Field Notes – Scott Murphy

Still Light

A winter river at dusk with snow along the banks and bare trees reflected in still, partially frozen water. The low sun glows through thin cloud, and the sky remains light at 4:30 pm.

I must confess that I haven’t been out shooting much these past weeks. The cold settled in, the snow kept coming, and the days seemed to contract around that reality. Recently, though, I’ve reenergized myself and returned to exploring the Rideau Canal shorelines once again. Yesterday I made my way back to Upper Brewers Lockstation.Continue reading “Still Light”

True Stray: Specimen B/13•B/21

An overturned shopping cart frozen at the edge of a river in winter, partially embedded in ice, with smooth long exposure water surrounding it and a rail bridge visible in the background.

A field note informed by Julian Montague’s taxonomy of stray shopping carts. An overturned cart at the river’s edge is examined as a Class B True Stray, shaped first by human intervention and later by water, ice, and time.

First Ice – Haskin’s Point

Metal staircase leading into thin ice on the Rideau Canal at Haskin’s Point, Seeley’s Bay, photographed in winter.

Early winter stillness settles across Haskin’s Point as the Canal begins to freeze. A mindful observation of changing seasons and inner recovery, part of Meditations on the Rideau, exploring the landscape as a place of transition and healing.

Happy Accidents

Historic stone mill on the Rideau Canal captured as a pinhole photograph

A soft, imperfect pinhole photograph of Watson’s Mill became an unexpected favourite. A moment where the past and present briefly coexist, a happy accident.

First Snow, Open Water – Jones Falls

Medium-format digital photograph of the Lockstation at Jones Falls on the Rideau Canal, high detail in snow and water reflections, converted to black and white.

A quiet afternoon at Jones Falls, where the first snowfall had settled but the water remained open. Two long pinhole exposures, upstream and downstream, capturing stillness in the shoulder season along the Rideau Canal.