Winter Hockey - End of the Regular Season

The Renegades played our last game of the winter season last night.  We needed to at least take it to overtime and get one point in the standings in order to secure the last playoff spot.  It was not to be as we lost in regulation time to the 2nd place Klondike Maulers.  It didn't help any that I scored a goal into our net.  I was defending on a two on one rush and nicely tipped a shot right up and over our goaltender.  I guess we put ourselves into this predicament as we let too many games slip away during the regular season.  So despite the fact that we were second in most goals for, second in fewest goals against, and had a win/loss record better than at least two teams that made the post season, we did not make the cut.  It ended up that divisional realignments and point adjustments took us out.  It was up to us to win some games later in the season in order to make it and we were just not up to the task.  So, we will play in a tournament this weekend, and then have a little over a month off before the start of the summer season in May.  Hopefully we can be a little more focused at that.

Procession West

My friend Rob and I have finally completed our submission package for our Procession West project.  This is a series of photographic prints that present the western Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.  We showcase the natural and human aspect of the prairies, the parkland, the badlands, the foothills, the mountains and the coast.  We have included both broad vistas and small details.  Natural as well as man made subjects are presented.  Our submission package includes a theme statement, image list, biographies and CV's, as well as a selection of 26 images.  These images are provided digitally as individual files, as well as in a power point presentation.  We have also included a selection of seven sample prints.  We intend to send this package around to both private and public galleries in Canada, as well as internationally to the United States, and to Europe.  It is our hope that a gallery somewhere will accept us and that we will be given the opportunity to present our work in a gallery exhibition.  Our first package went out in the mail this week to the Southern Alberta Art Gallery in Lethbridge.  We will put together additional submission packages and send them out over the coming weeks.  Then we can sit back and wait for all the rejection letters to start rolling in...

More Polaroids

During this past week I found some time one evening to process the Polaroid sheets that I shot on St. Patricks Day.  That's not quite true... the shot of the Cooling Towers was actually taken on a day trip a week prior.  These were shot on Polaroid 55 Black and White 4x5 film, which yields both a positive proof print, as well as a negative.  The proof print holds little value for me as it is the negative that I want.  So I attempted optimum exposures for negative quality, and processed the film back home in my darkroom, rather than out in the field.  This film has been discontinued, and I am down to my last 25 sheets or so.  I will ration my remaining stock and save if for subject matter that it is well suited to.  The resulting negatives have a tonal range that is quite different from that of most other black and white films.  It has a very short scale and the result has a look and feel very similar to that of transparency film.  I quite like it and wish that it was still available.....

Saturday Day Trip.

Last Saturday, March 17th, St. Patricks Day, my friend Rob and I went out shooting.  We started moderately early, around 7:30AM, and were gone until early evening.  We started out in the Heartland area to the northeast of the city.  We explored a bit, looking for some ideas for the Heartland Photo Essay project that we may pursue with the Monochrome Guild.  Then after that, we moved up further north and east.  

Later in the day we found a cool old farm yard.  The owner of this place was obviously a "collector" as there was a lot of old junk around.  This included a couple of old cars... A Rambler, and a Buick Century.  And, there were old clothes hanging in some of the buildings.  We spent quite a bit of time shooting here with our view cameras.  The temperature rose above the freezing mark and the snow got very wet.  But the sun was just barely burning through a heavily muted sky, and there was a breeze that was somewhat chilly.  Nonetheless, I think we can home with some pretty good shots.

Late in the afternoon we found another really interesting old yard.  The buildings in this one were OK, but nothing exceptionally photogenic.  But there were a lot of abandoned old cars and vehicles.  By my count there were two old pickup trucks, three tractors, and at least a dozen old cars.  We found ourselves running out of time, and the light was getting very flat.  So, we didn't shoot anything here with our view cameras.  But I certainly hope to find time to get back to this place at some point in the near future.

Winter Hockey

With my recent medical issues I was advised not to play hockey, until everything got sorted out.  Now that all the lab tests have come back normal, I am cleared to play hockey again.  In between, the regular season has wound down, and we Renegades find ourselves in a tough spot.  With one game left in the regular season, we find ourselves in 8th place in our division.  The top seven teams make the playoffs.  That said, there are two teams tied for 6th place, and they are only one point ahead of the Renegades in the standings.  If we can win our last game of the season, and one of these two teams lose, we will make the cut.  Our last game is on Tuesday March 27th and we have to pull out all the stops for a win.  Stay tuned...

Normal...

My doctor called with all the test results.  Everything came back completely normal.  No gall stones, no issues with my gall bladder, nothing digestive related...  If I suffer another batch of abdominal spasms I need to go back for more tests and investigation.  If nothing further happens, then I don't.  The doctor has no idea what caused the problem.  Personally I think it must have been related to the bad cold or flu that I was suffering with immediately in between the two episodes of spasms.  But, for the last two weeks, even though I still have lingering symptoms of the cold, no further cramping or spasms.

Sunday with the Girls

Wow... I find myself way behind on updating my blog.  I've been busy the last few days with all sorts of odds and ends and will try to refocus and bring things up to date.  On March 11th the girls and I went out for a drive.  We ended up at the Clifford Lee Natural Area northwest of Devon.  It was still fairly snowy, and the wetlands were locked in winters icy grip.  But this is a great place for bird watching, and if you're patient enough, sometimes the small birds will come and eat right out of your hand.  Of course the challenge this day would be in getting three little girls to be patient and hold still long enough for the birds to attempt it.  Things went pretty well, and both Hailey and Annelise managed to get the Chickadees to come and take sunflower seeds from their outstretched hands.  I even managed to capture the event once with my little camera.

It was a beautiful, mild late winter day and the girls had a blast.  It was sure nice to be out in nature and enjoy the day together as a family.  The mood was very optimistic as it is becoming obvious that winter is coming to an end, and spring is just around the corner.  Maybe the next time that we head out to the Natural Area the ponds will be full of ducks and shorebirds.  In recent years the drought has dramatically reduced the size of the ponds, and the cat tails and bullrushes have begun to take over.  But this is a great place to visit on a warm spring evening as the Bitterns are often heard calling from amongst the reeds, and the Ruddy ducks are regularly seen and heard putting on their spring displays.  I just can't wait until the snow becomes liquid again, and spring is really upon us...!!

March Day Trip

The weather on Friday was absolutely gorgeous.  A new high temperature record of +13.5C was set in Edmonton, surpassing the old record of around 12, set back in the early 1940's.  Unfortunately I was stuck back at work and was unable to get out and enjoy it.

The forecast for Saturday was not nearly as good, but still pretty reasonable, so I made plans to get out for a day trip.  As I was leaving the city I found this sign on a neighborhood pub...  I just had to chuckle over that one.

The forecast temperature of +5C was reached late in the morning, and at one point it peaked at about +6C, but that's about all she wrote....  But it was mostly sunny and very pleasant to be out.  The snow that fell a week or two ago is quickly melting and it is becoming muddy and very spring-like. 

The Monochrome Guild is just getting started on a photo project based on the Alberta Heartland.  This is the area northeast of Edmonton that is being converted from small town and agricultural to one of the largest industrial sites in North America.  There are already numerous refineries and upgraders in this area, that process the crude oil from Alberta's Oilsands.  There are many fabrication yards, pipelines, infrastructure projects and further development underway and in the planning stages.  Our group wants to document the swift change that has taken place here over the past 100 years.  From fur trading post, to bush being cleared for family homesteads, to the coming of the railway and the development of small towns and now moving forward into these massive industrial projects.  We also want to document the people and the landscape and the things that are being left behind in the name of progress.  We hope that this will become a group exhibition of black and white photographs.  To that end I went out by myself today and did a little scouting around.  Mostly I was up in the northern part of Strathcona County.  I made a few photographs with my view camera, and took a few documentary snap shots with my digital point and shoot...

Rough Week.....

As I was out doing my film tests at Elk Island on Sunday, I began to feel uncomfortable with some abdominal cramping.  I had a pretty intense bout with this same condition about a month ago, and it lasted for three days.  I kind of wrote it off to symptoms of the cold or flu that I was coming down with at the same time.  This time around the cramping came back fairly intense, and again lasted for about three days, but was not accompanied with a cold.  My abdominal muscles were going through the spasms and became very sore.  At the same time by back muscles were becoming quite sore trying to compensate for the doubling over that I was going through in the front.  At their worst these spasms were coming every few seconds.  I was unable to get out of bed for two days, and did not go to work for the first three days of the week.  Margarit convinced me to go and see my family doctor.  He suspects it is a problem with my gall bladder and ordered a bunch of tests.  The blood and urine samples were no big deal, but the dreaded stool sample was not a lot of fun.  Dumping a load on a paper plate, picking through it with a popsicle stick, and trying to smear some into a tiny little jar, leaves something to be desired.  Next time you see one of those ads on TV for paper plates, and how much food gets loaded onto them at the family picnic, take my word for it...  they really do hold up to that much without collapsing.  I am now just waiting to go in for an ultrasound on Monday.  A few days after that I will get the results, and I can go forward from there.  Since the spasms stopped on Tuesday evening, I have felt pretty good, except for being a little dehydrated, sore muscles around the middle, and a lingering headache.

Needless to say I was not able to play Game 27 of the Renegades winter hockey season.  We had a really short bench with only about 10 or 11 skaters and a backup goaltender.  Despite a parade to the penalty box, the guys managed to hang on for a 5-2 victory over the Trojans.  More importantly this keeps us in the last playoff spot with three games left in the season.

I returned to work for most of the day on Thursday and again on Friday.  It was a rather quiet week at the shop with the weather forcing us to postpone an installation in Calgary for yet another week.  I have a lot of odds and ends to catch up with next week when I get back... hopefully to full time duties.

On Friday evening I set up my home studio and took some photographs with my view camera of Hailey and Annelise in their new dance costumes.  These were just recently handed out at their dance classes, and will be worn in the year end recital coming up in June.  Here's the color Polaroid version, but I also shot a whole bunch of Black and White.

While I had the lights set up I also took a portrait of myself.  Actually this portrait was taken for me by my oldest daughter Hailey.  This will be used in the submission package being put together for the "Procession West" project.

More Film Testing

On Sunday March 3rd I continued with some film tests.  I am trying to establish which developer I like best with Fuji Neopan Acros film.  In the past I have used Kodak D-76 Developer 1:1, but lately I have not been happy with the results.  I am considering three alternative developers, Kodak X-Tol, Agfa Rodinal and Ilford Perceptol.  I am shooting a bunch of test shots with the film under various lighting conditions.  Then I will process all of the negatives in the various developers, including some in D-76 for reference, and compare them.  I will probably make some test prints of these negatives to get a really good feel for which I like best.  A week ago I took some test shots in sunny conditions.  Today I took a quick drive out to Elk Island National Park to do some more test shots.  The skies were overcast and the light very flat, so I did some test shots under these conditions.  I would like to do one more batch, with artificial studio lights, and then I can process all the film.  While I was out driving around I rattled off a few snapshots with my little digital camera...

Riding Lessons

On February 28th the two older girls went for their weekly riding lesson.  The days are getting noticeably longer and it is obvious that it is not as dark as it used to be, when we arrive at the arena at around 6:00PM.  The light inside the arena is very dim and there is not much opportunity to make photographs.  This time around I brought my little digital Leica and shot deliberately at a slow shutter speed, attempting to show some motion blur.  I think that some of these images turned out kind of cool...

February Day Trip

Back on February 20th the two older girls and I went out for a day trip.  I wanted to do a couple of test shots, with my 4x5 to test some Acros film, as well as a roll with my Hasselblad.  The girls packed lots of snacks and lots of books and we drove around the countryside.  We had a lot of fun talking and listening to music and made a couple of stops to take some photographs.  I'm sure that Mom enjoyed having two of the three girls out of the house for the afternoon too...