10th Annual Fall Photo Weekend

 

For ten years now I have been taking an annual fall photography trip with some of my friends.  In past years we have explored Jasper, Banff, Kananaskis, and most recently the Red Deer River badlands.  My friend Jon has been out with me on the previous nine trips dating back to 2001.  This year he was away on a holiday in England and couldn't join in.  During the trip I reflected on the fact that this is the first time that Jon was not able to join me, and I missed his company.  In later years the trip evolved to include the members of The Monochrome Guild.  That was the focus this year as well.  Initially we were hopeful that all eight active members of the group would be able to join us.  One by one the guys kept bailing out until we were finally down to four.  Arda, Court, Fred and myself set out early Saturday morning, arriving in Drumheller shortly after sunrise.  We set off down the valley and spent the late morning and early afternoon exploring a Cottonwood grove along the river.  Later we moved on to the East Coulee area and photographed in a small group of hoodoos.  In the late afternoon and early evening we moved on up the valley from Drumheller and photographed at both the Orkney and Horse Thief viewpoints.  The day was perfect with the temperature rising up to around +12C by late afternoon, with mostly clear skies, and only a light breeze.  By evening we went for dinner and then checked in to a local hotel.  Some visiting, a little scotch, some beer, and the Oilers game in the backgound and we caught ourselves all fading and ready to crash.  We awoke early in the morning to overcast skies, foggy and wet conditions, and cool temperatures.  We headed over to a local restaurant for breakfast, mostly to check out one member's recollection of an attractive waitress from last year's trip.  We were not disappointed.  After breakfast we met Frank over at the Palcoprep shop and the guys got a tour of current projects.  After that we set off in the general direction of home.  We made our way north and stopped for a while in Rowley.  This townsite was the set for the "Bye Bye Blues" movie shot here in the 1980's.  Some of the local buildings were used, and others were constructed just for the movie.  The town lingers on, attempting to be a tourist attraction, but struggles to live up to expectations.  It is a great photo location, particularly for black and white shooters such as we Monochrome Guild members.  I found a mummified cat in the abandoned grain elevator that was reminiscent of Egyptian mummified animals.  After shooting in Rowley for a couple of hours, we went our separate ways.  Court and Fred headed towards Highway 21 and in the general direction of their homes in east Edmonton and Sherwood Park.  Arda and I continued on across country.  We stopped in Rumsey and photographed an old abandoned store, as well as a ramshackle kids treehouse.  Then we continued north and shot briefly at the Roundhouse Historical Site in Big Valley.  After that we pounded the pavement back home as we both had evening plans.  Arda had a soccer game and a photo shoot and I was scheduled to play hockey with the Renegades.  Despite showing up at the rink and taking the warmup, my game ended up getting rescheduled due to poor ice conditions.