Jan. 6; In Memory of Lara

 

 

Lara Vaarre (left) and Nancy Davis are lovely young friends from Cascades dragon boat team.

Lara passed away on Dec. 26, after a spirited fight with cancer.

Today, we celebrated her all-too-short life, with champagne and strawberry short cake.

Lara packed more living into her 42 years, than most of us do in a life time.

She was a generous, caring, funny, spirited, adventurous woman;

a paddler, SCUBA diver, a chocolatier and a friend. I will miss her.

The team photo shows Lara, front and centre, and myself, behind and left of Lara.

 

June 12: Photo from the waterfront

The section of the Gatineau River where our Cascades Canoe club is located, is beautiful.

Every picture captures different sky, light and water conditions.

In this picture, I love the reflections of the clouds and the light on the background.

June 9: Head Shot

A  'Head Shot' usually refers to a head and shoulders portrait of someone.

This 'head shot' is of a resting group of dragon boat team members resting in between races!

We were in Lachine (Montreal) for races today.





May 23: Dragon Boat Friends

Beirong, Peggy & Guylaine.

May 22: Dragon Boat Friends

On this night, Nancy and Michelle were in seat 10, the back of the boat.

The light was spectacular, giving a great natural, personal portrait.

May 21: The Steersperson

Katie was steering when I took these photos.

It is her job to give the commands and keep us all together.

Notice the 'right-side-up' reflection !

May 20: All up!

The call from the steersperson is for 'All Up'.

That means put paddles in the  position readyto paddle.

If you are lucky, it means awesome reflections, like this!

May 19: "All Down!"

Last night's dragon boat practice was under picture perfect conditions!

Late evening sunlight, perfectly calm water, and full spring foliage, made a background to my teammate's beautiful technique.

This photo is All Down, where we are allowed to rest for a minute between sets (and take a photo).

How spectacular!

May 14: Mt Tremblant

May 13, Mt Tremblant

The dragon boats, the paddlers and the lake are at rest.

May 12: Mt Tremblant

A canoe is barely visible in the mist, in the distance.

May11: Mt Tremblant

A weekend of dragon boat training at Mt Tremblant gave us this tranquil dusk.

April 27: A cold Night

Dragon boat practice is scheduled for tonight, a cold, gloomy and windy day in Ottawa.

It is currently 2 degrees and forecast to go down to -4!

I need to find all my very warm and dry clothes to get ready to paddle. A few weeks ago, it was also cold and I took this picture of the backs of Michelle and MJ, bundled up with hats and mitts.

I really like this photo with the spectrum of blues and the bright sky.

April 12: On Water

Katie ( steering), Peggy, Shannon and Debby.

Even near the end of practice, we were still smiling!

I had to straighten the horizon before posting this picture, because of the rocking of the boat.

April 11: On Water

The dragon boats went on the water on Monday, but I had my first practice tonight!

We were dressed more for skiing than paddling, but it was mighty fine to be on the water again,

and gearing up for Hong Kong Worlds!

Our spot on the Gatineau River is beautiful;  one goal is to take lots of photos this year.

Jan. 8: The Paddle Tank in Montreal

Once a month, the paddlers on my dragon boat team (Yea Cascades!) travel to Montreal to practise in a dragon boat-specific tank. It is equipped with mirrors, like a ballet studio. The layers of mirror reflections fascinate me, when I"m supposed to be concentrating on my paddling technique!

 The athletic form and precision of my extremely talented and athletic team-mates, together with the mirrors, provide intriguing layers of colour, motion and shapes.

Question: How can I take a picture without getting the camera in the photo?