Wednesday, January 1, 2020

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Best Of The Year

Happy New Year! For the first theme day of the year, City Daily Photo members choose favourite shots of the year. You can see how others are choosing their favourites at this link.

The National Capital region is blessed with several national museums. I often go to the National Gallery of Canada. One of the treasures here is the Rideau Chapel, a convent chapel moved here before the building itself was demolished. It is a work of art in its own right.


There are a series of courtyards in the Byward Market that I like going through. One February evening I was passing through. It's the presence of the woman in the shot that made it stand out for me.


February is also the time of Winterlude on both sides of the Ottawa River, and in the Byward Market, ice sculptures were on display. They were particularly vivid at night, with spotlights shifting colours on them.


May brings another festival to the region, the Tulip Festival. Both flowerbeds in these two shots are at Dow's Lake, where the biggest site of tulips is to be found.


Doors Open is held here on the first weekend of June, and this year I happened to pass through the National Arts Centre for a backstage tour. Here on the stage inside the largest of the performance spaces inside, the woman at the conductor's place is what made this shot memorable for me.


This shot was taken on Canada Day from Plaza Bridge looking over the Rideau Canal. 


During the summer I visited the Canada Science And Technology Museum for the first time. At the time it was hosting an exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci, examining his inventions, knowledge, and art from a scientific perspective. Mona Lisa, of course, was part of all that, with several copies of the painting in different exposures as part of the exhibit. As always, her smile kept her secrets.


Elsewhere in that museum, in the permanent collection, are several steam engines, including this one.


There's a pub in the Glebe area that often has funny chalkboard sayings out front. This one is from the fall.


On an October visit to the National Gallery, I photographed Dancer, by the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova. It's my favourite sculpture in the Gallery.


On this same visit I took this shot of Bernini's bust of Pope Urban VIII. Tomorrow we head over to the Quebec side of the Ottawa River to see some of my favourites from there from the last year.

44 comments:

  1. Happy New Year!

    The Brexit sign made me laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That Brexit sign is too funny! Happy New Year, William.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beste wishes for 2020, William.
    2019 has brought a lot of beauty, let's hope 2020 brings even more.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the Brexit sign :)
    The ice sculptures and the tulips would have been my favourites. Have a great 2020 William

    ReplyDelete
  5. A Happy New Year to you.
    The Brexit sign sure will... what? Europe is mad at "the Brits", but who are "the Brits"? So many didn´t want this. It shows democracy is but a joke...

    But let´s try to start positive, right!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wonderful photos, William, wishing you a happy new year:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Maywyn: thanks!

    @Marleen: thank you.

    @Rosemary: thanks.

    @David: I agree.

    @Jan: hopefully.

    @Sami: thanks.

    @Iris: what a mess.

    @Rosie: thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Belas fotografias e aproveito para desejar um Excelente Ano de 2020 cheio de coisas boas.

    Andarilhar
    Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
    Livros-Autografados

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wonderful collection of photos. I always love the ones you choose. That dancer is my favorite, too. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. ...the funny chalkboard isn't really all that funny!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happy New Year! I like your selection of beautiful photos.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The Rideau chapel is my favorite!

    ReplyDelete
  13. We had a good year going along with you to some very interesting places. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That is quite a selection of photos! Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  15. The Rideau Chapel is amazing, the ceiling would be mesmerizing to me and I can understand what you say about the women in your shot. Thank you for sharing your great photos with us throughout the year William. Wishing you A Very Happy and Healthy New Year :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great selection of the photos! I really love photos from tulip festival :-)
    Happy new year to you!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Keep those awesome photos coming! Happy New Year. Tweeted.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Happy New Year and all the best in 2020 to you as well, William. Thanks too for a photo look-back at 2019 through your lens.

    ReplyDelete
  19. @Francisco: thank you.

    @DJan: she's a beauty.

    @Tom:: alas!

    @Nancy: thanks.

    @RedPat: it is stunning.

    @Rue: thank you.

    @Red: you're welcome.

    @Sharon: thanks!

    @Denise: thank you.

    @Tamago: I do too.

    @Marie: it stands out.

    @Mari: thank you.

    @Beatrice: you're welcome.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Those are all excellent, William. Good work!

    ReplyDelete
  21. It must have been difficult picking a selection. Wow. Soon it'll be Winterlude!
    Happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
  22. that is a lot of snow??! wow. i love the train view. Happy New Year!! ( ;

    ReplyDelete
  23. Happy New Year, William! I love the Dancer sculpture.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Happy New Year!
    I'm liking those tulips!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. A nice look back at 2019, William. Happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Great collection...and I can't say which is my favorite! It's been a fun year seeing what you have shared!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Happy New Year. May you enjoy many a fine photo ramble.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Great choices William!! I love the tulips! Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  29. William - how difficult to choose a few photos from among hundreds of quality pictures! I read the pub chalkboard to my husband and we couldn't stop laughing (he's a Brit). I am also partial to the tulip pictures. Happy New Year to you!

    ReplyDelete
  30. A fine collection of photos. What impresses me most about your work is all the colors to the museums.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Happy 2020 William. Loved all these photos.

    ReplyDelete
  32. @Catalyst: thanks!

    @Jennifer: yes, Winterlude is coming.

    @Beth: we get a lot of snow.

    @Michelle: thank you.

    @Happyone: I am too.

    @Kay: thanks!

    @Barbara: thank you.

    @Anvilcloud: I hope.

    @Tanya: thank you.

    @Angie: it was fitting.

    @Stefan: and we have a lot of museums.

    @Gemel: thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Happy New Year to You ~ My favorite shot is the 2nd one ~ night/ice photo ^_^

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

    ReplyDelete
  34. I can see why you chose the favorites you did, for they are all wonderful. It had to be a tough call, though. You've a lot of wonderful images this year.

    ReplyDelete
  35. The Rideau Chapel...wow. stunning!
    I wish you a very happy and healthy New Year.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I have to say, the tulip photos of yours stand out the most for me! I loved seeing them and also loved learning more about Ottawa!

    ReplyDelete