Winter Hockey - Game 7

The first lop-sided loss of the season for the Renegades last night.  This was a late weekday game but we still managed to get out a nearly full roster.  The game was played pretty close, but we weren't getting any bounces, and for the Wolf Pack, everything was going in.  Despite the shots being even at 32, the score was not and we went down to defeat, 7-2.  Another late game coming up next Tuesday so we'll try and turn things around.

More Negatives

The second batch of 4x5 negatives is now dry, so I set about scanning some of the better ones.  These were all shot on Kodak T-Max 400 film with my 4x5 cameras.  Some of these date back to 2010.  On our Fall Photo Weekend in 2010 we stopped at an old barn near Drumheller.  The barn and the fence were covered with vines.  The walls of the barn were finished with cedar shingles.  Some of these shingles were starting to fall off, exposing the newpaper that was used as building paper.  This newspaper advertisement is from 1963, the year I was born, and advertises Chevrolet automobiles...

These fallen cottonwood leaves on a small pond were taken in a grove down along the Red Deer River on that same weekend trip.

I really like this image and it was an attempt by me to depart from my normal style.  This is very vague and abstract and invokes a feeling of the stark contrast between the bare branches of a dead tree and a field of wildflowers.  I really feel that I need to branch out in this new direction as this type of work is much more meaningful than my literal representations of the subjects before me.

The rest of this selection includes an image of Chungo Creek, taken earlier this fall at Thanksgiving, a cottonwood tree in black and white fall colors at TL Bar Ranch, some burnt trees up near Lodgepole taken on a day trip back in the summer, and a stand of aspen trees in snow from the winter of 2011.

Actually the comments about that vague abstract image and the mood that it invokes is really just a load of crap.  I just wanted to see if I could pass this off as art.  I actually double exposed a sheet of film by accident and decided to scan the resulting negative just for the heck of it.

Open Photo 2012

The Opening of the VAAA Open Photo Exhibition is coming up this Friday at the Jubilee Auditorium here in Edmonton.  The images have been on display at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium for most of the past month.  My print "Anna's Swing" won honorable mention and I will be attending the opening ceremony here in Edmonton to accept a certificate.  The show runs for the next few weeks so hopefully anyone that is interested has an opportunity to check it out.

Fall Comes to an end...

When we awoke on Saturday morning... rather late in the morning... it was snowing heavily.  This was a rather abrupt reminder that I still had a lot to do to get ready for winter.  Fortunately the snow came to an end just as abruptly and melted by early afternoon.  Nonetheless I accepted the wake up call and got busy.  The air compressor came out of the garage and I blew all the water out of our underground sprinkler lines.  Then I turned my attention back to our trailer.  I had winterized the plumbing a few days earlier, but still not unpacked it.  So I set to work cleaning all the summer groceries and clothing and general stuff out of the trailer and to get it ready to put into storage.  In between all of this I worked on processing a couple of batches of film.  This time around it was two batches of Kodak T-Max 400... one on Saturday and the second on Sunday.  In between the batches I took the trailer out to my parents acerage and parked it in their workshop for the winter.  With that chore finally out of the way, I turned my attention to the second batch of T-Max 400 film.  The first batch was dry by Monday evening, and I began scanning the best of these as I took the second batch out of the film washer and moved them over to my drying cabinet.  These will be ready to scan later in the week.  Slowly but surely I am getting caught up on the backlog of film that needs processing.

This current batch included a couple of images from 2009.  One a burnt stump and some new growth in Kootenay National Park that dates back to a spring photo weekend trip, and the second a shot of an old stump on the beach from one of our fall camping trips.

Most of the remaining images were taken in 2010.  This included a couple of sets of Triptych images.  These are three seperate negatives, taken with the intention of being presented as three seperate prints mounted together in the same frame.  The first is a shot of a fallen tree at Elk Island National Park, and the second a shot of the old churches at Dorothy.  Both sets were taken in the spring of 2010.

I also have a shot from my Playground Ghosts series... note the ghostly image of Hailey on the background slide at this old playground, as well as a panoramic view of an old grader in a Saskatchewan ghost town, and an image of a vandalized television set in an abandoned old house.

I also slipped a few sheets of film from the recent Fall Fossil weekend into this batch.  This includes a couple from Pronghorn Coulee, and one from the Krause Ranch.  I'm pretty confident that I can nurse a pretty respectable exhibition print from at least a couple of the negatives in this batch.  And there are a couple of good negatives in the batch that is currently being dried.  I'll be scanning and sharing those in the coming days.

  

Friends and Family Show

The Monochrome Guild Friends and Family Show was last night.  The one night event was graciously hosted by Guild member Arda Ozum in the offices of his Engineering firm.  The event went really well.  I didn't take an exact count but there must have been 60+ prints.  Some were framed and hung on the walls, while others were mounted and matted, and yet others were just loose.  

Guild member Gary Soo presented a number of wet plate collodion [Tintype] images.  These are unique one of a kind images created by means of a very old photographic process.  A light sensitive emulsion is coated onto the surface of a black finished piece of sheet metal.  While this emulsion is still wet, it is exposed in a large format camera, and then immediately developed.  This process is typically undertaken with antique cameras and lenses.  The optics of these old lenses give a very unique look and feel of an antique photograph.

The rest of us presented more typical silver gelatin prints, captured on film formats ranging from 35mm, through medium format, up to sheet film formats of 4" x 5" and 8" x 10" sizes.  On a personal note I have been so busy in recent weeks that I did not have time to print any new work for this show.  The 10 framed prints that I included were all older images that I dug out of my inventory.  That said, this included some of my stronger work and I certainly don't feel as though I had any negative impact on the quality of the show.

Margarit and I arrived at the show around 6:45 and the place was already pretty packed.  By the time we arrived some of the first guests were already leaving.  As the evening wore on people came and went.  I don't think that anyone took an exact count but there were over 100 guests that attended.  I certainly didn't know all of the guests that attended but it included a wide range of friends and family just as the title suggested.  This included staff of galleries that we have submitted to and shown at in the past, family members, co-workers, the photographic and arts community in general, interested potential new Guild members, former members, among others.  The show was very well received and all the Guild members are generally very pleased with the turnout, and the way the evening went.

We will give this concept some consideration but the general consensus is to make this an annual event.

Winter Hockey - Game 6

While I was away on the Fall Photo Weekend the guys on the Renegades played our sixth game of the winter season.  They easily won the game defeating the Ice Hawks by a score of 6-1.  After this game the league moved the first place Ballers up into the next division.  This left the Renegades in first place in our division.  Now we have a bit of a layoff before our next game on the 24th.

Fall Fossil Weekend - Day 4

This day really didn't allow any time for hiking as I had to make the long drive back to Edmonton.  We cleaned up camp and packed up all of our gear.  Jim headed off in mid morning to make his way back home to Drumheller.  As we put away the firewood that we had left out the night before, Jim came across two Mourning Cloak butterflies that had crawled in between the logs for shelter.  They sat on our picnic table for the longest time, too cold to fly away.

I finished up the dishes and packed up the last of the stuff in the trailer before hitting the road by late morning.  It was a pretty uneventful drive home with only a couple of stops.  At one point I spotted an old corral near Oyen.  I thought that this might make an interesting prairie image that might be suitable for the Procession West project.  So, I got out my big camera and set up to take a couple of shots.  As I was finishing up, there was a big racket off in the distance.  About a mile to the north a huge flock of Sandhill Cranes was taking to the air from the field they had stopped in.  They circled for a while and the eventually flew right over me, heading south...  It was quite the spectacle to witness as they came over me in waves.  There must have been at least several hundred of them.

Later I stopped at New Bridgen to check out an old railway water tower.  It was interesting, but I just didn't see any composition that justified a black and white shot with the big camera.  I also stopped a little further on at an old farm yard where I did shoot a couple sheets of film.  After that I just pounded the pavement all the way home, making it back into the city shortly after 6:00PM.

This was the end of the Fall Fossil Weekend for another year.  It has become an annual event and we will do it again, around the same time next year.  Hopefully Frank and a few other guys can make it next time.

Fall Fossil Weekend - Day 3

Sunday started out just like the day before.  We got up just after sunrise and had breakfast, then packed up our gear for the day.  This time we were heading even further from the campsite to the Krause Ranch.  This was an area that we had explored several times in the past, but it was time for another look.  The sky was clear and it was quite warm in the morning when we set out.  Like the day before, I spent the first couple of hours looking for fossils and generally exploring the area.  There were quite a few bone fragments right below the area where we parked the truck including a partly exposed vertebra.

 

After a couple of hours I once again took my big camera out to make some photographs.  By this time some clouds rolled in and the wind really picked up.  Kind of made me wish that I had taken photographs first and then spent the latter part of the day looking for fossils.  But I made the best of it and spent all afternoon making photographs.  This time around I think I set up the big camera nine times.  At one point I was perched up on a ridge with a vertical drop of about 75 feet immediately to my right.  In the stiff breeze that was blowing I had to be really careful not to get pushed over the edge or have any of my gear blow away.  After that I stayed in more sheltered areas to attempt my photographs but the blowing sand and grit were a bit of a challenge.

As I wandered about with the my camera, I made a couple of neat finds.  One was the rattle from a rattlesnake.  The other was an old weathered horn sheath... probably from a cow, but possibly from the days of the plains bison that once roamed the area.

As the day wore down I made my last few photographs of some details.  This included small stumps, dead plants, and texture studies of the badlands formations.  I hope that at least one of these will yield an exhibition quality print that perhaps can be included in the Procession West project.  

As I packed up my gear for the last time of the day, I looked across the coulee and realized that I had never strayed more than about 200 yards, as the crow flies, from where we had parked the truck.  Of course I walked a lot further than that with all my meandering around and all the ups and downs over the rough terrain.  With my gear on my back I looked down into the steep coulee that I had struggled to climb up out of earlier in the day.  I decided to stay on gentler slopes and climbed a little further back up towards the prairie, hoping that this would result in an easier descent down into the coulee, and back up the other side to the truck.  I was mistaken as once I got further up the coulee, the inclines became even steeper.  I finally decided to try a soft slope of loose shale with a lot of small plant hummocks.  This looked like it might be a safer and easier descent for me, my backpack, and heavy tripod.  At first it went pretty well, but once I got about two-thirds of the way down this slope, I ran out of hummocks.  I tried digging my heels into the soft shale hoping to gain adequate footing to make it the last 25 feet down to the coulee bottom.  Soon I was sliding on my backside, trying to protect my camera pack and my tripod.  I crashed to a stop at the bottom, dusted myself off, and realized that I had survived this wild ride no worse for wear.  

Eventually I met up with Jim back at the truck and we made the long drive back to camp.  As we were driving out of the badlands we checked the truck thermometer and it read 18 degrees.  It hadn't felt that warm with the wind blowing all day, but we were both pretty worn out and tired from the day's activities.  Once again it was nearly dark by the time we got back to the trailer.  And, once again we made an evening meal of steak and potatoes.  We sat around the fire for a while and it was a very warm pleasant evening for mid-October.  The wind died down and we enjoyed the evening before turning in at a relatively early hour.

Fall Fossil Weekend - Day 2

We got up just after sunrise on Saturday, which wasn't all that early considering the time of year.  We put together breakfast and packed up our gear.  We drove off in the direction of a place we call Pronghorn Coulee.  This is many miles away from our campsite and it took us quite a while to get there.  We had permission from the landowner to be out there, and eventually after bumping along several gravel roads and tractor trails we found ourselves at the edge of the valley.  The badlands looked spectacular in morning light and I couldn't wait to get started.  I spent the first couple of hours wandering around looking for fossils and just generally exploring the area.  The wildflowers were all done for the season, and there were not many signs of life save for a few small plants that had not yet succumbed to the frost, and some birds.

As I wandered around I came across various fossils and bits and pieces of dinosaur bone.  I've been out enough times to easily recognize the obvious fossil material.  But I don't have nearly the eye for finding stuff that Jim and Frank do.  Every time I go out with one or the other for them, they find all sorts of interesting things and I find very little.  I guess that's because my eye is more intent on finding photo compositions than fossils.  This time was no exception and by the end of the day Jim had found various teeth, claws and bones. I did manage to find a couple of interesting things including a partly exposed rib, and the shell of a small turtle.

After a couple of hours of fossil hunting the photo opportunities became more appealing.  My big camera came out and I spent the rest of the day making photographs.  It was a pretty successful day and by the time I was done I had set up my big camera ten times.  At one point I even had to hike back out to the truck to get more film.  During the middle of the afternoon it got quite warm as there were very few clouds, only a light breeze, and the temperature most have got up to around 15 degrees.  I never did make it all the way down to the river, but spent a lot of time hiking up and down the hills looking for various compositions.

As the day began to wind down it cooled off quickly and the fall chill began to settle on us for the evening.  As I was making my last photographs of the day a big bull elk began bugling on the opposite side of the valley.  I spotted him just below the edge of the prairie but he was too far away to photograph properly.  I paused for a while and just listened to the eerie sound of his calls.  I must say it was somewhat unexpected as I am used to elk being an animal of the forests and mountains.  But I am well aware of the fact that they were actual a prairie animal before the west became heavily populated and cultivated.  As we made the long drive back to the campsite, both tired from all the day's walking, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset that hopefully promised for another great day on Sunday.

Fall Fossil Weekend - Day 1

Going back well over 15 years my friend Frank and I have gone on a fall prospecting trip out into the badlands.  Various friends and relatives have tagged along with us over the years.  We missed a big block of years for a while but in recent times have made it an annual event.  This year was to be no exception, and for several weeks now we have been planning to go in mid-October.  At the last minute Frank bailed out leaving just Jim and I to carry on the tradition for 2012.  

I booked a couple of days off work to extend the weekend and make the long trip down to southern Alberta worthwhile.  I didn't get a particularly early start on Friday October 12th.  I slept in a bit, being tired from all the recent activities and the late hockey game earlier in the week.  I finished packing the trailer that morning, and filled it with water.  By the time I fuelled up the truck and hit the highway it was around 10:00AM.  It was a pretty uneventful drive all the way down to our regular camping spot at Sandy Point.  I met up with Jim there at about 4:00PM.  We quickly unpacked a few things and set up camp.  With a couple of hours of daylight left we set off exploring.  We drove for a while and came to an area of badlands exposure.  We asked at a couple of local farmyards for permission to hike onto the land.  By the time we eventually found the landowner we discovered that he wasn't home.  We took our chances and headed in for a short walk.  As we were driving up to the badlands we spooked a Great Horned Owl.  He flew up out of the ditch and perched on a nearby fencepost.

We explored for a couple of hours down in the badlands and I spent most of that time taking photographs with my view camera.  It is such a pleasure and so easy to carry around my new lighter field pack with the Ebony camera and a handful of smallish lenses as compared to the big cumbersome and heavy Sinar kit that I used to carry.  As I was making some photographs I noticed a curious mule deer doe watching me.  She eventually went on her way leaving me to keep making photographs, and Jim to continue exploring for fossils.

Compared to earlier in the week back home it was very mild and pleasant.  I really enjoyed being out in the badlands in the beautiful fall light.  As the sun began to set there was a very noticeable chill falling on to us.  We headed back over to where we had parked Jim's truck and made our way back to the campsite.  By the time we arrived back at camp it was getting dark.  We got a fire going to take the chill off, and set about putting together our evening meal of barbecued steak, potatoes and salad.  We hung around the fire for a while after dinner, but turned in relatively early, wanting to get a full day out in the badlands tomorrow.

Winter Hockey - Game 5

On Wednesday evening the Renegades played a late game against the Buzzards.  The Buzzards managed to score the first goal, but after that we pretty much took control of the game.  We ended up with a decisive victory by the score of 8-3.  By the time I got home, put away my gear, showered and got to bed it was around 1:30AM.  Sure was a struggle to get up for work just a few hours later...

Thanksgiving Long Weekend

The Thanksgiving Long Weekend was the last family camping trip of the season.  We got a bit of a late start on Saturday morning due to my hockey game, and the fact that Helena just can't miss her weekly dance class.  It was early afternoon on Saturday before we rolled out of town.  This time around we were not travelling to the ranch in the badlands.  Rather this would be our only visit of the season to Ram Falls on the Forestry Trunk Road.

As we left Rocky Mountain House and made our way up into the high country, we started to notice patches of snow on the north-facing slopes.  Not a good sign.  We arrived at the campsite at Ram Falls in the late afternoon and there were several other trailers and campers.  We eventually found a site that we could fit into and settled down for the evening.

When we awoke the next morning it was cool and overcast, but eventually warmed up a little.  The snow that covered the ground when we had arrived the afternoon before was beginning to melt.  There was about 2" of wet snow on our picnic table, but it was beginning to disappear.  We set out for a walk over to the Falls, and I brought along my view camera.  While as was taking a few photographs from the viewpoint, Margarit and the girls went for a walk along the rim of the Ram Canyon.  A lone bighorn sheep obliged me and passed right below the viewing platform, pausing to pose for me in front of the falls.

We returned back to the trailer and the two younger girls wanted to just hang out and relax.  The small oven in our trailer was not big enough to roast a turkey for Thanksgiving so we had to settle for a nice prime rib roast.  This despite the recent E-coli scare that had shut down the main packing plant in the province and resulted in numerous illnesses.  Margarit stayed behind at the trailer to keep an eye on the roast beef, and the two younger girls while Hailey and I set off for a walk down to the Ram River.  We scampered down the steep slope of the river valley to a gravel bar and did some exploring.

We poked around on that gravel bar and found a few interesting things.  There are numerous fossils in the rocks here, mostly ancient marine fossils dating back hundreds of millions of years.  Hailey found a small fragment of an Ammonite impression, much smaller than the fossil I had recently worked on down around Fernie.  We also found a really cool spider, paralyzed by the cold on a riverside rock.  And a waterworn and beaten up old elk skull.  Eventually we made our way back to the trailer for Thanksgiving dinner.  As we crossed the airstrip on our way back we came upon a solitary bighorn sheep, perhaps the same one that had posed for me earlier.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner in the trailer and then relaxed around a fire for a little while in the evening.  It cooled off really quickly as soon as the sun went down and thankfully there was enough fire wood to keep the fire roaring for a while.  As we dozed off in the trailer a light drizzle started and it sort of lulled us all to sleep.  

When we awoke the next morning there was sort of a muffled silence.  A quick look outside made it obvious why.  The rain had turned to snow and there were big flakes silently floating down and beginning to accumulate.  After breakfast the girls went out and played in the snow and just had a blast trying to catch snow flakes with their tongues.  By this time we were the only ones left in the campsite.  We thought it best to pack up and make our way back towards civilization.  We were more than 50km off the nearest pavement, and there was no telling how much snow was going to accumulate and how quickly.  The truck and trailer ended up pretty muddy and dirty by the time we rolled back in Rocky Mountain House.  From there it was a rather uneventful two-and-a-half hour drive back home, to end the season of family camping.