November 2, 2012 by Rob Huntley

Ottawa Archives Photography Exhibition

As a member of the Camera Club of Ottawa, I will have an image included in the 2012 Photography Exhibition at the Ottawa Archives.

Ottawa Archives Photography Exhibition
by the Camera Club of Ottawa and the RA Photo Club
November 6 – December 27, 2012
at the New Archives Building, 100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa.
Weekdays 9 am to 4 pm
and
Saturday 10 am to 5 pm.

Vernissage on Thursday November 15, 6 pm to 9 pm

Here is the image I will have on display – framed 18″ x 36″.

Champlain Bridge Aerial Panorama – Kite Aerial Photography

© Rob Huntley Photography / Rob`s Photo Cards / Like My Facebook / About.Me

October 18, 2012 by Rob Huntley

100 Strangers Project: Stranger 4/100 – Bob

Stranger 4/100 – Bob

Bob, following a Western Grebe on the far side of the Ottawa River.

I was out by the Ottawa River near home again on a morning walk, photographing the fall colour. I turned a corner on the shoreline and there was Bob and his bird scope on a tripod. For several days he and some birder colleagues had been tracking the movements of a Western Grebe which was visiting our part of the Ottawa River to feed before continuing its migration. My 70-300mm lens was at home but it wouldn’t have helped – the Western Grebe was about 100 metres from the opposite shoreline of the river. Bob allowed me to look through his scope and I was just able to make it out. However Bob told me that about eight of his colleagues were upstream on the Quebec shore waiting and hoping to get a closer look as it passed by along its preferred feeding route.

We talked for about 15 minutes, periodically scouting the nearby trees for other birds of interest. Bob clarified that he is not so much a bird watcher, but rather a bird lister. Somewhat analagous to the train spotters in the United Kingdom who collect engine numbers, Bob collects a list of birds that he’s seen. Bob is a retired federal government employee who worked in IT with Old Age Security Data. He now dedicates much of his retirement time to birding and compiles reports from local birders and summarizes them in a regular contribution to the Ontbirds archive.

This picture is #4 in my 100 Strangers Project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page.

My 100 Strangers Set on Flickr.

My 100 Strangers website gallery.

© Rob Huntley Photography / Rob`s Photo Cards / Like My Facebook / About.Me

October 6, 2012 by Rob Huntley

100 Strangers Project: Stranger 3/100 – Cliff

Stranger 3/100 – Cliff

Cliff at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market in Westboro.

I was wandering the neighbourhood looking for “Autumn in My Neighbourhood” images. Saturday is the Ottawa Farmers’ Market Day and starting this summer we have had a Westboro spin-off of the market just a few blocks from my house. I met Cliff in his booth for Glengyle Garlic. My talk with him was brief as I didn’t want to interfere with business although in the end I did make a modest purchase of 2 garlic bulbs. We started discussing photography and I mentioned that I did aerial photography using a kite. It turned out that for a portion of his career he was involved in aerial photography for a company doing work for Energy Mines and Resources. It was prior to digital in the days of Hasselblad cameras. He started to get fairly technical about some of the infrared and other specialized techniques used for a variety of purposes including photographing baby seals (white) from above. I started to realize that I was speaking to someone who knew more about photography than I did and I offered to change places – I would sell garlic while he took my picture. With Cliff’s portrait I threw in my first experiment with the built-in flash to fill some of the shadows since he was backlit. As a landscape photographer, fill flash is not something I have used much so I was quite happy with the result.

This picture is #3 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page.

My 100 Strangers Set on Flickr.

My 100 Strangers website gallery.

October 4, 2012 by Rob Huntley

100 Strangers Project: Stranger 2/100 – Alisa

Stranger 2/100 – Alisa

Alisa at Westboro Beach on the Ottawa River.

I was out by the Ottawa River, near home, shooting nature and landscape shots. I spent some time at Westboro Beach and while there Alisa arrived and launched her paddle board into the cool October waters of the Ottawa River. For awhile I thought she was challenging herself to paddle to Quebec on the other side. She turned when she was well out in the middle. I thought it would be an idea to ask for a portrait for the 100 Strangers Project when she returned, not realizing how long a workout she had planned for herself. When she finally arrived she stopped about 10 meters from shore and began practicing turns. I called out to ask if she would mind if I took a few shots of her paddling and she said ok. I knew this didn’t constitute asking for a portrait and I would have to ask again. When she did arrive on the shore she quickly wrapped up to warm herself after the few tumbles in the river she had taken. I discovered that she had recently started in the sport, having been attracted to it last year. She was now in the process of trying to improve her skills and to try to mobilize the Ottawa community to show more interest in paddle boarding. With a colleague she had recently been involved in a demo session in cooperation with Lululemon Athletica Westboro.

Alisa agreed to the portrait after I told her about the 100 strangers project. I confessed my own nervousness at photographing people which in hindsight is not very professional – but she didn’t seem to mind. I had to ask her to put her cold, wet life jacket on again and pick up her paddle.

This picture is #2 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page.

My 100 Strangers Set on Flickr.

My 100 Strangers website gallery.