What's New at Palcoprep

I've started writing another blog.  This one deals specifically with Palcoprep Inc. and our current and past projects.  I am involved as a shareholder of Palcoprep Inc., based in Drumheller, Alberta.  This new blog provides detailed information on past and current projects undertaken by the company.

www.palcoprep.blogspot.com

Monochrome Guild - Gallery Exhibition

A proposal by the Monochrome Guild has been accepted by TU Gallery.  The TU Gallery is located here in Edmonton and showcases Photography as well as fine furniture and woodwork.  The gallery is located on 124 Street at 107 Avenue.  More information on the gallery may be found on their website...

www.tugallery.ca

Our exhibition will be opening on September 24th 2011 and will feature a varied selection of new prints by the members of the Monochrome Guild.  I hosted a Guild meeting here at my house last night and we went over a selection of work prints that will be presented to the curators of TU Gallery for final selection.  We have already presented a selection of around 35 work prints that are presently being considered by the gallery.  This second selection of work prints, numbering 35 again, will be delivered to the gallery next week.  From the two submissions the gallery will make the final selection of images to be included in the exhibition.  This will give us several months to produce the final exhibition prints, and attend to mounting, matting and framing.  Check back from time to time as work on the project progresses.

Additional information about The Monochrome Guild may be found on our website...

www.monochromeguild.com

Photo Book - Christmas in Austria 2007

I was very optimistic that my first attempt at a Photo Book would yield acceptable results.  So much so that I started work on my second one, even before the first book arrived.  I was not disappointed when it finally arrived, and continued with my layout of book two.  I spent the last two or three weeks scanning all the medium format negatives that I shot in Austria over Christmas in 2007.  Then I went about selecting the best version of each image, and editing each file to make it ready for print.  This included contrast adjustment, dust spotting, slight cropping, etc.  I had some technical issues with one of my lenses while in Europe.  This was not obvious to me at the time and I did not realize the problem until I came home and processed the film.  To make matters worse I also had some processing issues with one batch.  Several of my best images were almost lost.  I managed to salvage almost every image, but some are not as good as they could have been.  Finally I set about working on the layout and writing all the text.  Some of the text is in German so the translation process took a while.  I ended up with a 60 page book that includes a selection of 48 Black and White images, plus a handful of color snapshots.  I uploaded the entire file to the publishers server this evening and can now sit back and wait for the finished product to be delivered to me in about a month.  The above image will appear on the cover, and within the book. 

Renegades - Game 21

A Renegades victory on Saturday against the 1st place Chiefs.  We had a backup goaltender who played a really solid game for us.  Although we held the lead for most of the game, the Chiefs kept battling back.  They pulled their goalie for the last minute and a half and put on a real push to tie the game.  We managed to weather the storm and hang on for a 5-4 victory.  The first time we've beaten the Chiefs this season, although one previous game went to overtime.  This win will guarantee our hold on third place in the division.  Depending on how some of the other teams do in their games this weekend we may even move up to second place.  Now we have a bit of a lay off from hockey as we do not play again until a late Tuesday night game on February 1.

Photo Book Arrived

The photo book that I ordered over the holidays arrived in the mail this week.  I threw the design together in just a few hours.  I used mostly a selection of images that were shot with a hand held digital SLR.  None of the files were re-touched or adjusted, I used them just as they were saved from the camera.  I did add a few images to the book that were scanned from my large format black and white negatives.  The intent of this book was to get familiar with the design software and to get some idea of the print quality.  I was very impressed with the quality of the book.  My layout leaves something to be desired, but it was thrown together in a hurry and the intention was for it to be just an experiment.  For the most part the images look really good in print.  The ones that are not great, were not great to begin with.  The original files are unsharp due to camera shake/slow shutter speed.  The highlights are a little blown away in a few of the shots, but this is inherent in the original file and not a result of the print process.  Some of the choices I made for background photos are a little busy and detract from the images that are overlaid.  There is a color cast to some of the files, but not as a result of the printing process.  I made a couple of typo's that I did not catch when I proof read my layout.  But these are my fault and not the fault of the printing.  This book is not of the same quality as that of a high end printing process such as tritone or quadratone.  But considering the cost and the size of the production run - ONE COPY - I am very impressed.  So much so that I have already begun putting together a second book that documents our Christmas trip to Austria in 2007.

Global Warming...??

We are enjoying [??] an old fashioned winter like we used to get.  For the past couple of weeks it has been quite cold.  Daytime highs have rarely been above -20C, and night time lows have been down as low as -32C.  And, for the first winter in a number of years we are getting a lot of snow.  Last weekend we got about 12" [30cm] of snow.  Through the week it has snowed lightly off and on.  This weekend we continue to see more snowfall, with another 5 or 6 inches [12-15cm].  We won't be sitting on this patio any time soon!

 

And I think it will be quite a while before any birds are able to take a bath!!

This should go a long way towards alleviating the drought conditions that we have been experiencing here in Alberta for the last five years or so.  Lake and river levels should come up, and the forest fire situation should be improved come spring.  Of course we need a slow prolonged spring thaw for that to happen.  There is a lot of talk in the media lately as to whether or not global warming is really the result of human activity.  Some renowned scientists are claiming that it is just a normal pattern and that we are actually heading into a cooling trend and possibly ultimately the next ice age.

Renegades - Game 20

A tough loss last night to bring us to the 2/3 point of the regular season.  This will put us in third place in our division going into the stretch run.  We played the Ice Hawks at Grand Trunk Arena last night at 10:45PM.  A slow start put us down early, and we just couldn't battle back.  We ended up outshooting the Hawks 41-31, and after giving them an early 3-0 lead we managed to battle back to 6-4.  We pulled our goaltender and put a real push on, coming close two or three times.  But, they got an empty net goal to seal the score at 7-4.

Winter Urban Scouting

I set out this morning with a friend to scout some urban locations here in the city.  The weather was awful... -16C, with a stiff breeze out of the northwest.  The temperature, with the windchill factored in was around -25C.  We just got a dump of about a foot of snow in the last 48 hours, and it is still snowing lightly.  The snow removal crews are just getting started on the daunting task at hand and the streets, particularly the sidestreets, are pretty much impassable without four wheel drive.  I took my Hasselblad with me, but it never came out of the truck.  That said, we did find some interesting locations that are worth going back to when conditions improve.

Renegades - Game 19

It was a miserable night to play hockey last night... not very cold, but we sure got a lot of snow.  I think we must have fresh accumulation of nearly a foot of snow!!  The city streets were not in very good shape and just getting to the rink was a bit of an ordeal.  For a change we had a full roster, and everyone eventually made it to the game.  We played the Oil City Wings at Grand Trunk Arena last night at 9:00PM.  We had the lead for the entire game, but every time we got ahead by a couple of goals, the Wings stormed back.  In the third period, we were leading by a score of 5-3, when the Wings got two goals in less than a minute to tie the game.  I called our time out, just to settle things down and to try and disrupt their momentum.  It seemed to work as shortly afterward we scored to take the lead again.  Then we got two more later in the third to post a victory of 8-5.  The shots were pretty much even at 31-29 for us.  I think this was the first game I have ever played, and I've now been in well over 200 games, that there were no penalties.  This is unheard of, particularly for the Renegades.  This win puts us into 2nd place in our division, with about a third of the season left to play.

Fine Art Photography Weekly

Yesterday I was a guest on an online photography show called Fine Art Photography Weekly at www.smibs.tv

The show was recorded live at 2:30PM MST on Tuesday January 4th, at a small studio near Sherwood Park  This was the 25th episode of the show.  This episode is currently in reruns on the website, and will be archived on the server in the coming days.  The host, Peter Urban and I, discussed traditional film based black and white photography, my career to date, and my founding of the Monochrome Guild.  Apparently the show attracts between 100,000 and 200,000 viewers per episode, worldwide.  It was a lot of fun, and pretty exciting.  I thought I would be nervous, and might have trouble carrying on a discussion for an hour, but it was a piece of cake.  Just goes to prove how big a wind bag I really am!!  Please check out the show and provide your comments! 

Renegades - Game 18

The Renegades played our first game of 2011 on January 2nd.  Unfortunately I came down with a wicked case of the flu, including severe stomach cramps and back spasms and other nasty symptoms that kept me very close to the washroom!  I missed the game and am just now returning to normal.... just in time to return to work.  A number of our other guys were also under the weather and the team ended up playing, once again, with a short bench.  We went down in defeat to the Buzzards.