Thursday, March 31, 2022

The Ottawa River In Different Seasons

As I did with yesterday, it's my tradition to go to another overlook of the Ottawa River to capture the spot in different conditions. Twice a month I walk out to the Portage Bridge, which crosses the river from Ottawa into Gatineau. At a spot roughly where the provincial border weaves through the river, I take a shot looking downstream from the bridge. The landmarks captured here include the Alexandra Bridge, Nepean Point, National Gallery of Canada, Parliament Hill, and the Supreme Court at right. The river passes through a series of channels here coming downstream from the Chaudiere Falls, but this is the main channel. At right, the outcrop of Victoria Island divides another channel. 

To start things off, I took this shot on a clear day in early October.


Late in October when I took a walk along the river pathway towards the Hill, this was the view.


Another clear day in the first half of November saw things like this.


Later in November saw more of a brooding kind of day.


On a day in the latter half of December, it was a cold, clear day, with snow on the shores.


Late in December I returned on a day with light snow falling.. Ice was forming downstream. It never builds up to where the Portage Bridge is, as the current coming from the waterfalls upstream is too strong.


Mid-January saw another snowy day, with the ice build up more significantly seen downstream.


Late in January, this was the view.


In the first half of February I returned. 


A few days later, in mid-February, I returned. This was at the height of the trucker convoy occupation, and I'd gone to Lowertown past the worst of it. I decided at that point to come back by walking through Gatineau via the Alexandra Bridge and taking this bridge back. Better that than to have another go past those infernal idiots. I end with this shot, but have already started taking shots for the next installment a few months down the line.

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Changing Views In One Location

Once a month I come out to the start of the Alexandra Bridge, where a viewing platform is set up, to photograph the view through the seasons. The perspective takes in the Chateau Laurier at left and Parliament Hill at right, with the entrance of the Rideau Canal nestled between them.

To start, this was the view on an overcast mid-June day, one on a bit of a cool side.


Early in July saw different conditions, with some sun, but hot and humid.


A month later in early August, here's how things looked.


By mid September, the view was like this on a brooding day.


Here we had it on an early October day. Fall colours were just starting to make their presence known.


Early in November I paid another visit. Leaves were either in fall colours or had already fallen.


In mid-December there had been some snow, and ice was starting to form on the river.


Early January saw different weather, and the river below the lookout covered in ice.


A cold, clear day in mid-February. You wouldn't know it to look at this shot, which feels peaceful, but there was a lot of noise coming from the area of the Hill, thanks to the so called trucker convoy- who called themselves peaceful protesters, but in fact were anything but peaceful. I will despise those people until the end of time.


And I'm finishing up with this view on another clear day in the first half of this month. We'll see this series again down the line, but tomorrow I have a similar set of photos from a spot upstream from here.

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Magic Within The Ice Sculptures

 Here we have some of the finished sculptures from Winterlude 2018. I'm pausing this retrospective for the next three days, and continuing on with it after the beginning of the month.

Monday, March 28, 2022

The Past Caught Within The Ice

 Continuing where I left off yesterday, here was another one of the large sculptures in Confederation Park for Winterlude 2018.


A couple of days back I showed you the harness racing ice sculpture. Accompanying it was a wall with photos embedded into it. One of them featured harness racing on the Rideau Canal, an event of Winterlude in the early years.


Another photo featured harness racers meeting with the Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, who had brought his three sons along. Our current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, was but a boy at the time.


Some of the standalone ice sculptures in the park.


One of the big sculptures was made for the Winter Olympics that year, held in South Korea, with the mascots incorporated into the ice.


A CBC banner for the Olympics was encased into ice here, with the Lord Elgin Hotel and the Aboriginal Veterans Monument in the background.


I close off today with this set of sculptures.

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Creativity And The Hard Work

 The Chateau Laurier had these sculptures outside their main entrance during Winterlude 2018.


Back in Confederation Park, I took more time to photograph the carvers at work.


I leave off today with this large stand alone sculpture in the park.