This morning I took the mobile photo studio to the local dealership to have the snow tires switched over to the summer tires. I wanted to be first in line so I was there at the crack of dawn. While I waited for the garage to open, I was rewarded with this spectacular urban sunrise.
Photographer of the Month
Earlier this year I was asked if I would be interested in being the featured photographer in an upcoming issue of the Orkney.com newsletter.
Today, a nice surprise came out. I am very honoured that Orkney.com chose a Canadian amateur photographer to highlight a very special part of Scotland.
Check about half way down this months newsletter under the Focus on Photography heading.
Stay safe and healthy everyone, so we can go back again soon.
Virtual Challenge Update
End of March update on my virtual challenge Lands End to John o’Groats (LEJoG) walk.
As of March 31st, I am currently just down the road from Stone Henge just north of Salisbury in Wiltshire England.
285 miles/459 kms completed – 799 miles/1,286 kms to go. (26% completed in 25% of the time)
Moody March
I hope everyone is well with all the craziness that is happening in the world. Please follow all the Government guidelines and we will all get through this together.
I have been trying my best to avoid crowds and people and the result has been some moody and lonely pictures.
Sure Signs of Spring
When the City of Ottawa starts blasting the ice above the Rideau Falls to prevent ice jams on the falls (This prevents flooding in this part of the city) you know Spring is on the way. We went down to the falls to do some Long Exposure photography to hopefully give a sense of movement of the water and ice. Most of the shots were between 1-5 seconds in length and 100 ISO, F29.
Rideau Falls 
Rideau Falls and City Skyline 
Ice boulders 
Water Flow 
Rideau Falls 
Rideau Falls 
Memorial Reflections 
Ice heading to the falls 1 
Ice heading to the falls 2 
Ice on the move 
Rideau River Reflections 
Ottawa River Sunset 
Ottawa River Reflection
So I learned something with this set of photos. Always check your settings. The last photo I took with my camera before I took these was the night shot of Orion. I set the camera to Manual Focus and set the focus to infinity. I forgot to set it back to AutoFocus. These photos all came out as good as they did because of a couple of things. My F-stop was very high, allowing for everything to be in focus both near and far and the exposure was long, so that made the image a bit softer.
Winter Macro and 50mm Prime Lens shots
It has been a long winter and I really haven’t gotten out with my camera as much as I would have liked. This past weekend I grabbed my camera and just headed out into our backyard. I pulled out my 50mm prime lens and my macro tubes. Winter is much more fun up close.
Ice on a Branch 
Ice in Lilac’s 
Sunburst 
Depth of Field 1 
Depth of Field 2 
Spring – 1 drip at a time 
Orion
A new Challenge or What am I Thinking
So as if learning photography wasn’t enough of a challenge, and I am not sure what I was thinking, but I have challenge my self to virtually walk the length of Great Britain this year on the “Lands End to John o’Groats” (LEJoG) route. I am doing this though a great I great website with an app that has various walks around the world. Check it out https://www.theconqueror.events/
Its pretty cool, as they also send you virtual postcards to share on your social media accounts of the starting point, various interesting sites along the way, and of your final destination. You also can get a t-shirt with your challenges logo on it and when you finish the challenge, they send you an actual medal.
I have been walking since January 1st and as of the end of February, I had walked about 16% of the route. Below is a google maps image of what I have walked.
Of course with it being winter here, I have been walking in a local mall to get some of my kilometers in. I have had lots of time to study the architecture of the mall and there has been one photo I have been waiting to take once the lighting was just right. I call this one, “Sometimes you just have to look up”
A visit to the Barn
A friend of mine boards her horse at a little farm just outside the city. She invited us to come out anytime and photograph her horse and the others that are boarded there. We also got to meet some other friendly and interesting characters that call this farm home.
Winter Night Photos
So the weather and life have conspired to keep me from taking a lot of photos since our return from Scotland. But, my good friend and fellow photographer in Glasgow inspired me to get out one night for a few night long exposure shots.
Paroisse St-Joseph d’Orléans 
Paroisse St-Joseph d’Orléans 
St. Joseph Roundabout 
St. Joseph Roundabout 
Moon and Venus – Riverview
Images of Orkney
We traveled to Orkney in December unexpectedly to attend my sister-in-laws funeral. It was not a vacation but I did manage a few outings with my camera as we visited with family and friends.
As you know Orkney is pretty far north 59 degrees North, so the days were short. Sunrise was about 9am and Sunset was about 3:15pm.
