Thursday, April 2, 2026

Odds And Ends Around A National Capital

 I have some odds and ends from the last few months for you over the next three days. I start with these shots from before Christmas, when I was returning across the Ottawa River on the Alexandra Bridge from a visit to the Museum of History. I photographed the Ottawa skyline over the frozen river.


I used the bridge itself to frame Kiweki Point.


My path took me past the Peacekeeping Monument, with Notre Dame in the background.


I hadn't posted this shot from the Christmas market at Lansdowne. At the east side of the Aberdeen Pavilion, there had been a spot with regularly carved ice sculptures.


Late in the month, passing through the Glebe neighbourhood, I photographed this building I've passed by on occasion. It is in fact a church, a Quaker congregation.


In mid-January, back at Lansdowne Park, I photographed the Aberdeen Pavilion at night.


I've been occasionally photographing the development of the future main branch of the Ottawa Public Library at Lebreton Flats. The building will also house some space for Library and Archives Canada. Most of the work now is being done inside. I took this shot from the north in January.


One day I stopped by the National Gallery of Canada briefly. This looks up through the reflecting pool from below.


Outside, Maman by Louise Bourgeois is always worth taking a photo of.


I attended a PWHL game at Lansdowne. The game is fast paced, and the crowd enjoys it.


In early February, out in Nepean, I took time to photograph a church I haven't photographed since before Covid, I believe. Julian of Norwich Anglican Church stands out well in winter.

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Entertainment

 The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and for April, that theme is Entertainment. Check out how others are interpreting the theme right here.

I start with some Winterlude content from February. I was in Confederation Park one night late in the festival, and on stage, buskers were playing with glow sticks to fiddle music. One was on stage at this point.


His partner joined him.


The following day, a visit to Jacques Cartier Park over in Gatineau was in order. Arriving, I noticed the DJ on this elevated stage. She was doing an activity in which she was playing music, telling the audience to dance- and to freeze in place when the music ended.

Then she started playing Cotton Eye Joe. I moved away as quickly as possible. That song is a crime against humanity.


When I was leaving, I came across this busker getting his act started.


Back in January, I attended a screening of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Lansdowne Park. It included a live orchestra and choir doing the music. I took shots as the orchestra was warming up, and then again during the end credits.


These two I take from the archives, originally posted in 2017. The National Arts Centre is very much the heart of culture in the city, a national institution. That year they opened an expansion onto the building for Canada Day, and that day, walking around and exploring was possible. I took this shot from the balconies high above Southam Hall, the largest of the performance spaces within.


This was another one of the performance spaces, Asper Theatre.


This last shot was taken in late October in Southam Hall. I attended a concert of classical music and film score cues, all with a very Hallowe'en vibe. Before things got underway, the musicians were warming up their instruments. And all of them were in costume.

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Monday, March 30, 2026

The Falls In Late Winter

It was time for a new header. This one dates to last May, taken in Commissioners Park during the Tulip Festival. 

A few days back, on the last day of the winter, I paid a visit to the Chaudiere Falls, where the Ottawa River meets a series of islands between Ottawa and Gatineau, and where the main channel tumbles down falls and cascades, a total height of fifteen meters and a total width of sixty meters. It is ringed by a ring dam which diverts for hydro purposes. 


The Chaudiere Bridge is immediately downstream. Also visible in the distance are the Portage Bridge and Parliament Hill.


I have not been up here in winter, albeit in late winter. Not everything was accessible, but enough was that it was worth the trip.


I was able to approach between two of the old industrial buildings.


Check out this video.


More from here tomorrow.