Fall Photo Weekend 2025 - The Drive Home

On the morning of Friday October 24th we had a brief visit with Frank and the guys over at the shop.  Then we packed up all of our gear and checked out of the AirBnB.  We hit the road for home in the late morning.  The forecast was calling for this to be the warmest day of the week, with a high temperature of about 20C.  I don't know if it made it quite that high...?  It certainly didn't feel like it.  It was overcast, and through the entire day we barely saw the sun.  And there was a stiff breeze that was rather cold.

It was an uneventful drive home.  We stopped briefly and Trochu and found that the Yale Hotel remains closed.  New owners took over a couple of years back and had hopes of re-opening the place, but it never really got off the ground.  We did take a few snapshots of the old Trochu Motors building in town before moving on.  When we got back to the city we dropped off Arturo and his place, and then Helena and I headed home.  The conclusion of another successful Fall Photo Weekend...!

Fall Photo Weekend 2025 - Winding Down

After our day out photographing on October 22nd, the Monochrome Guild gang headed over to the newly re-opened Rosedale Hotel.  Helena was able to join us, as although it is kind of like a bar, it is operated as a restaurant.  They specialize in burgers and BBQ dishes.  I had a BBQ Brisket sandwich, Helena had some brisket poutine, and the other guys had burgers and chicken.  It was really good, and I hope to be able to return for Beer Parlour Project outing in the not too distant future.

Later that evening Helena and I went out for a walk around East Coulee.  The sky was totally clear and with the limited light pollution we could clearly see the Big Dipper and the Milky Way.  It was nice to see that the locally famous Stop Sign is still in place beside the now abandoned Hotel.

On Thursday the 23rd we had plans to take a drive up the valley to Horse Thief Canyon.  We got part way there and my truck broke down.  I could not get it to go into park.  I pulled over to the side of the road and turned it off, hoping it would reset it itself.  But it did not, and with the transmission not in park, the truck would not start.  I ended up having to call AMA for a tow truck and get the truck taken in to Badlands Chrysler in Drumheller.  When the tow truck driver came out he crawled under the truck and had a look.  It turned out a rock had got jammed in the transmission linkage and when I tried to force it into park, the cable came loose.  He was able to manually put the truck in gear so that I could drive it up onto the deck of the tow truck.  The guys at the Dodge dealership in Drumheller were really good and took a look at the truck shortly after it got towed in.  They were able to reconnect the cable and send us back on our way, with only a small repair bill.  But this wasted a good part of the day and we really didn't have much chance for shooting.

As soon as the problem was diagnosed, I sent the other three guys on their way so that they could at least salvage part of the afternoon.  Later, when the truck was ready, Helena and I ended up doing the road trip that we had originally planned for the day.  This was a much abbreviated version, as it was mid afternoon before we were back on the road.  But we managed to get up to Horse Thief Canyon, and later took the Bleriot Ferry across the river and returned to town.  We made a couple of stops for Helena to explore and look for rocks and she found a nice hadrosaur vertebra.

Later that evening, back at the house, we all got together for a rather late dinner.  This was our second and last BBQ of the trip and we used up most of our remaining groceries.  After dinner we visited for a while, and then packed up most of our stuff.  We were scheduled to hit the road for home the next morning.

Fall Photo Weekend 2025 - Sharples

After we finished shooting all the old abandoned vehicles, we headed across country to Sharples.  Sharples never was a town.  It was just a rail siding with a grain elevator.  The elevator still stands, but rumour has it, it is supposed to be demolished.  We heard that story earlier this year, and checked it out back in July.  Apparently a non-profit group has taken over the old rail line as a walking trail.  There was talk of the elevator being a safety hazard, and there was a desire to tear it down.  As of October that has not happened, and we were able to photograph the majestic old structure in beautiful fall light.

The rumour is a little suspect, as the cost to demolish this building is not insignificant.  It seems to me that if a non-profit had that much money, they would put it towards something else.  My colleague Chris from the Beer Parlour Project did some research and could not find anything that confirmed the rumour.  So, for now at least we will continue to enjoy the old building.

Fall Photo Weekend 2025 - Rosebud Valley

After our morning out exploring, Helena, Gord and I returned to the rental house in East Coulee.  We picked up Arturo and Nigel and headed out for the afternoon.  By this point in the day, the chill was gone at it was another beautiful afternoon.  We headed over to the Rosebud River Valley.  I had been to this location before, and knew exactly how to get to it.  There was a paving crew working on a nearby road, and that hampered our access a little, but we were able to get in to the site.  

The four photographers spent a couple of hours photographing the six old vehicles abandoned on this property.  Helena wandered around on the roadway and up in the hills, looking for cool rocks.  In the phone snapshot of Arturo standing by the old van and barn, you can see Helena in the background, partway up the hill.

After shooting here for a while, we packed up our gear, and with some daylight hours still remaining, we continued on to our next destination.

Fall Photo Weekend 2025 - Chilly Morning

On Wednesday October 22nd Helena and I set out in the morning with Gord.  Nigel had some online meetings and had to stay behind at the rental house, and Arturo decided to sleep in.  We set off for Dorothy.  We started by driving up to the top of the valley, on the west side of the river, and viewing the townsite below in early morning light.  Then we went into town and checked out the old churches, and some of the other old stuff.  It brought back a lot of memories for Helena, as we regularly camped at the park in town with our trailer, when the kids were little.

Later we headed back towards East Coulee and explored a little across the river from town.  There were three coal mines here back in the day... Western Monarch, Atlas and Murray.  The Atlas was the last working mine in the valley, closing in the 1970's, and remains largely intact.  The other two are long gone and only a few remnants remain.  The old timber bridge once shared train and vehicle traffic across the Red Deer River.  It has been long closed and has become badly deteriorated.  The deck is mostly rotted out, and it has been closed to even pedestrians for a number of years.  The truss on the west end, closest to the mine, is beginning to collapse.  At the first pier the beams have begun to rot out and the bridge truss has collapsed about a foot.  Some of the upper bracing has twisted out of position.  It is sad that this once proud monument falls apart and there is no funding to preserve it.

It was a rather cold morning, with a heavy frost.  We had to scrape the truck windows before we hit the road.  It began to warm up by the time we got to the bridge. but there was a mud puddle there with ice on it, that had a rather interesting pattern.  Later in the afternoon it warmed up nicely and we enjoyed the rest of the day with our entire gang.

Fall Photo Weekend 2025 - Dinosaur Park

On Tuesday October 21st the Guild gang packed up from our rental house in East Coulee, and headed southeast towards Dinosaur Provincial Park.  We left moderately early... around 9:30AM... but the days are short at this time of year, and there was a frost in the morning.  There was no point leaving too early.  Along the way we made a stop at the Turner House.  Only two stone walls remain standing from this once proud old homestead.  In fact, they have stood like this for as long as I can remember, and I know I photographed them as far back as 25 years ago.  In recent years they have shown signs of collapsing, and someone has welded some old pipe together to hold them up just a little longer.  This happened sometime in the past 5 years or so.... An information plaque has also been added.

It was a beautiful clear day with wonderful light.  The temperature peaked at about 17 degrees in the afternoon.  We spent the entire day wandering around with our cameras in Dinosaur Provincial Park.

It was a perfect day, as there were not a lot of other people around.  We hiked several of the trails with our cameras, and basically spread out in different directions on our own.  The low, clear fall light was wonderful and created some great highlights and shadows.  The only down side was that there weren't really any clouds.  But that was not a huge problem as I managed to keep the sky to a minimum in my compositions.

Helena hung around with me part of the time, but mostly wandered off on her own exploring.  She has been to the park in the past, but it has been quite some time.  She was very young the last time we were here and she could barely remember it.  Our last stroll of the afternoon was down along the river, among the cottonwoods.  Helena took a shot here with the view camera of the Spirit Tree.  As we were wrapping things up a number of very tame Mule Deer wandered out in the sage flats and approached very closely.

By this time it was getting to be late in the afternoon so we hit the road on the 90 minute drive back to East Coulee.  By the time we arrived back at the AirBnB it was already dark.  But we went out for a walk after dinner and admired the clear sky and all the stars.  The Big Dipper and the Milky Way were clearly visible.  It started to cool off quite a bit once the sun set, but it was still very mild considering the time of year.

Fall Photo Weekend 2025 - AirBnB

We rented an AirBnB in East Coulee for the five of us that were out for the Monochrome Guild Fall Photo Weekend.  It was the large house right across the street from my shop.  It is a very nice home that was previously owned by the now retired town dentist.  I knew him moderately well, as he was a neighbor to our shop.  

The new owners do not live in the home, and have been operating an AirBnB out of it.  There was plenty of space for the five of us.... Helena, me, Arturo, Gord and Nigel.  It was well equipped with amenities and we enjoyed our stay.  On two evenings we used the BBQ and grilled some food for our evening meal.  A third night we made a nice pasta dish, and one night we went out to the Roadhouse in Rosedale.  There was lots of space for us to visit, watch hockey and baseball games, have our morning coffee and breakfast, and just relax.  Nigel had to work part of the time but he found space to set up for some online meetings.

Sadly the house was not as well stocked as it could have been.  There were certainly enough pots and pans, dishes and cutlery, but not much else.  No supplies like foil or wax paper or plastic bags and no condiments and spices.  We couldn't even find a broom and dustpan to sweep up all the fall leaves that got carried in on our feet from the patio.

They advertised as having a pool table, but it was in pretty rough shape.  The table was broken and badly out of level.  All of the cues were missing the tips, and the number 14 ball was nowhere to be found.  As we were leaving I did spot it behind the washing machine, so that problem is solved, for the next guests.  Arturo and I stayed up late a couple of nights and played, despite the poor condition of everything.  The table was out in the garage, but it was heated and comfortable, so that was of no consequence.  Arturo had to resort to using a dirty old push broom for a rest at one point.  It was kind of reminiscent of our stay in Surrey a couple of years ago, on our way back from Vancouver Island.... though that table, also in the garage, was in much better condition.

All in all we still really enjoyed the stay and will give the owners a positive review, though we will make some recommendations for improvement.

On two of our mornings we wandered across the street and visited with Frank.  He explained some of the things that they are working on right now.  Mostly it is the large modern Blue Whale skeleton that will be installed in Oregon in the spring.  But they had also just finished up a dinosaur sculpture that will be installed out in Nacmine shortly.  Helena took snapshots of that, and the lower jaws of the Blue Whale, out in the yard.

Fall Photo Weekend 2025 - Rowley

The name has kind of stuck, but we don't really go on weekend trips anymore.  Back in the day, when the tradition first started, all of the Guild members were younger, and still working.  We always went away for a weekend of photography, and usually tagged on an extra day.  Now in recent years we don't bother to go on a weekend, and usually go during the middle of the week.  Most of our members are retired, and those that are not, can usually book time off work, or work part time remotely.  So this year the Fall Photo "Weekend" extended for five days and four nights, from Monday to Friday.

After our Fall Photo Weekend tour stop in Big Valley, the Guild gang headed further south to the town of Rowley.  The town was the setting for some of the scenes shot for the movie Bye Bye Blues back in the 1980's.  Some of the buildings were constructed or renovated for that movie.  Since then it has become locally popular as a tourist attraction.  The old buildings remain, and it has the look and feel of a ghost town, despite the fact that there are a handful of permanent residents, all in rather new and well maintained homes.

Many of the old buildings that remain, have been restored.  There is a large area in the center of town that is used for camping in the summer months.  On a regular schedule throughout the year, the town hosts Pizza Night as a popular local outing and fundraiser.

Everything was really quiet when we visited; not surprising since it is already late October, and it was a Monday afternoon.  We spent an hour or two wandering around and photographing some of the buildings.  I did a shot with my big 8x10 view camera, and also a few more with the smaller 4x5.  Helena enjoyed being along and exploring, and I helped her to take a photograph with the view camera as well.  She didn't remember that she visited a number of times in the past, as a small child, when we were camping nearby.

By the time we wound things down, it was late afternoon and the autumn sun was low in the sky.  We packed up and continued on to Drumheller.  There we stopped in town at the grocery store and picked up a bunch of supplies for the week.  By the time we made it out to the AirBnB in East Coulee, it was dark.  We managed to catch most of the baseball game on TV, and watched as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Seatlle Mariners in the American League Championship series, and advanced to the Work Series.  We grilled some steaks and prepared a nice meal, and enjoyed the conclusion of a really nice day.

Fall Photo Weekend 2025 - Big Valley

On October 20th, four members of the Monochrome Guild headed out for our annual Fall Photo Weekend.  Our collective of photographic artists has taken this trip every fall, for 26 years.  The first one was in the year 2000.  We were not able to organize the event in 2020 when Covid was in full force.  In 2021 we were able to organize a limited outing.... but just two day trips, close to the city.  Normally we head out somewhere for three or four days of photography.

This year Arturo, Nigel, Gord and I decided to head down to the Drumheller area.  This year was particularly enjoyable because my youngest daughter Helena decided to join us.  She has been really keen on doing stuff with me in recent months, which is fantastic.  And this year she was able to be away for five days, because there is no school.  The teachers in Alberta remain on strike.

Nigel and Gord drove down together, and Arturo caught a ride with me and Helena.  We left the city around 9:30 in the morning on Monday October 20th.  Along the way we made a stop at the town of Big Valley.  The last time I spent any time here was in 2023 when we visited.... twice... with the Beer Parlour Project.  This time around it was the off season, and not much was open, and not a lot of people were around.  We photographed at the ruins of the old roundhouse, and some of the other historical stuff that is on display.  We only spent an hour or two, and then moved along on our journey to Drumheller.  We would actually be staying in East Coulee.  We had reserved the large house across the street from the shop.  It was a somewhat extravagant place to stay, but with the cost shared between the group of us, it still remained reasonably affordable, and was a nice treat.

Fixer Upper

I promised Whitney, the Heritage Coordinator for Clearwater County, that I would make her a copy of the print that I call "Fixer Upper".  This one has seen a lot of exposure lately.  I previously included it on my blog.  A couple weeks back I made some smaller copies of this image and matted them.  They are now on display and available for sale at the Beehive Artisan Market in Nordegg.  And I included it on my 2026 David Thompson Country calendar.

Whitney is in charge of the Nordegg Historic site and graciously permits me access to photograph there.  It has become a documentary project of mine and I am extensively photographing all aspects of the site.  Sadly there has been some vandalism and looting at the site in recent months, so it is important to document things while they remain intact.  I am very grateful for this opportunity so I was thrilled when Whitney asked if she could have a print of this image.  

The print is on 11"x14" Fiber based paper.  I printed it on October 15th, during the same darkroom session when I made all the Beer Parlour Project portfolio box prints.  So like those other prints, this is a snapshot of the print after the first fix, sitting in a holding bath, in that tan colored darkroom tray.  Once the print is fully processed and washed I will be matting, mounting and framing it for Whitney.