What started as a photography challenge ended up being a personal reflection about my love for photography:

The moments we choose to capture, and why certain images stay with us long after they were taken.

The project brought me back to the Coliseum Rapid on the Ottawa River during unusually high water, with the intention of slowing down and seeing a familiar place differently.


Rather than documenting the human experience in this space as I normally do, my goal was to focus on finding individual compositions within the chaos of the flooded Ottawa River, and to capture those brief moments where light, water, and movement created something spectacular.


What started as an opportunity to photograph a place I've spent years documenting became a reminder of why I fell in love with photography in the first place. The experience wasn't just about creating new images, but about rediscovering the value of being intentional with a camera and reflecting on why some photographs become more meaningful to us over time.

A lone dead tree stands in turbulent lake waters with white-capped waves and a dense evergreen forest in the background.
Turbulent brown floodwaters crash and surge violently over rocky rapids with white foam spray against a dark forest backdrop.
Aerial view of a turbulent brown river rushing through a dense forest with evergreen trees lining both banks.
Panoramic view of a rushing river with turbulent white water rapids surrounded by dense pine forest from a wooden deck.
Long exposure photo of rushing water flowing over red and brown rocks in a rocky stream or river.
Black and white photo of powerful rushing rapids with crashing waves surrounded by dense forest trees.
Turbulent rapids rush through a boreal forest river, with churning brown waters and evergreen trees lining the banks at dusk.
Panoramic view of rushing rapids on a wild river surrounded by dense forest, seen from a wooden deck with red railings.
Turbulent muddy brown river rapids with churning white foam and motion blur, capturing powerful fast-flowing flood waters.
Black and white long exposure photo of water flowing over dark rocks in a stream or rocky shoreline.
Turbulent river rapids rushing over rocks with a dense pine forest and blue sky in the background.
Turbulent brown floodwaters surge violently in a rushing river, with dense evergreen forest visible in the background.