A Day of Exploring

On the morning after our visit to the Waldorf Hotel, Margarit and I packed up all of our gear at the trailer, and headed over to Whif's Flapjack House in Drumheller for breakfast.  Chris, Connie, Arturo, Sharon and Camillo all joined us.  After breakfast we decided to head over to the Kneehill Creek Valley and explore some old stuff.  Most of the gang from the previous day's shooting for the Beer Parlour Project came along.  We have been told that the old Parrish and Heimbecker elevator in Sharples will soon be demolished, and we wanted to document it one last time.  It is very picturesque sitting in the Kneehill Creek Valley beside the now abandoned rail line.  Apparently a trail society now owns the old rail bed and doesn't want the liability of an old elevator beside it.

After exploring at the elevator, we drove up the valley to the town of Carbon.  We scouted the tavern in the Motel there and agreed that it might be a good one to return to for the Beer Parlour Project.

Another T-Shirt

When the Beer Parlour Project team visits small town hotels, I always keep my eye out for swag.  Some of the establishments have T-shirts, hoodies or hats for sale.  I try to support the places that we are documenting by buying this stuff whenever I can.  On June 14th when we visited the Waldorf Hotel in Drumheller for BP29.0, they had T-shirts, so I bought this one.....

Printing

On June 17th I worked on making some prints from my visits to the Brazeau Collieries Historic Site.  I have an opportunity to display some of my prints in the Nordegg Discovery Center this summer.  There should be space for about half a dozen large pieces.  I'm working on printing some of these, and then I have to make a decision as to which to put in frames.  I have all of my frame stock on order, but a couple of items are back ordered, so there will be a slight delay in getting this work ready.

I'm generally happy with these four images that I worked on, but not so much so the printing of them.  I rushed making my unsharp masks and they got a little too dense.  As a result these prints are a little lacking in contrast.  If I have time I may reprint a coupe of them, or just select some of the others.

These are all just phone snapshots of the prints as I worked on fixing, clearing, toning and washing them.

BP 21.0 - Beer Parlour Project - Acme Hotel

I'm sitting out at my cottage in Nordegg on June 21, the summer solstice.  I'm watching it rain, and trying to keep myself occupied.  I'm actually rather grateful for the rain, as it was getting very dry.  Since I arrived last night, we have received almost 58mm of rain (2-1/4") and its still drizzling.  The risk of forest fires had risen to extreme, and there was a fire ban in place, until this current weather system rolled in.

In an attempt to keep myself occupied indoors, I'm going through some recent scans from the Beer Parlour Project.  These three photographs were taken back in March when our team visited the Acme Hotel, in Acme, Alberta.  I shot a mix of Kodak T-Max 400, developed in T-Max Developer, and Ilford HP5+ 400, developed in 510 Pyro.  I don't have my notes with me here at the cottage so I'm not really certain which images were shot on which film.  I always shoot duplicates of every set up just to guard against something being lost in exposure, in handling or in processing.  Watch for some of these to be added to the Beer Parlour Project website very soon.

BP 29.0 Waldorf Hotel - Drumheller

On Saturday June 14th the Beer Parlour Project team visited the Waldorf Hotel in Drumheller.  Liana, the owner of the establishment was around briefly to greet us, but was unable to stay for the entire evening.  We were looked after by our server, Gail, and there was a reasonable crowd in attendance, including a couple of long time locals.  We managed to take a bunch of photographs and Chris was able to conduct some interviews.  This visit was rather short and sweet.  Game Five of the Stanley Cup Playoff Final was starting at 6:00PM.  As the tavern did not have any televisions, almost everyone left to go somewhere and watch the game.  We packed up all of our gear and headed over to a nearby restaurant to catch the game.  This was in the adjacent Alexandra Hotel, which has since had its tavern converted over to a modern sports bar.  In hindsight, it wasn't worth it, as the Oilers played really poorly and lost to the Florida Panthers.  But it was also not worth remaining in the tavern either as it emptied out completely at game time.  All the same I think I got some pretty good portraits and will be sharing them here once I have a chance to develop the film.

Wheelbarrow and Lockers

I think this one is the last of the scans from the two batches of Ilford HP5+ 400 that I recently developed.  I ran 40 sheets of 4" x 5" film in two separate batches, over the span of a couple of days.  Development was Normal, in 510 Pyro 1:100, for 7:45 minutes at 24C.  I slightly overexpose the film by rating it at 320 iso when I intend Normal development.

This shot is from one of my tours of the Brazeau Collieries Historic Site.  I always enter the site with the permission of the County staff that look after the site, and conduct the tours.  These old lockers are in the wash building, and someone placed the old wheelbarrow on top of some of them.  I liked the way that the highlights from the windows featured the subject.  

I shot this on March 31 at about 3:30 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony view camera and a wide 90mm lens.  The exposure was for 1/2 second at F20.0.

Locker Feet

Those two batches of Ilford HP5+ 400 that I processed a couple of weeks ago yielded a bunch of really strong images.  The film was rated at 320 iso and developed in 510 Pyro Developer.

This is a shot from one of my many visits to the Nordegg Mine Site.  These old lockers are stored upside down, with their feet sticking up in the air.  I had to extend my tripod all the way up, and stand on a bench in order to operate the camera and get this shot.

This photograph was taken on April 18th at about 3:20 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony view camera and a somewhat long 180mm lens.  As it was quite dark in the old wash building this shot required a long 16 second exposure at F36.0.  I had to stop the lens way down in order to hold focus from front to back.

Old Cars

While we were down in the badlands on the weekend of June 14th, and in between visits to a couple of old hotels for the Beer Parlour Project, we checked out these old cars.  Chirs knew of the location of these, along an old rail line.  They appear to be quite well know as photographs of them regularly appear on line.  In fact, that's where I first learned of them.  There were several other people wandering around the area at the time of our visit, as well as a group camped nearby on private land.

BP 27.0 Edgerton Oasis Hotel

This is another scan of a negative from the recently processed batches of Ilford HP5+ 400.  I ran 40 sheets of 4" x 5" in two batches, both given normal development in 510 Pyro, 1:100, for 7:45 minutes at 24C.

This shot is from my recent trip to Saskatchewan with Chris, for the Beer Parlour Project.  The third of the three hotels that we visited was this one, the Prairie Oasis Hotel in Edgerton, Alberta.  I shot this on May 10th at about 9:15 in the evening.  I used my Ebony view camera and a slighlty wide Fujinon-W 125mm lens.  The exposure was for 1 second at F14.0.

BP 28.0 Triple B Tavern - Rockyford Hotel

On Lucky Friday June 13th, the Beer Parlour Project team visited the Triple B Tavern, at the Rockyford Hotel, in Rockyford, Alberta.  All of our team members took part in this outing... Chris, Connie, Margarit and myself.  Arturo, Sharon and their son Cam came along as guests.  We rolled into town on that June afternoon at about 4:00PM.  Dalia, the lady that owns the hotel, took us on the official tour, including the basement, the cellar and some of the rooms upstairs.

We spent the entire evening in the tavern and there was a good group of locals that showed up.  They were all having a lot of fun listening to music, playing pool and visiting.  We managed to do a bunch of interviews and take a number of portraits.  It was a great visit and this one is now officially number 28 on our list.  We hope to make it to 100 hotels before the project comes to a close.  In the coming weeks, as I find time to process my film, I will share some of those images as well.  Everything will eventually be posted to the project website at...   www.beerparlourproject.com

Living Room

This is a scan of another negative from one of the two batches of Ilford HP5+ 4" x 5" sheet film that I recently developed.  The film was rated at 320 iso, and given Normal Development in 510 Pyro Developer, 1:100 for 7:45 minutes at 24C.

This shot is quite recent.  Chris and I took a trip out to Saskatchewan in May to visit some hotels for the Beer Parlour Project.  That trip saw us visit about seven hotels, some only briefly, but we did make three official visits.  BP25 was at the Muse on Main in Unity, BP26 was at the Coleville Hotel, and BP27 was at the Prairie Oasis Hotel in Edgerton.

In between all those stops we did a little exploring.  We found this old abandoned house in Western Saskatchewan, not far from the Alberta border.  I wasn't able to step inside as the floor was collapsing into the celler.  I took this shot from the doorway on May 8th at about 12:30 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony view camera and a wide Nikkor 75mm lens.  The exposure was for 4 seconds at F32.0.

Nails

A return to another of the sheets of Ilford HP5+ 400 that I recently developed.  This one was rated at 320 iso and given normal development in 510 Pyro 1:100 for 7:45 minutes at 24C.

I shot this one on one of my many visits to the historic mine site in Nordegg.  I have permission from the staff every time that I visit the site as this is a restricted access area.  Access is by guided tour only and I always undertake my visits on that basis.

I'm not sure what all these nails on the wall are for.  There is a number written on the wallpaper above most of them.  These are in the company store.  They are not for miners tags, as those would have been kept in the lamphouse.  I can only speculate that these were for parts of some kind, though I have no idea what.

I shot this on March 31st of this year at about 3:00 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony view camera and a slightly long Fujinon 180mm lens.  The exposure was for 1/2 second at F20.0.

Snow Fence

This old snow fence was just above the rail line that is visible in another of my blog posts... the one with the Bowstring Bridge.  I shot this on June 16th 2024, just minutes before 8:00PM.  I used my Ebony view camera and a normal 150mm lens.  A #25 Red Filter added constrast by lowering the value of the shadows on the boards.  The exposure was for 1/8 second at F20.0.

This is a sheet of Ilford HP5+ 400 film.  It was from one of the two batches that I recently processed in 510 Pyro Developer.  Development was at 1:100 for 7:45 minutes at 24C.

Tree and Stone Ruin

This was the last camera set up that I did on my trip to southern Saskatchewan in the spring of 2024.  This one was taken on a sheet of Ilford HP5+ 400, that I recently developed in 510 Pyro.  Actually the last shot of the trip was the same shot, taken on a sheet of FP4+125, just moments after this one.

I shot this on June 19th 2024, at about 6:10 in the evening.  So almost exactly a year ago.  I used my Ebony view camera and a longish Nikkor 210mm lens, fitted with a #25 Red Filter.  The filter bumped up the contrast a little and created some separation between clouds and sky.  The exposure was for 1/8 second at F18.0.

Bowstring Bridge

This is another shot from one of the batches of Ilford HP5+ that I recently developed in 510 Pyro Developer.  This one is from my trip to Saskatchewan in the spring of 2024.  Chris and I were down there to do some exploring and photography.  Partly I wanted to get some additional images for my Apparitions project.  But Chris and I were also exploring a few old hotels for the Beer Parlour Project.

This Bowstring Bridge was the largest of several that we stumbled across.  It passes over a small creek, and also this rail line, that still sees sporadic use.  I took this photograph on June 16th at about 7:20 in the evening.  I used my Ebony view camera and a small Fujinon-A 180mm lens.  A #22 Orange filter added some contrast, and nicely separated the clouds from the evening sky.  The exposure was for 1/15 second at F 29.0.

Broken Fixture

This negative is from one of the two batches of Ilford HP5+ 400 that I recently processed.  Development was in 510 Pyro, 1:100, for 7:45 minutes at 24C.  This is an image from the shower building at the Brazeau Collieries Historic site, taken during one of my many tours of the site over the past several months.  I'm not sure if this was a hand sink or a drinking fountain, but there is obviously not much left of it now.  The main shower for the miners was just to the left.

I shot this image on April 18th at about 3:30 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony view camera and a slightly long Fujinon 180mm lens.  The exposure was for 8 seconds at F18.0.

Nature Conservancy of Canada

On June 6th Margarit and I were invited to attend an event put on by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.  We strongly support this charity, and have for a number of years.  They are a land trust that seeks to purchase or lease private land and protect important natural habitat.  These special places are permanently protected from development and just left wild.  The public is allowed foot access to some of these areas.

One such place is the Coyote Lake Nature Sanctuary.  It was originally owned by a family named Hopkins, who I believe have since passed on.  The land was taken over by the Nature Conservancy and a number of surrounding properties were added.  The sanctuary is now about 1200 acres in size.  It is mostly rolling forest with some small ponds and Coyote Lake.  It is a transition zone where boreal forest, aspen parkland, and mountain forest are intermixed.

A guided hike took place on the date of our visit and there were about 20 other supporters, plus some staff on hand.  There really is no grand landscape at this place, just lots of plants, wildflowers and birds.  We got rained on by a brief shower at one point, but it was a really nice afternoon.  I've included a few snapshots below that I took with my digital camera.  I've learned long ago that my big view camera is not well suited to a guided hike with other participants, so I left it at home this time.  Though I may venture back with it on my own at some point.