Montreal is a very walkable city and I love exploring its streets. These photos were taken in the east end, where commercial and residential buildings share the same space. It’s alive with colour, activity and fine old architecture. And you’re never far from a cafe that serves good coffee.
This cliff side view of Canada’s Parliament Buildings is an impressive sight. The photo was taken on a brilliant spring day but I thought the Gothic Revival architecture lent itself to a black and white treatment. The Parliament Hill complex was rebuilt in 1916 after a fire raised the original to the ground, only the Library of Parliament (the building on the far right) survived the fire. After more than a century the buildings are in the process of being renovated but at this writing, you can still walk around the grounds, toss a ball on the lawn, even raise a protest sign!
Spring hadn’t quite arrived in this laneway yet. The homeowner was prepared for what ever came his way as you can see by the traffic cones, snow shovels and garden tools propped up again his shed. I liked the textures of the wood and plaster and worked in Tonality Pro to bring them out.
While exploring an unfamiliar neighbourhood we turned into a nearby laneway. I had seen this church from a distance but was unaware that it was in a perfect line of sight. For a moment I imagined myself in the warm mediterranean and not a chilly laneway in a city that has yet to see Spring.
Just off a downtown thoroughfare we came upon this quiet courtyard adjacent to a coffee shop and an apartment building. As we sat and sipped our coffee, this corner was a pleasant break from the busy street just metres away. The city offers many spaces like this, on foot and with a camera at the ready, just waiting to be discovered.
This giant inflatable jellyfish is suspended inside a glass lantern in the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, a spectacular looking building in the Gothic Revival style. The museum completed in 1912 has undergone several renovations, the latest between 2004-2010.
The contrasting architectural styles and this extraordinary creature made for an interesting afternoon and the black and white version adds a bit more drama to the photograph.
Taking a walk downtown on a rare sunny afternoon in May, I hoped to see some things of interest to photograph. I had borrowed a wide angle lens (12-24mm) and was trying to get a feel for it. The sharp lines and colour attracted me in both of these photographs.
Canada will be celebrating its 150th Birthday on July 1. There is a multi-year plan to renovate many Federal buildings in Ottawa. You can just see some scaffolding in the reflection of the Parliament Buildings in the first photo. The fencing covered in colourful posters dressed up another construction site and made for an interesting composition.
