Street Photography in Ottawa ON, Canada

Good Monday From Prospect.

If the RibFest isn't on while you're there try the street side Poutine.
Ottawa is just across the river from Hull, Quebec. It's all good

Here are a couple of shots I took during a trip to Ottawa Canada in 2007. Great city for street photography, especially during June, festival time.

When I grabbed my gear I was just thinking of shooting the architecture of the parliament buildings, but as I turned onto Sparks Street the Rib Fest lay straight in front of me.

I was there for three days and loved every minute. Hope to go back this May/June. Maybe in time for the tulip festival, who knows.

This time I plan and getting up close with my subjects. May need to equip myself with something a little less obtrusive than a big honkin DSLR.

Enjoy, Derek

Even the posties take advantage of a great lunch opportunity.
Even if they don't look like they are looking forward to it.

Shooting Architecture

National Library, Ottawa, Canada

f11  1/20  ISO100  27mm

Good Monday from Prospect.

National Library, Ottawa

f13  1/60  ISO 100  94mm

Okay so here's the thing. Been a little busy working for the last few days. We all need to put bread on the table right?

Well Friday afternoon found me in Truro NS. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to do a photo walk but did get a quick chance to scout it out. Now I know Mahone Bay is known for it's three churches, but wow, Truro has what must be the highest concentration of church architecture of anywhere in the Nova Scotia at least.

I quickly counted at least 6 in a 2 block radius. I'm not sure of the denominations but it seemed pretty diverse to me, at first glance anyway. I plan to make at least one trip to solely walk the area and shoot the architecture.

2007 Rib Fest, Ottawa

f4.5 1/30 ISO 200 at 36mm

But in the meantime, maybe that can lead into a topic. What glass to use when shooting those churches?

Hmm, I could use an ultra wide to grab more up close detail or maybe a good middle prime and focus on the details. Hey what about a fisheye? 180 degrees can be pretty cool if it's composed right.

Hmm, maybe I could get some comments on this one from some of you out there. Maybe votes?

Woodlawn Library, Dartmouth NS

f5.6 1/45 ISO 400 at 18mm

1 - 16-35mm or 24mm ultra wide

2 - 50 or 85mm prime for some detail work

3 - 135 0r 200 for even closer work

4 - fisheye like a 15mm (180 degrees of stuff packed into the frame)

Maybe the fisheye could be the discussion.

If you've never shot with a fisheye lens then you should watch 
Gene Ho on BandH's YouTube page: LINK.

f5.6 1/60 ISO 100 at 15mm

The Art of the fisheye. His is a wedding photographer and is almost covert in his approach and technique. Almost fits into the street photography with a G1X story (which by the way uses a 15.1 - 60mm f2.8 - 5.8 piece of glass). Sorry, I had to stick that in. I was going to go on about that camera again, but I realized, who wants to hear about that.

Anyway, the only problem with fisheyes are you need to get UP CLOSE as in Macro distance, like this beetle. I was probably only 6 inches from the fender. Bridge only gives me "close view" for the distance. That gets a little tough if you want to be covert.

Anyway, hope I left you with some food for thought today. What would you pick?

Not sure where I want to go tomorrow, I'll figure that out then.




So, till tomorrow remember, the successful photographer is the one that's there. So go take some pics. Enjoy, Derek

Parliment Hill, Ottawa, Canada  f5.6  1/180  ISO 100 27mm

Note: This is what to avoid when shooting with ultra wides. Notice how the light pole looks like it's falling over?  Oops.