NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY – DOWNTOWN OTTAWA – AUGUST 2020
Downtown Ottawa is home to many National Heritage Buildings. This is Postal Station B (or Central Post Office), built in 1938-39 when Confederation Square was redeveloped. It was designated as a heritage building in 1986. Now primarily an office building, Canada Post still maintains a postal outlet on the ground floor.
The Central Chambers Building was designated a heritage property in 1990 because it’s a good example of the Queen Anne Revival Style of architecture. Sitting at the corner of Elgin and Queen Streets in downtown Ottawa, it stands out from all those around it.
Perhaps the most iconic building in Ottawa (other than the parliament buildings) the Chateau Laurier stands like a castle on the banks of the Rideau Canal. Construction on this historic building started in 1909 and, at a cost of $2 million dollars, it opened 3 years later in 1912.
The Rideau Canal system has 45 locks in 23 lockstations. The Ottawa Locks, where the Rideau Canal meets the Ottawa River, are the first or last set depending on your direction of travel. With 8 locks it is the largest lockstation on the system and one of the prettiest, especially at night.
The history of the Rideau Canal is fascinating. It was a fortified waterway, built to simplify transportation of goods and services to the new capital city of Ottawa from the less defensible old one of Kingston. The building that now houses the Bytown Museum is the Commissariat Building. It was built in 1827 and served as a supply depot for the northern construction sites on the canal, as a Commissariat and as accommodation.
The set of steps leading up to Major’s Hill Park from the Byward Market is a canvas that is painted by different artists every couple of years.
FIREWORKS AND MORE – AUGUST 2020
In 2020 many things have been cancelled due to Covid-19. The organizations that put on the Casino du Lac Leamy Sound of Light and the Gatineau Balloon Festival decided to come together to uplift people’s spirits. The answer – Illumination – a 15 minute fireworks display set off simultaneously from 8 different locations across Gatineau. These locations were carefully guarded (they didn’t want large gatherings of people to watch them) but they did release the areas that the fireworks would be visible from.
It was definitely a shot in the dark (pardon the pun) but we managed to end up in one the right places. Luckily we arrived very early and were able to get a good vantage point for the fireworks…
After the fireworks, just up the road is Rideau Falls. This is the actual point where the Rideau River meets the Ottawa River. You can see why the locks were needed!
At nights in the summer they are lit up. When I arrived the lights were red, but that didn’t last long.
They switched to a sort of purple/bluish light and stayed that way as long as we were there.
One last stop to check out this amazing little bridge.
