Aerial photos of the Ottawa River on display at the offices of Ottawa Riverkeeper

I have recently been invited to display 5 photographs in the entranceway to the offices of the Ottawa Riverkeeper – ottawariverkeeper.ca
These are kite aerial phographs of the Ottawa River. This exhibit will be on display for a six month period, to the end of May.

The offices are above Trailhead on the third floor. So the next time you drop by the Trailhead store, go through the office entrance at the left and up to the third floor to room 301.
Nov 20, 2012 to approx. May 31, 2013
Ottawa Riverkeeper
301-1960 Scott Street
Ottawa, ON
K1Z 8L8

Here are the 5 images on display (captions courtesy of Alexandra Brett of the Ottawa Riverkeeper):

The view across the Ottawa River at the former E.B. Eddy paper mill shows the once-thundering Chaudière Falls tamed by dams and diversions. Over 60 m wide, and with a drop of 15 m, the falls powered the growth of Hull (seen across the river) and the City of Ottawa from 1800 onward. Two hydro stations still operate on Chaudière Falls.
April 25, 2010.
18” x 36” Framed Print

The City of Ottawa draws its drinking water from the Ottawa River. The Lemieux Island Plant, seen here, is one of two water-treatment facilities run by the City. Ottawa’s drinking water is rated as some of the safest in the world, but damage to the river caused by sewage, pollution, dams and shoreline destruction put our drinking water at risk.
April 25, 2010.
18” x 36” Framed Print

Over 90% of a river’s life depends on the first few metres next to the shore, the area most likely to be damaged by riverside development. Maintaining natural shorelines with trees and shrubs – as seen here at Deschênes Rapids – helps stabilize banks and protect the river from pollutants and sediment in storm water.
March 23, 2008.
16” x 20” Framed Print

The Ottawa River hosts 10 yacht clubs in the Ottawa-Gatineau region alone. Canoes, kayaks, power boats – even Olympic-class rowing shells – also ply the river’s many reaches and bays. Here, sailboats at Nepean Sailing Club in Ottawa’s west end quietly await their next regatta.
May 24, 2008.
16” x 20” Framed Print

A sailboat on the Ottawa River passes Pinhey’s Point, part of Pinhey’s Point Historical Site. The estate, built in 1820 by Hamnett Kirkes Pinhey, has been preserved as a museum. The Ottawa River is home to 8 national historic sites and numerous pioneer villages, interpretive centres, community museums and historic houses.
November 9, 2011
24″ x 36″ Framed Canvas Print

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Dusk on Black Lake near Perth, Ontario.

New in my Getty Images portfolio:

Dusk on Black Lake near Perth, Ontario.

Dusk on Black Lake near Perth, Ontario.

Click on image to go to the same image in my Getty Images portfolio.

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Aerial View of Victoria Island on the Ottawa River

New in my Getty Images portfolio:

Aerial View of Victoria Island on the Ottawa River, near downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
This picture was taken from a camera rig suspended below a kite (Kite Aerial Photography – KAP).

Victoria Island on the Ottawa River, near downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Click on image to go to the same image in my Getty Images portfolio.

© Rob Huntley Photography / Like My Facebook. / About.Me

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Sunset on Black Lake

The dock at dusk. The islands we swam to (or around) are in the upper left corner.

Black Lake is near Perth in Eastern Ontario, about 1 hour from Ottawa. A group of fellow swimmers went for a late-in-the-year lake swim on October 20th, 2011. Fortunately it has been a long autumn and the water temperature was cold but forgiving. Not only that, it was a beautifully warm day above the surface so climbing out dripping wet was not the ordeal it might have been.

Later in the evening as we settled indoors for a meal and a beverage I had to dash back outside with my camera and tripod so as not to miss the magnificent sunset that was unfolding.

Sunset on Black Lake near Perth, Ontario.

Sunset at dock level on Black Lake near Perth, Ontario.

The view of Black Lake at sunset from the front of the cottage.

Dusk on Black Lake near Perth, Ontario.

The islands at dusk on Black Lake near Perth, Ontario.

© Rob Huntley Photography

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KAP 2011-3 – Where the Madawaska meets the Ottawa – January 29, 2011

This session took place at the Arnprior Municipal Marina where aerial views of the city of Arnprior and the Madawaska River were taken, including the weir/dam, the construction of the new water treatment facility, the marina which is also under redevelopment, and the mouth of the Madawaska River where it enters into the Ottawa River.

Arnprior Weir. The curved dam across the Madawaska River alongside the bridge which is Madawaska Boulevard. You can see several bridges upstream and at the top left is the Arnprior Generating Station holding back the river which turns sharply to the right and across the top of the picture.

I had driven to Arnprior early, leaving Ottawa at about 6:00 am with slippery road conditions and ongoing snow squalls. The main purpose was to attend a Masters Swim Meet. I’ve been taking a sabbatical from serious swimming so I went to photograph the event and my swimmer friends. Despite the weather conditions, I trusted the weather forecast and packed my kite aerial photography gear. Apparently it was expected to clear in the afternoon. The meet concluded with a social breakfast at the Antrim Truck Stop, a regular haunt of the Arnprior club. At about 10:30, as I finished eating, I wondered if the serious snow still falling outside was really going to end and debated going home. With skeptical faith in the weather forecast, I decided to wait and see. For the next two hours I marched around town and the Madawaska riverfront with my SLR and tripod taking some scenic shots (which I haven’t looked at yet). By 12:30, lo and behold the sky cleared. I drove to the Arnprior Municipal Marina where I parked and launched my Fled kite and autokap gear for a couple of hours of KAPping.

Kite aerial photography depends on fine/dry weather because of the exposed electronics plus the fact that one cannot clean off the lens after the gear has been surrendered to the sky.

 

The Madawaska meets the Ottawa in winter. Winter aerial view of the Madawaska River where it enters the Ottawa River at Arnprior, Ontario. Vertical panorama created from 2 images. Bristol Mines at the top of the picture in Quebec. My kites may have to visit there someday.

Collecting ice floes. Aerial photograph of ice and slush created when ice is broken going over the falls now being collected further downstream where there is more stable ice on the river.

Water Treatment Plant, Arnprior. Development of a larger water treatment plant alongside the Madawaska River in Arnprior, Ontario. The kite line is visible in this picture.

Just as I was about to call it a day, the wind suddenly had the same idea and the camera descended rapidly as I attempted to haul line as quickly as possible. The camera landed fairly softly on soft ice on the surface of the river, face down. I had to leave it there several minutes until the kite lofted it again. The lens froze over and I left the camera turned on for the next two hours so as to give it chance to melt then dry out without damaging the lens retraction mechanism.

Rapid descent. Just as I was about to call it a day, the wind suddenly died.

 

You can see additional pictures in the Kite Aerial Photography Gallery – Where the Madawaska meets the Ottawa – Arnprior, Ontario – January 29, 2011.

© Rob Huntley

KAP 2011-1: Petrie Island, Ottawa, Ontario – January 16, 2011

Winter Scene at Petrie Island on the Ottawa River.

This was my first KAP session (Kite Aerial Photography) in many months for various reasons and I was feeling a bit rusty. It was also my first session for the 2011 calendar year. I was fighting a cold/flu and the temperature was very cold (-27C with wind chill). Nevertheless, there was a Camera Club of Ottawa outing planned for Petrie Island in the Ottawa River and I enjoy the club outings with or without kite aerial photography equipment. Also, I’d recently had a request from a Carleton U. journalism student who was interested in a KAP demonstration for a school project. Check out the resulting video clip she prepared in a separate blog post titled Kite Aerial Photography – a report on yours truly.

I KAPped for about an hour and a half using my Fled kite and the fully remote controlled rig using my Dunecam system. Technical issues were on hand with cold batteries and the like but I did manage a few interesting shots. Most of my shots were of the ice fishing huts in the bay just downstream of the islands and off the beach. I had to reel in the equipment several times to restart the remote shutter even though the batteries were operating well enough in the cold to shoot pictures. I’ve found even on warm days that if I fire the shutter too rapidly between consecutive shots there is a breakdown in the link between the camera and the ground remote. This seems to be amplified by the further away the camera is and/or by how low the battery charge is. Although I have used the system to over 600′ on a summer day with strong batteries, on this day I was having problems with sending the camera more than 150′ away, presumably because of the cold effect on the camera batteries. The batteries for the rig and the remote seemed to respond fine.

Lots more possibilities in terms of subjects and angles were on offer but we bailed out with enough blood flowing in the hands to allow for the time it takes to retrieve the equipment. We joined up for coffee with the rest of the outing participants at Orleans Mall.

In hindsight, I might have done better with autokap gear on this day, and perhaps there are some lessons for future really cold days:

1. My autokap rig would have been quicker to set up, exposing my hands to the cold for a shorter period of time (I wear sailing gloves with the end of the thumb and forefinger exposed to allow me to deal with the intricacies of setting up the camera and rig).

2. I could have done most of the session using the sheepskin type mitts that I sometimes slip over my gloves to warm up my hands which are pretty useless for controlling the remote control but with autokap I would simply have to hold the spool.

3. My issues with losing communication between camera and my remote due to low battery power would have been eliminated. Although the batteries suffered from the cold, the camera would probably have lasted much longer by itself on the autokap rig than with it having to communicate with earth in the remote controlled rig. I wouldn’t have had to wind in to restart the remote shutter function, losing time and getting colder in the process.

Ice Fishing near Petrie Island on the Ottawa River.

 

You can see additional pictures in the Kite Aerial Photography Gallery – Petrie Island In Winter – January 16, 2011.

©Rob Huntley

Pawleys Island, South Carolina – Postcard

Here’s my new postcard design of grackles on sand dune fence. Pawleys Island, South Carolina.

The postcard is offered for sale in my Zazzle store. Click on the postcard to go straight to page.

Grackles on a fence – Postcard by robhuntley

© Rob Huntley