Marlborough Forest and Long Island Locks

Entering the second lock, 2
Originally uploaded by Janice Saunders

My husband nudged me at six Saturday morning, "Wake up! Lets take our cameras and take the dogs for a walk." Ok.

After a little detour to Tim's we headed out Roger Steven's drive to the Marlborough Forest . At the first trail parking lot the flies swarmed the car. We didn't get out. So, we tried the trail lot on the other side of the road hoping for a less unpleasant reception. It was a little better and the dogs were really eager to get out and explore. They ran and we trudged along with a cloud of flies buzzing around our heads. I told my husband that this is the way all horror movies start ...heading out along a trail with no idea where it goes whilst being harassed by dark cloud of bugs. It didn't help either that I had only finished half my cup of coffee!

I decided to spend the time playing with the telephoto lens in hopes of capturing some wildlife, mostly birds. I took a number of photos of the male and female warbler but the female or immature bird shots were the best. Hard to catch these little guys sitting still and not obscured by leaves etc. Even though the ponds were the source of all the bugs, they provided some wonderful opportunities to photo the reflections of the foliage on the water.

Later after dropping the dogs back home we headed over to the Long Island Locks. There is always something to photograph there when the locks are in action at this time of year. There were also more birds... chickadees, woodpeckers, osprey, heron, cedar waxwings, and the usual robins and crows. Again, timing and a steady hand are crucial to capture a good photo of small birds that are usually high up in the trees or sky. It is definitely a challenge particularly without the benefit of a tripod.

I used my new camera bag from Lowepro, the Inverse 100 AW, on this outing. It is supposed to be worn in the back but I wore it in front as this is the way I will need to wear it on our backpacking trip, my pack will be on my back already. Having it in front actually gave me super easy access to change lenses and a handy spot to support my camera when I wasn't using it. It is quite heavy with the 70-300mm telephoto lens attached and resting it on the bag reduced some neck strain.

We returned home safe and sound around noon, a happy ending to a somewhat Hitchcock inspired beginning to our morning.

Chris' graduation 2010

Receiving his diploma
Originally uploaded by Janice Saunders

My oldest son graduated from Algonquin College's Paramedic Program yesterday. It's hard to articulate the enormous pride I felt watching 'my little boy'... he's six feet tall... graduate in his chosen profession and enter the world of work. My funny, charming son will now be out there helping to save lives. Well done Chris!

We got a good seat in the second row at floor level but we were still a long way from the stage so I used my AF-S NIKKOR 70-300mm 1:4.5-5.6G lens. It’s a bit of a beast… heavy and difficult to hold still at anything over 200mm but it was the only way to get some nice close-ups of my son walking in and receiving his diploma. I used the arm rest of my seat to help stabilize me whenever possible. It was still on the camera when I captured him coming back into the arena.. he walked quite close by me… but the lights and  happiness apparent in the face of this ‘new graduate’ make this an effective picture even with the obvious grainy texture.  Later I switched to an AF-S NIKKOR 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G for the shots outside with family. They are just quick candid photos…we were ready to go out for dinner to celebrate!

MIxed media textile art

Little Fish
Originally uploaded by Janice Saunders

Wow! What a mouthful! It is very hard to define textile art as it includes many different styles and materials. These little folk art pieces developed from a little experimentaion with my felting machine. They are mostly 4x4" to 6x6" in size. I added wool felt images and then beads and buttons and finally thread details to build them up in a 3 dimensional way. They need a shadow box style frame.
The other mixed media textile pieces are larger and were an experimentation with dye discharge...using bleach to remove some of the colour from the fabrics. You have some limited control as to how much colour is removed by using an agent to stop the bleaching action. Later I added extra details with Shiva paintsticks and beads. The shapes seemed to suggest a city with gathering storm clouds and then the sun breaking through later.

West Carleton Arts Society min-conference

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This past weekend I participated in a day long conference devoted to the topic of art. I would like to congratulate the organisers of the WCAS for a super job! The conference was both full of lots of useful information and very entertaining. Did I mention? It also included lunch.

The 2010 Mini-Conference Agenda entitled the Cocktail of Art  included:

• John Toft,  a local basket-maker, who related his experiences in world of e-commerce via his Etsy shop under the title of JohnToftBasketry.
• A very informative presentation by local Golden representative Andrea Warren about Golden Artist Acrylic Colours. A highlight was two recently launched, exciting new product lines: the new, slow-drying, OPEN acrylics, and the new Digital grounds, which allow you to print on surfaces such as tin foil, cloth and paint skins with your home ink jet printer.
• Chéryl Poulin & Frank Farrell spoke on the topic -  sources of passive income from your website. Cheryl is a very popular local decorative artist.
• Cristian Aluas, an accomplished Ottawa artist, spoke about the Business of Art, sharing his experiences as a professional artist and getting everyone to enjoy a few good chuckles along the way.
• Louise Lalande, the first Canadian Accredited ‘The Artist’s Way’ facilitator inspired us all to continue to seek authenticity in our lives and work.  

It was a good opportunity for artists and artisans from all over the Ottawa area to get together and share common interests and concerns. The internet can be a big scary world to jump into but it has really become a necessity to show your art to the world.  I’ve considered the possibility of setting up an Etsy shop so John’s tips about Paypal, tagging, forums and estimating shipping costs for Canada and the US were very helpful. I’m not an acrylic painter but the new Digital grounds by Golden sound intriguing! Cheryl and Frank provided greats tips for designing an effective website and then earning passive income from opportunities like -google ads, info-links, affiliate programs, click-bank and more. And Christian and Louise reminded us about both the nitty gritty side of being an artist and the spiritual side as well.

Earlier this spring, I participated in an AOE Spring Workshop at the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans, Ottawa. The topic was The Online Artist and it included a discussion of various online options such as blogs, Facebook, Flickr and websites. We set up Flickr accounts and learned the importance of linking all these online components together so people can find us on the web! The workshops were taught by Jesse Hildebrand, an Ottawa photographer and web developer.  I’m still in the process of tweaking my online presence and getting everything to link together. Hopefully at some point I will get it all to hum along nicely like a well oiled machine.. that is…until technology moves in a new direction!

Flowertime

Goldmound Spirea
Originally uploaded by Janice Saunders

It's almost summer and things are blooming. These aren't exotic specimens, just garden variety... my garden variety... beauties. Ottawa is a tough environment for many plants and these guys just  come back faithfully every year.
The Spirea has beautiful golden foliage and dainty purple flowers. You would think that Mother Nature knew something about colour theory...yellow and purple are complementary colours.
The Mock Orange is an old fashioned shrub that is quite unremarkable most of the year except in June when it is a mass of single layer white blossoms.

Hostas are a garden favourite for many because they are super low maintenance and they provide great visual contrast between their large leaves and other plants with smaller leaves. I think Lady’s Mantle is a great addition to any garden. Again, it is an old-fashioned plant, but it provides visual contrast and blooms later in the summer. I had a little fun with the original Lady’s Mantle photo and used the Kaleidoscope Distortion Filter available in Microsoft Digital Image Suite10. It works best with large simple shapes. Now, I use Photoshop Elements and have been unaware that Microsoft has discontinued the Digital Image Suite product.  Elements doesn’t have a Kaleidoscope filter but some people have suggested this site for a plug-in… http://www.mehdiplugins.com/. Maybe I will try it too.

For those tech geeks out there, my husband is one of them,  there is a new application for the iPad aimed at artists and photographers, as a way to sell/promote their work through the iTunes store..a wallpaper app. It can be pricey and there are probably other options too but the link is worth checking out. The company is called Shanli Mobile Software.

I am looking forward to the fantastic blooms on my Trumpet vine, the buds are already forming. This voracious vine is threatening to take over the back of my house but it rewards us with non-stop blooms all summer long. And, it attracts Hummingbirds.

Museum of Civilization, Gatineau

Sculpture 6
Originally uploaded by Janice Saunders

My usual approach to the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau is through the front doors, then inside to enjoy whatever particular exhibition or Imax movie that has attracted me there in the first place. But this time my approach was from behind via a lovely stroll along the Ottawa river.

I had never seen this fascinating sculpture garden before. It had been transplanted here... ha ha ha...from Montreal.

‘ The exhibition is by Montreal artist, Louis Archambault, 1915-2003. Archambault created “People”, a grouping of abstract figures, for the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 67, Montreal’s World’s Fair. He designed the sculptures on a scale that invites visitors to move among and interact with them. All the figures have simple elongated shapes that form whimsical combinations of human, bird, flower and animal imagery. The theme was perfectly suited to the forward looking optimism of Expo 67.’

You can watch a very dated but still interesting video of  the Canadian Pavilion below… the sculpture garden appears at about 14 minutes into the video. The clothes, the music, the technology, the social attitudes expressed, all describe a Canada full of the spirit of youth. Half of Canada’s population was under 25 then, quite a different story today only 43 years later with an aging population instead.

 

 

My parents went to Expo 67 when I was 4 and my brother 5, we stayed behind with a sitter. No doubt they viewed and walked through these fanciful creations made of white painted metal. Now they have a permanent home here as an important part of Canada’s history.

Hiking up the Wolf Trail in Gatineau Park

Ben's Wolf Trail photo 3
Originally uploaded by Janice Saunders

Yesterday we hiked the Wolf Trail in Gatineau Park as part of our training for our big trip this summer. This time it threatened rain and I decided not to take my DSLR along as I haven't yet worked out how I can keep it safe and accessible, but my youngest son brought along his camera... a small Casio Exilim with 12 mega pixels. It is small and light and doesn't take half bad pictures. He didn't turn off the date/time feature so this information is visible on the photos at the bottom. I edited them a little in Photoshop Elements but the details and overall brightness of his photos were far superior to the ones my husband took using his Nokia N95 camera phone. You can see his photos and more details about the hike on his blog at http://saunderslog.com/2010/05/23/hiking-the-wolf-trail/
Next hike we are planning to all take along our cameras and do a more controlled comparison between them. I really want to take my DSLR on our big trip but this will be a useful exercise anyways.

This trail has a number of wonderful lookout points over the valley below, more than the very popular Luskville Falls Trail. We ate our lunch at the Tawinda Lookout which is an expansive rocky outcrop above the trees, but there were at least three other flat rock spaces suitable for relaxing and eating. I need to remember to return here in the fall when the trees change colour because the views are beautiful.

Pumpkin patch

Orange squash
Originally uploaded by Janice Saunders

These photos are neither current nor very topical at this time of year, but just part of the slow process of uploading my photos to my Flickr account. They were taken a few years ago at a pumpkin farm and corn maze north of Waterloo in southern Ontario. As my kids will attest to, I am a big fan of corn mazes particularly as a fun family outing over Thanksgiving. These photos were taken at the Nauman's Amazing Corn Maze. If I remember correctly this is a lovely Mennonite farm. We all emerged safely from the maze.

More machines

Circle 2
Originally uploaded by Janice Saunders

Why am I taking pictures of machines? Well, I guess it's because they are so much a part of our urban landscape. They move in and change our landscape but they are also part of that landscape often for months. They represent change... and to some people progress, to others a sad loss of the way things use to be. They are big and powerful, dwarfing all human sized objects around them. They fascinate us, drawing young and old alike to watch them work, staring in amazement as they effortlessly scoop up big bucketsof earth and stone.
And they are beautiful pieces of machinery. I love the different shapes and textures, all the angles and curves,and the contrast between small intricate parts and enormous wheels and buckets.

Hiking up the Luskville Firetower Trail with your DSLR

Water play, originally uploaded by janicesaunders.com.

Ok, so I forgot to take a photo of the Luskville Firetower! But after a hot uphill climb of over 700 ft with a loaded backpack on, I was a little tired. Hey, it's only a tower. This was not really a photo outing anyways, but a much needed training hike in anticipation of our big family hiking trip on the Juan de Fuca Trail on Vancouver Island this summer. The photos were just a distraction from my burning calves and thighs!
So, all seven of us hiked up to the tower with our packs on, our new hiking boots and three dehydrated meals to sample, in order to avoid any nasty culinary surprises in the wilderness this summer.
It was a hot buggy day but that didn't deter all the other happy hikers, the smallest ones wisely cooling off by dipping their feet and playing in the waterfalls.
A number of problems around backpacking or just day hiking with a DSLR surfaced - weight, these guys plus an extra telephoto lens, maybe a tripod are heavy; protection for your gear from falls or weather; and ease of access to your gear. I had my camera gear in a Lowepro slingshot bag inside my pack. Every time I wanted to take shot I had to take off my pack, open it and then get out the camera bag and then take my shots. This was not only time consuming and slowed down the group but it also discouraged me from taking other shots because I just didn't feel like taking everything apart once again. I need to work out a better system for carrying my gear that allows quicker access.
Weight? Well I guess this really depends on how much I am willing to carry. Food? Clothes? Camera?
Protection from the elements and damage? Definitely a camera bag of some sort and maybe some plastic bags as well.
The final consideration is time of day. By the time we got up to the top it was after noon and the sun was high in the sky, lots of heavy shadows. Earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon would have resulted in softer light.
I had fun playing around with these photos but better planning would have resulted in better images.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

A spring perspective

The snow is gone and I am looking forward to getting out with my camera. There must be something worth a photo amidst the leftover winter debris and springtime mud. Maybe a tree just budding out or some bulbs bursting from the ground.

My youngest son and I spent an enjoyable few hours at the Arboretum in Ottawa with our cameras one day in March. Cold, and with wet shoes, we explored the hill that had only recently been covered in snow. Large white bales pushed against trees to prevent toboggans from hurtling into them still remained. It could be a photo - carefully composed by an artist. What are these large white objects and why are they there? Are they packages dropped from the heavens?

The canal inlets were mostly drained of water and looked like some strange new country - people were down there exploring. The trees were large and naked, vulnerable without their protective green. We were looking at the bones of the park before it began to flesh out with people, dogs, birds and green.

 

 

                   

 

Maybe there is something to see with new eyes in the spring. Maybe there is another world to imagine... create...or find.