Last of the zoo ... Bored Lemur

Alas, all good things come to an end: this picture series as well as the trip to the zoo. This lemur pretty much sums it up, all tuckered out (or bored). He doesn't even look curious about us. 

Monkeying Around

Cougar on the Prowl

Ok ... well the cougar isn't exactly on the prowl ... I mean it didn't have to be. In fact it was quite easy for it to get its supper, it was given directly to it! We were able get the "show" at the zoo by the keepers while they fed the Cougar its meal directly through the fence.

Lion of Papanack

Since we got to see the lioness yesterday, today here are a couple images of her mate.

The Lioness

The next two images from the Papanack zoo are of the local lioness. Here are a couple of the shots that I liked of her. One makes her look awful angry ... but I think that is just an artifact of a yawn.

Snow Leopards

Following suit to pictures that are way beyond when they should have been edited and posted, here are some images taken the Papanack zoo near Ottawa. The two images below are of my favorite animal at the zoo: the snow Leopard. I also think that they are the best ones from the visit!

Gatineau Winter

Here are the last two landscape images from this weeks trials with the 7D. The first image below was one that I was really excited to get back and edit up. It is an HDR focused on the leaf and I just love how it turned out. The second image is a Panorama from the Gatineau (left) to Ottawa (right) from that same island that I've been mentioning lately.

Bridges and Beaches

I know I know, the beach in the second picture isn't as nice as the one that I was posting earlier from Punta Cana, but hey, what can you do? I found these next two images quite interesting for the sole reason that they aren't at all what we are used to seeing them with. Obviously this comes from the seasons. The bridge seems to be lacking something, and in this case, running water. For the second image, it takes a couple of moments to realise what the chair is since we don't associate a lifeguard chair with a frozen river. -> I <- think this makes the images all that more interesting ... but maybe that is just me.

Canon 7D and Gatineau

So the bullet was finally bit and I bought a Canon 7D. These next few images are the first ones from me playing around with it! The first image below was from the little island off the Champlain bridge between Gatineau and Ottawa. I changed nothing on the scene and really enjoyed the story that plays out in your head. I'd like to think there was a couple enjoying a bottle of wine together while watching the sunrise over the capital. Who knows though. The second is of a path on the ice around Aylmer.

G

Parliamentary Architecture

One of the many amazing views in the interior of the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa.

Parliament Hall

Parliament Hill

Parliament Hill

Interior of the Library

Here are another couple of images from the interior of the parliamentary library.

Interior of books


Books on the Shelves

The Exterior of the Parliament Library

Having posted one of the pictures from the inside (and with a couple more to come) I thought today's post would show the three photos from the exterior of the Canadian Parliament Library. The exterior was under renovation not that long ago (around the summer of 2005 I believe) and the evidence of this is shown in the copper top of the building. When the colour of the copper is still the colour of copper, the roof is relatively new since the copper has yet to oxidize. Older copper roofs have oxidized and are then a green colour instead.

Bells and Books


Starburst Parliament


An Angle on Politics

Tiled Ceiling of the Parliament

Here are another couple of images from the tour of the parliament building. This specifically is one of the many amazing ceiling patterns in the building. The first image is a large scale view of the ceiling and the second is zoomed in on a specific tile. In fact, having taken the tour in French, many folks noticed this specific tile since they made a spelling mistake on it!

Parliamentary Ceiling


Parliamentary Spelling Error

House of Commons

House of commons in the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa, Canada. A quick HDR from the exterior of the House of Commons.

House of Commons

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

This is finally the last image from the "Ottawa Walk" series. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is another one of those very well known landmarks of downtown Ottawa.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The Parliament Building

Here are another series of shots that I have been meaning to do since I moved to Gatineau. I finally found the time to make it to the parliament buildings with my tripod to get a couple of HDR's.

The Parliament and its Decorations


Road to the Government


Government Buildings


The Provincial Flame

Rideau Falls Pt. 2

As promised, here is the second installment of the Rideau Falls posts. The interesting thing about taking picture of the Rideau Falls was the two bridges that I crossed to get the different vantage points. Being a very cold day, the mist from the falls was instantly frozen on everything around it. It was very similar conditions (around the falls) to freezing rain. This also meant that I could have probably skated on these bridges. Needless to say (don't you hate when people say that ... if you don't need to say it, don't say it!), I tried to cover up my camera equipment as much as possible when crossing the bridge! I think it was worth it though.

Rideau Falls


Close up of the Falls


Rideau Falls Panorama and a View of Gatineau

Rideau Falls

Even though there are quite a few of these HDR's from the Rideau Falls portion of my walk around Ottawa, I will get through them in two posts. I've been wanting to get out to the Rideau falls for a few images ever since we moved to Gatineau. We noticed them while going over the bridge to the Gatineau side when we saw someone on the side of the bridge (is there even a pedestrian spot there?) taking pictures of them. The many different parts of Ottawa with the "Rideau" name (river, road, buildings, etc.) all derive themselves from these falls when the falls were dubbed "Rideau Falls" since they were a "curtain" of water (Rideau is curtain in French). The rest is history ... and photographs below.

Rideau Falls


Black and White Rideau


Icy Rideau Falls

Non-Traditional

This is probably one of the most well recognized landmarks (both of them) in downtown Ottawa. The church stands tall and majestic surrounded by museums and parks. The traditional way of photographing a church is to focus in on this beauty, colour, and grandeur; this photography does none of that. Both by framing the church with a giant spider(?) outside of the museum, using monochrome, and putting it in the background, I have "deprived" this church photo of everything that usually makes it "beautiful". Despite this ... I find this image quite interesting! It just shows that you can risk to "break the mold" every now and then.

Non-Traditional Image of a Church in Ottawa