002 and belonging to the CSL company, was docked in the Old Port. I tried a few shots, among them one with a telephoto lens Canon 14 mm 2.8L.

The Bulk Carrier Venture (CSL) in Montreal in 2016
The Bulk Carrier Venture (CSL) in Montreal in 2016

To get a privileged access to the harbor installations, where all the loading and unloading operations are performed, would have been really interesting, but, since it was not the case, I had to try to capture an idea of the Port activities from a distance. I wanted to include the wagons loaded with containers and the ships. The use of a polarizing filter allowed the enhancement of the colours of the wagons. I thought necessary to include the venerable Molson Brewery building in one of the shots.

View of the Montreal Harbor, Molson Brewery and the Jacques-Cartier bridge in 2016
View of the Montreal Harbor, Molson Brewery and the Jacques-Cartier bridge in 2016

Then, profiting from the cancellation of the low pass filter in the Canon 5DSR DSLR, as well as the impressive enlarging capacities offered by the 50.6 megapixels full frame sensor, it was possible to capture a bit of the Port activities by cropping the photo later on, without any loss in quality, using an image editing software. The picture was taken with a telephoto lens Canon EF 24-70 mm f/2.8L USM at 70 mm.

Port of Montreal with ships and containers. Photo taken with a Canon 5DSR in 2016
Port of Montreal with ships and containers. Photo taken with a Canon 5DSR in 2016

For other photos on the province of Quebec and also Quebec City, click on the following links from my blog:

Province of Quebec Photos
Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Autumn
Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Winter
Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Spring
Quebec City and Île d’Orléans in Summer