A great experience!

As a relatively experienced amateur photographer, I was attracted initially by the fact that Alain is not only a superb photographer (look at his website) he is also a location manager for many film studios.

On our tour, we were greatly tested by inclement weather. However, Alain’s flexibility and creativity managed to shine through the pouring rain. He turned the schedule on its head, and we began the tour in a fascinating interior, the Crew Cafe, where Alain set up a tripod, and we did long exposures, catching the beauty of the buildings facade, while showing the blurred motion of the people walking by.

We then headed to the Montreal World trade centre, and repeated the process of getting great shots of people scurrying to work in this iconic setting. We then headed to the top of Mont Royal, and got some excellent shots of people holding colorful umbrellas overlooking the city.

A break in the weather allowed us to take photos in Parc Jean Drapeau and at the Biosphere. We finished up with lunch and more great shots in one of Montreal’s iconic markets.

The day was an excellent combination of learning and shooting, and having fun. Alain is a marvelous teacher- articulate and patient, and he is a pleasure to spend time with. With Alain, you get to see and photograph parts of Montreal that are simply not available to the ordinary tourist.

If you’re considering a photo tour in Montreal, if you’re an experienced or novice photographer, if you’d like to see Montreal, and learn a lot about taking photos, book a tour with this really nice guy and terrific photographer.

The Quebec Film and Television Council has an important mandate to attract major US films to the city of Montreal and the rest of the province. In past years we have helped bring films like 20th Century Fox’s ‘ X-Men', Sony’s 'White House Down' and last year’s Oscar contender for best picture, ‘ Brooklyn'. We do this in part by the compilation of our extensive database of filming locations and the extraordinary pictures that highlight their beauty & uniqueness. For several years now we have turned to the experience and professionalism of Alain Dahan for this very reason, not only has he been a Key Location manager on many projects shot in Montreal and therefore knows the city and the province inside out, but also has the artistic eye that all directors want to see in their location photos. Alain’s ability to find unique and beautiful filming locations and capture their essence is the reason I never hesitate to call on him and will continue to do so for many years to come. It is a pleasure to work with Alain and a privilege to call him a friend.

For the feature film “The Comedian’s Guide to Survival” we needed a strong Californian visual feel to the locations, but needed to achieve this filming in Montreal. Alain Dahan, our location manager, took on the challenge and delivered admirably, giving us the full range of desert, beach and city vistas we required, and in the process, saved us a considerable amount of money, without any loss to quality. Alain, like all great location managers, has an instinctive understanding of what a film requires to operate to it’s fullest potential; from the aesthetics of the location’s visual quality, to it’s functionality and proximity of supporting a unit base, thus delivering something that not only looks fantastic on camera, but is also efficient and cost effective for production.

While I have been dabbling in photography since high school, it has been a couple of years since I have picked up an SLR. Regardless, the desire and need to experience the world accompanied by a camera other than my iPhone is always in the back of my mind. I found Alain's tour online and texted him. He responded right away and we set up a private tour for me and my friend the very next day!

Alain was professional, prompt (even though we weren't!) and engaging. He asked us what we were interested in seeing and I said ``urban street scenes``, whatever that means. So, in the dead of winter, he drove us around to alleys and parking lots where we saw great street art, old brick buildings and brownstones with their romantic fire escapes, an indoor infinity pool, a real chunk of the Berlin wall, the subterranean world of the metro, and an art gallery in old Montreal. He also lent me his 50mm f1.2 lens to try. I had never used a lens with that shallow an aperture before so that was neat and also technically difficult.

Anyway, if you are a big photo buff, he's your guy, if you are just interested in experiencing the city with an artist's eye, he's also your guy. He took some shots of my friend and I during the tour. We both agree that those photos are probably the best photos of us in existence. We've known each other for 15 years.

We enjoyed his company so much that we met up again later for dim sum, Alain's suggestion. It was the biggest Chinese banquet hall I'd ever seen! Alain is great company and was an integral part of our 9 day Montreal experience! Aaaand we are now Facebook friends. You know, nothing's official til its on Facebook.