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.

Ends And Odds Around A National Capital

Starting off today, this early February view of the future main branch of the Ottawa Public Library, as seen from the west.

During one of my Winterlude visits to Confederation Park, I photographed the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument. It combines four indigenous warriors with the eagle, the wolf, the bear, the elk, and the bison into a powerful and poignant monument.

Another night, I was passing by the Canadian Museum of Nature. I photographed the statue pair of a mother and baby dinosaur out at the east end of the property, looking oddly fitting in the snow.

I was heading past the front of the Museum. The Queens Lantern is the name of the glass tower. Inside, a model of the Moon hangs.

The purple in some of the lights caught my eye.

They also cast a glow on the main entrance. I'll have another one of these for a theme day later in the year about the colour purple.

I headed beyond, passing the family of mammoths on the west side. We'll be back for a visit to this place in a couple of days.

On yet another night, passing by Ottawa City Hall, I noticed how the Heritage Building was lit up red. 

This is a monument in progress, down along the Ottawa River near Richmond Landing. This is for the LGBT community, and should be ready for dedication sometime this year.

Late one afternoon in the latter part of February, I stopped by Billings Bridge to pick up some groceries. The sun was setting in the west, and I took two shots of the western sky, a few minutes apart, first arriving and then upon departing.

For today I finish off with a night photograph of St. Matthew's Anglican Church in the Glebe, taken on a foggy evening in early March. We'll pick up here tomorrow

The Sun Finally Sets Upon Another Year

I have a tradition of wrapping up the year with a series of sunset and twilight shots. And so here we have some from the last few months around the region.

This first shot dates to mid-July, with the late light of day disappearing behind an oncoming storm front as I walked through the north end of the Glebe en route home. 

One evening in August, I took this shot of the last light of day illuminating clouds to the south.

A few minutes later, I took this shot from the ridge along the east side of the stadium at Lansdowne Park. The sun had set in the west.

On an evening in the first half of September, I was back at Lansdowne, where among preparations for a music festival, I took this shot of the dusk sky against the stadium north stands and the Aberdeen Pavilion.

A short walk away, I took another shot.

Some days later, I took these two shots of Fourth Avenue Baptist Church in the Glebe at twilight, with the last light of day fading off to the west.

I took this shot on Remembrance Day in November just after leaving the War Museum. The sun was descending, and shining brilliantly through the trees on what had turned out to be a beautiful but cold day.

I took these in mid-December, a few minutes apart. The first includes an old farmhouse at center-right. Abbotsford House today is a senior's community center. A retirement home looms at right, while center-left is a building that houses a nursing home in the Glebe.

A few minutes passed by, and I was further along on the property at Lansdowne Park.

And just a bit further along, I took this shot of the Aberdeen Pavilion from the east.

I was downtown the weekend before Christmas; we'd had a bit of a warm spell that did a number on the snowpack, but got more snow after I took these shots. When I emerged into the late day, it was mostly clear, and I headed up to Parliament Hill for some final sunset shots. This looks towards West Block, with the setting sun behind it.

A look at Centre Block, partially hidden by scaffolding.

I headed for the area between the two blocks for my last two shots. This rise of land includes two statues- Prime Minister Lester Pearson sitting at left, and Queen Victoria at right.

A short walk beyond, a view of the Ottawa River, in the process of winter freeze up, and the last light of day. Happy New Year to you.

Finale

 Canadians Arriving On The Rhine was painted by Inglis Sheldon-Williams from 1918-19.

Another work by him is this one. The Return To Mons dates to 1920.

It was at Mons that Canadian soldiers ended the First World War. They gave two field guns to the town, saying they were the last to fire on the enemy. With the centennial of the end of that war, Mons gave one of the guns back to the people of Canada. It is entirely fitting that its final resting place is right here, where a visit to the Museum's permanent collection both begins and ends. 

Outside, this screen usually has projected images from Canadian military history on it. However, in the runup to Remembrance Day, something else was being projected. The World Remembers was the concept of two Canadians during the centennial years, 2014-18. The names of all Canadians who died in the First World War were projected onto the War Memorial at night in the nights leading up to Remembrance Day. Afterwards, the same concept was projected onto the Government Conference Center, but with all of the names of those who died fighting in that war- country by country, including the other side. I found the concept entirely fitting.

One last space to visit. I always leave it for last. The Memorial Chamber is down this way.

It has one exhibit inside- the gravestone that once stood at the grave of an unknown Canadian soldier who fell at Vimy Ridge in France. His remains were re-interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the War Memorial, and the gravestone was brought here, where it is mounted on a wall that has the feeling of gravestones. Visitors on Remembrance Day leave their poppies on the stone.

I mentioned some days ago about how the Museum has two focal points in architecture. This is the second of them. The entire museum was designed with this room's placement and the overhead window in mind. On November 11th, at 11 in the morning, if it's a sunny day, the sun will shine through that window and onto the stone itself.

I departed the Museum to a glorious sky and a setting sun. We'll see another take from this for my last post of the year. The plan is to come back before Christmas- I want to see the temporary exhibit one more time, and take another stroll through the Lebreton Gallery. Tomorrow we move onto other things.