Introduction
It was a great year for photography! I was able to participate in a wide variety of outings with friends, either on our own, or as part of a larger group organized by the RA Photo Club. Each outing offered something unique and exciting and hopefully that is visible in my work. There were challenges too, ranging from winter storms through to difficult lighting, that needed to be surmounted, but that is what photography is all about. Creativity, camaraderie, and challenge sum up the photographic year.
Please visit my journal website, www.lingerinthelight.com, to see more of my photographs, read a little of what I think about each photograph, or learn more about the outings that I participated in.
Winter
Stony Swamp
The year began with a photo club outing to Stony Swamp, located in the NCC (National Capital Commission) greenbelt in Ottawa. It was an overcast day and I was in a somewhat melancholy mood. Rather than fight these circumstances, I sought to employ them in my photographs to express how I felt.
Limerick Forest
Limerick Forest is one of my favourite venues for Nature photography. It consists of several tracts of land in the vicinity of Limerick Forest road in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, near Oxford Station, about an hour’s drive south of Ottawa. For this outing, friends and I photographed on the “Chalet Loop” set of trails during the annual forest Open House.
Almonte
As winter officially drew to a close, I participated in a photo club outing to the scenic town of Almonte, which is about an hour's drive from Ottawa.
It took a few photographs of things in town, ...
... but I mostly photographed ice on the Mississippi River which runs through the town. There were many excellent vantage points, but the wind was COLD and the pathways were coated with ice, so suitable clothing was essential.
Spring
Coulonge Falls
Two weeks after the outing to Almonte, the photo club organized an early Spring excursion to Coulonge Falls Park, which (in good weather) is about a 1 ½ hour westerly drive from Ottawa along the Quebec side of the Ottawa river. But this was not good weather. There had been a storm the night before with heavy snowfall from Gatineau, adjacent to Ottawa on the opposite side of the Ottawa river, all the way to Fort Coulonge, where the falls are located. The 1 ½ hour drive took closer to 2 ½ nerve wracking hours, and half way through the drive we learned that the outing had been canceled due to the weather. But four of us persevered, the three of us in my car, and one person on his own, and we were rewarded with remarkable scenery.
In addition to the challenging drive, the heavy snowfall meant that we had to contend with thigh-deep snow on the trails that run through the park. None of us had snowshoes of course. A crust of ice on top of the snow helped, but every few steps, our weight would break through the crust and we'd have to scramble to pull ourselves upright. It was an arduous morning, but we did manage to photograph throughout the park. Happily, the skies cleared and temperatures rose through the day, which melted the snow on the roads, and we were rewarded with a easy drive home.
Downtown Ottawa
After a particularly long winter with record snowfall and a very rainy April (leading to record flooding along the Ottawa river), it was wonderful that a friend suggested that we photograph together on a warm spring day in the downtown area of Ottawa, where there are several historic buildings and numerous modern buildings with reflecting glass.
I took a few photographs of details on Parliament Hill (Canada’s seat of government), ...
... but mostly I was like a kid in a candy store photographing reflections, and interesting patterns, and gorgeous light.
Limerick Forest
I've been to Limerick Forest many times over the years, but I discovered as I was looking through my catalog of photographs that I had relatively few photographs taken there in the Spring and Summer months. So when a friend invited me to do some Nature photography, I eagerly suggested Limerick Forest, specifically the “Chalet Loop” set of trails that I know so well.
This turned out to be a great choice, although the ground was muddy and one trail was flooded and impassible for my friend who didn't have hiking boots. The forest had a soft, pastel quality that I hadn't seen there before, ...
... but what I particularly found magical was the new growth. I spent considerable time kneeling down, or even laying down, despite the muddy ground, because I was in love with what I saw.
Summer
Limerick Forest
With the arrival of Summer, I made return trip to Limerick Forest with friends, although this time we went to the section in the vicinity of Craig Road. One of my friends had scouted there a couple weeks earlier and reported seeing a profusion of Lady Slipper orchids, and although we couldn't visit there as a group at that time, we hoped there would still be a few left.
I took many photographs of the forest with the beautiful dappled light that we had that day.
And as usual, I also got down on my knees to photograph small plants and details, looking in particular for interesting shapes and contrasts. But there were few Lady Slipper orchids to be found, although I did find a small patch of survivors and took some photographs of them to fulfill the nominal mission of the outing, although in truth by that point I had seen so many wonderful things that they were secondary to the enjoyment of the trip.
Museum of Science and Technology
As the summer wore on, temperatures climbed into the mid 30s (centigrade), which make outdoor photography very unappealing to me. But a friend and I still wanted to do something, so I suggested that we photograph indoors at the newly renovated Science and Technology Museum. Neither of us had photographed there for many years, so my suggestion worked out well for both of us.
As we arrived, we discovered the Collections Conservation Centre, which is an amazingly colourful building next to the museum. Despite the quickly increasing heat, were drawn to capture the sight in photographs. As you can see, the building begged for a graphical interpretation, which I was very happy to provide.
Once in the cool comfort of the museum itself, there were many things to photograph. This is where modern cameras prove indispensable, since they permit shooting handheld in low light levels. I looked for interesting details, and was particularly excited to find a few subjects that lent themselves to abstract interpretation.
National Gallery of Canada
Another friend and I had been intending for several months to photograph together but various things got in the way until mid summer when we decided to visit the National Gallery of Canada. As I waited for my friend to arrive, I photographed Maman, the enormous spider statue that stands in the plaza at the Gallery entrance, with Parliament Hill in the background.
We did spend some time looking at the art on display, in particular an excellent exhibition of Gauguin portraits that was running at the time, but my objective was to photograph the building space itself.
And I was particularly excited to find interesting abstracts hiding in plane sight in the walls and ceilings. No doubt I looked like a fool to the many gallery visitors who witnessed me ignoring the art on display and photographing the wall!
Fall
Downtown Ottawa
The photo club becomes dormant during the summer months, but with the arrival of Fall, club outings resume. My first outing as the club got going again was to the downtown area where I had photographed with a friend in the Spring. While I normally photograph as part of the group, another commitment forced me to arrive late to the outing. So I did the outing on my own. Having been there a few months earlier, I tried to find some different subjects to photograph (although I did sneek in a few reflections).
But unlike the sunny outing in the Spring, we had rain showers to contend with, which offered completely different photographic opportunities. In fact, the light rain made the day exciting for me.
I found many subjects in the various floral displays amongst the buildings.
And I found a wealth of abstracts that the rain made possible.
Trail 56, Gatineau Park
The Fall Challenge is an annual friendly competition organized by the photo club, and in 2019 it took place along Trail 56 in Gatineau Park. I suspect most participants limited themselves, as I did, to the section between Ramsay Lake and Kidder Lake.
A friend and I car pooled to the challenge venue together, arriving mid morning and leaving mid afternoon. The date of the event couldn't have worked out better since the colours on display were spectacular.
While I certainly took some wide angle shots, I mostly concentrated on looking for interesting details. For me, the soul of the forest resonates most strongly in these small features.
The Boneyard
I was not familiar with the Boneyard (www.boneyard.ca) until the photo club organized an outing there. Located near Cardinal, Ontario, this is a family-run collection of old cars, vans, buses, and miscellaneous stuff, covering a large area, that is kept for hard-to-find parts for car and other enthusiasts. I carpooled with two friends, although we wandered off in different directions once we started exploring the huge site.
I had a tremendous amount of fun photographing the old, rusty, smashed, and generally beaten up vehicles the Boneyard had to offer. I could have spent the afternoon just working with interesting patterns and colours to be found in the broken glass, but there was so much more to see and photograph!
Ottawa Light Rail Transit System
The photo club organized a photo expedition on Ottawa’s new Light Rail Transit (LRT) Confederation Line. In particular, we would photograph at several stations featuring interesting art work. I don't tend to photograph other people's art, but I did take up the challenge to get a good shot of part of the installation by Jyhling Lee entitled National Garden (the flowers below) and part of Lightscape by Catherine Widgery (the brightly coloured panels below).
Mostly, though I was on the hunt for abstracts, and I found several that I am quite happy with.
Aviation and Space Museum
The final photo club outing of the year was to the Aviation and Space Museum. In two previous visits in past years we had special access outside of visiting hours and permission to use tripods, but for this visit we attended along with the general public during normal hours, and needed to comply with the museum's standard rules for photography (no tripods, although monopods and flash photography are permitted).
There were many interesting details that made worthy photographic subjects, ...
... but what I found particularly exciting was how my flash and the ambient museum light could be mixed in creative ways.
Conclusion
Yes, 2019 was a good year for photography, with outings to a wide variety of venues, and opportunities to explore different subjects, different techniques, and grow my craft and vision. I look forward to what 2020 has to offer!