Monday, September 2, 2019

The Ottawa River In The Seasons

I do tend to photograph some of the same perspectives in different seasons, including a spot on the Portage Bridge as it crosses the Ottawa River upstream from Parliament Hill. This location, about where the provincial border between Quebec on the left and Ontario on the right goes through, gives a good view of landmarks downstream like the Alexandra Bridge, the National Gallery of Canada, the Parliament Buildings, and the Supreme Court. The last time I did this was in March. It's time to do so again. Here is how the river looked in the middle of March.The flow coming from the Chaudiere Falls upstream from here is too swift, and so the river does not freeze over in this area.


Quite a similar day, but this was late in March. Note the difference in the ice.


And there was even less ice when I showed up in mid April. The water levels were higher too.


A few days later, on Easter Monday, I returned. The river was flowing swiftly.


In early May, however, the river was raging, swollen with meltwater and rains, higher than I've seen it. 


Here we see what it was like in late May.


And then in the first half of June, on a brooding kind of day.


Later in June, on a hot afternoon, here was the view.


I passed over the bridge on Canada Day in between museum visits.


By mid July it looked like this. The rock island in mid-stream was more exposed, whereas during high water it was completely submerged.


In mid-August I returned.


A few days later here's how it looked.

38 comments:

  1. Thats a great idea to photograph your beautiful River in different seasons.

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  2. You had a very interesting idea ...
    So you can see the Ottawa River in all its splendor.

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  3. That´s a great idea. Although our river Oker is much, much, much smaller it has different looks with the seasons, too. Guess I´ll resume your idea

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  4. The last shot with the clouds is very attractive.

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  5. Nice idea to show the various seasons :)

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  6. ...an interesting look at the seasons.

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  7. Oh, just saw this, maybe you like it, too? #16 and 17, so cute....

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  8. @Sallie: I think so.

    @Ella: it is a big river.

    @Iris: good idea, and thanks for the link.

    @David: I thought so too.

    @Francisco: thank you.

    @Sami: it is.

    @Tom: thanks!

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  9. Gosh the difference in the flow of the river changed dramatically over the months William, excellent documentation ✨

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  10. Nice contrasts through the seasons you photographed. Lovely place, too. :-)

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  11. The river is beautiful no matter the season.

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  12. Great to see the river flowing through time.

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  13. It is interesting to see the changes!

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  14. Geographic, natural boundaries are so much nicer than gerrymandered boundaries. Do you have the latter in Canada?

    Janis
    GDP

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  15. Nice series on the changes in a river over the season's.

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  16. It’s a good idea to do that. I am reminded how high and fast the water was flowing in spring and how low it is now.

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  17. An interesting series William. I like the clouds in the last photo as well.

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  18. Beautiful river shots in all its seasons ~ ^_^

    Happy Day to You,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  19. I love seeing photos from the same perspectives in different times! Love seeing how season changes. Beautiful river has many faces xo

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  20. @Grace: thanks!

    @Marie: thank you.

    @DJan: it is a good spot.

    @Sharon: it certainly is.

    @Barbara: I agree.

    @RedPat: it is indeed.

    @Janis: a mix of both.

    @Red: now to get started on another edition.

    @Catarina: thank you.

    @Anvilcloud: it has gone down.

    @Marleen: thank you.

    @Carol: thanks!

    @Tamago: it does.

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  21. Very nice to see the seasonal differences, great photos

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  22. love all the bubbles or foam ... very cool sighting. ( ;

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  23. A raging river is an ugly and frightful sight. I stop and watch ours go by at such times. Remarkable, the power moving.

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  24. A few days here and there can make a big difference, especially as spring is coming on.

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  25. Very interesting to see the differences...

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  26. It's beautiful and thank you for sharing it throughout the months.

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  27. Lovely photographs, nice to see the differences, and I love the clouds in your last one.

    All the best Jan

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  28. @Maywyn: thank you.

    @Beth: thanks!

    @Joanne: it was impressive to see its power in the spring.

    @Kay: that's quite true.

    @Karl: that's what I thought.

    @Denise: you're welcome.

    @Jan: thank you!

    @Eve: thanks!

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  29. Interesting to see the same view at different times of the year:)

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    Replies
    1. I've already started on shots for the next installment in this series.

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