At first, I thought of photographing the sun rising over Parliament Hill, from the Québec-side of the Ottawa River. The provincial borders had only reopened earlier in the week, and I hadn't been across the river since the second week of the shutdown, when I had arrived at the office, before 7 am, to retrieve some personal belongings and hightail it out of there before anyone else would arrive.
I thought it would be nice to be somewhere with a waterfall, where I could take long exposures to soften the cascade, but I didn't want to go to Hog's Back. I've been there, taking early-morning photos, far too often.
That's when the town of Almonte, in Mississippi Mills, came to mind. A river runs through the centre of town, down a series of waterfalls. I hadn't been there in a few years so I was due a visit.
The thing is, to get there before sunrise, I would have to leave the house early. Sunrise happens just before 5:30, and because Almonte is about 40 minutes away, I would have to leave the house no later than 4:30 so that I would have enough time to get there, park, walk to the falls, and set up my gear.
As when I used to get up early to go to the office, I laid out the next day's clothes in the bathroom and made sure I had everything I needed. The camera bag was packed and placed by the front door. Because I would be leaving the house so early, I left the car in the driveway so that the garage door wouldn't disturb anyone's slumber.
I got into bed by 10:00 and set my alarm for 4:00.
Unfortunately, with my head so full of ideas, I couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned, read, got up to drink water, and lay wide awake all night.
At 3:30, I decided that I should get up, lest fatigue hit me like a hammer and prevent me from hearing the alarm. At 10 minutes before 4, I hopped in the car and drove.
Traffic was practically non-existent. By 4:25, I was parked across from the old post office. A few pickup trucks roamed Main and Mill Streets, mostly occupied by labourers on their way to work. I sat in the car for a few minutes while I decided what I wanted to do, and then got out and grabbed my gear.
My first shots were of the post office building and the statue that honours James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, but I wandered down Mill Street, past the building for which the street was once named, and set up on the bridge over the Mississippi River, downstream from the falls.
By 5:00, I had all of the shots I wanted. It was still almost a half hour before sunrise.
I thought for a moment and headed straight back for the car. If I booted it, I could make it down Route 29 and into Carleton Place in time for sunrise.
When I had had my fill of this picturesque town, I was ready to move on but I didn't want to go home just yet. And so I jumped back in the car and headed further west to yet another lovely town: Perth.
It was in this town that my fatigue started catching up with me, and so before I became too tired to drive, I headed back home, pulling into my driveway almost exactly four hours after I had first set out. I was back in the house before anyone had arisen from bed.
After a quick bite of breakfast and a cup of coffee, I went down to the basement, where my office and home computers are set up, and downloaded my photos, beginning the work of post-processing.
Some time later, I fell asleep in my chair, where I slept deeply for more than two hours.
Over this week, I'll share my adventure—and more photos—in detail. Stay tuned.
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