Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 16mm, F 11, ISO 100, HDR, 5 Exposures

I tell ya. I’ve gotta get in the habit of shooting more brackets at night in urban areas. There is nothing quite like the wonderful tones and detail that HDR can pull out when the sun goes down. Urban areas are especially fantastic to use as a playground because, often times, your scene will have quite a variance of localized dynamic range. Think about it. For the most part, the scene above is pretty dark. You have a great shift in dynamic range when you include the street lamps and the lit interior with all of the details that you can see there. It just adds a dimension that I find so pleasing. I admit that it’s been a good long while since I’ve done some serious nighttime bracketing and me thinks that a change is in order stat.

As a side note, one of my absolute favorite times to go out shooting is just after a heavy rain storm. The storm that passed through Old Montreal on the night that this shot was taken was doubly beneficial. First, the rain was coming down with such strength that just about every other tourist resigned to staying indoors. I jumped at the first break in weather and had my way with the general area. Second, freshly wet pavement provides some spectacular and moody reflections to help enhance to feel of your scene. It really gives it a timeless quality.

So, maybe ‘Rain, Rain, don’t go away’?

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

A few weeks ago, I raved about how friendly and accessible I found the people of Montreal.  To lend to that sentiment, I present you with the main branch of RBC, the Royal Bank of Canada.  The architecture and design of this building was begging to be photographed so it was really a joy to actually be able to act on that.  I learned that this entire branch stays open on the weekends simply because there is an ATM located within it.  I don’t know why I find that freaking awesome.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 16, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

Sometimes all it takes is a random corner block to get the juices flowing again.  Recently, I spent a Saturday roaming around Montreal.  I can’t remember how far or for how long I walked but suffice it to say that it wasn’t a short stroll.  Towards the end of the day, I started to drag.  Tripod over shoulder, camera bag just slowing me down.  I was ready to just pack it up and head back to the hotel to welcome an evening of uselessness.  And then I saw this corner.

It’s pretty nondescript, sure.  But something about it resonated with me.  I literally ran to it, propped the tripod, and bracketed away.  And that was all it took.  I had a new burst of energy and ended up shooting into the night.  I guess the moral of the story is to know what gets you going and when you see it, seize it.  Go get some!

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 22, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

Old Montreal is filled with all sorts of grand facades like the one above.  It almost looks like someone sliced off the rest of this building, leaving you with a simple cross-section.  I thought that the most compelling vantage point to get this shot would be head-on.  I like the little bit of depth that is provided by the parking spot lines and the shadow cast.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 22, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

Let’s spend another day in beautiful Old Montreal.  I had the day to roam around so I got up early and started turning into any random street and alley.  I tried to stay off of the main arteries and opted to seek out the darker, dingier side streets.  This option did not disappoint.  I happened upon this sweet parking lot that had tons of character.  I love the shadow play that is created by the angle of the sun.  It creates a nice visual effect.  I decided to include the building wall on the right of the frame to give the image more compositional style and depth.  The door towards the bottom of the frame helps establish scale (it was a really tall building) and the graffiti on the fire escape was just icing.  Ahhh, Canada.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 22, ISO 100, HDR, 27 Exposures

The other week, I posted a shot based on inspiration that was provided by a friend.  In that case, it was provided by my buddy, Mike Wong.  The technique behind today’s shot is directly attributed to the oft-mentioned Bob Lussier.  A number of weeks ago, Bob rented a Nikon 24mm Tilt Shift lens and truly did wonders with it.  He seemed to traverse the learning curve of that glass with ease and produced shots with it in a week that I hadn’t ever even though about… and I own TWO different Tilt Shift lenses!

Bob showed me an HDR panoramic shot where he shifted the lens left to right to obtain his brackets to stitch together.  As soon as he explained his technique, it all made sense and I could not believe that I had gone this long without realizing the potential.

So, here we are.  Back in Old Montreal.  I was presented with this extremely wide vista of the city and instead of trying to cram it into one 17mm HDR image, I broke the scene into three sections (visualize left, center, and right components) and bracketed 9 frames each.  This gave me a total of 27 brackets making up three master plates that were fused together to one rectilinear panoramic.  I linked the image to a larger version so you can click it to see some more detail.

I’m really lucky to have so many sources of inspiration.  The next Guinness is on me, Bob.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L, 17mm, F 14, ISO 100, HDR, 9 Exposures

As a photographer who has had my lion’s share of encounters with various levels of law/security enforcement, I can confidently say that I am totally and utterly desensitized to being told to ‘leave’.  There is something about propping up a tripod with a camera atop it that seems to trigger all sorts of unease.  Now, I do not wish to make light of the importance of security even, say, in the name of counter terrorism.  I’ve heard, read, and forcefully been told all of the reasons why I cannot spend a few minutes capturing the beautiful architecture around me.

So, you could imagine my utter surprise when I walked into the Royal Bank of Canada’s Montreal branch, tripod and camera slung over my shoulder, and marched directly to the security guard that you saw in front of you.  I pointed to my camera and asked, ‘Can I photograph in here?’ His reaction seemed to be derived from a combination of a lack of care and a shock of surprise that I had even asked.  He shrugged and told me, ‘Sure.’  Like, ‘Sure you can shoot, why wouldn’t you be able to?’  This is not meant to provoke a political furor (I doubt that it will) nor is it meant to remind people of the huge bullseye that the US has on its land.  It’s more anecdotal and serves as a reminder to me that there are still places that have that open attitude towards photography that, I assume, we once shared in the US.  It was pretty sweet.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, 16mm, F 11, ISO 100, HDR, 5 Exposures

Welcome to rue Saint-Paul Ouest in Montréal, Canada.  I love this street.  The way that the architecture stands out once the streetlights turn on at night, especially with a layer of rain, gives this place such an old-world charm.  It was one of my favorite places to shoot.  And, if you are in the area, definitely stop in for a bite at Stash Cafe.  They have killer borsch soup.