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Rideau Photo Gallery
Boathouses

One of the most interesting and varied forms of architecture on the Rideau are its boathouses. The following represents a small selection of those that can found on the Rideau Waterway. More information on this photographic project can be found in the text box below the thumbnail photos.

Click on any thumbnail photo to see a larger version. When viewing the larger version, click on the thumbnails at the top of the page to move forwards or backwards through the show.

Sand Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Indian Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Indian Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Upper Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Indian Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Newboro Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Indian Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Sand Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Indian Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Indian Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Upper Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Opinicon Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Upper Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Opinicon Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002 Big Rideau Lake, Rideau Waterway, summer 2002

Notes: These photos were taken along a 75 kilometre section of the central Rideau, from Upper Brewers Lockstation to Poonamalie Lockstation, representing over 300 kilometres of shoreline. Lakes visited as part of the photographic tours included Dog, Cranberry, Little Cranberry, Whitefish, Sand, Opinicon, Indian, Clear, Newboro, Benson, Mosquito, Loon, Upper Rideau, Big Rideau and Lower Rideau. The most difficult part of the project was selecting the final 60 photos that would form the on-line gallery.

While there are many boathouses on the Rideau, new ones are a rarity since there was a moratorium on boathouse construction through the 1990s and although they are now permitted, they must follow stringent Parks Canada guidelines. Some features of older boathouses such as living space, e.g., a spare bedroom or an outside deck, are no longer approved. The main concern is environmental, the disruption of the shoreline and shoreline water flows that boathouses impact.

From a photographic point of view these restriction are just fine since it is the older boathouses that are the most interesting. A slight lean, a bit of a swayback roof, all add character to older boathouses and make them more photogenic. Some boathouses are beautiful, some are just plain ugly, some are architectural wonders and some are no more than a garage on the water - I have tried to represent most of these variations in the gallery.

Did I miss the best or the worst? It's likely - beauty (or ugliness) is in the eye of the beholder. I've tried to include a large variety, both from an appearance and a geographic point of view. It's best if you can get out on the water, cruise the shoreline and judge for yourself. A day of boathouse watching is lots of fun.

Technical Notes: All photos were taken with a Canon G1 digital camera at ISO 50 or 100. In most cases a polarizing filter was used to reduce glare. One of the greatest challenges was getting boathouses in the right light, since travelling along the Rideau though lockstations to get to various lakes often restricted the hours during which photos could be taken (often during the worst photo hours of midday). Another challenge was photographing bright white boathouses in a high contrast photographic environment (dark water, dark trees with shadows and bright sky). My thanks to those who painted their boathouses a dark colour - it made the photography much easier. Oh - and the Simpsonesque pink boathouse - that's what it looked like straight out of the camera (no editing).

My thanks to Breezebrowser software which made the creation of this gallery quite easy with the use of one of their (modified) HTML templates.




Comments: send me email: Ken Watson

©1996- Ken W. Watson