Working in the Cold

Last week we went on our annual trip with our friends Olga and Robert. We had an enjoyable time in Algonquin. It was so cold it made working outdoors a bit difficult. But we bundled up and aside from a bit of discomfort it was fun.

Madawaska River, Ontario

There were the usual suspects to photograph: Black-capped Chickadees, Nuthatches and Jays. I had a Boreal Chickadee land in a tree above my head but it did not pose within focus range. We did get a few new Blue Jays and Gray Jays.

Blue Jay

Gray Jay

Working at -25C is hard, especially when you are trying to adjust a camera or work with a very cold tripod. We bundled up with several layers, ski pants, parka and winter boots. I find my hands suffer the most so use hand warmers in my gloves. This allows me to use thinner gloves and adjust the camera quickly.

Winter in Algonquin

Highway 60, Algonquin, ON

On our way home we stopped into Mew Lake where there is always a good chance of seeing a Marten. We waited in the cold for about 30 minutes before one made a brief appearance.

American Marten

It was a good start to the year!

Reflections

Parliament Hill & Ottawa River

It’s been a good year. We stayed close to home for 2014 and mostly worked in Ontario. Our province is plenty big enough to keep us busy. Lori and I recently visited Ottawa. We stayed in Gatineau across from the Museum of History.

Canadian Museum of History

This allowed us to walk across the road from our hotel and access the Ottawa River with its view of Parliament Hill. There was a thin film of ice close to shore that produced a good reflection.

Parliament Hill & Ottawa River

We wandered Parliament Hill on a cold December afternoon.

Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario

I wanted to walk here. I needed to walk up to the doors under the Peace Tower. The shooting in Ottawa on October 22 was disturbing but I hope it will not limit our access to our public spaces.

The National War Memorial

I also wanted to visit Wakefield, Quebec. It is a short drive from Gatineau. There is a covered bridge that spans the Gatineau River. It was a little difficult to access a good view with snow and ice along the edge. We parked and walked along the river. A short slide down a hill provided access.

Wakefield Covered Bridge, Quebec

I’m not sure where 2015 will take us. We may head east, maybe west. Regardless, we will continue to crisscross our country in all seasons in search of images.

Here are a few other highlights of 2014:

Georgian Bay Shores

Snowy Owl

Northern Leopard Frog

Whitewater Region Ontario

All the best for 2015!

Spring!

Finally. I know, we are supposed to be tough, rough, eat snow for breakfast Canadians but this winter…

Presqui'ile Provincial Park, ON

it was a real winter.

Muskoka Chairs in Winter

We have kept ourselves busy with photo submissions and a few excursions into the cold dark night.

Sunset in Algonquin, ON in Winter

We also did a bit of writing. I have an article in the current issue of Outdoor Photography Canada. It’s a technical how-to article about processing RAW images.

Outdoor Photography Canada

I can’t count the number of times I whined about this winter. I think maybe I forgot what a real winter was like. It really is very beautiful when you get out and embrace the cold. Here are a few of my favourite images form the past few months:

Red-tailed Hawk

Wild Turkey (Eastern)

Male Northern Cardinal

Snowy Owl

Presqui'ile Provincial Park, ON

I’m looking forward to working without mitts and a parka. Happy Spring!

How Appropriate!

Ice and Water

When we picked this image for our holiday card, we had no idea how appropriate it would be. Lori and I had travelled to Brockville on Thursday to spend a couple of days with my mom. We drove through the ice storm to get home on Saturday Dec. 21st. The lights flickered a few times just before we went to bed. The power went off at 2 am. That’s when all hell broke loose. The tree in our front yard started to splinter. A big branch fell around 4 am. We jumped out of bed. It just missed the back of the van but took down our power line and laid it on top of the van. Another branch crashed to the front of the van. It was scary.

Ice Storm Fallout

The rain was still falling. Our neighbourhood looked like a war zone. We could see transformers sparking as bright as lightning all around us. The power came back on for about 5 minutes around 5 am. Our power line was still live. It was lying across the van and went up to the pole about half way across the street. When the power finally went out for good we watched the temperature in the house drop and drop. We could not get out our front door for the tree branches. In the morning, I went out the back door. The power stack above the meter was smashed to pieces. Lori and I are used to cold temperatures and living off the grid. We could charge our cell phone and cook food outdoors. We also had lots of flashlights, batteries and candles. My biggest worry was getting killed by falling ice and trees. I also worried about our pipes freezing. We called an electrical contractor. He came right away to assess and later that evening came back with a bucket truck to temporarily reconnect our power line. They came back the next day to repair our conduit above the meter so we were ready for the power when it did come on. They even cleared the downed tree behind the van so we were able to get out and get more supplies.

It would be dark by 4:30. We read books under blankets on the couch. With half a dozen candles burning we kept the temperature around 45 degrees F. We were more comfortable once we went to bed. I started writing limericks in the night. We were soon giggling. Lori joined in and we were laughing so hard we were crying. You make the best of it. It’s all you can do. And no, I won’t repeat the limericks. They were too dirty!

I looked at generators. There was one at Canadian Tire but it was not big enough to run much. I decided to get RV Antifreeze and winterize the pipes.

Ice & Snow

After 3 days in the cold we moved to Lori’s sister’s place. We had a warm bed and great company to keep our spirits up as we watched the news and waited. Thank you Marta and Joe for your hospitality! You made a difficult time fun and enjoyable. We came back to check on the house everyday. It got down to 34 degrees on the main floor and 40 in the basement. It never did freeze.

Friday morning, we got a text from our neighbour that the power was back on. We drove home and checked everything. To our relief, everything was fine. We will need to do some cleanup in the yard but all in all, it could have been much worse.

Happy New Year!

The Seal River Heritage Lodge (Adventure Continues Day 4)

I walked up to the Calm Air departure desk in Winnipeg blurry eyed and half asleep. The man said, "Pick a bag."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Pick a priority bag. The flight is full and we will probably have to bump one bag."

Hmmm, camera bag, or clothes and tripod? I picked the camera bag. I would rather freeze than go without my cameras! I asked if there was Valet service for my camera bag. No was the answer. That meant I had to check my camera bag with my 500mm lens among other very expensive things. This was a bit nerve racking. I was relieved to find out that Scott and John got the same story. Robert however walked up with his camera bag with a Valet tag attached. "How did you get that?" I asked.

He smiled and said, "You have to be charming and good looking to get this kind of service." I mumbled that all the mirrors in his house must be broken…

We got to the departure lounge without too much trouble, had a bite to eat and waited to board the plane. It was still dark when we walked out onto the tarmac to board the very small twin prop plane to Churchill. We all had our huge parkas on. It was a little uncomfortable being stuffed into our seats with so much camera equipment in our pockets (this was to reduce the weight of our camera bags so we did not go over the limit). It was a short flight with a gas stop in Thompson and then on to Churchill.

The plane landed and we walked into the Airport. Rose from Churchill Wild met us there to help guide us onto the plane to the Seal River Heritage Lodge. She gave us the bad news about our bags. Several of us would be without extra clothes and tripods. Some people started to get upset. I just smiled and said, "Hey it's just part of the adventure. We will figure out some way of getting some images." They assured us that our bags would be at the lodge by sunrise tomorrow.

Rose asked who wanted to go first. Nobody said anything so I said "Pick Me!" We walked out to a Turbo Beaver.

Turbo Beaver - click for larger

They loaded our bags and Rose asked if I would like to ride up front with the pilot. "You bet!" I already had my camera out with a 16 – 35mm lens on. I made the climb up into the front and did up the seat belt. Matt, our young bush pilot jumped in grinning ear to ear. It was a bit chilly and our breath coated the window. He quickly fired up the Beaver and pulled out onto the runway.

Pilot - click for larger

The plane was in the air in a very short distance. We flew low heading north.

Ron Erwin riding shotgun - click for larger

We saw lots of moose along the way. Then the trees thinned out.

From the plane - click for larger

Matt guided the plane down to the gravel/snow-covered runway. We bounced and slid a bit sideways and then nicely pulled up to the far end of the runway. We were met by two men with 12 gauge shotguns and an ATV with a trailer. Terry and Andy would be our constant companions whenever we ventured outside the compound for the duration of our stay here.

Plane at Seal River runway - click for larger

I had stuffed my 70-200 into my pocket before we got into the plane so I switched lenses before we walked to the lodge.

It was just a 5-minute walk from the runway. We almost made it to the lodge when we found 2 bears lurking behind the generator shed. I was photographing bears even before we got to the lodge. A very good omen indeed!

Polar Bear - click for larger

After we shot images of polar bears for about 20 minutes, we walked into the compound and then made our way into the lodge. We were greeted by Mike and Jeanne, the owners of the lodge and Churchill Wild. Mike asked how the trip in was. I explained my dilemma of having no tripod to work with. He said, "I have a couple of tripods here, let me get one for you." I had my ball head in my camera bag so I was ecstatic! I quickly set up and went out to the compound. There were a couple of bears within range. The rest of the group soon joined me and we spent the rest of the afternoon photographing bears up close and personal.

Polar Bear - click for larger

Once the light was gone, we went inside to do backups. We enjoy a glass of wine and hors d'oeuvres. This is a wonderful place! We each introduce ourselves and have an orientation session. They talk about safety for the bears and us and then we head off to dinner. The food and the company are wonderful! After a long day, we head to bed early.

At around 11p.m. I'm awakened by a knock at my door, "Northern Lights!" I crawl out of bed and get dressed. We head out and Scott and I share a tripod and shoot the lights for about an hour.

Northern Lights - click for larger

It was a nice show and a great end to a great day!

More to come…

Christmas in Quebec

This year we wanted to do something different for Christmas. But going south was not in our budget. We thought the charming and historic old city of Quebec would be wonderful to see at Christmas time. I didn’t want to drive all that way in winter since we just park the car and walk everywhere anyway. So we took the train.

Lori and I have stayed in Quebec City a couple of times before in summer. The first time was in 1987. We had traveled to France the year before and wanted to experience the feel of a European city again without the need for passports. In the summer of 2007 we visited Quebec City again on our way to Labrador. It really is a wonderful city!

(Above: Festive lights over the Rue du Petit-Champlain, in historic old Quebec City)

This was our first time to visit in winter. Although the train ride made for a very long day, we did not have to worry about icy roads or winter storms getting in our way. We left Toronto round 10 a.m. and got into Quebec around 8 p.m. We stayed at the Hotel Clarendon. Built in 1870, this old hotel is about a block from the Château Frontenac (below) and in the heart of old Quebec.
It was indeed winter. The temperature was hovering around -16 C. The window in our room with its view of City Hall (below) was also very drafty -- so much so we used it as a fridge to store some snacks.
We ventured out for a late dinner and had a wonderful evening walking around the old city. Quebec is great anytime but I really love this place at night. (Below: View of the Chateau Frontenac above the Rue du Cul-de Sac)
We didn’t venture too far although we did do a lot of walking and stair climbing (below Rue du Petit-Champlain).
It was busy and with lots of people out enjoying the city.
There is a toboggan run in front of the Château Frontenac (above). We watched families run to the top and slide down at breakneck speed.

I went to Quebec with an image in mind - somehow I wanted to capture the spirit of this 400 year old city in the winter. The shot below was taken the day before Christmas at the Plains of Abraham. I think it will be our Christmas card for next year. What do you think?
I hope to return to Quebec many more times and in other seasons. The people there are welcoming, the food is out of this world and there are images everywhere – making old Quebec my favourite Canadian city.