City Daily Photo Theme Day: Sky

The beginning of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and for June, that theme is Sky. See how others are interpreting that theme right here.

To begin, I took this one morning in the first half of January before dawn at Lansdowne Park, with light in the east starting to brighten up the day.

In late January, I was passing along the National Gallery of Canada headed towards Major's Hill Park. I noticed this set of evergreens which occupy a portion of the Gallery property, covered in snow, against a slate grey sky, with snow falling. I composed the shot to only include trees and sky.

I moved into the park, where I photographed across the frozen Ottawa River towards Gatineau, with the Museum of History on the far shore, composing the shot to let the sky dominate things.

And did the same here, turning around and photographing towards Notre Dame, with the bare trees a contrast against the sky. There were hints of blue in that sky.

I took this on a night walk of the Rideau Canal during Winterlude in February, with an emphasis on the sky, with a mix of clear and light cloud, and some visible stars.

On two February days, I was around Lansdowne Park, and I took this sunrise shot at the east end of the property.

On the second occasion, I was at the west side of the property. I noticed the crescent moon, and lined up a shot, framing the sky with the office building at right, the stadium north stands at left, and the south stands in the background.

A March morning close to home, with the sun not yet up.

A short bus ride away, and the same morning.

Here we have the same location, but another morning, with contrails being lit by a sun yet to rise above the horizon.

And yet another morning in April, this in the pre-dawn at Lansdowne Park. This is taken from the west side of the stadium. Over at the east side, it's a construction site, with a new event center being built before the north stands are taken down and rebuilt. It'll be a long process.

I took this sky shot for the clouds on another day.

One day in early May, I noticed how dramatic the sunset was getting, lighting up the underside of clouds from the west. With not much time before the light gave out, I took two shots from my apartment windows. It was a cotton candy sunset.

From Winter To Spring In The Park

Central Park is in the north end of the Glebe, crossing the area like a ribbon. I like to document the progress from winter to spring in this area, stopping along Bank Street, which passes through the park, to photograph views on both sides as the seasons progress. 

I took these one evening in December after some snow. First I photographed the east side of the park.

And then crossed over to photograph the west.

These were my first photographs of 2026. I ventured out before dawn on New Year's Day.

When I returned in the first half of February, it was in the evening.

Here it was in March.

I returned one day early this month. Note the dog- this park is popular with dog walkers from the neighbourhood.

And then I came back a few days ago at dawn. It was a cold morning, but the snow from earlier in the month was gone, and the grass in both sections of the park was showing signs of getting green.

Dawn Arises Upon The Brand New Year

 As I end the year with sunsets, so too do I start it with sunrises for my first regular post of new material, taken from the last few months of last year.

I took this shot in the latter half of July early one morning, before dawn, coming out to the stadium at Lansdowne Park. I couldn't have asked for better conditions.

This shot was taken at the end of July near home very early one morning.

I took this one in the first half of August, back at Lansdowne Park again.

A few days later, another shot from close to home.

Another late August shot.

While this was at the beginning of September.

A few days later, I took this shot early one morning in the north end of the Glebe.

In mid-October, back at Lansdowne Park, I took a different perspective for dawn shots- the east side of the stadium, using the pedestrian bridge as a foreground.

I took this shot at the beginning of December. This is the last time you'll see things like this- the city has allowed for some work to be done here, and it's already started. A new event center will be built at the east end of the stadium field, where the berm is, and then the north stands will be entirely rebuilt. The idea is to do this without disrupting the teams. My view of things at this site has changed considerably from when the south stands were rebuilt over a decade ago- the city has an arrangement with the organization that runs the site to let them do so, and I've seen enough of how the city fumbles things themselves to know better.  The north stands are at the end of their life and need to be replaced. It's going to be quite a process, and in hindsight, it would have been better to do all this at once back in 2012. 

These were taken in mid-December. at Lansdowne.

I took this shot on Christmas morning, close to home.

And some days later, I approached the Flora Bridge, a pedestrian bridge over the Rideau Canal that links the Glebe to Old Ottawa East.

Bitterly cold, but worth coming out for with the sun soon to rise.

Winter Into The Spring Around The Park

It is a tradition for me each spring to feature transitional views from a specific spot, from winter into spring. The spot in question is Central Park in the north end of the Glebe neighbourhood. In each case, I take a photograph to the east first, and then over to the west. 

I took these first two shots in early December, after a snowfall.

In early January, I was passing by and took shots. This park is quite popular with local dog walkers, especially on the west side, where some were visible during this visit.

I returned in the latter part of February, after a pair of snowstorms had clobbered the city. This was at dawn.

I passed by one morning in early March.

Early this month, I took these two shots shortly after dawn. The melt was on, though it was a cold morning.

And here we see things as they were just a few days ago, with the grass turning green.