Winter Hockey - Game 21

The Renegades played a game on Saturday night against the Klondike Maulers.  These guys started out the season in Division Nine and didn't do very well.  After about five games they were moved down into Division Ten.  They didn't do very well in Division Ten either and recently got moved down to our Division Eleven.  We welcomed them by thumping them to a tune of 8-4.  Yet another victory for the Renegades.  This one clinches a playoff spot for us, with nine games remaining in the regular season.  We now just need to try and notch a few more victories and see if we can finish in first place to get a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

Almost Camping Season...

As we find ourselves trapped indoors this January, suffering through the cold winter weather, our thoughts turn to camping season.  Only three months to go...!!  This year Margarit and I decided that it is time to upgrade our RV.  Ten years ago we switched from a truck camper to a Fifth Wheel.  That was when Hailey was born.  A decade and two more daughters later we find that our old Fifth Wheel is getting a little crowded.  Particularly now that the girls are getting a little older and now want to bring along bikes and all sorts of stuff.  The old Fifth Wheel itself is not all that small, but it sure is lacking in storage space, and with the Fifth Wheel hitch we don't have much room in the back of the truck.

We traded in the old Fifth Wheel and bought a new Travel Trailer.  The switch to a Travel Trailer will free up the back of the truck and provide more space for bikes, generator, etc.  And the trailer itself is about four feet longer than what we had, plus has a slide out.  There are a couple of really cool features on this new trailer.  Mostly we really like the rear "bunkhouse" for the kids.  It has two bunks and a kids dinette in a separate room at the back of the trailer.  The dinette makes down into two more bunks.  In addition to the kitchen in the trailer, there is also an outside cookhouse with a small fridge, sink, stove and BBQ.

These pictures are of the standard trailer.  We actually chose to get a slightly upgraded version which has a vaulted ceiling for a little more headroom, upgraded cabinets and upholstery, a bath tub enclosure rather than shower curtain, and comes with a flat screen TV and DVD player.  

We bought the new trailer from Roadmaster RV out at Leduc.  They are going to store it for us until later in the spring.  At some point in the next week or two we have to drag our old Fifth Wheel out of storage, clean all our stuff out of it, and haul it over to the dealership.  That may be a bit of a challenge as the snow is pretty deep right now, and at the moment it is bitterly cold.  What a pleasure it was to get up this morning and head in to work with the temperature at -28C, and a wind chill of -43C!!!  Oh well... only three more months till camping season!!

It's Official....

My photographic collaborator and close friend Rob Michiel and I have known for some time now that our Procession West show had been accepted for an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Regina.  We got the contract in the mail last week so now it is official.  The show will consist of approximately 30 framed prints.  The prints will be delivered and installed in mid-June and the show will hang until late August.  Both of us have been working on our exhbition prints for the past few months.  I have 13 of mine now printed and just need to finish up the last few.  We have already purchased all of the supplies necessary to mount, mat and frame our work.  And, we have shipping cases ready for the finished work to be packed into.  Everything is on schedule and things are coming along nicely.  Rob and I need to get together in mid-February, when he returns from a winter vacation, to make the final selection of images for the show.  At this point in time we have a few extras and have to select the final cut for exhibition.  We want to wait until the actual prints are finished and then view these and agree on the final selection.

Winter Hockey - Game 20

At the Two-Thirds point of the winter season the Renegades remain in first place in our division.  We have 15 wins, 4 losses and one overtime loss.  We remain three points ahead of the second place team, the Wolf Pack, in the divisional standings.  We played Game 20 on Saturday night and easily defeated the Buzzards by a score of 11-1.  Most of the guys on this team were out with the flu, and they only managed to get 8 skaters and a goalie out to the rink.

Winter Hockey - Games 18 and 19

The Renegades played two hockey games in early January.  On Tuesday the 8th we faced off against the Ice Hawks at the Knights of Columbus Arena.  A hard fought game but a 9-6 victory for the Renegades.  Then on Saturday the 12th we played a game against the Oil City Wings at Grand Trunk Arena.  Yet another victory for the Renegades, this time by a comfortable 8-3 margin.  

A couple of the weaker teams in Division 10 were moved down into our division to wrap up the remaining 12 games of the winter season.  With these two recent victories we retain a strong hold on first place.  It remains to be seen how we fare against these two recently moved down teams.  We have faced both of them in past seasons, so if their roster remains at a level similar to what they were before, we should be competitive.

Dad and Daughters Day Trip

Way back on January 4th, when we were all still on our Christmas break, I took the girls out for day trip.  The weather was not bad, with moderately mild temperatures but still quite a bit of snow.  Mostly I wanted to get the three girls out of the house and give their Mom some time to herself.  So, we set out in the morning and headed east.  The girls packed up the truck with several kitchen sinks... lots of snacks... books... Ipads... and more stuff than I thought we would have needed for a week.

We drove into Elk Island Park hoping to see some wildlife.  Despite the dull conditions we did see a reasonable amount of wildlife.  A herd of Elk near the highway as we made our way into the park, and then some bison wandered past us as we were exploring.

We stopped at one of the trails up in the northern part of the park and went out for a short walk.  Although they complained about having to walk so far... the girls had a lot of fun.  Mostly they just goofed off with each other while I took snapshots of them.

Later in the morning we took a drive up into Lamont County north of the park.  I was hoping to find a couple of spots to get out and make some photographs with my view camera.  But, for the most part the light was really flat, and the snow was really deep.  So mostly we just drove around while the girls played games on their Ipads.  We did spot a Snowy Owl perched up in a tree top near the road.  Later as we made our way back into Elk Island Park the sun briefly broke out and I stopped to take a couple of photos.  And then, on our way back into the city we saw three Moose.  When we arrived back home in the late afternoon Mom was glad to see us, but grateful for the short break....

Catching Up

As I find my extended holiday break winding down I am already beginning to dread the return to work on Monday.  One more day off and I intend to use that to do some printing.  We didn't do too much over the last couple weeks, particularly once all the Christmas festivities were over with.  I went out on day trips a couple of times... and caught up on processing some film.  I still have a long ways to go and had a closer look at my backlog.  Of the 481 sheets of 4x5 Black and White film that I shot in 2009 I still have 31 left to process.  Of the 276 sheets I shot in 2010, 50 remain.  And 2011 is even worse with nearly 40% of my film still needing processing.  This most recent batch included images taken in 2009, 2011 and 2012.  This was a batch of Efke PL25M, given plus development.

Second Last Batch...

Agfa Photo of Germany went out of business several years ago.  Their APX 25 film, though only available in roll formats, was one of my favorites.  I also did some shooting over the years with their APX100 film, which was available in roll as well as sheet formats.  Though it is a nice film, and it provided me with several exceptional negatives over the years, I find it similar to several others that are still on the market.  So I did not stock pile any when Agfa went out of business.  I did have a certain amount in my inventory, and had a couple more boxes given to me, and over the past few years I have been using it up.  Unless there is one more box buried down in the bottom of my film freezer, I believe that I have now used it all.  I processed a batch of 20 sheets earlier this week; normal development, in dilute [1:50] Rodinal developer.  Those sheets are now washed, dried and scanned and I have posted most of them here.  I think I have about a dozen sheets left to process, but will double check to make sure that I have used up all my stock before I process that last batch...

Here are a couple of images, taken in 2010, for my "Playground Ghost" series.  These were on a "Dad and Daughter" camping weekend with Hailey, in the town of Beauvallon...

These next two images were taken on a long weekend trip to Saskatchewan in 2009...

The Monochrome Guild "Fall Photo Weekend" in Drumheller in October of 2009 yielded these two.  One of Willow Creek, and the other an overview of the Red Deer River Valley...

The "Heartland Project" is an attempt, by the Monochrome Guild, to document the tremendous change that is taking place in the Heartland area northeast of Edmonton.  This includes Strathcona County, Lamont County, and Sturgeon County.  This area is quickly being developed and will eventually include some of the largest industrial projects in North America.  These projects are all related to the development of Alberta's Oil Sands, further to the north.  Some of our group members are working to document this ongoing change as the area transitions from rural agricultural and small town lifestyles, to large industrial sites.  These next few images were taken on various outings into that area during the first half of 2012...

Two from the Monochrome Guild "Spring Photo Weekend" in the Rocky Mountains in May of 2012...

And finally, some odds and ends...  An Aspen Grove at Elk Island National Park, old batteries at the abandoned Brazeau Collieries site near Nordegg, a beaver dam in Jasper National Park, the southern Alberta badlands from the "Fall Fossil Weekend" in 2012, regrowth after a forest fire near Lodgepole, and Totem Peak from our summer travels with our Austrian relatives...

There was briefly some hope that the Agfa emulsions would be given a second life by Adox.  They introduced several of the old emulsions as CHS 25, 50 and 100 Art.  As I previously reported on my blog these and several other emulsions were suddenly discontinued as a result of a fatal equipment breakdown at the coating plant in Croatia.  Rumor has it that some new slow emulsions will be introduced in 2013 by at least two different manufacturer's so I anxiously await any news...

A brief visit...

On January 2nd the girls and I went to visit their Opa, my Dad, at his new residence.  My shop is closed for an extended holiday break, though I had to go in for a couple of hours in the morning to let an installer in to work on a computer changeover.  Once that was behind me, the rest of the day was free.  By the time I got back home from the office, the girls were just waking up.  After lunch we headed over to Riverbend to visit my Dad.  It turns out that he may not be here at this residence for very long.  He has had a few minor incidents already, and it seems as though the staffing levels and the amount of care that Dad requires, is not really available here.  We expect to have to move him yet again, to a facility with a higher level of care.  But for now he will remain here until something more suitable becomes available.  

I think we may have chosen the wrong time of day to visit.  When we arrived Dad was having a nap in his room.  He looked very peaceful snoozing in his reclining chair, next to a bright sunny window.  I noticed in the sign in book at the front door that my brother Greg had also been to visit him a little earlier.  The girls and I woke Opa up and had a short visit with him.  He was really tired and dozed off on us.  So we kept the visit brief, and will come back another day.

New Years Eve

By the time I returned from my day trip out photographing, it was shortly after 4:00 in the afternoon.  Brother in law Shawn and his kids, Bethany and Garrett, were already at the house.  The roast I had prepared early that morning was in the oven and smelling really good by the time I put all my camera gear away.  We sat around visiting for a while and then had a great New Years Eve dinner.  It was really good, and the fact that there were no leftovers, despite ample quantities, suggested that everyone really enjoyed the food.  At around 8:30 we all dressed up and walked over to the neighbourhood community hall for a fireworks show.  It was still quite mild and pleasant and none of the kids seemed cold, except for little Helena.  She always feels the cold right away; due to her heart issues and limited circulation.  At 9:00 the fireworks show got underway, and it was pretty impressive for just a small local event.  The kids really enjoyed it while it lasted, and afterwards we walked back home for hot chocolate.  Shawn and his kids packed up and headed home by around 10:30.  My early morning start was really beginning to catch up with me so I went to bed and fell asleep long before the clock struck midnight and the year rolled over to 2013...

December Day Trip

It was the last day of 2012 and I had made plans to head out on a day trip with my friends Rob and Jon.  The night before I had a bad headache and actually went to bed at around 8:00PM.  I didn't sleep well and by 3:00AM I woke up, and still had the headache.  I got up and took some ibuprofen and managed to fall back asleep for a little while.  I woke up again this time around 4:30AM, with the headache gone, and feeling pretty rested.  I just couldn't lie around in bed any longer so I got up.  I made some coffee, and then got all my camera gear ready for the day.  I still had lots of time before Jon and Rob were to meet me, so I got things ready for supper.  I prepared a prime rib roast to go into the oven, and peeled and cut up some potatoes.  Then I had a shower.  Then I had breakfast.  It was finally getting close to 7:30AM, so I started my truck and started loading my gear.  Right on schedule Jon and Rob rolled up and we hit the road.  After a quick stop for fuel and another coffee, we hit the road.

The sun was still not up as we made our way out towards Elk Island National Park.  It was forecast to be a fairly warm day, but at this early hour it was still in the -12C range.  We saw a lot of wildlife as we rolled into the park including two moose, several bison, a couple of bull elk still sporting their antlers, a coyote, and several ravens.  We stopped at one of the lakes up in the north part of the park.  There are several large stumps down in the water at the edge of the lake, and in the summer this spot is inaccessible.  With everything frozen, we decided to walk out and have a look.  The stumps are much more visually appealing from the raised roadway beside the lake.  Once you get down at water level and the overview is taken away, they are just not all that interesting.  The sun was now beginning to rise and the light was coming up so we explored some of the patterns in the reeds at the edge of the lake.

The light was still pretty flat while we were down here, but the sun briefly broke out and lit up the underside of the clouds.  It didn't last long, but looked pretty cool for a brief time.

While we were exploring down here by the lake a coyote crossed the road behind us and made a mad dash across the lake.  I think he saw us right away, but seemed determined to get somewhere in a hurry...

After an hour or so at the lake we packed up our gear and continued north out of the park.  We drove around for a while and eventually came across an old abandoned far house.  This one did not appear to be long for this world.  All the trees and brush from around this old yard site had been pushed up into a big pile, ready to be burned.  It appeared that the house was likely to suffer the same fate.  We walked in and took a look around to see if there was anything to be photographed.  As we were doing this, the farmer that owned the land drove up and confronted us.  The land was not posted, there was no gate or fence, and we only walked in.  Eventually when the landowner realized that we were only photographers he calmed down and talked to us for a while.  He also told us of another old house on the other side of his property, about a mile to the east and suggested we check that out as well.  He left and we spent an hour or so here at the first house, making some photographs.

When we finished up here, we headed east to see if we could find the other old house that the farmed had told us about.  We soon found it and stopped to check it out.  Rob and I had been to this place about a year prior.  At that time it was very heavily overgrown with carraganas, and it was virtually impossible to even walk into the yard.  Photographs at that time were impossible due to the heavy overgrowth.  But this time it was completely different.  Again. all of the trees and brush had been pushed up into a big pile, ready to be burned.  The house was standing out in the open, completely exposed and easily accessible.  We spent another hour or so photographing here.  I found some old clothes hanging inside the house, and kind of a neat perspective on an old grain auger.  Rob concentrated on some shots of an old combine out in the snow, and Jon wandered about shooting the interior and exterior of the house and outbuildings.

By this time it was getting to be about 3:00 in the afternoon and we all needed to get back into the city.  The dinner that I had prepared earlier that morning was going to be a New Years Eve dinner for the girls and for Margarit's brother Shawn and his kids.  So we hit the road and made our way back to the city.  The light had been pretty flat and overcast all day long, but of course on the way home the skies cleared and the sun came out.  It ended up getting quite warm, with the afternoon temperature peaking at about -2C.  Quite a change from the last two weeks when it never got above -20C, and was much colder than that at night.

Winter Hockey - Game 17

The Renegades played Game 17 of the winter season on Sunday afternoon, December 30th.  Despite our success so far this season, we have not been able to beat the Wolf Pack.  This day would be no exception.  They soundly throttled us by a score of 10-4.  It appears that we are likely to face this team in the division playoffs later in the spring and we are going to have to find a way to beat them.  Despite the loss we remain in first place with a records of 12 wins, 4 losses and one overtime loss.  We have 25 points in the standings, but the Wolf Pack are quickly gaining on us and now have 22 points.