First Sketch

I've always been pretty good at drawing.  When I started Junior High School back in 1975 we had to take all the usual core subjects, plus two options.  The guidance counselors scared me into taking French, insisting that I would need it to enter University, or in my working career.  I had already taken French from grade 4 onward.  The other options that we could choose from were Band, Drama and Art.  I chose Art, and in Grade 7 I got honors at the top male art student in my grade.  The school I attended had about 450 students in three grades.  When grade 8 came along I had to choose from six options.... the four from Grade seven, but now Industrial Arts and Home Economics were added to the mix.  I knew that I wanted Industrial Arts, as that was where my career objectives were directed.  And I was convinced by the counselors that French was really important... so I dropped Art.  One of the biggest mistakes of my education.  I continued to take French right through until Grade Ten, before I finally got smart and dropped it.  What a mistake....!  Never used it, never learned it properly, and to this day, despite seven years of schooling, can't speak more than a few words.

In High School I never did find my way back to Art.  But I did take drafting, and learned all about perspective drawing.  I actually put that education to use and was responsible for all of the design and drafting work in my skylight company during my 40 year working career.  I never did go to University, and started working with my Dad the day after I finished high school in 1981.  I stayed at the job until I retired, two months ago, in December of 2021.

Now that I am retired, I have circled back to art.  I took up the guitar a few years back and continue to plunk away at that.  Recently I bought some pencils and paper and want to return to doing some sketching.  I bought a DVD drawing course from a company called "The Great Courses".  This is a 36 lecture course by Professor David Brody of the University of Washington.  I haven't done any of the assignments yet, but I've listened to about 2/3 of the lectures, so far.  This has refreshed my past experiences and I was somewhat surprised to see the overlap between my Junior High art class, and my High School drafting classes.  A couple of years ago I played around with some pen and ink drawings, and added a wash of watercolor.  I want to return to this as well.  And, I want to learn some painting, and have bought another DVD course from "The Great Courses" on watercolor.

Yesterday, as I was sitting at my breakfast nook at the cottage, I took up my pencils and my sketch pad and attempted to draw some aspen trunks.  I have attached a snapshot of my sketch... the first one I have attempted in many years.  This is an image composed in my mind, based on the trees I was looking at out in my yard.  I think its a good start... though I have a ways to go...

 

The Future

Jason Kenney and his idiotic UCP government seem determined to go ahead with coal mines in the eastern slopes of the Rockies.  They recently re-instated the 1976 policy that essentially banned coal mining in the foothills.  But that was largely a "switch and bait" tactic to shut down opposition.  In reality it only stopped future development.  All projects currently underway, and there are several, are allowed to proceed.  Environment minister Sonja Savage made a pledge that there will be no future "mountaintop removal".  In recent days it has come to light that mountaintop mining only counts as removal if the entire top of the mountain is destroyed.  Talk about a technicality in definition.  If even a small piece of the original mountaintop is left in place, then it is defined as an open pit mine.  This image was recently sent to me by a friend.  I'm not sure who to credit for it, but thought it was important to share, as it really gets the point across....

Be Informed

Here is a link to the Government of Alberta website, where they promise to keep the public informed as they conduct a review of the Coal Policy for the Eastern Slopes.  You can register your e-mail address and stay advised as to what is going on.....

https://www.alberta.ca/coal-policy-development-engagement.aspx

Stop the Coal Development

In recent weeks I have become involved in a local lobby group that is attempting to stop the development of open pit coal mines in the eastern slopes of the Rockies.  I have been sending countless e-mail messages to the Premier, the Environment Minister, the Energy Minister, local County Councilors, and numerous others.  

On the Friday before the May long weekend [in 2020] in the middle of the pandemic, the UCP government in Alberta quietly rescinded a decades old policy that seriously limited the development of any coal mines.  It turns out this had been in the works for quite some time, and is likely the reason that they also tried to close a whole bunch of provincial parks and natural areas last year.  The government, in their foolishness has decided that China would be a reputable customer for our coal, and has gone about selling mineral leases all over the eastern slopes, with absolutely zero consultation.  This has resulted in a huge push back from vast number of private citizens, including me.

There are many petitions circulating and all sorts of action being taken.  A couple weeks ago the Provincial Government temporarily reinstated the old coal policy.  But, that suspension did not affect any projects that had gone ahead through last year and only halted new projects.  And, this pause is only a temporary measure.  Recently I found out that the old policy significantly limited but did not actually totally ban open pit mining.

A group of locals out in Nordegg is preparing a presentation on the negative impacts of the mines and I allowed them to use a bunch of my photographs.  Earlier this week I dug through 20 years of negatives and found a whole bunch of good ones that illustrate the concerns about the area.  It was actually fairly easy to find them all as I have a massive index on a spreadsheet.  But, I had to spend a couple of days physically locating all the negatives and scanning them.

The resistance to the policy is growing and we are gaining some traction.  Hopefully we are able to stop this destructive and stupid idea.  This is one of several factors that is contributing to discontent with the UCP government and hopefully it brings them down... at least eventually...

This is a shot of Ram Falls that I took in October of 2012.  This river is one of the best habitats in the province for Bull Trout.  Bull Trout [Dolly Varden] are the provincial fish of Alberta and are at risk and in decline.  This river drains into the North Saskatchewan and contributes to the water supply for hundreds of thousands of people in central Alberta and Saskatchewan.  If the provincial government has their way, an open pit mine will be developed in those mountains you can see in the background.  In fact a haul road has already been upgraded, a power supply is being installed, and exploratory roads and test drilling are underway.  I'm not sure of the exact location of this proposed mine but those mountains visible may be the ones that are proposed for removal to expose the coal.  If it is not those, then it is some others nearby.  This must be stopped...!

Shanks Garage

I came across this old photograph of Shanks Garage.  This service station used to be in Nordegg.  The County tore it down a few months ago, because it didn't fit in with their plans of redeveloping the commercial district.  So the service station is gone, new streets and services are in, and all the properties sit empty.... along with some nearby residential lots that have been empty for a least a decade.  I really question the sense of the planning that is being initiated by Clearwater County.  I took this photograph in 2016, not realizing at the time that the building would soon be gone.

 

Split Rail Fence

Here's another recent scan.  This one is also from the big batch of Kodak Tri-X Pan that I recently processed in PMK developer.  This is a shot of an ancient old split rail fence out on Hornby Island.  I shot this while I was out there with my friends Rob and Brad in the fall of 2019.

Extended Break

This is a scan of a recently processed 4x5 negative.  I shot this on one of the Monochrome Guild Fall Photo Weekends.  This particular outing was in late October of 2018.  The group stayed at my shop in East Coulee and we explored the Red Deer River Badlands.  This old grain shovel was found in an abandoned farm yard up near the Hand Hills.  I shot it on Kodak Tri-X Pan film with a slightly wide 110mm lens.  It was a very dull and overcast day so I gave the film plus development in PMK to pump up the contrast.

Earthquake

There was a magnitude 4.4 earthquake felt in the Banff area on Saturday February 13th at about 6:30PM local time.  No damage was immediately reported.  It was apparently felt by locals and lasted for a few seconds.  The United States Geological Survey announced that the earthquake was 5 kilometers north of the Banff townsite, and about 17.3 kilometers deep.  I was out at my cottage in Nordegg at the time, and felt nothing there.  The next morning Canadian authorities confirmed the quake and announced that their measurements indicated a magnitude of 3.9.

It seems that the recent deep freeze that has gripped Alberta is beginning to let go.  I was out at the cottage in Nordegg from February 12 to 15.  It was about -21C when I arrived on Friday, and this was considerably warmer than it had been in the previous ten days or so.  The overnight lows remained very cold as skies were clear, and the thermometer dropped to nearly -30C.  By the time I packed up and headed for home on Monday it had bounced back up to around -3C.

Dohentral Garage

This is one of my old negatives that I rediscovered when I was organizing all my 8x10 stuff.  I shot this one back in the summer of 2009.  I remember that day well, as I had forgotten my note pad at home.  Those notes had records of what type of film was loaded in each of my film holders.  I had to guess at what I had, and it was a total disaster.  Some infrared film was grossly underexposed.  And some color film was shot with Red contrast filters, intended for Black and White.  This is one of the few images that worked.

This old garage was located in the town of Lavoy, out in Minburn County.  It would have been wonderful to get inside the old building and see what was in it.  I never got that opportunity, and a short time later it was torn down.  So, unfortunately I only have a few images of this place, and no other record.  Sadly that fate meets many interesting old structures.....

  

Caught Up on 8x10

I've finally caught up on processing 8x10 film.  I started shooting with a Sinar P view camera back in 2007.  While the novelty was fresh, I shot quite a bit of film.  Around 60 sheets in 2007 and again in 2008, and then about 70 in 2009.  In 2010 my shooting dropped off to only about 20 sheets.  Since then my use of the big camera has been sporadic.  The camera is so bulky and cumbersome that I mostly just lost interest in trying to drag it out into the field.  From time to time I would set it up at home, with studio lights and a backdrop, and take some portraits.  But since 2011 it only made it out into the field a couple of times.

Two things changed in 2020.  First, I retired... so this gave me a lot more time for photography.  And second, I bought myself a folding wood Chamonix 8x10 field camera.  This camera is MUCH lighter and MUCH more compact than the old Sinar P.  I now have a small backpack into which I can fit the camera, four lenses, two film holders, a meter, a cable release, a couple of filters and a darkcloth.  This is so much more portable, and enjoyable, than the old set up.  I've actually had it out in the field eight times since early December, and have shot over 30 sheets of film with it. 

It was easy to make the switch to this camera as the only thing I had to buy was the camera itself.  I already had all the rest of the paraphernalia, including 40 film holders, 7 lenses, a heavy tripod, and a few other odds and ends.  As I began to work with the new camera, I became refreshed with the 8x10 format, and I realized that I had a lot of exposed film, some dating back as far as 2007, that was waiting to be developed.  Over the past couple of months I have really put in a serious effort in getting caught up.  I am now to the point that all of that old film, as well as some of the current stuff, has been processed.

I generally wait until I have a batch of about ten sheets of film, of the same type, that requires the same development.  This makes the best use of the chemistry, my time, and water.  At the present time I still have 22 sheets of 8x10 film that need to processed.  But, these are all from 2020 and 2021, so there is no longer any old stuff kicking around.  And those 22 sheets are of six different types of film, so I need to get out and do some additional shooting to build up the quantities to process batches.

At the moment it is bitterly cold here in Alberta and getting outdoors with a view camera is out of the question.  It dropped down to -32C here in Edmonton overnight, and once the wind chill effect was factored in if felt more like -45C.  Out at the cottage in Nordegg it has been even colder, and was -38C when I checked yesterday morning.  Obviously I will have to wait things out for a bit before I can venture outdoors again with any of my cameras.  In the mean time I am scanning and filing away all of the negatives that I recently processed.  Some of these will show up here on my blog in coming days, including this one...  This is a still life I shot in my kitchen back in 2018.  

Running the Jobo

In mid-January I set up my Jobo Processor in my darkroom.  This is a semi-automated processor.  It includes a temperature controlled water bath with a circulating pump.  The temperature is not critically important with black and white film, but for color processes it is.  The drums are very convenient for processing large format film.  Sheet film has to be loaded into the drums in total darkness.  But once the lid is on the drum, you can work in room light.  The drum is mechanically rotated back and forth in the water bath.  There is a water jacket within the drum that keeps the temperature consistent.  You can fill and drain the various chemicals, i.e. developer, stop bath, fixer, clearing agent, etc., without opening the drum.  I have an accessory on my processor called a lift, that allows the drum to be disengaged from the agitation mechanism and lifted up to drain.  Once emptied it is lowered back into place and the next chemical can be poured in.  I find the processor particularly useful for PMK developer.  This is a staining pyro developer that requires vigorous, continuous agitation to prevent uneven development.  It also works very well with color processes to maintain the fairly high [37C] process temperature.

I processed around 200 sheets of 4x5 film, mostly on the Jobo, since Christmas.  I've also run around 40 sheets of 8x10 film.  The Expert drums for 4x5 hold ten sheets at a time.  The Expert drum for 8x10 holds five sheets.  In the snapshots below you can see the processor up and running with the drum fo 8x10 film.  To the right is my homemade white ABS plastic film washer.  The second snapshot shows some of the brown stained 8x10 pyro negatives hanging up to dry.

I've now finished up pretty much all of the black and white film that I need to run on the Jobo.  The next time I set up and run it, will be to process some color negative film in C-41 chemistry, and some color transparency film in E-6 chemistry.

First Sheet processed from the new Chamonix 8x10

This is the first 8x10 negative, taken with my new Chamonix 810V view camera, that I have processed.  It is not the first picture I took with the camera... just the first one to be developed.  This is an old house in Barrhead County.  I found this house together with my friends Arturo and Fred when we were out on a daytrip back on January 18th.  In recent days it has become very cold, and getting outside with a view camera is not really an option.  We have put any future plans on hold for the time being and will have to retreat indoors until it warms up.

This image was taken with a slightly wide 240mm lens and a #25 Red Filter on Kodak Tri-X Pan 320 film.  The sky was open and the light clear and crisp.  Even in this scan the resolution of this large negative is apparent.

Wind in the Bighorns

One of the first images I shot in 2021 with the new Chamonix 8x10 view camera.  This one was shot on Kodak Tri-X Pan 320 film, processed in PMK developer.  Its a good thing that I have lots of stock of film left in my freezer as the cost of 8x10 sheet film has recently increased to around $15 per sheet.

This image was taken just a short distance away from my cottage, near Nordegg.  The mountain range visible in the background is the Bighorn Range.  I shot this on January 3rd.  It was warm, but really windy, which made it feel a lot colder than it was, and very unpleasant.  At first I attempted to take some photographs up near Abraham Lake, but the wind was too strong to set up the big camera.  I retreated to the east and managed to shelter myself a little bit to take this shot.

The Provincial government here in Alberta recently rescinded a decades old policy that placed a moratorium on mining in the eastern slopes.  Coal leases have been sold all over this area and if the government has their way, open pit coal mines will be operating in the mountains.  I have taken it upon myself to rally against this stupidity.  Hopefully enough people take a stand and this can be stopped.

Meteor

I recently processed this sheet of 4x5 film.  This is Kodak Tri-X Pan 320 developed in PMK.  PMK is a staining pyro developer that I have recently discussed in some detail, on my blog.  This shot was taken back in mid-January when I was out on a day trip with my friends Arturo and Fred.  I posted some color snapshots from that day trip, a short time ago.  This image was taken with a 125mm lens and a #25 Red Filter to increase contrast.  Obviously this car has been here for quite some time...!

Annelise and Quinn

This is a large format portrait of my middle daughter Annelise, and the family dog Quinn.  Annelise was about two years old at the time, and Quinn was just a pup.  This was back in 2007.  Annelise is now 15, and Quinn has reached the ripe old age of 14.  Must be close to 100 in dog years...!

I shot this with an 8x10 view camera on Ilford HP5 film.  Illumination was with two studio strobes bounced off of umbrellas.  I used a 450mm lens, which is approximately equivalent to a 75mm lens in 135 film format.  Development was with Kodak D-76 developer, 1:1, for 11:00 minutes at 20C.

I look back at this old photographs and I'm just amazed at how much life has changed...!