Mount Abraham

I shot this image back on Canada Day... July 1st 2025.  This is Mount Abraham, along the shores of Abraham Lake and beside the David Thompson Highway.  This is a short drive away from my home in Nordegg.  Even though I shot this some months ago, I only just recently developed the film... on October 30th to be precise.

This is a scan of the 8" x 10" sheet of film that I shot on that day.  This was Ilford FP4+ 125, rated at 100iso and given Normal development.  I shot it with my Chamonix 8x10 view camera and a Fujinon-C 450mm lens.  A number 25 red filter deepened the value of the sky, and created some separation in the rock face.  It was late afternoon... almost 6:00PM, when I shot this, so the shadows on the rock were quite prominent.

I developed the film on my Jobo CPP3 Processor.  The developer was Ilford Perceptol, diluted 1:1. for 11:45 minutes at 24C.

For the past couple of years I've been somewhat lazy, and never hauled my big 8x10 camera out all that often.  When I first got the Chamonix camera after my retirement, I shot with it quite a bit in 2021 and 2022.  But in 2023 and 2024 I only shot a couple of sheets each year.  So far, 2025 has been a lot better and I've shot almost 50 sheets of B&W, plus a few color.  I took the camera along with me on the Fall Photo Weekend, and also carried it in to the historic site in Nordegg a couple of times.  Sadly the film is really expensive... but I have quite a bit in stock that I should make a point of shooting, before it gets any older.

Christmas at the Coal Mine

This event was put on by Clearwater County staff on November 8th.  A number of the buildings at the Nordegg mine site were decorated with Christmas lights.  The public was invited to come out for the evening and enjoy the show.  There was a bonfire, hot chocolate, and they even had a projection TV showing an old Christmas movie.  Attendance exceeded expectations.  The site was completely over run with vehicles and there was almost no where to park.  Margarit and I went up to the site shortly after it opened, at 6:00PM.  There must have been 50 to 60 vehicles, so probably close to 200 people...!

This is all the more spectacular when you consider the fact that there is no power at the site.  Everything was run on generators.  It must have been a huge amount of work for the staff to set this all up, and everyone really seemed to appreciate their efforts.  Sadly my phone snapshots don't really do it justice.

Work in Progress

I've been working on this one for a long time.  I think I started sometime back in the spring... or maybe even earlier.  Mostly my art supplies have been lying around at the cottage, waiting for me to get back to them.  It has been such a busy year, with so many projects on the go, that I just never found time to get back to this.  I also never found time to go fly-fishing... for the past two years now.

Finally I got back after this one on the Thanksgiving weekend when Helena and I were out at Nordegg.  The day of heavy snow that we got at that time, kept me mostly indoors, and I finished up the layout.

During our most recent visit to Nordegg in early November, Margarit and I were out at the cottage for ten days, and it was over this stretch that I managed to finish it up.  I worked on it over several days, and finished it on the day that we left for the city.  I have to let the watercolor paint dry at various stages between applying it.  And, I find that as I work on the detailing, I need to step away from it for periods of time, think about it, and then return to work some more.

I'm not very good at painting, so I wouldn't really call this a watercolor.  I work with one of my photographs as a guide.  Then I sketch that out on a piece of watercolor paper.  The next step is to lay in some rather rudimentary and crude blocks of color.  The photograph that I work from is Black and White, so I take some artistic license with the colors.  Then once I have the colors done, I work with pencils and ink to detail in the image.  I use two hardnesses of graphite for shading and light details, and ink pens with various size nibs to outline and provide stronger detail.  I'm generally happy with the way that this one turned out and will soon move on to my next in this series of old hotels.  This one is the Peers Hotel from our Beer Parlour Project outing BP20.0 last October.  Sadly the hotel closed after our second visit, a couple weeks later, and has never re-opened.

Shunda Creek

On Friday November 7th, Margarit and I decided to walk into the falls at Shunda Creek.  In the summer months we usually ride here on the ATV's.  This time we parked along the highway and walked in.  I wasn't sure what ice conditions would be like, and didn't know if we would be able to cross over from the ATV trail.  It turns out the water was very low, and could have got to it from either side.  All the same we enjoyed the walk through the woods and the solitude down by the falls.  It was considerably cooler than it had been the day before, and down by the creek the humidity made it rather chilling.  The skies were mostly cloudy and there was only some weak sun.  And the temperature in the open never really got up above +5, and probably less down by the creek.

There is a large pool below the falls that was entirely covered with bubbles from the upstream rapids.  I can only surmise that the bubbles were not popping due to the low temperature.  The drifted around on the pool, in mesmerizing, swirling patterns.  It was very cool to watch, and I have included a short video at the end of this post.  I also shot it with a long exposure on my view camera, so I shall see if that yields anything interesting.

After spending a couple of peaceful hours here, we walked back out to the highway and drove back to the cottage.  We were cold from the afternoon's exposure, so we got a fire going in the wood stove back home, and spent a relaxing evening enjoying dinner together, and watching a DVD documentary.

Back to Dry Haven

Despite the fact that the forecast was calling for snow, cold and clouds in central Alberta, the weather out at Nordegg on November 6th was spectacular.  I understand it was fairly miserable back in Edmonton, but that the snow did not materialize.  Out here in the mountains, it was sunny and the temperature peaked at +11C.  I even saw a couple of guys playing a round of golf in town.

Margarit and I decided to take another walk along Dry Haven Creek.  Much of the ice and snow that we saw a couple of days prior was disappearing as a result of the sun and mild temperatures.  But we found some cool ice formations along the creek.  And, with virtually no snow left, the gravel bars were all exposed.  Margarit spent a couple hours looking for cool rocks, and found a few.  I spent the time visually exploring the ice formations with my view camera.  It was a great afternoon...!

Even Closer

We are running out of apples to feed them, but the deer are getting even more accustomed to us.  I was able to walk to within about 4 feet of a large doe.  Margarit got just about as close.  They're starting to get a little skittish as the rut is on, and the bucks are not only chasing the does around, but also trying to chase the yearlings away.  This will be the last little treat for them as the apples are almost gone.  After we leave Nordegg in the coming days, there will be no more treats.

Crescent Falls

After our stop at Dry Haven Creek, we decided to take a drive up to Crescent Falls.  The falls are on the Bighorn River, about 6km off the David Thompson Highway.  The campsite and recreation area up at the falls were closed for all of last year for upgrading, and re-opened this summer.  Neither Margarit nor I had been back up there since the renovations.

The parking area up by the falls has been enlarged, and there are picnic tables and new washrooms.  There is a new walking trail that leads from the parking area, down through the forest, to the day use area by the falls.  The steep road down to the day use area from the upper parking area was closed to traffic for the season.  In years past you needed to ford a small creek with your vehicle in order to get to the campsite, down by the river.  A new bridge has been put in.  And there is a spectacular new viewing platform down in the canyon below the upper falls, and just above the lower falls.  It is an elaborate steel structure was multiple staircases and platforms along the way.  I suppose it kind of spoils the view looking down into the canyon, but it affords some spectacular views from within the canyon.

It was quite cool and chilly when we were in the shade, and near the humidity of the falls, which was most of the time.  But when we were in the sun, it was very pleasant.  We spent some time here, and I took a couple of photographs with my view camera.

When we got back to the cottage in the late afternoon we dug out the BBQ and grilled some steaks and salmon.  After dinner we got together with our neighbors Rob and Brenda and visited for a couple hours.

Dry Haven

On Tuesday November 4th Margarit and I went out for a short drive.  It was sunny and mild, with almost no wind.  Our first stop was at Dry Haven Creek.  Margarit had never been here before and was really impressed with the secluded little campsite.  There was a skiff of snow remaining in the shady areas, from the light dusting we got on November 1st.  It is obvious that fall is in the air, as the creek is beginning to freeze.  We took a short stroll down along the creek and enjoyed the early afternoon together.

The Next Beer Parlour Project Road Trip

On Friday November 21st the Beer Parlour Project team will be visiting the tavern of the Carbon Valley Hotel, in Carbon, Alberta.  Carbon is a small town 40km west of Drumheller.  The team will be arriving in the late afternoon, and staying into the evening.  We will be out with the big view camera taking photographs, as well as conducting interviews.  If you are in the area please feel welcome stop in and join us.  We are particularly interested in meeting long time residents of the area that can tell us about the history of the establishment.

Then the next day, Saturday November 22nd, we will be visiting the Last Chance Saloon in Wayne, Alberta.  Wayne is about 15km southeast of Drumheller and the trip there includes a drive up the Rosebud River valley on the Eleven Bridges Road.  This is a popular hotspot with the tourist crowd over the summer months.  We are hoping to get the locals out to share their stories about life in the area, hence the late season visit.  All are welcome to stop by and join the team for this event as well.

Back Yard Deer

On Halloween, Margarit and I headed out to Nordegg.  The kids and the dog all stayed behind in the city.  With the teachers strike over, Helena had to return to school.  And the other kids have their jobs and other commitments to deal with.  We brought along some Halloween treats, but there were no ghosts and goblins out trick or treating.  Almost no one was out in our end of the subdivision, so almost all of the houses were dark.  The few young kids that reside in the area must have found better spoils elsewhere.  We also left some treats at home for the girls to hand out, and understand that they saw about 40 kids.

There are a lot of deer around at this time of year in the subdivision.  With most of the weekenders gone for the season, it is a lot quieter.  Hunting season is on, so perhaps that drives them into our area, where hunting is not permitted.  We saw nine antlerless deer in our yard, all at the same time, and have seen at least three different bucks.  They are very tame, and come right up to the windows of the cottage and stare at us.

We have a large apple tree in our yard back in the city and it produced a huge crop this year.  Margarit must have picked and gathered at least 40 large grocery bags full of apples, and there are still some left on the tree.  We used a bunch of them, and gave lots away.  All of the bruised and damaged ones we brought out to the cottage, and allowed the deer to indulge.  Of course this is one of the main reasons why so many of them hang around.  Margarit and I were each able to approach to within about six feet of them, and they are becoming very tame... and spoiled.

Once the apples were gone, I took my bird feeder and put it up on top of my wood pile.  I put some nuts in it as there have been some Whiskeyjacks coming around.  But, the deer figured out that there was more food available, and crawled right up on top of the wood pile to get to the nuts.  I'll have to find some other way to feed the birds.

We got a skiff of snow overnight on November 1st but within a day it was pretty much gone.  It was nothing like the big dump we got on Thanksgiving, when Helena and I were out.  Night time temperatures have dropped as low as -10, and during the day it has only been getting up into single digits... maybe 6 or 7 at most.  But fall is such a wonderful time of year and it is gloriously quiet to spend a few days and relax.

BP35.0 - The Smokers

This scan is from the recently processed batch of Ilford HP5+ 4" x 5".  This is one of the sheets in that batch that was exposed at 320iso and given normal development.  That was, 7:35 minutes in 510 Pyro 1:100 at 24C.

In the days of my youth everyone smoked... every where...!  Bars in particular, but also restaurants, on planes and buses... everywhere.  Nowadays smokers are second class citizens and are forced to go outside to indulge in their nasty habit.  I smoked when I was young, like almost everyone did.  But I gave it up on a bet in 2000 and haven't touched it since.

This shot was taken on the Beer Parlour Project outing number BP35.0 back in August.  We visited the Wabamun Hotel, just a day after our project was filmed at the Andrew Hotel by CTV News.  There was a good turnout at Wabamun and we enjoyed our evening there.  Guest photographer Byron Robb from Calgary joined us on this one.  This is a very typical scene at many of the hotels we visit.  A group of patrons heading outside for a smoke break......

David Thompson Country Calendar - November Image

This is the image I selected for the November page of my 2025 David Thompson Country calendar.  This little inlet extends off of Abraham Lake, and is connected by a culvert under Highway 11.  In the late summer, when the reservoir is filled to capacity, this inlet fills up right into the trees.  Then over the fall and winter months, as the water in the reservoir is released, the water level recedes, and with it, the ice collapses.  It makes for a rather interesting image and something not normally seen in nature.

Dinosaur Provincial Park - Sage Shadow

This is the second of the two sheets of Ilford HP5+ that I processed immediately after my return from the Fall Photo Weekend.  I was drawn to the long shadows that this little sage plant was casting onto the outwash of textured clay.  A small little detail that many would pass over, but somehow it caught my eye.

I exposed this sheet of HP5 at 320 iso and gave it normal development.  I shot this with my Ebony view camera and a slightly long 200mm lens.  A number 8 Yellow filter boosted contrast slightly and created some separation in the clay.  The exposure was for 1/30 of a second at F25.0.

Dinosaur Provincial Park - Rills

Shortly after returning home from the Fall Photo Weekend, I processed a batch of Ilford HP5+ sheet film.  Mostly this was stuff from various Beer Parlour Project outings.  Some of the sheets were exposed at 320 iso while some of the portraits from the Beer Parlour Project were shot at 1250 iso.  I developed the film in 510 Pyro Developer, 1:100, at 24C.  The normally exposed stuff, at 320 iso, was developed for 7:35 minutes.  The underexposed stuff, at 1250 iso, was pushed and developed for 40:00 minutes.  I will get around to posting some of those images in the coming days and weeks.

I threw two sheets from the recent Monochome Guild trip in with this batch.  One of them was this shot, taken while hiking along the Badlands Trail in Dinosaur Provincial Park.  This was taken on October 21st at about 1:30 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony view camera and a slightly wide 125mm lens.  A number 25 Red Filter boosted contrast even further than what it already was with the low, clear autumn light.  The exposure was for 1/15 second at F20.0.  I quite like the way this one turned out.

November Calendar Image

This is the image I selected for the November 2025 page of my Fine Art Monochrome calendar.  I am now just getting to work on my 2026 calendar...!  This shot was taken on the Monochrome Guild Fall Photo Weekend back in 2023.  At that time a number of the Guild members headed up to Jasper for a few days of photography.  This is prior to the big forest fire that wiped out part of the townsite a couple years back.

This shot was taken up by Medicine Lake.  That is the Colin Range in the background, with a dusting of fresh snow.  There was a fire in this area several years ago, but this is not the one that did all the damage recently.  This one is the Excelsior Creek fire and it burned mostly in the back country and down to the west side of Medicine Lake and the Maligne River.