Project 365: Reflections and raindrops

Ooo, I’m very excited! Lots of new stuff to share with you today, not least of which is the new blog design. (Click through if you’re reading in a feed reader and tell me what you think!)

Remember how excited I was when one of my pictures got the nod from Flickr’s capricious “Explore” function? Well, apparently Flickr (and a few friends) also liked my Primary Entrance picture from last week, because it made it into Explore as well! I’m pleased, because it’s one of my favourite shots so far.

And then later in the week, I got a Flickr-mail from Scmaps telling me that two of my photos had been “shortlisted” to be included in their downloadable map/travel guide of Ottawa. No remuneration, but I get the photo credit, and since it’s a couple of photos I like but don’t feel particularly proprietary over, I was happy to oblidge. I’ll let you know if they make the final cut. The photos were of the Peace Tower and of the Heart and Crown.

Yay for meaningless and random praise!

This week, I seem to be on a theme of raindrops and reflections. This is by far my favourite picture this week, taken yesterday from the stairwell of the building where I work, in between the 6th and 7th floor and looking down on Sussex Street.

It was taken through a dirty window, though, and even with my fancy new polarizing filter it was still a little murky so I added some texture in photoshop and that’s where the raindrop effect came in. Here, for comparison, is the original photograph straight out of the camera:

Rain was definitely a theme this week!

(I’m fond of the title of this one: “Another day, another dam(p) flower…”)

This was my Mother’s Day photo. Isn’t she lovely? This picture hardly does her justice, but you can see the beauty of her smile and her warmth quite clearly!

I had a bit of a reflections theme going on this week, too. I love reflections! In this one, I was originally just trying to capture the flowers in the bistro window and the reflections were a bit of a nuissance — there was a garbage truck idling behind me! Then I moved around the corner and realized I could capture this beautiful old heritage building in the reflection and actually incorporate it into the photo. Anybody from work recognize that building?

And this one! I was driving to work down alongside the Rideau Canal when this stunning image caught my eye. If you know Colonel By, you know there’s nowhere to stop, so I doubled back through Carleton and hiked up a bit of a hill so I could come back and take this photo of the Fair Jeanne in the morning stillness. Turns out she’s a tall ship and has sailed more than 150,000 nautical miles! They use her as a training ship now. It’s not every day you see a tall ship moored at the lock stations on the Canal!

And, last but not least, this one I took for the monthly scavenger hunt theme of “message in a bottle.” We had these pretty yellow carnations, and I thought the boys would like the effect that the blue water would have on this one. Part centerpiece, part botany lesson — in a Frank’s Red Hot bottle!

All in all, a good week in pictures!

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