Robert Williams Photography offers landscape and nature photography, with a focus on Canadian landscapes.
Fine art prints and stock nature and urban photographs are available at affordable prices.
August 28, 2010: I have added photographs from the Avalon Peninsula (and St. John's) to my article on Newfoundland.
August 24, 2010: A new front-page photograph from Newfoundland.
(This article was written in 2003, but it is still quite relevant today (2008) in my neighbourhood).
This page is presented in memory for some of my favourite photographic subjects, that have been recently destroyed. Many of my photographs are made very close to where I live. This means, however, that the subjects that I like to photograph the most are at risk of being destroyed by suburban development. In the past year, my neighbourhood has been expanding rapidly, and some of my favourite trees and wildflower areas have disappeared under the bulldozer.
Merivale Road is a major west-end artery, running north-south in the former city of Nepean, joining it to Baseline Road in Ottawa. It is a significant "strip-mall" location, proving just how messy, and unattractive that kind of development can be. Slowly but surely, the land in this area is being developed. I drove past the field for years on my way in to work, enjoying the coming and going of field grass and wildflowers, including the Common Fleabane in the photograph. This photograph was taken with Fuji MS 100/1000 film at EI200.
This field was one of the last remaining undeveloped lots, but I had suspected for years that it's days were numbered. Unfortunately, that number ran out this fall, when bulldozers appeared and plowed the field getting ready for another development -- a big-box store. What is certain, is that it will no longer be home to an amazing variety of grasses and wildflowers, birds, and other creatures.
The Three Sisters, May 1999
Every day on my drive to work, I enjoyed these three trees bordering a farmer's field, right on the edge of the subdivision in which I live. These three trees have had a hard life, most recently suffering broken limbs during the famous 1998 ice storm in Eastern Ontario. Far from classically shaped trees, they symbolized a life of dogged survival, despite the odds. I named them in my mind, "The Three Sisters", and I took a series of photographs of them over the span of a year, in different seasons. I often photographed them at sunset, with the warm light adding colour and texture.
The Three Sisters, February 1999
My favourite of them all, was this infrared photograph, which shows the delicate, intricate structure of the branches and leaves.
The Elder Sister, Summer 1999
All three trees were destroyed in February 2001, to make way for a new grocery store.
In the field right beside the Three Sisters, an overgrown crab apple tree grew in the brush at the edge of the field. Up until this time, it had survived by chance, allowed to grow in the space between two fields. I photographed the flowers one spring evening, when the sunset light caught the crap apple tree in bloom.
Apple Blossoms, May 1999
This photograph gives me a sense of the gentle warm glow of the late evening light that I felt at the time. I used a 300mm lens to fill the frame with the mass of blossoms. Fortunately for the photograph, the mass of mosquitoes that were biting me didn't show up!
The crab apple tree ran out of luck in the spring of 2000, when it was replaced by a new big-box hardware store.
Viper's Bugloss, Summer 2000
Early in the summer, a narrow strip of land beside the Capitol City Diner on Merivale Road in Ottawa bursts into bloom. It fills with daisies and a dense patch of Viper's Bugloss (my favourite name for a wildflower!). Last year, I managed to go back to that 10 metre-wide plot while the Viper's Bugloss was in bloom, and I had a great time making photographs. One of the challenges I find with urban nature photography is showing the wildflower in it's glory, without letting on that it's in an urban setting. (Of course, I have no problem if the objective of the photo is to do exactly that -- show the struggle of nature in the city, but that's not often what I'm trying to do). For this photograph, I used a tight composition, using a moderate telephoto (105mm). By selecting a plant on the edge of the patch, and getting down low, I was able to fill the background with other Viper's Bugloss rather than the nearby buildings.
Just as the snow melted this year, I noticed that this plot of land had been plowed under. I feared that another store and parking lot would spring up instead of flowers, but the flowers won out one more time. It was plowed again this fall, putting its future in doubt once again.
Very occasionally, construction of new buildings can be good for flowers, at least for a short while. At the edge of a nearby subdivision, some rocks and rubble had been bulldozed at the edge of the road. The following spring and summer, a massive display of wildflowers grew in the newly churned soil. It seemed like all of the seeds in the soil were finally given a chance to grow, and they all took advantage of the situation at the same time.
Daisies and Brown-eyed Susans, 2001
Life for wildflowers is precarious in a subdivision, though. The next year, the growth was much diminished, perhaps due to the weather and poor soil. Ultimately the flowers will only last as long as development of the area is delayed. A shopping centre is being built next door, so time is slipping away.
Field grasses, 2002
I am always amazed about how completely nature takes over when we look the other way. This field is bordered by a major highway and it's access roads, an exclusive housing development, and soccer fields. The area was farmed in the past, but it is currently being left alone, waiting for the "right" development proposal to come along. In the mean time, grass, wildflowers, birds and other wildlife have taken over, making a welcome wild zone at the edge of the city. From a distance, it looks like a scrubby, unkempt lot, but up close, it is a beautiful field, growing more wild each year. Time may be limited though. A new "For Sale" sign went up on the lot this spring.
As the city grows, expanding suburbs and shopping areas are inevitable. The Ottawa area is very fortunate to have abundant parkland and natural areas set aside -- the Greenbelt, Gatineau Park, and many conservation areas beside local rivers, thanks to the City and Federal government. Even so, it is difficult to see some of the land that I have photographed transformed into houses and parking lots. Nature is a powerful force, and I hope that someday, we will give it a chance to reclaim some of the land that we have taken.
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