This year the Fall Photo Weekend was undertaken a little earlier than usual. In years past the members of the Monochrome Guild have typically ventured out to Jasper National Park, usually around Halloween or early November. Earlier this year a large forest fire wiped out a third of the town of Jasper, so that was not an option as our destination, this time around.
My friend Jon initiated the Fall Photo Weekend together with me back in the year 2000. Every year since then, with the exception of two Covid years, we have gathered together the available members of the Monochrome Guild and headed out somewhere for a weekend of photography. Mostly it was to Jasper National Park, as the accommodations were less expensive, and the park not overrun with tourists, at this late point in the season. This year we elected to head down to Drumheller.
Of the nine current members of the Monochrome Guild, only four were available to head out for this year. Since those taking part are all retired, we did not have to adhere to the weekend concept. Court, Fred, Steve and I headed out on Tuesday, right after the Thanksgiving Long Weekend, and spent a couple of days photographing in the badlands.
The first day was actually a bit of a write off for me. I spent the day getting down there, and then worked to finish cleaning out the trailer, and packing up some of the stuff that Hailey left behind, following the summer that she spent working in East Coulee. The other three drove down from Edmonton that day, and spent the afternoon photographing along the way.
I met up with the guys on the morning of Wednesday October 16th for breakfast, and then we headed out for the day. We started out in Dorothy, and photographed the old churches and a couple other nearby old buildings. We also photographed a few of the old vehicles left laying... somewhat on display... around town. Years ago someone placed some old mobile phones, and a fisher-price toy phone, in the abandoned phone booth in town. Everything remains intact.
I first started photographing in Dorothy back in the late 1990s. At that time the two churches were abandoned, badly deteriorating, and totally overtaken by pigeons. Since that time they have been cleaned up and restored. I'm happy to say that 25 years later, the paint is beginning to peel, and the churches are beginning to revert back to the way that I found them.
In 2000 I proposed to Margarit inside the old United Church. Since then we have spent many a weekend camped in the nearby park, and experienced the vibe of the old ghost town, with our girls. It was nice to be back.
Afterwards we headed back in the general direction of Drumheller, but made numerous stops along the way. We headed up to a couple of spots where there were nice overviews of the valley. This included a spot above East Coulee, at the site of a once used television antenna, that afforded a nice view. We also poked around down by the Atlas Coal mine, and by the old timber bridge. A local East Coulee resident, Steve, has erected somewhat of a monument at the south side of the bridge. He once told me that it started out as a memorial for his deceased parents, and obviously he has been adding to it since I last spoke to him. Many mistakenly think this is some sort of first nations site and I have heard many refer to it is as a native burial ground.... which it s not. After all, this was the site of a couple of really busy coal mines back a half century ago... certainly not the location of any sort of first nations site.
After we wrapped up the day of photography we headed into Drumheller and enjoyed a couple of beers and a nice meal at the local pub. We parted ways in the evening and I headed back out to East Coulee to stay in my trailer. The other three had rooms rented at a local motel. We would do it all over again the next day.
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