Canada – David Giral Photography Blog

David Giral Photography Blog | Canada

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Explore Canada

2020/05/11

in Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal Under Confinement: A Saturday Night Downtown

If you haven't had the chance to check the first two posts about Montreal under confinement, you might be interested in checking out my walk around the Olympic Stadium and in Old Montreal. This series in downtown Montreal was captured on April 4th 2020. It was my first time in downtown since mid march and although there was some car traffic, what made things feel eerie was that the foot traffic was close to nonexistent, which is definitely unusual for a Saturday night. 18:24 - As I...

2020/04/12

in Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal Under Confinement: Evening In Old Montreal

Following my first post about Montreal under confinement, I wanted to explore other districts of the city. Although I shot a series of images on April 4th in downtown Montreal, I felt like sharing this series here first, which was shot in Old Montreal on Saturday April 6th, 2020. I wanted to capture how the pandemic had affected this touristic district. Although the weather is still relatively fresh, I was a bit surprised by how unusually calm the neighborhood was. 6:35pm - Heading to Rue Saint Paul,...

2020/04/02

in Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal Under Confinement: A Walk around the Olympic Stadium

Who would have thought that I would open 2020 on this blog with this photos from Montreal under #COVID19 confinement. Although I stay at home all the time, only going out to the grocery store, I felt a sense of duty to go and capture the city during these trouble times. Learning that the olympic stadium was lit with the rainbow colors of the #cavabienaller, I thought it was the perfect occasion to go for a walk in the neighborhood. 7:20pm - I had to get started with...

2019/07/16

in Canada, Editorial Travel Photography, Explore The World, On Assignment, publications

by David Giral

Just Off The Press: Montreal Travel Feature For The Guardian

Even though I've been living in Montreal for more than a decade and know my way around the city, I always love when I get hired to photograph a travel feature for a magazine or newspaper. It's the perfect excuse to revisit places I know or discover new locations. A few weeks ago, The Guardian contacted me to photograph a Canada sponsored feature for their website: a local's guide on how to make the most of Montreal. The article concentrated mostly around 4 neighborhoods: Downtown/Old Montreal, South...

2019/07/08

in Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal: Dusk on Downtown Murals by EL MAC / Gene Pendon & Antoine Tava

As a photographer, I love dusk and blue hour. As a photographer, I also love public art and more specifically murals. So when I read that, starting June 12, 2019, the Leonard Cohen mural located on Crescent Street would be illuminated, I had no choice but to head downtown Montreal and take the time to photograph this masterpiece by LA artist El Mac & Montreal artist Gene Pendon at dusk. However, when I arrived on location, I found myself distracted by yet another stunning mural located just...

2018/08/06

in Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal: Summer Walk In Historical Old Montreal for American Airlines

There is nothing like an assignment for a travel magazine to allow you to discover and rediscover neighbourhoods you thought you knew all about. Cities are living organisms and evolve on an ongoing basis and it's always worth going back for a refresher every now and then. Following my previous post featuring a dozen images of my assignment in Old Montreal for American Airlines inflight magazine, I felt compelled to share some of MY favorite photos taken while walking around this part of town. So shall we...

2017/05/29

in Canada, Editorial Travel Photography, Explore The World, publications

by David Giral

Just Off The Press: 36h Hours In Ottawa for The New-York Times

One of the key aspects of editorial travel photography is the ability to organize yourself efficiently. When The New York Times contacted me to do a piece on "36 Hours in Ottawa" in the middle of winter, I spent a fair amount of time to organize my trip as efficiently as possible. One of the first task was locating all the locations mentioned in the article, see how they were grouped and look up each one and figure out which ones would be the most interesting....

2015/05/28

in Canada, Editorial Travel Photography, Explore The World, On Assignment, publications

by David Giral

Just Off The Press: Travel Photography – Toronto Feature for Cara inflight Magazine

Travel assignments have always been my favorite, because they tend to bring me to places I've never been and connect with new people. For this assignment, Cara Inflight magazine from Aer Lingus Airline asked me to discover different neighborhoods of Toronto such as Chinatown, Queen Street W, historical downtown and Little Italy/Ossington Street. The challenge here was to convey a "summer"-like feeling to the picture when the temperature was still a bit cold and leaves had not yet appeared on the trees at the beginning of May. Here is...

2015/03/03

in Architecture, Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Toronto Architecture: The Absolute Towers – AKA the Marylin Towers by MAD Architects

Whenever I travel, I always look for new projects to photograph and discover. The last few months having brought me to Toronto on numerous occasions, I took the opportunity to head to Mississauga, located in the suburbs of the city of Toronto, in order to shoot the brand new Absolute Towers, AKA Marylin towers in reference to the curves of Marilyn Monroe. These breathtaking pieces of architecture were designed by the firm MAD Architects based out of China with the help of a local Toronto firm: Burka...

2014/02/22

in Architecture, Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Architectural Photography: The Montreal Planetarium Rio Tinto Alcan by Cardin-Ramirez Julien and Ædifica

Last year, I had the pleasure to be the first photographer to access the brand new Montreal planetarium Rio Tinto Alcan. The building, designed by architects Cardin Ramirez Julien and Ædifica was inaugurated in April 2013. What I really like about the building is the mixed use of Wood and aluminum which makes for striking contrasts and a nice balance. So take a walk with me around the building and enjoy the visit. Exteriors by day [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1800"] Front Entrance of the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2150"...

2013/12/25

in Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal: Snowy Christmas Eve at The Montreal Botanical Garden

As a gift to all of the readers following this blog, I thought I'd share with you a new series of pictures. Winter in Montreal is an experience in itself, and as harsh as the weather may be at times, it's also the perfect time of the year to discover local landmarks from another perspective. Very popular during spring and fall, the Montreal Botanical garden transforms itself into winter wonderland during winter. Strolling through the park is becomes so relaxing that it's the perfect place to...

2013/06/11

in Architecture, Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Ottawa Architecture: The Faculty of Social Sciences Building at the University of Ottawa

The last weeks have been crazy busy shooting for various new clients in architecture and travel and while I was in Ottawa for a series of architectural photography assignments, I set my mind of finding a few fun projects to shoot for my portfolio. Looking on Google I happen to notice that a new building by Diamond Shmitt and KWC architects had been completed a few months ago and as I was driving back to the hotel, I just realized that I had passed by the...

2013/04/23

in Architecture, Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal: Quartier des Spectacles & Place Des Arts at the Blue Hour

Finally, winter is gone! Time to rejoice and go out and shoot and enjoy the nice weather shooting some architecture. Our stop for today is Place des Arts. Located in Downtown Montreal and inaugurated in 1963, Place des Arts is the central hub of the cultural life in Montreal and is home to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and the Opéra de Montréal. It's also the heart of several musical festivals and events such as the International Jazz Fest, Montreal En Lumières and Francofolies. During...

2013/03/04

in Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal: Winter Wonderland at Mont Royal Park

There is always something magical about winter in Montreal. And once in a while a curious phenomenon arises. After a few days of a mix of snow and rain, something enchanting happened. You woke up in the morning only to discover that the trees and streets are covered with a thick layer of snow. It's so extraordinary that I had to take my trusty Nikon D800 with my Nikkor 24-70mm F/2.8 G ED and go on a long stroll. So down I go, strolling into the streets of Outremont,...

2012/05/14

in Architecture, Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal: In the heart of the city, A new Jewel of Contemporary Architecture; the 2-22 building

Once known as the red light district in Montreal, the corner of Ste-Catherine and St-Laurent is now the home of the "quartier des spectacles" (or entertainment district). Within this square kilometer of the city, one can find over 80 cultural venues, including 30 performance halls with almost 28,000 seats. For this week's blog topic of "Exploring Montreal", we will focus on the latest addition to the district, a new jewel of contemporary architecture designed by one of the best architecture firms of the city: Ædifica. Built in...

2011/04/18

in Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Quebec City: Blue Hour On the City / Heure Bleue sur La ville

During my last trip to Quebec for a one day workshop, we had planned a blue hour session with the photo club and the night was just perfect. I just had time for a quick series of pictures. All pictures were taken with a Nikon D700 + Nikkor 16-35MM VR F/4.0 and edited in Oloneo PhotoEngine Beta version (standalone HDR application available on PC) with the following settings: Lors de mon dernier séjour dans la ville de Québec pour un workshop Photoshop, nous avions planifié une session à l'heure...

2010/12/24

in blog, Canada, Explore The World, Street Photography

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal: Snowy christmas on Rue Masson, Rosemont

While a lot of people are in their offices working or barely out in the metro or the subway, most people don't see that special moment of the day where the sun goes down in December and that the sky becomes electric blue or purple if it snowing. The reflections of light on the snow gives it some pink to violet accents which are magical. Properly covered and even wearing gloves, going out and capturing the life of a neighborhood is always fascinating and nice adventure...

Heure blue sur le marchand de fleur du Square Victoria, Montréal, Québec, Canada

2010/02/05

in blog, Canada, Explore The World

by David Giral

Exploring Montreal: Blue Hour at Square Victoria – Financial District

Created officially in 1860 and located in the heart of the financial Center and within walking distance of the old Montreal, the Square Victoria is one of the most beautiful squares of the city with its harmonious blend of old and new buildings. Agrandir le plan As you have read in my previous post, this type of location is perfect to shoot at the blue hour, because you have more than enough to shoot before the night falls. Because it's the tallest building and it looks a bit...

Blue Hour on Vancouver Skyline, Bristish Columbia, Canada

2009/12/26

in Canada, Explore The World, France, United States

by David Giral

Landscape Photography :Top 10 Photos of 2009

Each year brings new challenges and 2009 was no exception. Here is the top 10 photos published on my photostream on Flickr in 2009: Ranked 10 | The hilly Streets of San-Francisco II | HDR/RAW Ranked 9 | Classic Seattle Skyline, Washington, USA Ranked 8 | Spooky Evening in Bodie, California, USA | RAW Ranked 7 | San Francisco at Night from Russian Hill, California, USA Ranked 6 | Rush Hour on Rue Royale, Paris, France Ranked 5 | Blue Hour on Hawthorne Bridge and Portland, Oregon | DRI Ranked 4 |...