Back to Photography

In recent weeks, with the work at my cottage beginning to get wrapped up, I find myself returning to film.  I stopped a couple of times on the way home from Nordegg in recent weeks, to make photographs.  And last weekend I really immersed myself back into it during the annual Fall Photo Weekend with the gang from the Monochrome Guild.  Tonight I posted am image to my Flickr account, the first time in nearly five months.  It is not a recently taken photograph as none of that film is processed yet.  Instead it was an image taken in May of 2017.  This was back at a time when the staffing situation at my business was a little more stable, and I was attempting to take every other Friday off.  This was one of the last times I managed to do that, and as I recall even this day was cut short to a half day off.  Shortly after that a long term employee resigned, for personal reasons, and ever since then I have been slowly re-establishing an office routine.  Things are a little more under control now and I am finally able to take a few hours off now and then.

This image was taken in a small forgotten rural cemetery up in Lamont County.  I used a 240mm lens on my Ebony view camera and recorded this scene on Efke PL25 4" x 5" sheet film.  The film was developed in Rodinal 1:50 for 7:00 minutes.  I put a #25 Red Filter and a six-stop neutral density filter on the lens when I took this photograph.  With this slow film, rated at 10 iso, this resulted in an exposure of 16 minutes, in combination with a small aperture of F45.  I was attempting to let the quickly moving clouds blur somewhat, and smudge the motion of the trees swaying in the wind, while pumping up the contrast.  Not sure that the long exposure part was all that successful but I like the composition.  Hopefully this is the first of many images to come as I dive back into photography...!

Fall Photo Weekend - Day 2

On Saturday morning the five of us got up and had breakfast at the shop.  Frank dropped by for a while in the morning and we had a chance to visit for a bit.  The sun doesn't come up all that early at this late point in the season so our morning was somewhat leisurely.  It doesn't really get light enough for shooting until around 9:00, and the frost needs to come off a bit to make things a little more comfortable.  Court, Nigel, Gord, Mark and myself set out in the morning after breakfast.  We headed down the valley to a large cottonwood grove.  We stumbled on a couple of bowhunters that had been sitting in a blind, probably since before dawn.  They didn't see anything and weren't upset at us for wandering into their area.  We shot here for most of the morning and I think I got some good images of the big stately cottonwoods. 
By about 1:30 Arturo and Gabor from the Monochrome Guild arrived in the valley.  They had work commitments and were unable to join us for the entire weekend, but managed to make it out for the day.  We met up with them and drove around a few backroads for a while.  We stopped and photographed the timber derrick at the mine site near Rosedale, and then moved on to the Atlas Coal Mine at East Coulee.  We photographed the tipple and the timber bridge.  Some one has erected some sort of shrine at the north end of the bridge.  There is a collection of driftwood stumps from the river that have been stood up in rows like fence posts.  These are adorned with trinkets, almost like some sort of offering.  There are bits of jewelry, stickers, stuffed animals, small statues, toys and other such junk hung all over the stumps.  Not sure what that is all about.

By the time we finished up here, the light was fading.  We all headed back over to the shop and set up for an evening BBQ.  We relaxed and visited and shared some beer, wine and fine scotch.  After a meal of steak, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and salads, the two day trippers packed up and headed back to the city.  The rest of us stayed up for a while longer, and eventually turned in for the night.

Fall Photo Weekend - Day 1

The weekend of October 26, 27 and 28 was the Monochrome Guild annual Fall Photo Weekend.  I have taken part in all of them, dating back over 20 years.  Usually we head to Jasper in the fall but this year we switched things up and went to the badlands.  I booked Friday off work, and four of us set out in the morning.  Mark rode with me and Court and Nigel drove separately.  Gord would come out later that evening.

Mark and I grabbed a breakfast sandwich and a coffee and hit the road about 7:30AM.  We met up with Court and Nigel in Stettler and ended up having a second breakfast.  With this under our belts we were certainly able to skip lunch.  We headed to East Coulee and stopped at the shop and unpacked our gear.  Then we loaded our camera stuff and hit the road to the east.  We went to an old stone house out on the prairie that I had been to before.  This was about 40 miles east of Drumheller.  It was a hike of about a mile to get into the place.  We spent some time here photographing the old stone structure.  Unfortunately Court didn't notice a cactus when we were crawling under a fence and ended up with a handful of spines...!

After that we stopped at a nearby junkyard and photographed some old vehicles.  I had been here previously as well.  But we spent a couple hours and enjoyed the nice day.  Sunny and mild and a little breezy, but very nice for the end of October.  The days are short though, and by around 6:00 the sun is going down and the light fades fast.  With that, the temperature also drops quickly.

We headed back to the shop in the late afternoon and off loaded all of our camera gear.  We scouted around a bit before heading into town for something to eat.  We stopped at a local pub and enjoyed a couple of beers and a nice meal together.  Afterwards we drove back to East Coulee and settled in for the night.  We tidied up the shop space a bit so the guys could put out mattresses and sleeping bags.  I just crashed in our trailer, which has been stored in the shop for over a year now without moving.  We sat up and had a few drinks and visited until Gord arrived at about 10:30.  He wasn't able to get out of work for the day so had to drive out afterwards.  We visited a bit longer and then turned in at a respectable hour.  We had plans to get up with the light, which isn't all that early at this point in the season, and get back at it.

After a year spent mostly working... both at my job and on the cottage... it was really nice to get back to some photography.  Despite my efforts in recent weeks I had only shot 68 sheets of black and white 4x5 film up the date of our departure.  By the time the weekend ended I had shot forty-eight more sheets of black and white, and three color.  It was really nice to get back to it, and it's too bad we are going into winter conditions right away.  I still shoot in winter, but it is definitely more challenging.

These three snapshots were taken with my phone.  Soon I will find my way back to the darkroom and start processing some film.  I still have lots from the last couple of years that remain unprocessed, not to mention this recent work...

Afternoon Drive with Cameras

Last weekend, after I finished up a few chores at the cottage, I packed up early and set out on a Sunday drive with my cameras.  I had finished up the furnace installation, and the fitting of a bronze exhaust flue to our kitchen range.  I headed in the general direction of home, but took some extra time to wander around a bit.

I didn't see any wild horses along the highway this time.  Seems they are out more in poor weather conditions and don't hang around the highway much during nice weather.  I did see a few deer along the way though.

I came across a junkyard full of old vehicles.  There was some heavy industrial stuff here that was fairly intriguing... including a crane, a snowplow and an old firetruck.  I didn't wander in without permission but kept a record of the location so that I can return at some point when there is more time.

I had passed an abandoned farm house up in the Medicine Lodge Hills many times on my way too and from Nordegg.  This time I actually stopped to check it out and shot it with my big camera.  I also made time to stop at the old school house in Ponoka County and this time I caught it before the light of the day had faded.

On a big slough near Crestomere there was a huge flock of swans.  Mixed in with them were a lot of ducks and geese as well.  Obviously they are preparing for their imminent migration south.  I got a snap shot of a few of them near the shore.

It was nice to get back to photography for a change and I look forward to making more time for it in the coming weeks.  Now that the bulk of the work at the cottage is looked after, at least for the season, there should be more time for other things...

Another Work Weekend

Last weekend I repeated my regular routine and hit the road for Nordegg.  This time I left really early on Saturday morning, as I wanted to get out there as early as possible.  I was expecting to meet Leonard, my mechanical contractor, at about 11:00AM.  He was coming out to install the forced air electric furnace at our cottage, and I was expecting to give him a hand.  I rolled into the driveway at about 10:00AM and found that the gate was open and Leonard was already there.  I'm not sure exactly what time he arrived, but the work was almost finished by the time I got there.  The furnace was mounted and all the ducts were installed and Leonard was just finishing up.  I know he has been super busy this fall as the onset of winter to a plumber is much like it is for my skylight company, only even more intense.  I appreciate that he was able to get this looked after for me.  All the weather critical work is now complete for the season at the cottage and I can leave the heat turned on low and don't have to drain and winterize anything.  This will allow us to come out and use the cottage over the winter, whenever we choose to.

Once Leonard had packed up and left I set to work wiring in the furnace.  I'm not an electrician, but my friend Rob gave me step by step instructions on how to connect everything.  We also talked through the process on the phone before I went out there.  And, I took some photos of my work as it progressed and texted them to Rob.  He reviewed them and made sure that I had done everything correctly, before I re-energized the building.

I had previously routed the cables over to near where the furnace was installed.  I ran the flex cable and connectors into the junction box on the furnace.  Everything was connected at the load end. Then I connected the light gauge wires to the thermostat and got that all hooked up.  Then, I turned off the main breaker at the panel, got out my flashlight, and opened up the panel.  I installed the big 50amp breaker, and then ran the cable into the panel.  I connected everything as per the instructions, and then closed up the panel.  I had the new breaker for the furnace turned off and then turned the main breaker back on.  All the power came back on in the building, and no breakers tripped and everything worked properly.  Then I turned the furnace breaker on and again there were no issues.  I went upstairs and turned up the thermostat.  The furnace kicked in, and cycled as it was supposed to.  Everything worked exactly as planned.

Later that afternoon I went out for a ride on the ATV.  Then I dug out the BBQ and had a nice steak for dinner.  Later in the evening, just as the moon was rising over Eagle Peak, I went out for a walk.  I ran into a neighbor a few doors down that I had not met before.  He and his family had just bought a lot this past year and were clearing it in preparation for building next year.

On Sunday morning I installed the bronze sheet metal flue that I had made for the exhaust vent on our kitchen range.  That didn't take very long and by lunch time I was all packed up.  I locked up the cottage and headed out with my camera.  It was a mild and sunny afternoon and a great day to be out.  I slowly made my way back to the city and stopped a number of times along the way to explore with my camera.

Close Inspection

I pulled the memory card from my game camera when I was out at Nordegg this past weekend.  I downloaded the images and had a look at them all.  I used to get hundreds of images of deer every week but I've changed the setting on my camera so that it doesn't take as many.  This conserves battery power and memory card space.  I moved the camera to a different location a couple weeks ago so the view is a little different.  One of the deer found the camera and gave it a really close look...

A Brief Return to Photography

Last weekend I was back out at Nordegg.  Once again this was a solo trip.  I had a bunch of odds and ends to work on, plus I wanted to try and get out with my camera... finally!  I left on Saturday morning after dropping Hailey off at work.  It had been raining, with a little bit of snow mixed in, at the end of the work week.  All the way out the roads were dry, though there was snow in the ditches.  By the time I turned west on Highway 11 at Rocky Mountain House conditions had deteriorated.  The highway was covered with slush and snow and it got worse and worse the higher I got up onto Saunders ridge.  The snow plows were out and just getting started but in places the road conditions were not great.  I arrived at the cottage in the early afternoon and got unpacked and set to work.  

I finished up the installation of the glass clamps on my railing posts.  I also did a little touch up painting.  I went out for an evening walk and the snow got heavier with almost white out conditions for a while.  When I got up in the morning it was about -7C and there was a couple of inches of fresh snow on the ground.  I went down into the basement and worked on insulating.  The upper levels of the cottage and the ceilings are all well insulated.  The basement is made with ICF blocks.  These are foam insulated forms that are filled with concrete to create the foundation.  The ends of the floor joists were not yet insulated and I spent a few hours on Sunday morning doing this.  This should help to keep the basement a lot warmer in winter.  I took a shower to get rid of the fiberglass itch and then looked to wrap things up at the cottage.  The temperature really took an upward swing and by 3:00 in the afternoon it has risen 20 degrees to +13C.  I packed up the cottage and hit the road with my camera.

It was very calm so I decided to take a drive up to Windy Point.  Even within a mile or so of the point, conditions were still relatively mild.  But as soon as I got up to the ridge, true to its name, the wind was howling and the lake was covered with whitecaps.  It took two hands to pull the truck door shut and photography with a large view camera was impossible.  I headed back east and stopped at Allstones Creek.  I set up the camera and took a couple of shots here, and wandered around for a bit. 
Then I headed into the Nordegg townsite.  The restorations to the exterior of the old service station are now complete.  The brick has been replaced on part of one wall where there was previously a big hole.  And new metal roofing has also been installed.  I set up the camera and took a detail shot of one of the old windows.

As I slowly made my way back home I passed two groups of wild horses along the highway.  I didn't bother to photograph them this time.  Still later I stopped by an old abandoned schoolhouse but I was a little too late and by this time the last light of the day was fading.  I took a couple of digital snapshots but will have to return another time to shoot it with the view camera.

Even though I only did a couple of set ups, and probably didn't capture anything spectacular, it was sure nice to get out again with the big camera after a summer of virtually no photography...!!

Last Week's Guests

Last weekend when I was out at the cottage I pulled the memory card from my game camera and replaced it with a fresh one.  Looking over all of the images it recorded I see that there has been a steady stream of guests to our property.  There are about ten deer that hang around on a regular basis.  Mostly these are white tails, but there are a couple of mule deer that come around from time to time as well.  A cow elk and her calf are occasional visitors and it seems they dropped by again, this time during daylight hours.  The ravens are regular visitors and often tear open and scatter any garbage bags that we mistakenly leave unattended.  This time the camera captured them.  I haven't seen any sign of bears for well over a year now.

Monochrome Guild Annual Exhibition - Opening Reception

The opening reception for the annual Monochrome Guild Exhibition was at Dandi-Lines Gallery on Friday evening.  The show remains on display through the rest of October, with the gallery open on select dates.  Essentially our members will be available to staff the gallery space on Thursday afternoons, Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons through October.

The show was well received and many in attendance offered their compliments.  Once we got all the lighting installed, the prints really stood out against the flat black walls.  I was busy meeting with people, answering questions and keeping the show running so didn't really have time to keep track of an exact head count.  By my estimation we had somewhere around 70 guests.  Hopefully we continue to see a stream of visitors through the remaining dates in the month.

Deer Season

We saw quite a few deer around the subdivision in Nordegg over the Thanksgiving Long Weekend, but none right on our property.  Last time I was out there the deer were all over our place.  Seems they were there this time too, just mostly at night.  I put fresh batteries and a fresh memory card in my trail camera and it captured over 500 images of the deer during the weekend.  I've included a few of the better ones below.  There are two or three bucks that are becoming possessive of the five or six does that have been hanging around.  Seems they have begun sparring a little in advance of the rut.  There is no hunting permitted in the subdivision so although they are a little wary, they are in no danger when they hang around the cottages.  We just like having them around...

Thanksgiving

The girls and I just returned from a long weekend in Nordegg.  We spent our first Thanksgiving out there and have things set up well enough that we could have a traditional turkey dinner.  We were not able to leave the city on Friday evening after work as I had a hockey game, and Hailey had to work.  She recently started a retail job at one of the clothing stores in West Edmonton Mall.

My brothers families were not around this year, and Margarit's brother was unable to join us.  So we invited my Mom to come along and had just a small group together to celebrate the holiday.

The recent poor fall weather saw about a foot of snow dumped in the Nordegg area this past week.  Calgary was harder hit and got between 16 and 20 inches.  Edmonton escaped the storm and had cold weather but no accumulation.

By the time we arrived out in Nordegg at mid day Saturday, the snow had melted down quite a bit.  It hit a high temperature of about 7 on Saturday, and got even warmer... up to about +9C on Sunday.  It was melting and dripping everywhere and beginning to get fairly muddy.  By Sunday evening much of the snow was gone.  It got colder on Sunday night and we woke up to a skiff of fresh snow on Monday.  

The recording thermometers that I left in the cottage a couple of weeks ago indicated that the temperature did not get down any lower than about 8C.  I had left one of the room heaters on; turned down low, and the baseboard heater in the basement was set at 10C.  This despite the fact that it got down to about -12C on a couple of nights.  So I guess we are good with our current heating arrangements until it gets quite a bit colder.  By then we will have our forced air electric furnace installed and can make sure that we keep the temperature about freezing near the plumbing.

It was a pretty laid back and casual weekend.  I hung up the old antique telephone that I bought at an antique store last spring.  We brought out an extra dining room table and chairs that we have been saving for the cottage.  I worked on a few chores including installation of some walnut posts for our railing.  I had been constructing and finishing these posts in the evenings after work.  They are hollow sleeves that fit over the supporting aluminum posts that I installed a couple of weeks ago.  I also finished up some electrical rough in for the furnace, and installed a new bumper onto our ATV.  The old one did not survive a disagreement between the girls and a tree.....

On Sunday while it was nice we loaded up a truck full of waste cardboard and packaging material and took it to the dump.  This has been accumulating in a pile beside the cottage for several months now and it was time to get rid of it.

Then on Sunday afternoon we roasted the turkey in our new oven and put together a big Thanksgiving spread.

Gallery Show

This past summer just flew by with hardly a moment to even think about my photography.  I look forward to getting back to it this fall... though the weather has been less than ideal.  The Monochrome Guild has had our annual Photography Exhibition scheduled for some time now, and it just snuck up on us without any of us being truly ready for it.  We stopped by the gallery the other day and delivered and unpacked all of the prints that we will be showing.  There are over 40 of them, and we hope to crowd them all in.  After the Thanksgiving Long Weekend we are going to return to the gallery and get everything properly installed and ready for the opening and the show.  The official invitation is attached below.  The images that I have included on the invitation are of my two favorite cameras.  Everyone is welcome to stop by during the opening, or at some point afterwards while the show is up.  The gallery is Dandi-Lines Gallery, in the Strathearn Shopping Center.  The address and the details are included on the invitation below...