Yet more J&C Classic negatives

The recent batch of J&C Classic sheet film that I processed included four negatives taken earlier in 2015.  These were all taken during two days trips out into east central Alberta.  At that point in time we were in the midst of a serious drought, with virtually no rain from mid May until late July.  Since then the rains have come and current conditions are much improved.  This set also includes an image from my ongoing "Ghosts" series...

More J&C Classic Negatives

Here's a selection of a few more scans from J&C Classic negatives.  All of these images were taken during the 2014 calendar year, from various outings and day trips...

J&C Classic 200

A few days back I processed a batch of 26 sheets of J&C Classic 200 Film in 4" x 5" format.  I've had this material for quite a few years.  J&C Photo was a photo supply company based in the St. Louis area.  They were forced to shut down operations due to what was officially called "a frivolous lawsuit" by one of their customers.  This was unfortunate as they were one of the first North American retailers to start importing some of the films from Eastern Europe.  This included Efke and Maco, as well as their own branded film... this J&C Classic material.  I'm not sure who made it for them, as the only information listed on the box, other than the J&C branding, was that it was made in Europe.  I suspect it may have been made by Efke as the packaging and batch numbers were very similar.  It doesn't matter any longer as both J&C and Efke are no longer in existence.

This was an old school emulsion that I always felt had a bit of a harsh and dirty sort of look.  Of course that is somewhat dependent on how it is exposed and processed.  I have always exposed it at the rated box speed, and processed for plus development in Kodak HC-110, dilution B.  This is quite a vigorous and fast working developer.  I have several boxes of film left and will continue to work with it until I run out.  I think it works well in certain applications.

These first two images were taken in late 2013, during one of the Monochrome Guild Fall Photo Weekends in Jasper National Park.  Both images were taken in the park up at Medicine Lake.  This lake drains away over the late summer and fall leaving an almost empty lake bed with just a channel of the Maligne River flowing through it.  It has always been a favorite spot of mine.

Another August Day Trip

Back in May I pledged to myself and to my family that I would slow down a little and start to relax.  I hired a part time office assistant and decided that I would take every other Friday off.  That plan worked pretty well through May and June, but in July it fell apart.  Partially due to our ongoing kitchen renovation, and partially due to some staff holidays at the shop.  Now that we are well into August I promised myself and my family that I would revert back to the original plan.  It didn't work out to take Friday off... but I took Monday instead.

Today, while the girls got together with some friends I hit the road with my camera.  The skies were clear, and the light was rather flat in the morning.  So I did a few odds and ends around the house and headed out around noon.  By this time the clouds were starting to build and the skies became a lot more interesting.  I headed up to the northeast and set about exploring.  It is rather remarkable that the crops that were devastated by the drought that we suffered through May, June and July have rebounded as well as they have.  This will not be anywhere near a bumper crop by any stretch of the imagination.  The recent rains through the end of July and into the first half of August have improved the situation considerably.  I set up the big view camera twice, to photograph two old buildings set against a foreground of ripening grain fields.  It felt great to not even think about work and just relax and explore.....  More of this to come....!!

 

Underground Rebels Unplugged

On Sunday night Margarit and I went to a club.  We went to "On the Rocks" on Jasper Avenue and 117 Street to see my old friends Kurt and D....  Here's a link to a blogpost that I wrote a couple of years ago....

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=287181017744689698#editor/target=post;postID=4756651164959695715;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=0;src=postname

I've known these guys since about 1998 when I became their "official" photographer.  At that time they were known as The Loving Dead.  Lots of great memories from those days....   But now, nearly 20 years later... we've all grown older and fatter and hopefully wiser....  At least the sign on stage seemed to be telling us that we were Wiser...!!!  Since those days the guys have moved down to Las Vegas and now make a living there in the entertainment industry.

Kurt and D of The Underground Rebels played an acoustic set at On the Rocks and the Frohlich family kept us in mind and let us know about the show.  We were able to get tickets and jumped at the chance to go out and see the guys again.  At the club the guys announced that they had just released a new CD... this time under the original "Loving Dead" name.  Margarit and I picked up a couple of copies... and a T-shirt...!!  Here's a scan of the CD cover.  I'm sure it's available on line but if anyone is interested and has trouble finding it, touch base with me.

While we were at the show I grabbed a bunch of snapshots of the guys during their set.  Kind of a flashback for me... back to the days when I used to hang out with the guys and take promotional photos for them.  I have a lot of fond memories of those days.... 

August Day Trip

Last Sunday I headed out in the afternoon for a solo daytrip.  I had a bunch of camera gear with me in the truck and headed out with no particular destination in mind.  I drove around for quite a while, exploring backroads, and eventually found myself up in Two Hills County.  I ended up on the road for the entire afternoon and well into the evening, and didn't even get back home until around 9:00PM.  Unfortunately I didn't find anything particularly photogenic.  I stopped in a few places and wandered around with my digital camera, taking a few snapshots.  The big view camera only made it out of the truck once, and that was mostly just to take some test shots for experimentation with new film and developer combinations.  I'm getting anxious to get out and do some serious shooting again, as it has been quite some time since I have shot anything of consequence.  Maybe next weekend...

 

Another Rejection

In the midst of preparing my exhibition print for Open Image 2015, and delivering it to Visual Arts Alberta, a letter came in the mail.  This was yet another rejection notice for the Procession West Project.  This time it came from the Kootenay Gallery of Art, History and Science in Castlegar, British Columbia.  

"It is with regret that I have to inform you that your proposal was not accepted.  The process of selection was a difficult one........"

At least we have a couple of exhibitions to look forward to next spring.  And... there are still a few submissions out there, and a few more packages to send out this fall.  Hopefully the show can be seen in a couple more venues in the future.

Exhibition Print

Last night I finished up spotting, mounting, matting and framing of the print that I am showing at the upcoming Open Image 2015 exhibition.  This one is a 16" x 20" print, in a frame with overall dimensions of approx. 24" x 28".  I call this one "Merry-Go-Round" and it is from my "Playground Ghosts" series.  This is a series of images that I have been working on for about five years now.  One of these days I have to get around to printing an entire selection of these images and see if I can get them shown at a small solo exhibition somewhere.

For now, this one will be at Open Image 2015.  It will show at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary from August 15th to September 27th, with an opening reception on August 24th.  Then the show will move to the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium here in Edmonton and will be on display from October 1st to November 15th.  The opening here in Edmonton will be on October 16th.  I posted the invitation to these exhibitions on my blog a short time ago so check further back for the details.  

I packed up the finished print in a shipping case and delivered it to Visual Arts Alberta here in Edmonton, the organizers of the show.  They will look after transportation between the venues, and installation of the shows.  They even pay a small exhibition fee...

August Long Weekend - Renovations nearly done.....

We decided to stay home for the August Long weekend.  In fact our trailer has not been on the road since the May long weekend.  This ongoing kitchen renovation, that overflowed into other parts of the house, has just consumed our summer.  It is nearly complete now...!!  The guys working for our contractor put in a couple of late evening and just about wrapped everything up.  I figure there is about a half day left to do a little painting and a few of the touch-ups....

We stayed home this weekend so that we could start to get things set up.  We have mostly returned home, and packed up most of the stuff from our extended stay at my Mom's place.  I imagine that she is grateful to have her space back... but will probably find things pretty quiet for the next little while....  After all, for the past nine weeks she has had three very loud and very messy little girls hanging around.

We moved in our stove and fridge on Saturday, and continued putting things away in the new cupboards.  We set up our kitchen table and there is a lot more room around it now, even with more cabinets.  This is due to the fact that a short section of wall, and a broom closet were eliminated.  As we put everything back into the kitchen where it belongs, we are clearing space in our living room and dining room.  We are taking advantage of this opportunity to purge a lot of junk that we have accumulated.  This will also give us the opportunity to rearrange things in other rooms.  We also spent a fair bit of time scrubbing floors, cleaning windows, and hauling trash away....  This will be an ongoing process for a while.  Hopefully for the reest of the summer we will be able to get out camping on the remaining weekends with our trailer.