Nova Scotia | The Blue Brick | Photography and Handcrafts by Shireen Nadir

Posts Tagged 'Nova Scotia'

Where I Wish I Was – Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

Published September 20, 2012 Photography , Travels 2 Comments
Tags: Canada, Nova Scotia, Peggys Cove, photography, travel

Has anyone else noticed how much the nature of work has changed for them in the past few years? This summer my boss, and most of my clients, worked while on vacation. A few weeks ago I was sick; I worked from home. I take my midday meal at a working lunch and frequently work evenings and early mornings to catch up. It used to be a deadline thing, now it’s a new normal thing.

I blame a host of reasons – smart phones allow people to work anywhere, any time. People can reasonably expect that I will check email, even if it arrives at night. I always have my computer with me, and I happen to love what I do, which can make the line seem a bit blurry when you’re pulling serious overtime.

It reminds me of the value of unplugging these days. Turning off the phone, not answering email, and doing things that are soul food. Eating well, sleeping well, spending time with our favourite people, pets and pastimes and remembering to breathe.

My favourite place in the world to do all of these things is Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. Today, when I am up to my ears in deadlines I remember the rocky isolation, the sound of the ocean, and the afternoons that I spent alternating between napping on the warm rocks in the sun and knitting while listening to the waves crash.

Here are some photos of the place where my soul sings, and where I wish I could be right now. Enjoy!

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia.

Published November 8, 2011 Photography , Travels 1 Comment
Tags: Atlantic, Canada, Nova Scotia, Peggys Cove, travel

I apologize for the image intense post coming up – narrowing down photography of Peggy’s Cove is impossible. It’s worth it, I promise.

Peggy’s Cove is like being on the moon. The austere beauty of this rocky landscape makes this one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever shot.

Of course there is the lighthouse, but if you walk about 5 minutes away from it then you find yourself completely alone with the rocks and the ocean.

The population of Peggy’s Cove is less than 100. It’s a beautiful little fishing village. It’s got one restaurant where, as you might imagine, I had the best Fish N’ Chips ever.

The rock formations were left behind by a retreating glacier. In parts of Peggy’s Cove it looks like it literally rained boulders.

There are lots of places to lie on the rocks like a sunning salamander and nap while listening to the waves.

In the evening, long exposure shots make for beautiful textures.

The town itself is lovely. It’s got one B&B, where we stayed.

Tide in at the town’s fishing wharf.

It’s got one church.

And a small maritime museum.

…And the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen. My soul sings in a place like this. Give me rocks and ocean and I’m a content gal.

Yvette and I were sorry to leave, but very very happy that we made the time to see this magical spot.

The Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

Published October 17, 2011 Photography , Travels 3 Comments
Tags: Annapolis Royal, Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, photography

I wanted to share some photos of the beautiful Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia today – not just to show off this beautiful historic town but also to show two beautiful people – Lloyd and Sharon – the photos they helped us take. I apologize in advance for the lengthy, and image intensive post – but there was no way to just briefly talk about this amazing area.

Lloyd and Sharon are amazing, friendly folks who basically scooped us off the Annapolis wharf and offered to give us a driving tour of the valley. They were so generous with their time – it always amazes me how warm and sweet east coasters are.

Among the unexpected treats we got that day was a visit to their blueberry patch – where we ‘gleaned’ to our hearts content. Yvette was in heaven.

This watery stairway was fascinating to me. I took this photo at Victoria beach – which is a small fishing community on the Bay of Fundy. When the tide goes down these stairs are exposed so folks can use them to get down to their boats.

This wharf is at Parkers Cove – I love the way these wharfs have been built to allow for the dramatic tidal changes. The fishing wharves are a patchwork of construction with newer parts for where storms have washed older material away. The oldest parts of the wharfs are hundreds of years old in some cases.

Another view of the wharf – you can see someone walking along the top for perspective, I love this shot.

Another shot of the wharf – the tide is out so the boats are sitting on the ground.

We can’t thank Lloyd and Sharon enough, their hospitality made for a wonderful day.

Speaking of hospitality, this beautiful place is the Dragonfly Inn – we highly recommend it. Friendly folks, beautiful rooms and a short walk to the waterfront.

The town of Annapolis Royal is small, friendly and significant in Canadian history. I defer to wikipedia:

“Annapolis Royal (2006 population: 444) is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. Known as Port Royal until the Conquest of Acadia in 1710 by Britain, the town is the oldest continuous European settlement in North America, north of St. Augustine, Florida.

The town was the capital of Acadia and later Nova Scotia for almost 150 years, until the founding of Halifax in 1749. It was attacked by the British six times before permanently changing hands after the Conquest of Acadia in 1710. Over the next fifty years, the French and their allies made six unsuccessful military attempts to regain the capital.

Including a raid during the American Revolution, Annapolis Royal faced a total of thirteen attacks, more than any other place in North America.[1″

We visited the Garrison Cemetery – there are tours at night a few times a week that are both entertaining and informative. Each person is given a lantern to carry and you go though a guided tour of the most significant gravestones. Garrison cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Canada.

Yvette and I really enjoyed our time in this town and would definitely recommend it to others looking for the perfect spot to relax and unwind in :)

The Bay of Fundy – Annapolis Royal

Published October 4, 2011 Photography , Travels 6 Comments
Tags: Annapolis Royal, Bay of Fundy, Canada, Nova Scotia, photography, tidal range, tides

Annapolis Royal is a beautiful small town on the Bay of Fundy – and a historically significant one for Canada as well. The town deserves it’s own post – but today I wanted to focus on highlighting the incredible tides you can see from it’s waterfront.

The Bay of Fundy divides the provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and is known for having the highest tidal range in the world. Off the waterfront of Annapolis Royal I spent 2 beautiful days taking before and after photos of the tidal changes.

In this part of the Bay of Fundy the tide changes an average of 27 feet every 6 hours. Further up the bay it goes as high as a 55 foot difference. It is a truly remarkable phenomenon and I hope through these photos to show how incredible the difference is.

The Bay of Fundy is a finalist in the vote for 7 Natural Wonders of the world. You can read all about it, and vote here. The folks at Annapolis Royal are proud of their dramatic tides, and one of the things I hope to accomplish with these photos is to inspire more folks to vote for the bay of Fundy – it truly is a natural wonder. While you’re at it you can read about the other candidates – many of them are awe inspiring in their own right.

The folks at Annapolis have learned to work around their tides, tying their boats so they don’t tip over and ensuring a constant feed of rope that lengthens as the boat drops as the tide goes out.

To explain the effect I defer to wikipedia ;)

“ Oceanographers attribute it to tidal resonance resulting from a coincidence of timing: the time it takes a large wave to go from the mouth of the bay to the inner shore and back is practically the same as the time from one high tide to the next. During the 12.4 hour tidal period, 115 billion tonnes of water flow in and out of the bay.^[6]“

While the tide was out Yvette and I couldn’t resist a few goofy shots as well;

For perspective, Yvette is exactly 6′ tall. You can see the high tide mark way above our heads. It takes only 6 hours to reach that mark from low tide – watching the speed at which it comes in is also incredible.

More about this beautiful town and the amazing Bay of Fundy coming soon!

Does it count if you didn’t see it yourself?

Published October 3, 2011 Photography , Travels , Uncategorized 5 Comments
Tags: Annapolis Royal, aurora borealis, Canada, Milky Way Galaxy, night photo, night photography, Northern Lights, Nova Scotia, stars

I just got back from the east coast and I think I’ve taken some of my best photos ever. I’ve shot Canada coast to coast, and though the mountains in the west coast are lovely, give me the maritime provinces any day; the warmth of the people and the beauty of the landscape are incomparable.

Without further ado here is the first of a few posts on my trip. On this post I’d like to get opinions on a photo I think is of the northern lights. I was shooting the milky way from Annapolis Royal at night when I decided to take a shot due north and this is what showed up in the camera….

Reasons for believing these are northern lights:

It was late September
It was midnight
It was totally clear out
Recent solar activity
The other side of that ridge contains only small fishing communities, nothing that could produce that kind of glow.
It looks like them.

Reasons to be not so sure:

I couldn’t see them myself – the camera at it’s highest sensitivity picked it up
Annapolis Royal is not known for frequent sightings
I’d hate to believe I’d accidentally stumbled onto my life goal.
It just doesn’t seem fair.

The next night I went out and shot the same pic, same time, same settings and the lights weren’t there. To me this kind of confirmed it, I feel like if they were there 2 nights in a row I might need to look for some other explanation.

So I’m curious – what do you guys think? Feel free to post a comment or send an email my way :) This doesn’t change my plans to drive to North Ontario this winter – to me it doesn’t count if I didn’t see them!

Before I sign off here are the photos I was trying to take when I stumbled onto my nemesis – the milky way was especially lovely that night :)

This one was taken off the end of the Annapolis Wharf.

And this one was taken from Fort Ann – most pics coming soon!

The Blue Brick | Photography and Handcrafts by Shireen Nadir

Posts Tagged 'Nova Scotia'