Riding Lessons

In early January my two older daughters, Hailey and Annelise, started riding lessons.  Once a week they go out to a nearby riding arena and take lessons on a Welsh Pony named Winston.  The girls love it and can't get enough of being around the horses.  If they continue to show an interest in riding, the lessons will become more advanced.  Their instructor is the wife of my photography friend Rob.  For now they are starting with the basics, everything from horse care to tack to basic riding instruction.  Eventually they can move up to dressage or jumping.  We went for lessons again tonight, the fourth one for each of the girls.  Their riding is improving and they are showing no signs of losing interest.  So we have signed a lease agreement for Winston and he will be their horse to look after and ride once a week.  Eventually they will outgrow him and need to move on to a bigger horse.  For now they are having a blast and are really excited every time Tuesday evening comes around.

Dauphine... formerly Queen of Tarts

Dauphine Bakery and Bistro... formerly Queen of Tarts... is allowing the Monochrome Guild to exhibit some of our photography.  We expect that this will be an ongoing venue for the group, and that the prints on display will be changed from time to time.  On Saturday, a few of the members of the group hung 14 prints.  Five of the current group members are taking part in this show, but it is hoped that more will join in as time goes on.  There will be an official opening next weekend.

Linda Kearney, the owner of Queen of Tarts, has graciously allowed the Monochrome Guild to utilize the wall space in her Bakery and Bistro, to display our work.  She is most unfortunately embroiled in a senseless legal battle with a woman from Ontario.  In good faith, Linda registered her business name in Alberta, and assumed that life was good and business could continue.  To her dismay she learned that a woman in Ontario owned the trademark on the name, and despite the fact that the Ontario Queen of Tarts is no longer operating, Linda is being forced to stop using the name in Alberta.  So, the name of the establishment is in the process of being changed to... Dauphine.  In conjunction with that change is the opening of our exhibition.

Please stop by for the official opening next week.  

Dauphine... formerly Queen of Tarts

10129 - 104 Street

Edmonton, Alberta

Friday February 3rd - from 5:00 to 7:00PM.

Winter Hockey - Game 21

The recent four-game losing streak saw the Renegades in 8th place in our Division, and currently out of playoff contention.  Last night we played a game against the first place Maulers.  This time we were much more focused and played a stronger and smarter hockey game.  We jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period.  The Maulers got one back late in the 1st period and then another later in the 2nd to tie the game.  We scored one early in the third and then shut them down to hang on for a 3-2 victory.  It was a very close, hard fought game, with the shots even at the end.  We now have to wait and see how some of the other teams in our division make out in their games this weekend.  This victory should put us back into playoff contention.  If we can carry some momentum from this and start a streak for the last nine games of the regular season, we should be in good shape come playoff time.

Procession West

My friend Rob and I are working on a duo project together.  We are preparing a gallery submission that we will send out to numerous galleries and see if we can be accepted for an exhibition.  It is our hope that this project will become a travelling exhibition and be shown at numerous venues.  We are calling it...

Procession West

A Visual Journey from Plains to Coast

It includes a series of Photographs taken in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia and explores the landscape and human element of Western Canada.

We have selected a total of 26 images, half by each photographer.  

We are currently working on scanning all of our negatives and re-touching them so that they are ready for submission.  We are also working on a number of representative prints that will be included with our submission. We just need to finalize our Artists Statement and CV's and we will be ready to start distributing this package for consideration.  Although we expect to be rejected at numerous venues we hope to be persistent enough to gain some level of acceptance and be shown.

To that end we continue to work to put together our submission package.  The attached photos are images of two of my prints as they are being rinsed in a tray, following toning in Selenium.

Stay tuned for updates on this project...

Winter Hockey - Game 20

I was not able to make it to Game 20 of the Renegades winter season on Saturday night.  I had tickets to see the Oilers play the Flames at Rexall Place in another edition of the Battle of Alberta.  I had promised middle daughter Annelise that I would take her to the game.  Although I really enjoyed the time spent with Anna, from a hockey perspective I probably should have gone and played with the Renegades instead.  The Oilers "pooped the bed" again and put in a less than half-hearted effort against the Flames.  They were down by four goals before they even started to play and ended up losing the game by a 6-2 score.  The Renegades did not fare much better and lost by a score of 4-1 to the Buzzards.  We are now well into a losing streak of our own, and have fallen to eighth place in our division.  We are going to have to turn things around and start winning if we want to muscle our way back up in the standings and try to earn a playoff berth.

Winter Returns...

It appears as though the warm fall like weather has come to an end.  We woke up this morning to an inch or two of fresh snow, and much colder temperatures than we have had in a long time.  I think it only managed to climb up to around -20C today and there was a breeze that made it uncomfortable to be outside.  The forecast for the next week is for very cold temperatures and more snow.  Daytime highs are only supposed to approach the -20C that we experienced today, and the night time lows are forecast to be in the -30C range.  Since we were basically house bound today I decided to tackle one of my photo projects.  For months now I have been meaning to set up a still life paleontology shot.  The image is intended to invoke the mood and feeling of the Great Dinosaur Rush at the turn of the last century.  I can just imagine those old time paleo-prospectors sitting in their tents in the evening, examining the finds of the day and trying to identify them.  To that end I have been gathering the necessary props to shoot this image.  My intention is to make some fine art prints from the resulting negatives.  As I have not yet decided whether to produce contact printed Van Dyke Brown prints, or sepia toned enlargements, I shot this set up with both my 4x5 and 8x10 view cameras...

Dad and Hailey Day

Not to be outdone by her sister, my eldest daughter Hailey decided that she also needed to get out on a day trip with her Dad.  This time around my friend Rob came along with us.  We were still enjoying mild fall like weather conditions and just needed to take advantage of the opportunity.  Living here in Alberta we know that it is only a matter of time before winter settles in and gets a choke hold on us!!  So on January 8th, early Sunday morning, we once again headed out into Lamont County to do some exploring.  We started out with a stop at the abandoned Creekland School.  This two room school house is heavily vandilized and probably not long for this world.  I took a shot with the big 4x5 before we moved on further north to the Skaro Shrine.

After exploring the huge stone altar at the shrine we focused our attention on an old farm yard immediately north.  The ice crusted snow and the strong side light made for some interesting compositions...

After that we decided to carry on and check out the old Russian Monastery up in Smoky Lake County.  Although I had just shot there a short time before, neither Rob nor Hailey had ever seen it.  So we continued on up there and spent a couple hours shooting.  This time around the big view camera came out once again and I set up a couple of compositions at the monastery.  As we were leaving, and heading back to the south we came upon an old barn that was worth a little closer look...

As we made our way back into the city, after a very enjoyable day out in the country, we reflected at how we had cheated Old Man Winter out of one more weekend....  

Winter Hockey - Games 18 and 19

The Renegades have already played two hockey games in 2012 but unfortunately the streak that we have started is not what we were hoping for.  On January 6th we played a game against the Buzzards and got soundly thumped by a score of 9-4.  Then last night we played a game against the Xtreme.  It was a close, hard fought game but we found ourselves on the short end of a 3-2 score.  So we have now lost four games in a row and are falling out of playoff contention.  With only 11 games left in the regular season it is time to turn things around and try and make a push into the playoffs.

Bison Skull

Back in the fall of 2010 my business partner Frank and I collected a bison skeleton.  This was through our company, Palcoprep Inc.  My first cousin Vic and his wife used to raise bison on a farm west of Wetaskiwin.  They have since sold their herd and moved off the farm.  Frank and I collected the skeleton of an old bull that had died on the farm, with the intention of molding all the bones and to be able to produce a cast of the complete skeleton.  We hope to be able to market casts of the skeleton to a native interpretive center in southern Alberta, or perhaps to a museum in the Northwest Territories.  We are hopeful that other opportunities will arise as well.  Over a year ago my cousin loaned us the skull from this old bull.  It is massive, and measures 28" across the horns.  We plan on taking a mold from this skull and then returning it to my cousin.  I'm afraid we are guilty of not getting to this project nearly as quickly as we originally hoped.  In any event, I finally found the time to photograph this impressive skull.  I shot it with my studio lights and 4x5 view camera.  I also took a couple of shots with my 8x10 camera, with the intention of producing some alternative process prints.  These will be 8" x 10" prints, contract printed from the original negative on hand coated fine art paper.  I have not yet decided whether I will use the Palladium and Iron based Ziatype method, or the Van Dyke Brown method, or perhaps both.  Until I find time to get around to that, here is a scan of one of the proofs from that photo shoot.  In the mean time I will now forward the skull to the Palcoprep shop in Drumheller so that the molding process can finally get underway.

Dad and Anna Day

Last Monday I set out on the final day trip of my Christmas vacation.  This time around my middle daughter Annelise wanted this to be a special day, just for her and I.  So, we set out in the morning, and planned to make a day of it.  I stopped and got her the "Big Breakfast" at Rotten Ronnie's before we hit the road.  She loved it and worked on it all day long, eventually finishing it off in the afternoon.  Not bad eatin' for a six-year-old girl!  Once again the skies were overcast and the light very flat.  And... once again I headed east, passing yet again through Elk Island National Park on our way further out to the north east.  As with the past few trips the absence of large mammals in the park was eerily noticeable.  We stopped and I shot some images of aspen trunks.  As I look at how well this image turned out, I kind of wish I'd had more ambition and dragged my big view camera out of the truck...

We continued north out of the park and drove around all afternoon.  Anna was anxious to find some old buildings that we could poke around in.  Eventually we found a couple of interesting old yards and the two of us wandered around together making some photographs.  Although it was mild, the sun never really came out and it remained somewhat breezy.  I never quite got up enough motivation to get the heavy artillery out of the truck.  So this day was spent with just to the two of us enjoying each other's company, and taking a bunch of snap shots.  Here are a few more...

As the day came to an end we drove back home and chatted about how much fun we had together.  I really enjoy the one on one time with my daughters, and this day was no exception.  I couldn't help but feel just a little down at the prospect of my Christmas vacation coming to an end.  The mere thought of having to return to the office the next morning was more than a little depressing....

Polaroids

 I am down to my last couple of boxes of Polaroid 55 film.  This is a 4x5 sheet film that yields a positive proof and a negative.  The sensitivity of the two materials is not quite the same, so if you want to get a good negative and expose for that, the print tends to be a little over exposed.  This material was discontinued about 4 years ago when Polaroid stopped production.  I have been rationing the last of my stock ever since and will probably run out sometime in 2012.  It is quite different from most other black and white films as it tends to have a tonal range and contrast similar to that of color transparency film.  I shot a couple of sheets of it when I was out at the monastery on December 30th.  I processed it on New Year's Eve and by this afternoon it was washed and dried so that I could scan it.

Last Day Trip of 2011

On December 30th, somewhat on the spur of the moment, I decided to head out for a day trip.  It was not looking great in the morning when I headed out.  It was overcast and dull and quite breezy.  My friend Gerald decided to come along.  We spent most of the morning driving around, somewhat reluctant to get out of the truck and try shooting, as it was so windy.  Eventually by late morning the wind died down.  We found ourselves out at the old stone dance hall near Shandro.  We spent and hour or so here making some photographs...

After that we continued north to try and find the old Russian Monastery.  I had a pretty good idea where it was, but wan't sure that I could find it.  Eventually we stumbled upon the right road and found our way to it.  This place was originally constructed by a group of Russian Monks.  They attempted to scratch out a living in the bush here.  They had no crop land, only a cluster of small buildings and a couple of clearings for vegetable gardens.  Not much of a surprise that they gave up on this venture and moved back to Eastern Canada in the early 1960's.  This place is particularly eerie in the summer as a pair of Turkey Vultures roosts somewhere nearby and is constantly soaring over the abandoned site.  This time around we saw no signs of life, except for a few rabbit tracks in the snow...