Beer Parlour Project - BP 20.0 Peers Hotel

Chris and Arturo and I made a stop at the Peers Hotel on Thursday October 3rd.  We had been unable to reach anyone at the hotel to pre-arrange our visit for the Beer Parlour Project.  Apparently we didn't do our homework well enough as it turns out the Hotel is closed on Thursdays.  Still unable to connect with anyone over the weekend, on Sunday October 6th, after spending a couple of days in the Edson area, we made another cold call in Peers.

It wasn't even noon when we arrived at the establishment, but the door was open, and the manager, Lori, was inside getting set up.  We introduced ourselves, and told her about the project, and she was thrilled to have us make an impromptu visit.  She event went so far as to round up a few neighbors and get them over to the tavern.  It turns out that the owner of the hotel was away in the Yukon and not able to take any calls.  But Lori had the authority to welcome us in, and that she did.

Unfortunately we only had a couple hours to visit, and to meet the few locals that were available.  But we made the best of it, and enjoyed ourselves all the same.  The few that showed up seemed willing enough to have a beer for lunch on Sunday.

The decor of the old tavern was spectacular.  There were old vinyl LP covers all of the walls, lots of Elvis and Marilyn memorabilia, and all sorts of other cool trinkets.  I stuffed elk head, smoking a cigarette, lots of funny tin signs and old photographs, and even a signed picture of the Hanson Brothers from the movie Slapshot.

This visit officially became BP 20.0 but we all agreed that we absolutely must make a return visit with more advance notice, when we have time to stay longer.  That will obviously become BP 20.1, and we are already tossing about ideas as to when we can return.

Alberta Views

My copy of the November issue of Alberta Views magazine came in the mail the other day.  Previously I granted them permission to use one of my photographs for an article on drought.  Little did I know that they would feature it on the inside front cover....!  It's always nice to see my work published and get broader exposure for my photography.

Beer Parlour Project - BP 19.0 Coal Branch Hotel

On Saturday October 5th Chris and Arturo and I ventured out for another edition of the Beer Parlour Project.  This would be BP 19.0.  We headed out from our rental home in Edson, and traveled south to the town of Robb, with a brief stop in between at the Marlboro cement plant.  This small settlement, now popular as a weekend retreat, is considered the gateway to the Coal Branch.  The owner of the hotel, and our host Kevin, along with his wife Sandy, welcomed us to their establishment.  We had pre-arranged our visit, and Kevin had lined up a bunch of locals to join us.  The handful of older residents still remaining in town showed up to provide Chris with some of the history of the place.

Troy Turner, originally from Louisiana but now residing in Edmonton, made the trek out to play some blues.  There was a good turnout and we spent the evening visiting with all the locals and taking a bunch of photographs for the project.  We had a blast, and after spending about six hours there, and enjoying a dinner of some great BBQ brisket, we eventually said our goodbyes, packed all our gear, and made the drive back to the rental house in Edson.  It was well after dark when we got back, and we reflected on the day and relaxed a bit before eventually turning in well after midnight.

Marlboro Cement Plant

On Saturday October 5th, Arturo, Chris and I headed over to the abandoned Marlboro Cement Plant.  I understand that the site was shut down around a century ago... in the late 1920's or early 1930's.  Marl was mined on the site and large kilns were used to dry it and make it into cement. 

According to Wikipedia....   Marl, is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays and silt.  It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae.  Marl has been used in the manufacture of Portland cement.  It is abundant and yields better physical and mechanical properties than metakaolin as a supplementary cementitious material, and can be calcined at a considerably lower temperature.

Whatever the reason, manufacturing ceased on the site around a century ago.  I understand that later the site was used by some forestry companies, perhaps to make use of the railway spur that once served the cement plant.  The CNR mainline passes by, a short distance to the south.

The remains of the concrete structures on the site are deteriorating and have been badly vandalized by graffiti artists.  We didn't spend a lot of time photographing these, but we were fascinated by a bunch of the old vehicles left laying around.  Given the age of the vehicles these are obviously not associated with the cement plant and probably came from the later forestry activities.

While we were set up with our cameras a man walked by with his son and commented about what a fascinating site it was.  Later as he was leaving he warned us that he had seen an individual in one of the tunnels under the ruins, wearing an orange Oilers jersey, carrying a pick axe, and obviously high on something.  We never did see the guy, but given some of the rubbish left lying around, and the significant amounts of graffiti, it is not surprising if it has become a hangout for the homeless and the addicted.

This was just a brief visit for us and we really enjoyed the fall colors and the crisp autumn light.  I'm sure I came away with a couple of good images.  Once we finished here and packed up, we headed for our primary destination for the day...  The Coal Branch Hotel in Robb, and another episode of the Beer Parlour Project.

In Focus YEG 2025

Just in advance of the October 15th deadline I entered four of my images into the InFocus YEG competition and exhibition.  I have been involved in this show since its inception over a decade ago, and know the founder and curator, Alexis Marie Chute, quite well.  I haven't had work in every show, but I have been exhibited in most of them.

This time around there is a theme... Light and Shadow.  I have so many photography projects on the go and so many things that I am shooting and printing for.  This time around I just did not have the luxury of shooting something specific for this show.  So instead I dug back into my archive of nearly 10,000 large format negatives and selected four that fit the theme... at least in my mind.

None of these have been printed before so if any of them are accepted I will need to print and frame them specifically for the show.

I included a photograph of Bryce Canyon National Monument that I shot when my friends Rob and Brad visited with me, on our first trip down to Utah.  This section of the park is known as Silent City.  This photograph was taken on October 19th 2013, at about 5:15 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a Fujinon-A 240mm lens, fitted with a #25 Red Filter.  The film was Kodak High Speed Infrared, and it was rated at 100iso and processed in T-Max Developer, 1:6, for 6:45 minutes at 24C.  The exposure was F22.0 and a shutter speed of 1/15 second.

The second image is of the Timber Bridge in East Coulee.  This Bridge has now been barricaded and public access is no longer permitted.  The bridge is slowly beginning to collapse and efforts to restore it are in their early stages.  This photograph was taken on August 9th 2014, at about 7:50 in the evening.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a Schneider Super Symmar XL 80mm lens, fitted with a #25 Red Filter.  The film was Kodak T-M100, and it was rated at 200iso and processed in X-Tol Developer, 1:1, for 12:00 minutes at 20C.  The exposure was F22.0 and a shutter speed of 1/2 second.

The third image is of an old stairway, with a newell post, in an abandoned house northeast of Edmonton.  This photograph was taken on April 18th 2015, at about 4:00 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a Fujinon-W 125mm lens, with no filter.  The film was Arista EDU 200, and it was rated at 200iso and processed in 510 Pyro Developer, 1:200, for 30:00 minutes at 24C.  The film was given semo-stand development, with minimal agitation in an attempt to support the shadow values.  The exposure was F29.0 and a shutter speed of 4 seconds.

The last one was a shot of some levers in an old abandoned grain elevator.  This shot was taken when I was out on a day trip with my brother Wes, south of Calgary.  This photograph was taken on January 24th 2016, at about 11:55 in the morning.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a Nikkor SW 65mm lens, with no filter.  The film was Kodak T-Max 100, and it was rated at 200iso and processed in X-Tol Developer, 1:1, for 12:00 minutes at 20C.  The exposure was F32.0 and a shutter speed of 30 seconds.

It remains to been seen if any of these images are accepted for exhibition.  Based on my track record at this event, I'm virtually certain that at least one of them will be.  Before the end of 2024 the results will be announced, which will provide me with [hopefully?] enough time to print and frame anything that I will be accepted to exhibit.   Stay tuned.....

Four Years - Adox CHS-50 Art

A decade or so back I bought a few boxes of 4" x 5" sheet film.  This was Adox CHS-50 Art.  It is supposed to be a remake of 1950's era film.  Later I acquired a couple of boxes of a slower version of the same film, CHS-25.  Some time later the film was discontinued and has never come back on the market.  I still have some in my freezer and shoot it from time to time.  Perhaps because it is no longer made, and I don't want to risk becoming attached to it, I don't shoot it all that often.  That became evident when I recently accumulated 20 sheets and was able to develop a batch.  That batch included sheets exposed in four different years.  It also included my last remaining sheet for the calendar year 2021 that still needed to be processed.

I process the film in Rodinal Developer, diluted 1:50, for 5:30 minutes.  This is a little less development than I typically give for other films, but it seems to yield a full tonal range in this particular emulsion.

This first image is that last remaining shot from the 2021 calendar year.  It is some grasses and hummocks in Blackmud Creek in Edmonton.  I shot this on September 29th 2021 at about 1:45 in the afternoon, with my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a long Fujinon-T 400mm lens.  A #11 Yellow Green Filter was used to raise the value of the grasses.  Although the box speed of the film is 50iso, I rate it slower, at 25iso.  This required a moderate aperture of F18, and a long shutter speed of 1 second.  Obviously there was a little motion in the grass as a result of this long exposure.

This next one is from the 2022 calendar year.  These rills and small hoodoos are located in the Red Deer River Valley, not far from our shop in East Coulee.  I shot this on April 24th 2022 at about 5:10 in the evening.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and once again the Fujinon-T 400mm lens.  A #25 Red Filter increased contrast by lowering the value of the shadows, and created separation in the sky. The exposure was at F22 and a shutter speed of 1 second.

This next one was taken in the 2023 calendar year.  Arturo and I were out exploring, looking for subject matter to photograph for our Apparitions project.  Photographs for this project impart a human presence without including any people in the images.  We found these old chairs and table, along with some old playing cards, in an abandoned community hall.  I have come across old playing cards on a number of occasions before and since this outing, and almost always end up photographing them.  I exposed this sheet of film on June 26th 2023 at about 2:30 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony SV45TU view camera and a Nikkor-W 150mm lens.  No filter was needed.  The exposure was F11 for 4 seconds.

And finally, something more up to date.  This shot was recently taken on one of the outings for the Beer Parlour Project.  This was BP 16.0, our visit to the Grand Hotel in Rimbey, Alberta.  I shot this one on August 16th 2024 at about 7:20 in the evening.  I used my Ebony SV45TE view camera and a Fujinon-W 125mm lens.  No filter was used.  The exposure was F16 for 1/2 second.

Beer Parlour Project - BP 18.0 Silver Spur Saloon

On Thursday afternoon, Chris and Arturo and I met in Peers.  It seems we didn't do our homework as the Peers Hotel was not open Thursdays,  We took the requisite exterior shots of the hotel and then headed over to Edson and checked in to our rental house.  We went out for dinner that evening, and then hung around and visited together.

On the afternoon of Friday October 4th we headed east to Wildwood.  We had pre-arranged to visit the Silver Spur Saloon in the Wildwood Hotel.  The owners, Dan and Michelle, were delayed a little in their arrival, but we did manage to meet them and interview them for the project, later in the evening.

Upon our arrival we were greeted by Gladys.  She is 85 years old and has been working in the Saloon for FIFTY years.  Her daughter Cathy also works there, and she has been employed for over 20 years.  We were amazed at just how happy everyone was and the mood and the vibe was unlike any other establishment that we have visited so far.  Everyone got along really well and they obviously loved working there.  It was a collection for friends, relatives, neighbors and former employees and you could just tell that they were all like one big family.

There was a band playing for a Country Jamboree and they were pretty well received.  They also had karaoke set up for later in the evening.  We interviewed all of the patrons that were willing and took photographs of many of them.  It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed our visit.  We arrived at about 3:00 in the afternoon.  By about 9:00 in the evening, with it getting too dark for much more photography, we decided to pack things in.  It is really draining, in a good way, to be on the go for so long and to try to remain focused on the project.  By the end of the evening, content with what we had accomplished, we were just spent.  It was about an 80km drive back to Edson so by the time we got there, unpacked, and unwound and visited for a while, the day was done.

Upper Cabinets

After my final visit of the season to the Nordegg Mine Site I set to work on a few chores around the guest cottage.  The last time I was out I finished painting the two upper cabinets.  This time around I brought some yellow acrylic doors with me.

I went to my old company, Mac Plastics, and got them to cut me the yellow acrylic.  This stuff was old...!   As a result the paper masking was really dried on.  I recall buying this stock about 25 years ago, when I ran the company, and they still had a couple of these sheets of yellow left.  It sure took a long time to peel all the masking off, but eventually it worked.  The price was right, as the new management team just gave the material to me.

Once that masking was dealt with I was able to put the cabinets up, install the acrylic doors, and put away all the dishes that we have been accumulating.

I also finished up some picture rails that I made for Margarit.  These will be coming back home to the city and will get installed in our kitchen.  I stained them to match our kitchen cabinets back home, and got a couple of coats of lacquer put on them.  The long suffering Mrs Pohl has been patiently waiting for a lot of years for me to get to this project.

I rounded out my visit to the cottage by playing a round of golf... likely the last one of the season... and making a run to the dump.

My middle daughter Ryan and her boyfriend Braeden were out with me.  On the morning of October 4th I left the cottage and headed north to Edson.  I was meeting up there with Chris and Arturo to explore a couple old hotels for the Beer Parlour Project.  Margarit left the city about the same time I left Nordegg and she joined the two young kids at the cottage, and stayed there with them for a few more days.

Last Visit to the Mine

The Nordegg Mine Site closed to public tours just after the Labor Day Long Weekend.  The staff stay on site through the month of September and deal with maintenance issues, and getting things shut down for the winter.  By the end of September the site gets locked up until spring.  I was able to get permission to go into the site one last time, before they shut things down for the season.  There was a crew working on site with some heavy equipment, dealing with some landscaping and drainage issues.  I gave them a wide berth and took advantage of the opportunity to get a few more photographs taken.

It was a little cool on September 30th when I went in for the afternoon, and the temperature only peaked at around 10 or 12 degrees.  But there was beautiful fall light, and the aspens were in full color.  I spent several hours wandering around and taking yet more photographs.

Over the upcoming winter months I will process all of the film that I shot this year on my various visits to the site, and try to get a number of the better images printed.  The Clearwater County staff want to showcase some of my prints in the visitor center next spring.