Printing

Several members of the Monochrome Guild are involved in a photo project.  We have spent time over the past couple of years traveling to various locations around the province to make photographs.  We are documenting the remains of the coal mining industry here in our home province of Alberta.  We will continue with this project through 2020 and at the end of the year we expect to have a considerable body of work.  We are now in the early stages of working towards finding some opportunities to show this work.  To that end we have begun to put together a selection of prints that will be representative of the entire project.  Last weekend I finally found some time to return to my darkroom and work on some prints.  Between this project, and my efforts a few weeks back to print the Orca skull images, these are my first printing sessions in quite some time.  It was good to get back into the darkroom and spend some time on this stuff.  These snapshots below are three of the negatives that I attempted to print in this session.  I need to make time to return to the darkroom soon and print three or four more...

Visitor

This was one of many visitors to our yard out at Nordegg over the Family Day long weekend.  We had four or five deer at a time wandering by and hanging around behind the cottage.  Squirrels, Ravens, Magpies and Whiskeyjacks also stopped by.  This gal was only about 20 feet away from our window when I took this snapshot.

Family Day at Nordegg

The girls and I headed out to Nordegg for the Family Day long weekend.  I left the city on Saturday morning and arrived in the afternoon.  The girls drove separately, and left a little later, arriving in the early evening.  The water pump had been repaired by my plumber a couple of weeks prior and was working flawlessly when I arrived.

It was a pretty laid back weekend and I didn't do much of anything.  I put some oats out for the deer, tended the fire in the wood stove, and read the newspaper.  They girls bombed around a little on the old snowmobile that I had brought out a few weeks back.  I drained the old gas out of it and put fresh in, but it still seems to want to stall sometimes.  I think mostly the rebuilt motor is still kind of tight and maybe the idle speed is set a bit low.  It always restarts, but the girls don't have enough strength to pull start it on their own.  On one occasion they had to walk almost a mile back to the cottage to get me to come out and restart it for them.

There were a few people around the subdivision on the long weekend but as the weekend came to an end, most of them went home.  Our girls had Tuesday off from school as the public school board in the city conveniently scheduled a PD day right after the long weekend.  I had planned on staying until Tuesday as well, as the contractor that is making our granite counter tops was scheduled to come out and install.

I went out for a walk around the subdivision on Monday morning.  By late afternoon Helena wanted to go, so I did it again.  It was great to get out in the fresh air.  Out at the cottage is stayed around -5 to -10 for most of the weekend and only dropped off a little at night.  We got a couple inches of fresh snow on Monday, but no significant accumulation.  I understand that back in the city it was much colder and they got quite a bit more snow.

On Tuesday around lunch time, Margarit and the two younger girls decided to head for home.  I stayed behind with Hailey and we waited for the counter top crew to arrive.  They phoned and said they were running a bit late, and eventually showed up around 4:00.  I called in to the office and told them that I didn't want to drive home in the dark and would be staying Tuesday night and heading home on Wednesday.

It was about 7:30 when the installation of the counter tops was completed and the installation crew headed back for Edmonton.  I then installed the kitchen sink into the permanent counter top and properly hooked up the water supply and the drain.  Hailey and I then made a supper of tacos.  It was close to 10:00 by the time we got everything finished up and we decided to head out for a walk around the subdivision.  It was clear, with a billion stars and no moon.  With almost no one around there was very little artificial light and the Milky Way was highly visible as it swept across the winter sky.  We stumbled around a bit but eventually finished the 3km walk around.  It was brisk at about -12, but there was no wind and we were quite comfortable during the walk.  After that we stayed up late and watched a movie on the DVD.

Pretty much all of the temporary "stuff" in the cottage has now been replaced by permanent installations.  The girls mostly have their mattresses off the floor and the two older ones are set up in the bunk bed that I built.  We still have to bring a mates bed out for Helena to get her mattress off the floor.  I have to make headboards for the beds in our guest room and master bedroom.  Still need a rolling door to close off the space under the stairs which is our access to the trap door to the basement.  I have a medicine cabinet under construction for the bathroom, but its not finished yet.  With the kitchen cabinets and counter top now in, and the sink installed, we got rid of our temporary plywood counter tops and the bucket that the sink temporarily drained into.  Still working on the upper cabinets, but those are well underway.  I think the only other thing left is the wood slab that will become the lunch counter in our bay window.  Once that is done the temporary plywood counter will go.  After these items it will just be finishing touches of decorating, pictures, shelves, etc.  The end is near...!

On Wednesday morning we slept in a bit and eventually tidied up, did the dishes and packed up to go home.  We finally left the cottage at about 11:30 and with a brief stop for lunch in Rimbey, made it back to the city about 3:00.  We saw the herd of wild horses at Misty Valley but other than that there wasn't really any wildlife out.  After I dropped off Hailey at home and off-loaded our gear I headed into the office for a couple hours to catch up on what I had missed.  There was not a lot of activity given the time of year and my replacement Doug managed just fine in my absence.

Side Channel

I quite like this image and I will make a printing attempt in the darkroom... someday soon.  This was taken on the October trip out to Vancouver Island with my friends Rob and Brad.  It is Englishman River Falls Provincial Park, near Parksville, British Columbia.  I shot this on Ilford FP4+ 4x5 large format film with my Ebony SV45TU view camera, a Schneider G-Claron 210mm lens, and a #8 yellow filter.  I posted this one on my Flickr account a few days ago and it has been getting lots of views and positive comments.

Hemlock Trunks and Maple Leaves

Another sheet of Ilford FP4+ large format film from the October trip to Vancouver Island.  This one was taken at Englishman River Falls Provincial Park, not far from Parksville, British Columbia.

Busy Weekend

I was sitting in the dressing room after my hockey game last night and thinking about the fact that I had to go back to work in the morning.  The Renegades played a 9:45 game at Canadian Athletic Club and defeated the Performance Graphics Panthers by a score of 4-2.   As I thought I about work, I had to stop and think about what day it was.  Since the Monday that I took off in late January to have the counter tops measured out in Nordegg, I have been at the shop every day since.  So much for retirement...

I can't really complain as some of this time was spent working on projects for myself. I'm now well underway on the remaining kitchen cabinets and the medicine cabinet.  I also have a bunch of framing supplies now packed up and stored away at home.

On Saturday I got up moderately early.  I headed to the bank to do some banking and then went in to the shop.  I worked on the cabinets until mid-afternoon.  Margarit met me at the shop and we loaded up the new mattresses that we recently ordered.  These had been delivered to the shop and stored here the past while, waiting until I had time to haul them home.  The new owners are now anxious for me get some of my stuff out of the shop, so today would be the day.  After taking those home, I loaded up the old mattress and box spring and disposed of them at the EcoStation.  Then I returned to the shop and continued on the cabinets for a bit, before loading up all my framing stuff and taking it home.  In the late afternoon I went down to the darkroom and printed the two negatives of the Orca Skull for the Dinosaur Valley Studios project.  Later still Margarit and I headed over to Mimi's Pub for a couple drinks.

On Sunday I wasn't feeling great and slept in for a bit.  Later I went back to the shop and continued on the cabinetry.  My youngest daughter Helena came with me and we also built a little bed out of scrap wood for her teddy bear.  After that I went home and finished up washing the prints from the night before.  Once that was done I headed over to the rink for the hockey game.  I got home from the game around midnight, and got to sleep about 1:00AM.  I've lost complete track of what day of the week it is as I have been at the shop every day for about 14 days in a row, with a full week ahead of me.

Next weekend is the Family Day long weekend so I think I need to take a break and get away from work for a bit.

August Calendar Image

This is the image that I selected for the August page of my 2020 calendar.  This shot was taken with Fuji Acros 100 film and a 65mm lens on my large format view camera.  I used a #25 red filter to darken the sky and increase contrast.  It was taken in August of 2017, on a very hot summer day.  This was taken not far from East Coulee... along Willow Creek.

Eagle Point

I recently processed a batch of Ilford FP4+ film.  Like usual, this was large format sheet film, taken with my Ebony view camera.  This one dates back to the October trip out to Vancouver Island with my friends Brad and Rob.  We scrambled down the cliff at Eagle Point, on Denman Island.  Unfortunately the tide was coming in at the time and didn't leave us all that much time to shoot.  I shot this one with a wide-ish 110mm lens and a #8 yellow filter.

Orca Skull

These two images are scans of a couple of sheets of 4x5 large format sheet film.  I shot these with my Ebony view camera when I was down at East Coulee before Christmas.  This was part of the recent batch of Ilford FP4+ that I processed a few days ago.  This is the skull of a modern Orca [Killer] Whale, mounted on the support armature that was constructed by Dinosaur Valley Studios, at my shop.

Weekend at Home

I stayed home on the weekend of Groundhog Day.  Watched a very entertaining Edmonton Oilers verses Calgary Flames hockey game on TV on Saturday night.  The Battle of Alberta, just like the good old days.  This one was hard played, with several fights, and a lop-sided Edmonton victory.  Even had a goalie brawl...!

Most of the rest of the weekend I tinkered around on some chores at home and at the shop.  Must have been pretty tired from all the recent activity as I didn't even get out of bed until around noon on Sunday.  Just practicing for being an old retired guy I suppose.

I did head to the shop for a couple of hours both days and worked on some of my projects.  The new owners are pretty easy going about things, but I need to get all my personal stuff out of the shop sooner, rather than later.  I'm working on the boxes that will become two sections of upper kitchen cabinets.  I'm also working on a medicine cabinet for the bathroom with a framed mirror door.  Nothing close to finished yet... but I made some progress this weekend.

July Calendar Image

This is the image I chose for the month of July, for my 2020 calendar.  This one was taken on Ilford FP4 film with my large format view camera, a 90mm wide angle lens, and a #25 Red Filter.  It was taken in July of 2017.  This abandoned old house is located to the northeast of Edmonton, in Lamont County.

Nordegg in January

I headed out to Nordegg on the weekend of January 18 and 19, just as the cold snap came to an end.  I managed to pick up my truck, with the new clutch installed, after work on Friday evening.  Saturday morning I headed out to the cottage.  It wasn't as cold as it had been, but was still in the -20's as I drove out.  The poor old truck seemed to be laboring a little, but the clutch worked fine. 

When I arrived I plugged the truck in and got a fire going.  Our electric furnace had functioned just fine through the cold snap, but the gas furnace I left on in one of the bedrooms had gone out.  Propane gels at -42 and I know it got close to that over the past week.  But by this time it had warmed up to a balmy -24C, so that should not have been an issue.  I turned on all three room heaters but none of them would work.  I went outside and checked the intake/outlet vents and all of them were frozen shut.  I cleared the two on the lower level.  Once I'd done this, those furnaces lit and stayed on.  I didn't feel like dragging out the ladder to check the one on the upper level, so I lived without that one.  The wood stove started to warm things up nicely, but when I turned the water pump on, it wouldn't pressurize.  I checked the recording thermometer that I have downstairs and the temperature never dropped below +8C, so it could not have been cold related.  Of course I hadn't brought any water with me, as I didn't anticipate this problem, so I had to live on milk and beer.... mostly beer.

I visited with my neighbors on Saturday night, and had a few too many barley sandwiches.  I spent Sunday nursing a headache before eventually heading home.  It warmed up nicely to about -3 late Saturday night, when I staggered home at about midnight.  On Sunday it was sunny and warm and bounced up to about +5 by the time I left.

I came back out, again by myself, on the following weekend.  This time I dragged my old snowmobile along with me on my little trailer.  It was much milder this time around, with daytime high temperatures above zero and night time lows in the minus single digits.  I tried a few more things with the pump, with no success.  I guess I have to get my plumber out here to help me with this.  I unloaded the snowmobile, and took it out for a short spin.  Not a lot of snow left in the open, so the riding was limited.  I loaded up one of the side-by-sides to take back to the city as it needs to be serviced before spring.  I booked Monday off work as I have a trade contractor meeting me out here to template for granite counter tops.  That process was completed fairly quickly and without incident so I headed for home in the late afternoon.  It sure felt a lot like I expect retirement to feel.  All the weekend people headed back home on Sunday evening and on Monday I was one of the only ones around in the subdivision.  It was very relaxing to say the least and I look forward to the time when this will be a regular occurrence.  But for now, I have to keep working as the company transitions into new ownership.  Only 333 days to go... but who's counting.
During the following week my plumber went out to the cottage and checked the pump for me.  Seems there was some debris from the water tank that was preventing the check valve from closing.  That resulted in the pump draining back into the tank.  He installed a new check valve, primed the pump and tells me that everything is good to go.  I guess that's why he gets paid the big bucks...!  I'm usually pretty good at diagnosing mechanical problems and can usually solve them on my own.  But this one had me stumped.

Orca Bones

Shortly before Christmas I took a trip down to East Coulee.  I spent the weekend at the shop and stayed in my trailer, which is parked inside.  The purpose of this trip was to help my friend and business partner Frank, with a project.  Dinosaur Valley Studios is working on a project to mount the skeleton of a modern Orca Whale.  I was asked to take some photographs of the skeleton.  I'm not really in a position to share information as to who the client is, and where this specimen will end up.  I will be able to do so at a later date.  For the time being I am able to provide a few snap shots of the bones that we were photographing.