Iain Leitch Photography

Over Christmas break, I took a trip down to Montreal. That was my first time actually stopping in Montreal as I've driven through it on my way out East a number of times but have never actually stopped. I got a hotel in the Old Port part of town on Francois Xavier Street. The first Picture is of a square and surrounding buildings right near where I was staying. The second picture is from inside the Mary Queen of the World Cathedral looking from the entrance to the altar. The third picture is a statue on a square right near the Cathedral. The next picture is actually my favorite one that I took on the trip, it is overlooking the skyline of Montreal. The fifth picture was taken well walking around the city. The sixth and seventh pictures are of Notre-Dame and the former city hall.

Next week I will be going to the old town of Montreal so that will mean some new pictures for this blog which I'm excited about. Back to this posting, the first picture is a steam in a local conservation area well the second picture is a small tree growing in my front lawn.

Most of my large prize pack from Canadian Geographic came in the mail today. That included an upgraded camera from what it was supposed to be which was a Nikon AW Black with an 11-27.5mm lens to what is now is which is a Nikon D2700 with and 18-140mm lens. I used the new camera to take this photo of the Black Eyed Junco. I am still getting use to the new camera and am excited to find out all of the features it has but am also disappointed as my remote shutter and ND filter do not work on the Nikon.

I'm back from university and that means more updates on this blog as I will be taking more pictures and have more chances to as well. This is a picture of a morning dove in the maple tree in my backyard. I have a bird feeder set up so there should be more bird pictures up soon. 

Trent University stands on what use to be a railway which is why this bridge is here. The bridge would have been able to swing to let boats using the canal to pass by and would swing back to let a train cross the canal. This picture is a reflection on the water of the bridge just after sunset.

Last night was a clear night so I figured I would talk off campus a bit to get away from light so I walked down to Nassau Mills Lock 22 on the Trent Severn waterway which was in full darkness and got some cool stars. I used F/3.5, ISO 800 and shutter of 3.5 seconds to get this picture. I took over 500 photos then stacked them all together using an application called StarStax. I edited it in Adobe Photoshop Express. The trees at the bottom of the image light up because of car head lights and the red dot at the bottom of the picture is probably a plane.

Near to Trent, there is an abandoned farm that one of my friends took me to. The farm consists of an old hay barn which is what the first picture is. Then you get into the cow part of the barn which is what the next three photos are. The window photos are nice because there is no glass just the frame, while the doorway looks nice with the golden sunlight coming in through it. The last photo is of an old bed frame.

When I went home for reading week, I found some fungus in my backyard. The sun was shining right on it so I dropped what I was doing and this is what turned out with some minor editing. This tree has been in my yard and I guess the base has started to go so fungus has started growing on it but that region in my backyard is very moist and doesn't see a lot of sunlight so that could also be why. Update on the prize I won from Canadian Geographic I still haven't got the prize back for it but I will be going home again at the end of November so I am hoping it will be there by then. Also, you can find my winning picture in the December issue of the magazine.

This past weekend was Head Of The Trent or HOTT for short. It is the largest single day rowing regatta in North America. The first photo is from the weekend before when I and my friend went out to take some photos because the sunset was nice. The next three photos are all of the Trent novice boys rowing teams they had two different boats in the water for it. The first boat placed 7th and the second got 13th.

I have not posted anything at all this September and that is because I've been at Trent University which is what the first picture is of. It is in my mind one of the most beautiful schools in Canada and I am proud to call it my home for the next four years. The next photo is a wasp that I took just outside my dorm window and touched up a bit. The last photo is one that I've already posted but I feel like I should post it again as it just won the "Youth Category" of the Canadian Wildlife Photography Of The Year Competition hosted by Canadian Geographic. The link to see the winning photos is  here .