Older Image

I'm workinig on a soon to be announced project with a few of my fellow members from the Monochrome Guild.  I spent some time going through my archive of negatives to find some images that were suited to our current project.  In doing that, I came across this one.  I don't think I've ever printed it and perhaps this is one that I should consider working with.  I took this image with my old Sinar F1 view camera, back in April of 2010.  I later replaced that camera with the two Ebony folding field cameras that I have been using since 2012.  The Sinar is a great camera... very technical and accurate. But it is a monorail camera that is quite heavy and bulky and does not collapse down to nearly as compact as size as the folding wood Ebony cameras.  I still have several Sinar F1 cameras and use them from time to time... but mostly just for studio work, when I don't have to carry it any distance.  I have a lensboard adapter that allows me to share my vast collection of large format lenses between both systems.

This particular image was taken up at the Brazeau Collieries Historic Site in Nordegg with a wide angle 75mm lens and a #25 Red filter.  I shot it on the long ago discontinued Kodak High Speed Infrared film.  Although this film ceased being produced back in the late 1990's... and the last batches reached their best before dates in 2000 and 2001, I still have quite a bit of the film left in my freezer and have continued to shoot it.  I'm quite pleased with the look of this one and am not quite sure why it was passed over before....

Monochrome Guild at Remedy Cafe

Back in December, the members of the Monochrome Guild exhibited a selection of prints at Remedy Cafe.  The show was very well received... so much so that management invited us to show again.  This time we have two shows... one on the upper level and a second on the main floor.  These will be exhibited through the month of April.  In fact I'm frantically working on getting my prints ready.  It has been a real challenge in between work commitments, playoff hockey games, and trips out to Nordegg.  I made five prints last week and managed to get them washed and dried just before I took off to Nordegg to work on my cottage.  This week I'm working on getting those prints mounted, matted and framed in advance of installation at the Cafe.  I think I'll make it in time, as the installation is scheduled for the end of March.  

The show upstairs is called Winter's Dawn and includes a selection of prints from our Fall Photo Weekends out to Jasper National Park over the past several years.  The show downstairs is called Our City and features a selection of images taken around the city.  I will have prints for both themes.  Here is the official poster with details of the shows...

Interior Almost Done

I spent another weekend up at the cottage working.  I am just about finished now with the interior stuff.  The only thing left of significance, on the interior, is the kitchen cabinets and counter top.  It's nice to get most of this stuff done now, so that when we get into nicer spring and summer weather, I'm not stuck inside working.

I hung the two interior doors, fixed up some casing around them, and put on the door stops.  I also finished up the installation of wood panelling in the basement/crawlspace.

The snow melted a lot over the past week and there is very little left on our property.  I had to do some ditching around our garage in order to get the meltwater to run away.  But spring is in the air...!!

If was very foggy on the drive out on Saturday morning but that burned off by early afternoon and then it remained fairly mild through the rest of the weekend.  There were lots of deer around and I also saw a few of the early migrants returning to our neck of the woods.  I saw several pairs of Canada Geese, a few flocks of Starlings, and two Bald Eagles.

A fairly uneventful weekend otherwise.  Mostly just spent it working, with a little time visiting with a couple of the neighbors

Portrait

My friend Arturo, a fellow member of the Monochrome Guild, took this shot of me in "action".  Action is a relative term as it usually takes about 10 minutes to set up and focus the camera, and determine the exposure.  He graciously shared the image with me.  This was last October, when a number of us from the Guild were down in the Drumheller area photographing on our annual Fall Photo Weekend.  This is my Ebony SV45TU large format camera.  I think is was a Schneider 110mm lens... or maybe my Rodenstock 90mm.... would have to check my notes.  The image further below is the one that I was taking... a shot of the tipple at the Atlas Coal Mine in East Coulee.

Matthew Good

Yesterday I finally broke down and bought a replacement for my old iPhone 4S.  I can't remember exactly how long I've had that old phone, but it must be at least six or seven years.  I got a newer iPhone 7, which is only about three generations out of date, rather than seven or eight.  I went through the ordeal of sitting in the Apple Store for three hours yesterday while my old phone got backed up, and the data transferred to my new one.

In the evening Margarit and I went downtown to the Starlite Room to see Matthew Good do a solo acoustic show.  The Starlite Room was formerly Lush, The Rev, and Bronx and is in an old historic building that was originally built as a temple for the Salvation Army.  A lot of up and coming bands have played at this place over the years.  Matthew Good is a favorite of mine and an old established veteran performer.  I've seen him a couple of times before... once, over 20 years ago, when he was just starting out, at a small venue in Calgary... and then a few years ago here in Edmonton at the Jubilee Auditorium.  I tried out the new phone camera and took this snapshot at the show last night.

Longer Days

It was back out to Nordegg again this past weekend for me.  With daylight savings time kicking in last weekend, plus the longer daylight hours of spring, it is now possible for me to head out on Fridays after work.  I also don't have to rush home early in the afternoon on Sundays.  I don't like driving for extended periods of time in darkness.  I find my eyes get very tired and I get drowsy and have difficulty focusing on driving.  An hour or so is OK but I avoid more than that.

I left the city at about 5:30, after finishing up at work and throwing a few supplies in my truck.  The girls decided to stay home this weekend, so I went out to work... again.  It was about 8:30 when I arrived at the cottage and the twilight was just fading.  There were some wild horses standing in the middle of the highway up on Saunders ridge and I didn't see them until I was right on top of them.  Fortunately I was able to avoid them without incident.  This time around I brought out the two bedroom doors, two door jambs, a mattress for the spare bedroom, and a new portable barbecue.  It was comfortably warm in the cottage when I arrived and I unloaded everything from the truck and then got a fire going.

There is more activity out there now that spring is upon us.  Even on Friday evening, a few neighbors were around and by Saturday, even more showed up.  I was unable to start the ATV's in the extreme cold when I was last out a couple of weeks ago.  I was pretty sure I was going to have to charge the batteries.  But, in the mild sunny conditions they both started, and I moved them outside and let them run for a while.  

I set about installing the two remaining interior doors to the bedrooms.  I got the jambs all put in and cut and fit the casing.  Then, when I went to hang the doors, I realized that I had forgotten the hinges back at my shop.  So... the doors will have to wait for another day.....

The portable BBQ that I brought out replaced the old one that we had before and mostly used with our trailer.  It finally wore out after ten years of heavy use and the repair parts would have cost almost as much as a new one.  We have a large BBQ at the cottage, but it is kind of nuisance to drag out of the garage in winter, and way to big for just one or two people.  I set up the portable and it worked just fine.  I made myself a couple of baked potatoes, a nice strip loin steak, and a lobster tail.  It was spectacular... and the first really good steak I've had in many months....

On Sunday, after a rather lazy morning, I put up a couple of shelves that I previously made.  These were small shelves with "antique" brackets that I installed on some of the upper walls.  I put two up so far, but have to decide where to put the remaining two.  I set out a bunch of the antiques that Margarit and I have collected, on these shelves.  Then I went downstairs and continued with the installation of plywood paneling to the interior foundation walls.  All of the pieces are now installed except for the last three that I need to cut at my shop and bring out next time.

I did get out for a couple of ATV rides around the subdivision.  The snow was going fast and it was touch and go for the snowmobile.  Had a brief chat with my neighbor Rob... watched the deer... puttered on a few other chores, and that was about it.  The interior finishing is drawing to a conclusion now.  I still have to finish the last section of kitchen cabinet and bring that out.  When I have the hinges I can install these last two doors.  Then there is baseboard to do in the two downstairs bedrooms.  And I have the wood counter to finish and install in the bay window.  A couple of handrails on the stairs, kitchen countertops, the kitchen sink, and then I am just about done.

After all of that is completed I will move outdoors and work on some outside stuff for a while.  In between, and over the next winter, I will work on two small sections of upper cupboards, a medicine cabinet and a bunch of furniture that I want to build.

Almost exactly a year ago I was out there for four days with my friend Rob.  We stayed at the nearby Cheechako Cabins because mine was just an empty shell.  We had a temporary construction heater set up, and power was from an exterior temporary panel with extension cords.  We worked on the electrical rough in, and wrapped that up after four days work.  Later that spring Margarit and I continued with insulation and vapor barrier....  What a difference a year makes...!!

The dinette area and kitchen, viewed with a fisheye lens, from the corner near the woodstove.  

The two new door jambs I just installed are on either side of the stairway.

This old abandoned house is up near Rimbey and I took a shot of it on my way home on Sunday evening.  There deer were enjoying the mild evening temperatures which spiked up to about +12.

The upstairs living room, with the master bedroom visible through the door.  

Again this one with with the fisheye lens.

 

Yet another fisheye lens shot.  

This one is taken from near the bay window, looking across the dinette and up at the living room.  The two antique shelves that I just installed are visible, as are the two new door jambs.

 

A porthole like view with the fisheye lens.  This one was taken out the upper window.

Our driveway and the remaining snow is visible below, with Eagle Peak in the background.

A final fisheye view.  This one is from the upstairs living room, looking over 

the glass railing and down into the dinette and kitchen.

One of the framers scribbled this guy onto the studs around the door opening of the west bedroom.  The girls named him Tod.  Now that the new door jamb, visible to left has been secured in place, Tod is forever hidden from view.

Winter Hockey - Regular Season Ends on a winning note...!!

The last game of the Winter Hockey season for my team, the Renegades, was last night.  We played the Wet Bandits at Callingwood Arena.  It was a late ice time, with the puck drop at 10:30.  The game was tied 4-4 in regulation, so we sent to overtime.  The two referees assigned to last nights game usually do a pretty decent job but last night they seemed to have it in for us.  We got five minor penalties... none to me for a change... including one in overtime, while the Wet Bandits didn't get any.  It wasn't a particularly rough game, it just seemed that every time there was a collision or minor incident, we ended up in the box.  It was really satisfying when we got a 2 on 1 breakaway in overtime, short-handed, and scored the game winner...!  The victory for us moved us from third place in the standings, to finish the regular season in second.  The Wet Bandits, with the overtime loss moved out of last place and finished the season in seventh.  We will now face them in the first round of the playoffs, which start on Thursday.

The league standings are kind of difficult to follow.  Not every team plays the same number of games.  It depends on how many you paid for at the beginning of the year.  It costs over $11,000 for the team to play a 30 game schedule.  Some teams opted to pay a little more or a little less for an adjusted schedule.  Also, the league does divisional moves during the regular season, to keep the match ups balanced  As a result of this, the standings are based on winning percentage against the teams in the same division... not points.  We started the season in Division Nine and were winning most of our games.   More than half way through we got moved up to Division Eight, where we finished the year.  Some of our early games were against teams that also ended up in Division Eight and those counted towards our winning percentage, but the games played against Division Nine teams did not.

The playoffs start this Thursday, and run through until the third week of April.  The first three playoff rounds are best of three.  Then the winner of the ERHL Conference plays the winner of the CCRHL Conference in a best of five series for the Division Championship.  There were quite a few inter conference games during the regular season, but mostly we played against teams within our conference.  If we can put together a bit of a playoff run, odds are good for us to be playing a lot of hockey the next little while.  Right after the winter championship round, Summer Hockey will get underway in early May...

Sunday Drive

This was one of those weekends that I did NOT head out to Nordegg.  Too many other things on the go.  Hailey had to work this weekend...  I had to do some banking...  and on Saturday afternoon I had a hockey game.

The Renegades played the Hungry Beavers on Saturday afternoon at Knights of Columbus Arena.  We won the game by the lop-sided score of 9-2.  This puts us in third place in our division, with two games left in the regular season.  We could finish anywhere between 2nd and 5th place, depending on the outcome of the last few games.  No matter what, we should get a fairly favourable match-up in the playoffs, which start around March 23rd.  The girls came out to watch the game, given the fact that is was a reasonable ice time for a change.  After the game we all went out for pizza.

Before the game I was at the shop for a bit, working on my cabinets and doors for the cottage.  I was only able to work for a couple of hours, with so many other things on the go this weekend.

Sunday morning we switched to daylight savings time... so everyone slept in a little. It was not light as early as we are used to, so that encouraged a late morning as well.  I am looking forward to the longer daylight in the evenings though.  Might be able to start heading out to the cottage on Fridays after work, and we won't have to pack up and head home so early on Sundays in the future.

On this Sunday I went out for a drive.  None of the girls wanted to come along this time so it was a solo trip.  On Saturday it was clear and sunny and warm and it felt like spring is in the air.  Sunday was forecast to get a little warmer.  I don't think that quite panned out, but it was at least about the same.  I took a drive up to the northeast.  I passed through Elk Island National Park and then explored a few of the small towns up in Lamont County...   Lamont, Chipman and Hilliard.....

Once I got past Elk Island it was a little cooler, with a breeze out of the east that still had a bit of chill to it.  My truck thermometer showed the temperature in the -5 to -8 range, though once I got back into the city in the mid-afternoon, it showed +1.

There were lots of places in the park where you could see that people had run off the road.  The National Park Service does not clear the roads the way they are cleared in the city.  The shoulders of the secondary highway are rather narrow, and there is a covering of snow left on the roads.  It is very deceptive as to where the pavement ends and where the ditch starts, and a few city drivers have found out the hard way.  I came across two of them that had run off the road.  

On my way out in the morning, when I came across the first one, I stopped and offered to pull him out.  But there were no tow hooks on his SUV, and I was a little reluctant to hook on and risk damaging something.  The guy was too lazy to crawl into the snow and have a look under his vehicle to see if there was a crossmember or some opening on the frame that I could hook my tow rope to.  It was almost like he wanted me to wallow in the snow and do it for him.  When he suggested he would just call AMA to come and pull him out, I left it at that and continued on my way.

In mid-afternoon when I was coming back home and again passing through the park, I noticed that the guy had been pulled out.  But, a short distance up the road another young kid did the same thing.  He had no tow hooks on his car either, but he was more than willing to crawl under his vehicle and find a place to loop my tow strap, so I obliged and pulled him out.  On my way back into the city I swung through Sherwood Park and picked up Anna from a sleepover at her friends place.

I got a few opportunities to set up the view camera and it was nice to get back to photography.  Last year I just didn't accomplish much and have been looking forward to getting back on track.  I really haven't done any serious shooting since my friend Jon and I were out at the cottage in November.  The only shots I have taken so far in 2019 were a couple of the ice bubbles on Abraham lake, but that was way back on January 2nd.  Since then it has been far too cold to consider getting out with the big camera.  There have been a few milder days, but they were mostly during the week.  For the most part it has been -20 and colder, without the wind chill factored in, since late January.  We just went through one of the coldest February's on record.  There's quite a bit of snow around and I don't think it would be a good thing if it melted quickly.  But, a gradual warmup and thaw would be nice and it seems like that is underway, and what is forecast for the next little while.  The official first day of spring is coming up in less than two weeks...!

Abandoned Church

I recently posted this one on my Flickr account.   It's an old abandoned church in Minburn County, northeast of Edmonton.  I shot this quite some time ago... in November of 2017.  It was with my 4x5 view camera on Fuji Neopan Acros film.  I just recently processed this one.  Development was in Rodinal 1:50.  My lens of choice was a slightly long 180mm... about equivalent to a 60mm lens in full frame digital or 35mm film format.  I'm not quite sure why, but I always seem drawn to head out and photograph this majestic old church in winter.  I can't recall ever shooting it in summer conditions.  Might have to change that this coming year....

The Horses are Back...!

I have been going out to Nordegg a couple of times each month, all winter long.  Partly it was to monitor our heating system and make sure that things aren't freezing up.  And.... partly it was to keep working on the interior finishing at our cottage.  I understand that one of our neighbors had a major issue recently.  Their furnace froze up and quit working and the water holding tanks and their plumbing system froze solid.  Our furnace is a forced air electric and can't really freeze up.  Perhaps slightly more expensive to operate, but we turn it right down low, and only run it over the cold winter months.  In addition to that, the heat is only ducted into the parts of the cottage that have plumbing.  It was a bit of an experiment for me this year as it is our first winter heating the place.  But even with the record cold this year, it never dropped below +8C in the cottage, and the electricity bill never exceeded $250.  Even in the summer months when nothing is running but the fridge, the security cameras, and a few other small items, the bill is still about $45.  So it is the difference between the two that needs to be considered in terms of heating.  I also have a second electric baseboard heater running on low down in the basement.  This provides heat to the water storage cistern and the pump, in the event that the furnace fails.  We have some propane fired room heaters in the bedrooms that we can also leave on if needed, but I have only been running these when we go out.  Short of a long term power failure, I think we're covered....

With all my trips back and forth I have not seen the herds of wild horses all winter long.  There is one herd of black horses near town.  These guys mostly hang out around the Trunk Road and the Industrial Park.  There is a second herd, of mixed but mostly dark color that hangs around between Beaverdam and Harlech campsites.  There is a third small herd, that includes some white horses, that hangs around up on Saunders Ridge.  The last two times that I went out, this small herd has been feeding along the highway.  My neighbor tells me that their numbers are down by a couple, and he thinks that maybe a cougar or the wolves took some down.  

On this last trip out I saw a couple of the horses from the Harlech/Beaverdam herd down along the highway, and I also saw the smaller Saunders herd feeding in the ditches.  I took these couple of snapshots with my digital camera.  Nice to see these guys again, though I guess if they are down along the roadside, it means the winter is rather harsh and they are having difficulty finding enough to eat.  Daylight savings time kicks in next weekend, and the first day of spring is coming up soon.  Hopefully we are over the hump and these guys will find things a little easier going forward.

Cottage Cabinets

Here's a couple more shots of the cabinets that I just finished building, and hauled out to Nordegg.  These two images were taken with my digital camera.... not with my iPhone on the panoramic setting....  Doesn't give a good perspective of the overall kitchen space, but a little better view of the cabinets themselves.  In combination with my previous post, this gives a good impression of what I'm trying to build.  I worked on the center section tonight after work and got all the hickory facing installed onto the body.  Just have to sand this out and finish it with a few coats of lacquer.  Then I will move on to building the drawers and doors.

There is a temporary counter top of 3/4" plywood that we will continue to use for the next little while.  We fill that wash tub that can be seen in these images in our bathroom when we need to do dishes, and then dump the water when we are finished.  Once I get the center section of cabinet completed and installed, then we can move on to countertops.  Once the countertop is in, then I can install our kitchen sink and faucet and connect the plumbing.  This will be completed soon... hopefully in late March, or early April...!!

March in the Mountains

I just spent another weekend at our cottage up in the mountains.  This time Margarit and Helena came along with me.  The two older girls stayed home in the city.  We took two vehicles out so that we could bring out a couple sections of the kitchen cupboards, as well as a sofa and a lamp.  Slowly but surely the interior finishing of the cottage is being wrapped up.....

We didn't get out there until early afternoon on Saturday.  I talked briefly with our friend Scott, who lives out there, and he said the temperature was down to -38C on Friday night and into Saturday morning.  It was cold when we got there, but not quite that cold...!

I understand that the furnace went out at one of the neighbors places down the road and their water holding tanks and pumps froze solid.  So far the electric furnace that I installed has been working well and the inside temperature has never dropped below +10C.  I also have a baseboard heater downstairs as a backup.

It was a pretty low key weekend.  We got the stuff unloaded and put into place.  I puttered around down in the basement for a bit on the installation of plywood wall panelling.  That was about it.  We had a good visit with our neighbors Rob and Brenda on Saturday evening.  

Its so quiet and relaxing out there.... I'm always reluctant to have to return home to the city......
I took this panoramic photo of the kitchen after we got the two cupboard sections in place.  Its a little jerky as I had to walk back and forth, while moving the camera, to get everything into the pano.  The center section is still under construction back at the shop in the city....