Roadside Store

This is another negative from the recently processed batch of Kodak Tri-X Pan 320, that was given Normal Development in PMK.  This shot was taken near the end of our trip to Saskatchewan last fall, on September 21st, just after 11:00AM.  It was a rather cool and blustery day, as I recall.

I have no idea what sort of business once operated out of this old building, in this dying town.  There was no signage, or nothing left laying around to provide any clues.  Most likely a store of some kind.  This is located in the Rural Municipality of Wood River No. 74, in south central Saskatchewan.  I shot this with my Ebony view camera and a wide 90mm lens.  I added a #8 yellow filter in the hope that it would pump up the contrast just a little.

Cottonwood Trail

This is the Black and White version of a color shot that I posted a few days back.  This one was taken during the recent Fall Photo trip by Monochrome Guild members Fred, Court, Steve and myself.  This one was taken on Ilford FP4+ 4" x 5" sheet film, and given Normal development in Perceptol 1:1.  The film was rated at 100iso, and I developed it with my new Jobo CPP3 Processor.

This shot was taken in Dinosaur Provincial Park, on the walking trail down near the Red Deer River.  I shot this with my Ebony view camera and a wide 90mm lens.  A #8 Yellow filter deepened the value of the sky and made the clouds stand out.  It also lightened the value of the fall foliage.

Beaver Lumber

This is another sheet of Kodak Tri-X Pan 320 sheet film, developed in PMK Developer.  I ran a batch of 4" x 5" film on my Jobo Processor, back on Remembrance Day.  This shot was taken while Margarit and I were out exploring in Saskatchewan.  I shot this with my Ebony view camera on September 16th, at about 3:45 in the afternoon.  A wide 90mm lens allowed the sweeping view that included the moody sky.  I used a #25 Red Filter to increase contrast and create some separation in the sky.  This old store is privately owned, and sits in a small town in the Rural Municipality of Reno No. 51, in southwestern Saskatchewan.

Facade

This old school in the Rural Municipality of Auvergne No. 76, in southern Saskatchewan, is over a century old.  It is now privately owned, and in the process of being restored.  I believe the owners are intending to turn it into a residence, though the project seems to have stalled in recent years.

Margarit and I were visiting on September 19th of this past year and it was a very windy day when I took this photograph at around 1:00 in the afternoon.  I shot this image on Kodak Tri-X Pan film rated at 320 iso and processed normally in PMK Developer.  I used my Ebony view camera and a wide Rodenstock 90mm Lens.  A #25 Red Filter deepened the sky, and lightened the brick.  The shutter speed of 1/8 second did not stop the motion in the grass that was being buffeted around by the gusting winds.  This was intentional.

BP 13.1 - Sandy and Doug

This one is also from the recent batch of Kodak Tri-X Pan 320 developed in PMK.  This is Sandy and Doug, the owners of the Limerick Hotel, in Limerick, Saskatchewan.  They were the most gracious of hosts and warmly welcomed the Beer Parlour Project to their establishment.

I first visited with my colleague Chris in June of this past year.  This was outing number BP 13.0.  I seem to have been jinxed by unlucky number 13, as I messed up all of the shots that I took of Sandy and Doug on that outing.  Some of the other shots that I took during that outing, of the hotel and other patrons turned out OK.  But all four portraits of the owners, didn't work.  I think partly I messed up the focus, and perhaps I didn't tighten down the standards on my view camera.  Its almost as if the camera moved a little when I inserted the film holder, and things were a little out of focus.  Of maybe I just didn't pay enough attention to focusing the camera in low light.  It could also have been a little movement on the part of subjects, due to the long exposure.

In September, when Margarit and I were touring southern Saskatchewan, I returned for outing number BP 13.1.  At  that time Margarit and I enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner in the tavern, and I attempted to re-shoot the portrait.  I exposed six sheets of film, and f*cked up five of them.  I have no explanation, but it was a series of errors... shutter left open, exposure set wrong, mostly just getting flustered and not paying attention.  Number thirteen really seems to be throwing me for a loop.  One of the six turned out a little better.  Not perfect, but acceptable.....  here it is....

The Limerick Hotel was once known as the Delaney.  Rumour has it that back in the day there was a brothel upstairs on the third floor.  Doug took Chris and I for a tour of the hotel during our first visit in June.  The first and second floors are currently used but the third floor has been shut down and abandoned.  In the background of the portrait, somewhat out of focus, you can see the old Delaney Hotel sign.  It's hard to read here, but the room prices are listed.  Apparently the price of the room escalated depending upon the qualifications of the hostess.

Cloverly Avenue

Here is another scan from the recently processed batch of 4" x 5" sheet film.  This was Kodak Tri-X Pan 320, rated at 320 iso, and developed normally in PMK.  This is a shot from the fall trip to Saskatchewan.  I shot this on September 16th at about 11:00 in the morning, while Margarit and I were exploring southwestern Saskatchewan.  This old service shop is in the Rural Municipality No. 79 Arlington.  I shot this with my Ebony view camera and a 125mm lens.  A #25 Red Filter deepened the sky, nicely separating the clouds.  It also pumped up the contrast somewhat.

Art Deco

This fascinating abandoned building is located in a small town in south central Saskatchewan, in the Rural Municipality of Mankota #45.  I peeked in through a back window, and it looks as those it was last used as some sort of wood working shop.  I assume that it was probably a store of some kind originally, as it is located right on Main Street.

This is a scan of a 4" x 5" sheet film negative.  This was Kodak Tri-X Pan 320, rated at 320 iso and given Normal development in PMK Developer.  I shot this image on September 18th at about 4:30 in the afternoon, when Margarit and I were touring around southern Saskatchewan.  I used my Ebony view camera and a Fujinon 125mm lens.  A #8 yellow filter deepened the value of the sky a little, and picked up the contrast slightly.

Making Lasagna

About once a year I set aside an entire afternoon and make a big batch of lasagna.  This year that day was yesterday... November 12th.  I went to the grocery store the day prior and bought about 225 dollars worth of ingredients.  This was going to be enough to make five large pans, and one extra large pan of lasagna.  

I bought four boxes of lasagna noodles, two big bags of spinach leaves, eight cans of various types of tomato, tomato paste and tomato sauce, six pounds of ground beef, and about fifteen pounds of cheese... mozzarella, swiss, cheddar, cottage and parmesan.

I made a huge pot of meat sauce and set it aside.  Then I boiled all the lasagna noodles in batches.  I set about assembling the five pans.  I figure they must weigh about five pounds each, and certainly can feed a family, hopefully with a few leftovers for the next day.  They are certainly more substantial and taste better than any pre-made frozen lasagna you can buy in the grocery store.  But they cost a lot more too, so I guess you get what you pay for....! 

I froze the five large pans that can be seen in the snapshot below, and we'll use these over the coming months.  The sixth one was even bigger, and we baked that one for dinner.  The girls had been pestering me to do this for some time, so I finally got around to it.

Hoodoos

This is another 4" x 5" color negative, from the recent batch of film that I just processed...  This one was also take at Dinosaur Provincial Park, on the Hoodoo Trail.  Court, Steve, Fred and I were out for the annual Monochrome Guild Fall trip.  

I shot this sheet of Kodak Ektar 100 on October 17th just after noon.  The light at this time in the fall in our northern latitude, is just gorgeous all day long.  I used my Ebony view camera and a Fujinon 125mm lens.  Once again I used the Blue/Yellow color polarizing filter to enhance and saturate the colors.  I never really get tired of this look though some find it kind of excessive.

Cottonwood Trail

This is a scan of a sheet of Kodak Ektar 100 4" x 5", that I just ran in C-41 chemistry on my new Jobo Processor.  This shot is from the Monochrome Guild Fall Trip down to Dinosaur Provincial Park.  I shot this on October 17th at about 3:45 in the afternoon.  This was taken along the Cottonwood Trail, a walking trail down along the Red Deer River.  I used my Ebony view camera and a wide 90mm lens.  A Blue/Yellow Color Polarizing Filter gave the highly saturated colors and really brought out the blue sky and the yellow leaves.  I know it is a little gimmicky, but I have always liked the look of this filter.

Jobo CPP3 - Test Drive

I returned home to the city on November 6th, after spending five days out in Nordegg.  I came down with a bad cold shortly after I arrived at the cottage, and didn't really accomplish a lot.  Mostly I just lounged around with Hank, enjoyed the solitude, and tried to get better.  After I got back, and beginnig to get over the cold, I got to work in my darkroom.  I finished up mounting and matting some prints that I had been working on before I left, and made some space for my next project.

Then on November 9th I set up my Jobo Processor.  I have had two old Jobo CPP2 Processors for many years.  Both of them died this past year, and I had to retire them.  I still intend to try to get around to parting them out and hopefully making a little money on the remains.  Earlier this year I bought a new Jobo CPP3 Processor.  This version is supposed to be improved, and includes a stronger motor that can properly rotate the large Expert drums, without burning out.  This was the problem with my old units.  Although I've had the new unit for some time, I haven't got around to using it yet... until now.

I mixed up a batch of C-41 Chemistry and set to work processing a bunch of color negative film.  This included five rolls of 35mm.  Some of that film was actually not color.  This was Ilford XP2 and the now discontinued Kodak BW400CN.  These are both monochrome films that use the color process.  The advantage to this is that the color process converts the metallic silver image to dye, and there is very little grain.  This can be helpful when the smaller 35mm format is used, particularly when the film is pushed under low light.  With the excess chemistry, left over after the roll films were done, I also processed ten sheets of 4x5 color negative film.

Many of the shots on the 35mm film were from various Beer Parlour Project outings over the past year.  I am trying to get caught up on processing this stuff so that the photo galleries on the Beer Parlour Project website can be updated.  Look for that in the coming weeks, and I will also share some of the images here.

The instructions that came with the processor were somewhat lacking.  The unit was originally designed and manufactured in what was then East Germany.  The translated instructions are somewhat abrupt and abbreviated.  But the unit is pretty intuitive in its operation, so I mostly figured it out.  Not bad for a technologically inept old geezer I figured...!

BP 20.0 - Peers Hotel

This is a photo of my Beer Parlour Project collaborator, Chris Doering, interviewing Steve, at the Peers Hotel, during our first visit on October 6th.  Obviously Steve is very animated.  Our number one fan and manager of the establishment, Lori, had rounded up a bunch of neighbors for us to interview and photograph during this first visit.  We arrived right around noon on a Sunday, immediately after Lori opened the place for the day.  There was no one but Lori in the tavern upon our arrival.  Steve had obviously been celebrating for some time before he was pulled over for a visit.  He was quite excited, and had a lot to say and continually forgot to hold still for the long exposures necessary with my view camera.

This one is from a recently processed batch of Kodak T-Max 400.  I rated the film at 1250 iso and gave extended development in T-Max Developer 1:4.  The results were reasonably good, and I was fortunate that there was quite a bit of natural light spilling in two open doors.

BP 18.0 - Silver Spur Saloon

This is Cathy and Gladys, a mother/daughter team that work at the Silver Spur Saloon in the Wildwood Hotel.  They were very welcoming and accommodating when the Beer Parlour Project visited back on October 4th. Cathy has worked in the Saloon for about twenty years.  Her mother, Gladys, is 85 years old and has worked there for FIFTY years.  We were impressed with how happy they were, and all the patrons in general were the same.  Must be something in the water...?

Gladys is the sister of the guy that you used to own the hotel.  He passed away some time ago and now his son Dan and daughter-in-law Michelle operate the establishment.  

November Image - David Thompson Country Calendar

This is the image that I selected for the November page of my 2024 David Thompson Country Calendar.  This old store was located down the hill, just a little below the original Nordegg townsite.  In the name of progress, the store was demolished to make way for an extension to the residentail subdivision.  That was about a year ago... or thereabouts....

I'll have to double check the date that this photograph was taken.  I believe this one was taken with my 8x10 view camera.  I'm glad I managed to capture the old store before it disappeared.  

Tough Guy

Hank seems to be having a lot of fun out at the cottage with me.  He is very demanding of attention, and there is no where to go to escape from him, so he's been hanging out with me the entire time I've been out here.  The fresh snow was something new to him.... this season... and he had a lot of fun ripping around outside. 

At one point he started barking a lot and I noticed that his attention was turned towards the Red Fox.  We have had foxes around our property since day one.  I'm not sure if this is the same one that always hangs around, or if there is more than one.  The fox was about the same height as Hank.  But Hank, with his stumpy little legs and beefy body, probably outweighed it two to one.  At one point he boldly advanced to within 25 feet or so of the fox.  The fox didn't really care, and was occupied eating all the seeds that had been spilled from the bird feeder.