This photo was taken in mid October when we went to visit the Parliament buildings. I thought I would visit Parliament as soon as I moved to Ottawa, but it actually took me 1.5 years to get there! It's impossible to find parking there, and the grounds are always crowded - hard to take pictures without a thousand people in the frame, especially since the architecture lends itself so nicely to wide-angle photography.

I did manage to get a few good shots on this visit to Parliament, especially once the sun decided to come out. This shot was actually taken while standing on Parliament Hill and looking across the river. For this shot, I used my telephoto lens at 70mm focal length. I have another shot taken almost from the same vantage point with the wide angle. I think this one is much better. The telephoto is an amazing lens, but I haven't been able to find many occasions to use it. This is one instance where it really shone.

Last weekend, we went on a photo journey to Val-des-Bois, Quebec. Up until last year, my only visit to Quebec had been a layover in the Montreal airport when I was en-route to somewhere else. Last year when I visited Ottawa, I ventured across the bridge to Gatineau. I got lost looking for the Museum of Civilization and became quite hungry wandering aimlessly around downtown Gatineau. I was afraid to stop for food anywhere because I don't speak French.

Val-des-Bois was beautiful... This scene absolutely blew my mind. Shimmering sand and rocks, fall colors, calm water and a bridge! The photo doesn't really do it justice. The light was failing by the time we got there and my landscape photography skill leaves much to be desired... but this is still one of my favorite photos.