Snowdon Park – Minden Hills

On December 31, 2018 I went for a walk with family to Snowdon Park, just a short drive east of Minden. This was our first visit to this 460 preserve.

Needless to say, going in the middle of winter results in plain white snow covered photographs. So my search was to find something … anything of interest that wasn’t simply a tree covered in snow. During our visit we walked most of the trail system except the one large loop that has an old abandoned car. That would have made for an interesting photo and in hindsight I should have requested we find the car, but that will have to be for another visit.

Snowdon Park is a pet friendly trail system that consists of wetlands and woods. It isn’t a park for powered vehicles (i.e. ATV) and it isn’t for camping. Our winter walk was very reminiscent of a walk we took previously at Emily Tract, next to Emily Park in Omemee.

During this outing I took the Fuji XT2 and the Canon FD 24mm F2.8 SCC.

Old Quebec City + Fuji XT2 with Canon 24/2.8 SCC and Minolta Rokkor 58/1.4

In September 2017 my wife and I went to Old Quebec City for a three day visit to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.  This was my first time to Quebec City and our goal while visiting was to focus on the popular tourist destination of the Old Quebec City district.

For this trip we took the VIA Rail train from Ottawa to Old Quebec City.  Taking the train is a great way to travel.  It is very comfortable, relaxing and quiet.  Our time going through both Ottawa and Quebec City train stations were very quick and enjoyable.  The route from Ottawa to Quebec City has several stops, so a one-way trip takes approximately six hours.  Six hours may seem like a long time, but on the ride back it gave me ample time to work on my laptop to cull and edit my photographs from our three day visit to Old Quebec City.

For anyone considering going to Old Quebec City, be aware that there is a lot of walking.  A LOT.  It is all explored on foot.  And the area of Old Quebec City is on the side of a hill, so there are several levels or tiers to the buildings which results in many stairs.  Be prepared to get your weekly workout.  That being said, it is a beautiful photo rich environment with very kind people.  A great place to shop, see the incredible work put into preserving these centuries old buildings and to enjoy the cafes and restaurants.

On this trip I packed the graphite Fujifilm XT2 and three lenses.  Most of my walk around photography was done with the 1973 Canon 24mm f2.8 SCC.  I did capture several images where a longer reach was needed with the 1966 Minolta Rokkor 58mm f1.4 and for just a couple photos where I needed the ultra wide and/or image stabilization, I used the Fujifilm 10-24mm f4.  Film simulation modes are typically Velvia for colour and Acros + R for B&W.

MOSAICANADA 150 – The Gatineau Garden of 2017

Mid September 2017 my wife and I visited the popular MOSAICANADA 150 garden in Gatineau, Quebec.  This unique and impressive garden was created as part of the popular Canada 150 years of history celebrations.  The garden is located in the “Parc Jacques-Cartier” (Jacques-Cartier Park) next to the Alexandra Bridge.  Here is a Google Map link to the exact location.

Admission to this garden is free and it’s certainly a garden to visit should you be in the area.  Here is a copy/paste from their website:

 Canada’s 10 provinces and 3 territories, as well as First Nations Québec and Labrador, unite to present 33 masterful works over five historical sectors. The horticultural friendship uniting Canada with Shanghai and Beijing has also led to coloured works of art which will delight your eye. 

To give some perspective to the attention this unique park has had, they celebrated the 1,000,000 visitor on September 9th!  That’s amazing.

For the photography enthusiasts, I photographed the park entirely with the Fuji XT2 and the 1973 Canon 24mm F2.8 SCC vintage lens.  There were only a few pics at the huge Mother Earth display where I used the 1966 Minolta Rokkor 58mm F1.4.  Because of the crowds it is very difficult to take photos and not have people in the shot.  But in cases where there are people in the pictures it helped to give perspective to how large some of the displays are.  The time of day and lighting were all wrong for outdoor, well lit subjects … but that’s what happens when on vacation and visiting a location for only an hour.  Even with the very harsh midday sun, I’m still happy with the results and the keepsake images I captured.

Fleming College + Vintage Canon + Fisheye

Shortly after purchasing the Canon 24mm F2.8 S.C.C. and the Rokinon 8mm F2.8 fisheye (purchased at two different times of the year) I did a couple walk arounds of the Fleming College campus in Peterborough Ontario.  It was a great subject to explore in my search of interesting design and architectural elements.

The Rokinon 8mm is not an adapted lens.  It has a native Fuji mount which makes it quite small and light.  This lens was a Kijij purchase (actually it was a bit of a risky purchase since I didn’t meet the seller, I did a PayPal transfer and they shipped the lens).  But it all worked out and I’ve been very happy with the lens.  It is very sharp (in the centre) wide open which works perfect for my wedding work when shooting the fun energetic images of the late evening dance.  I use it at every wedding to cover the late evening dancing.  To see an impressive, thorough review of the Rokinon 8mm, check out this website.

Sheridan College + Vintage Canon 24mm

In mid May 2017 a few co-workers and myself attended the annual OCCCIO conference at Sheridan College located in Oakville  Ontario.  The OCCCIO is a multi-day tech conference for all Ontario colleges.  It’s goal is to promote I.T. collaboration between the provinces 26 colleges.

While at the OCCCIO I spent an evening of free time walking around the campus and taking photos.  My goal was to hunt for interesting architecture around the campus and photograph it.  This made my exploring the campus more enjoyable since I had a goal to work towards.  For this shoot I only brought with me my newly acquired 1973 Canon 24mm/F2.8 and the Fujifilm XT1.

As you can see from the images, the effective focal length of 35mm was an ideal focal length for casual use (also commonly referred to as the preferred focal length of street photographers) .  This vintage lens when stopped down only one or two stops from wide open is a stellar performer.

Copyright © Adam Woodhouse 2017