Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Shades

 I carry on where I left off today, at Victoria Island on the Ottawa River.


I proceeded out to halfway out over the main channel of the river to take shots for my occasional series documenting the downstream view. Returning, the old carbide mill drew my eye again.


Hovering over part of it in these two shots in the distance is Parliament Hill.


The red of this tree caught my eye.


Late one afternoon, the sunlight illuminated these trees in Centretown, seen from two different spots.


On another day, I was at Lansdowne Park, where I took these shots.

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Colours

A reminder to members of City Daily Photo that the theme for December is Slow.

More fall colours today around Ottawa. 


I was in the Nepean area one day, and fall colours alongside this church caught my eye.


A bus ride later, I was waiting up at the Tunney's Pasture transit station. Trees outside the perimeter drew my attention.


This vibrant tree was outside a bank in the Glebe.


One day I headed out in the direction of Lebreton Flats.


Pindigen Park is here, and this tree certainly drew me.


Autumn colours around nearby buildings had the same effect.


Here we look across at the Canadian Firefighters Memorial, with fall colours in the background. The large statue of a firefighter points towards a wall with names of those firefighters who have died in service.


Across the road is the National Holocaust Monument, with the War Museum in the background.


My path led me on, in the direction of the nearby Portage Bridge.


Here at Richmond Landing, I took more shots of fall colours.


I kept moving along the bridge, which spans the Ottawa River between Ottawa and Gatineau. The river passes through a series of islands here, including Victoria Island, home to the ruins of an old carbide mill. We'll pick up here tomorrow.

Monday, November 18, 2024

Gardens

 It is my tradition each season to photograph the Landscapes of Canada Gardens as it changes through the year. I came up on Hallowe'en during the afternoon for that purpose. The Gardens are on the west side of the property at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Plants, trees, grasses, and shrubs from four distinct ecosystems are gathered here. The first is Boreal Forest, which covers a vast swath of Canada.


Among the trees of that forest is the larch, or tamarack. They look like an evergreen, but their needle-like leaves turn golden in the late fall and drop. 


Signage along the path includes information on the ecosystems.


Prairie Grassland is the next ecosystem. Most of the grasses had already been cropped for the winter, but this was still here. It grows well in an Ottawa environment, a mix of grasses and flowers.


This large sculpture crosses the path. This iceberg in steel is by the late Canadian artist and inventor Bill Lishman. 


This is taken from the sidewalk on the west. Among the rocks between here and the path are the plants and shrubs of the third ecosystem, Arctic Tundra. These plants grow very well in an Ottawa summer, but have already gone dormant, waiting on the winter.


Families can have their names inscribed over at the northwest and southwest corners, sometimes in memory of a loved one. The museum is particularly popular with families with children.


The last ecosystem is Mammoth Steppe, with plants such as the chive having already gone dormant for the autumn. These plants and grasses are survivors of the ice age, having had been around in the time of the mammoths, and still present today.


A family of three mammoths in statue form line the path as it leads to the museum, with the vegetation of their environment behind them.


They seem best photographed this time of year, when the trees beyond them are at their peak.


One last shot. The Queens Lantern, as it is called, contains a model of the Moon. I'll have to pay a return visit sometime. Perhaps on a day with less kids around.

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Vantages

 More today from Pink Lake in the Gatineau Hills.


A zoom lens can do wonders. Hints of the green in the water I mentioned yesterday can be seen.


On the far shore, hikers are seen high above the lake.


One last shot. From here I was back on the shuttle to return to the Ottawa side of the river.