Saturday August 18, 2018, the Ryde Community Co-op held its annual Heritage Day at the Ryde community centre in Barkway. Visitors from the Ryde area, Muskoka cottagers and Gravenhurst families, enjoyed a sunny day of games, displays, activities and live music. The face painting tent was very popular among the kids. Boys and girls were drawn to a most beautiful fairy who stayed busy all day doing a wonderful job painting faces. The Ryde Heritage Day event was fun for children and families, and as a candid portrait photographer it was ideal for the photography I enjoy doing too. As you’ll see in the gallery section below, among the photos taken there are some candid portraits, the Cruise ‘N’ Country band playing music, vintage tractors, kids playing lawn games, boys and girls working on crafts, talented face paint, babies and children crawling and jumping in a bouncy castle, Gravenhurst Fire Department, Muskoka turtles and snakes at the SCALES reptile display, kids fish pond, and some of the other displays and vendor tents on the site. The Ryde Community co-op did a good job planning and presenting the event and it was great to see local families coming out to support it. As the word gets around about the events and activities offered in Ryde, special days like the annual Ryde Heritage Day are bound to keep growing each year!
The SCALES reptile display included a variety of Muskoka turtles and snakes often found in the Gravenhurst area. The SCALES volunteers were eager to share information and answer questions. I learned some new things about the turtles and snakes I keep encountering on my property and on outings in Barkway and Gravenhurst. The reptile display became a good spot to get a few nice candid portrait photos of kids coming to look at the snakes and turtles. One boy was specially interested in the display and enjoyed handling a docile corn snake. He was as much at ease with the snake as he was with the camera so we got some good photos in the reptile display tent.
Face paint and craft painting were both popular among the kids. All afternoon the girls wore colourful painted masks matching the colours of their outfits. In the photos above the girls are seated at a craft table painting wooden toy boats. It was interesting to see how patient, careful and meticulous they were about picking out paint colours and applying it to their boats.
An energetic baby boy enjoyed the bouncy castle and had a very cute technique for crawling out of the castle and onto the ground. After crawling around in the castle for some time he decided to exit – but when he crawled to the edge and realized he couldn’t reach the ground he came up with a new strategy. He crawled back into the castle, took some time to line himself up just right, and then put his crawling gear in reverse. Being a good driver he first looked over his shoulder to check the rear view before letting off the brake. He saw me watching with the camera and then I took the first photo. I specially like that photo! Once he was sure he had the all-clear to back up the baby boy slowly and carefully inched his way backward until his feet hung over the edge of the castle wall. The slow motion backwards crawling was very clever and the cutest thing to see. The baby boy reversed until he was able to safely slide down to the ground and land on his feet. In the second photo he’s looking at me again, this time saying “I hope you got all that on film!” I never did find out the boy’s name, so I’m nicknaming him “Parkour” since it looks like he may have that talent in his future.
Below you will find the full gallery of photos from the Ryde Heritage Day event. More photos were taken, similar to those displayed in the gallery, but to avoid too much repetition they haven’t been included here. If you like any particular photos please feel free to ask if I have more as other similar shots might be available.
Each photo is marked in a corner with a file number which helps identify the image in the event anyone would like to request a large copy for printing. In the Ryde Heritage Day photo page I have not disabled downloading of pictures or covered photos with watermarks to inhibit their use. The work was created for the Ryde Community Co-op and participants to enjoy, share and use free of charge. This was not a paid shoot but an entirely voluntary effort to create some nice work for you.
If you enjoy the photos and would like to show appreciation I would be grateful! Please go to the Contribute page to see how you can help support my work.
I’ve also added a “create your own review” button below, and a new testimonials page where you can leave a rating and review. I would greatly appreciate some input as it may help other local families and groups notice the site and become aware of the photography and service available to them. Thank you! – Boyd Otter
The thumbnail grid below repeats all the same photographs seen in the gallery section on the page, and is included here for those needing an alternate way to download and save their photos.
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