Mount Royal Cemetery photography exhibits

Usually by this time of the year I have chosen which photographs I plan to display in the annual Mount Royal Cemetery photography exhibit held in May.

Sadly, after the retirement of the man who was the driving force behind this event, last year's exhibition was the very last.

I so appreciate the hard work and vision of that individual who created the exhibit in the first place as well as the friendly camaraderie of the fellow photographers and the supportive attendance of friends and family.

Below are my winning photographs from several years of entering:

TITLE:  Fox With Kits

Third prize (as selected by a jury) in 2008 - theme: The Spirit of the Mountain

TITLE:  Light and Texture

Artists' choice in 2010 - theme: Texture

TITLE:  Profusion of Purple

Second prize (as selected by a jury) in 2012 - theme:  Colour in all its Form

TITLE:  Camera Shy

Artists' choice in 2014 - theme:  Nature

TITLE:  Be Still My Heart

Third prize (as selected by a jury) in 2016 - theme:  Serenity

TITLE:  Patterns

Third prize (as selected by a jury) in 2017 - theme:  The Seasons of the Mountain

(Note:  if anyone thinks they can identify the subject of this photograph, please leave a comment) :-)

TITLE:  Raccoon Among the Flurries

Host first prize in 2019 - theme: Impression

The article below appeared in "The Montrealer" in early 2017

Below:

Photo of me with exhibition sign displaying my photograph of a Cooper's Hawk bathing in the cemetery's stream (2010)

I will always have happy memories of these events set in one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world.  It's very sad to realize that these good times are over.

A bad start but a great ending

This past week-end I did something that I have NEVER done in all the years that I have been taking pictures. I was setting out on a photographic adventure and was already at my destination (Mount Royal) when I became horror stricken to discover that I had no memory card in my camera! And I had no spare in my back-pack either. I couldn't believe it!!

Now I had three options to consider: 1) continue on and content myself with just observing nature; 2) go back home and get the card; 3) go downtown and buy a new card. Number one was rejected when I thought about maybe seeing fox kits and it would kill me not to be able to photograph them. Number two was just too boring. So it would be number three and while I was down there I would stop for a coffee and muffin.

However, this would result in such a long delay to get back to the mountain, I figured the early morning advantage for wildlife viewing would be lost and, considering this would be a very hot day (record breaking in fact!), that I would probably be back right at the hottest point of the day. This would likely reduce my chances of seeing very much but somewhere in the back of my mind (being an eternal optimist) I thought maybe it was fate that I was being delayed.

Well ... when I did finally get back the sun was beating down and I was not seeing much wildlife out and about. I did see some diehard photographers out hoping to photograph the Cooper's Hawks that are nesting on one of the slopes. In fact one of the hawks was in a tree and I snapped a few shots that were not very good. Then I decided to go down to an area where a bird feeder is set up hoping to get a shot of a Chickadee or Downy Woodpecker. As I approached I saw a Woodchuck near the feeder and decided to circle around it for a shot which brought me in close proximity to a small stream. Suddenly out of the corner of my eye something in the water caught my attention and when I turned I was only several feet away from a Cooper's Hawk taking a bath. I was able to spend at least ten minutes taking shot after shot. This was one cool bird!!

A friend of mine says that if a day starts out badly it will end well. This day certainly proved that to be true.