A real head turner: Hay really can just... Combust. And that is exactly what happened here. After police investigation, it was obvious there was no foul play. The hay was fine, then it was on fire. The end.
© Katie Mulligan/Metroland - Ottawa Region

Cruising through my archives, I came across some work I've done from various weddings. This reminds me of lovely weather and beautiful scenery, which reminds me that I am leaving for a trip down south in about two weeks. However, it's going up to 4 degrees today, which, after the freezing rain, could be quite nice.
© Katie Mulligan

The senior high school band is the biggest it has ever been; 56 members from Grades 10 to 12. The high school's music director says this band's rehearsal is his favourite time of the week, despite the chaos surrounding it. Practice begins at 3:10 p.m., which leaves him about half an hour, with the help of students, to move all platforms, chairs, music stands, microphones, speakers and much more to the cafeteria and set it all up after the final bell rings at the end of the school day. This is one of 500+ photos taken for a photo essay.
© Katie Mulligan/Metroland - Ottawa Region

Moll's Gap, a traditional Irish band, plays Tell Me Ma at Murphy's Bar in Killarney, Ireland. The music poured out of the pub and into the street, welcoming wanderers to come inside and enjoy the atmosphere.

© Katie Mulligan

An afternoon in St. Stephen's Green

School boys have a laugh scaring pigeons at St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, Ireland, in May 2007.
© Katie Mulligan

Senior boys soccer, September 2007.
At this very game, I encountered one of those situations that requires a decision. While standing at the sidelines, a play started to come towards me. As I kept shooting, I realized I had to decide to assume they would be able to stop before they got to my location, or stop and step aside. I've had to deal with this countless times. This was the first time I chose poorly.
As the players came my way, I kept shooting. They got very close, and I then realized I was going to get hit. So I hid my camera and my face, and got a soccer ball in the shoulder at full force.
It wasn't even worth it... The pictures I got from that streak weren't in my final cut for what to run in the paper.
This one, however, was. And it was shot from a safe distance before that incident even happened.
© Katie Mulligan/Metroland - Ottawa Region

The air up there

I prefer shooting the Senior sporting teams at the local high school, because they seem to set up better action shots for me. While covering the Juniors and Midgets is of course important, they tend to be just starting out and make it a bit more difficult to walk away with anything more than a generic 'running with the ball' shot or something similar.

© Katie Mulligan/Metroland - Ottawa Region

Walk for ALS

Local residents gather every year at the Civitan Centre for the Walk for ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease). The event begins with registration and mingling, followed by music and memories of those lost to the disease. After a brief warmup, participants are off, circling the entire town to show their support.

© Katie Mulligan/Metroland - Ottawa Region

The Hungry Lunch

People of all ages meet at a local church to enjoy a free hot lunch every Tuesday afternoon throughout the year. Volunteers from five of the churches in town donate their time to cook, prepare and clean up, while local restaurants donate a main course each week.
© Katie Mulligan/Metroland - Ottawa Region