June Calendar Image

This is the image I selected for the June page of both my Fine Art Monochrome, and my David Thompson Country calendars.  I photographed these bunchberry blossoms last June, in my yard in Nordegg.  

Individual Artist Grant - Edmonton Arts Council

Starting back in the spring of 2023, Arturo and I worked together on preparing a grant application to the Edmonton Arts Council.  We were looking to secure some funding to help pay for our Apparitions project.  This is a very ambitious multi year project.  It is a collection of images that portray a human presence, without any people present in the images.  The images themselves must be compelling and allude to a story, that the viewer is left to complete.

We wrote and re-wrote and modified our application a number of times.  We had one of our colleagues from the Monochrome Guild, who had previously sat on juries for similar grants, review and critique our application.  That lead to yet more minor revisions.  Eventually we submitted our application in the spring of 2023 and about three months later we learned that our application had been declined.  

Then this year, in the spring of 2024, we set about applying again.  This time around I attended an information session with some council staff to get some input as to what to do to improve our odds.  It was suggested to me that our first attempt was too broad and the time frame too long.  I was informed that if we requested funding for our immediate needs, and properly backed up our request, that our odds would improve.  So we re-focused our funding request on the immediate need of printing and presenting our work for gallery exhibition, and re-wrote the grant.  We solicited a whole bunch of background information to back up our request.  Then we set up an appointment with the Arts Council for a critique of our application.  After that meeting even further final revisions and adjustments were deemed necessary.  Finally, at the end of March we sent it in.  The number of applications that are accepted for funding is traditionally quite low, so we were not all that optimistic.

All in all I estimate, that over the two years of applications, I spent probably something in the order of 75 to 100 hours writing the application, editing and re-writing it, attending meetings, preparing sample images and obtaining backup information.  My colleague Arturo spent close to the same amount of time on it.  We had countless writing and brainstorming sessions over beer, wine and wings at various pubs around town.  In the end it seems it all paid off.

Recently I received notice that our application had been approved for funding.  There were nearly 500 applicants, and around 100 of them were approved, to share in around $2 million in funding.  This is not insignificant and will go a long way towards supporting our project.  We were dumbfounded and gobsmacked when we got the news, but also very grateful, and satisfied with the effort that we put in.

We now have a timeline, as the grant comes with conditions and a deadline.  By January of 2025 we need to have 30 of our strongest negatives printed, framed for exhibition, and packaged ready for transport to gallery exhibitions.  And, now that we have funding secured and know that the exhibition will become a reality, we also have to commence submitting to galleries for exhibition opportunities.

Found Image

I was digging through a bunch of negatives, looking for images to consider for the Apparitions project, when I came across this one.  I had kind of forgotten about it....

Arturo and I came across this old yard, up in Lamont County, when we were out exploring last summer.  The old house looks very much like many others that are found in our part of the world.  It is the spectacular sky that makes this image.  I shot this on my 4" x 5" view camera with the intention of cropping it to these panoramic proportions.

I shot this last summer, on June 26th 2023, at about 3:30 in the afternoon.  It was a sheet of Fuji Neopan Acros film, given N+1/2 Development in Rodinal Developer, 1:50.  I used a slightly long 210mm lens.

Back in 2015

My friend Chris recently posted on his website about our first outing together, back in 2015.  Hailey was with me, and would have been about 12 years old at the time.  We visited an old house not far from the Drumheller Valley.  Here is a link to the information on Chris' website.

https://www.bigdoer.com/60689/exploring-history/the-lonely-laing-house-1910s/

I dug back into my archives and found a couple of the photographs that I took on that outing.  It sure is a cool old place with a lot of character.  It would be nice to get permission from the landowner and get back in for another visit.

Explored on Flickr

On May 23rd my "Old Car" image was featured on the Explore page on Flickr.  This is only the third time this has happened since I first joined Flickr back in 2015.  As of this writing my image has received over 5500 views, with 159 favorites and 15 comments.  It's nice when your work as an artist is recognized and appreciated.

8x10 Scans - Medicine Lake

This is the final negative, for now, from the recently processed batches of 8" x 10" film.  This last one was taken on Ilford HP5 film, rated at 320 iso and developed in 510 Pyro, 1:100, for 7:25 minutes at 24C.

This shot was taken up at Medicine Lake, in Jasper National Park.  This was on the 2022 edition of the Fall Photo Weekend, when a number of the members of the Monochrome Guild spent a weekend in the park.  Mostly I shot with my 4x5 view camera on that weekend, but I did pull the big 8x10 camera out at a couple of locations, one of which was this one.  I took this shot on October 23rd 2022 at about 1:00 in the afternoon.

I shot this with my Chamonix 810V view camera and a Fujinon 450mm lens, with no filter.  The exposure was F41.0 and a shutter speed of 1/30 second. 

8x10 Scans - Coach

This is another scan of an 8x10 negative.  This time around it is a sheet of Ilford HP5.  I rated the film at 320 iso, and developed it in 510 Pyro, 1:100, for 7:25 minutes at 24C.

This is a shot of an old railway coach in the town of Big Valley.  The steam train runs from Stettler down to Big Valley during summer months, and there are a number of railway related displays.  Although we would visit Big Valley a couple of times for the Beer Parlour project, this particular visit was prior to that.  I shot this photograph with my Chamonix 810V view camera and a Nikkor 300mm lens, fitted with a #25 Red Filter.  The exposure was F29.0 and a shutter speed of 1/4 second.

8x10 Scans - Grafitti

This is yet another scan of an 8" x 10" negative.  I really have not shot with this big camera as much as I should have in recent years.  I need to make a point of getting out with it more often.  I'd like to generate some "good" big negatives suitable for alternative process printing.  I have the chemistry to do Kallitype, Cyanotype and Iron Palladium prints... just need some new material to work with.  My backlog of old negatives is pretty much all developed now, and I don't have any images that I feel really strongly about.  But lots of film sitting in the freezer that needs to be used.  Time to get busy.

This one was shot on Kodak Tri-X Pan film, rated at 320 iso.  Normal development was in PMK for 9:35 minutes at 20C.  This was one of the last negatives I developed before my Jobo Processor died.

I shot this down in Crowsnest Pass.  This is the tipple of the Mohawk Mine, near Bellevue.  I took this photograph on October 13th 2021, at about noon.  I used my Chamonix 810V view camera and a slightly wide Nikkor SW 240mm lens.  The exposure was F25.0 at 1/4 second.

Early Morning Visitor

When I returned to Nordegg on the afternoon of May 17, it was obvious that a bear had been around.  The bird feeder by my back door had been bent down to the ground, the clear plasticwindow punched out of it, and all the seed was gone.  The hummingbird feeder that I had just put up a few days prior was broken and drained of sugar water.  Then a couple of days later, the second bird feeder out by my driveway, also got pulled down.  The hummingbird feeder was new, but the other two have been up for several years, and there has never been an issue.

There had been reports on social media about a black bear in the area.  I knew that everything was untouched when Shawn and I were last out at Nordegg on May 14.  So I went through the footage on my security cameras and I found the culprit.  On Thursday May 16th, at first light, I saw that the feeders at my back door were victimized.  Then on Monday May 20th, just before 3:00 in the morning I caught a black bear heading up my driveway towards the second feeder.

All three feeders were damaged and I will have to attempt to repair them.  For now I just put them away, as there is no point putting them back up and getting the bear habituated to a food source.  If he moves on to higher country later in the spring or summer, perhaps I can put them back out.  Sadly, the birds will probably stop coming around for a while.....

8x10 Scans - Old Store

This is another scan from an 8" x 10" negative.  This image was taken on Kodak Tri-X Pan sheet film, rated at 320 iso.  It was given normal development in PMK Developer, for 9:35 minutes at 20C.  This is a shot of an old abandoned store in Willingdon, Alberta.  I took this photograph on May 23rd 2021, at about 1:00 in the afternoon.  I used my Chamonix 810V view camera and a long 450mm lens.  A #25 Red filter added some contrast and deepened the value of the sky.  The exposure was F29.0 and a shutter speed of 1/8 second.

8x10 Scans - Butt Ends

Back in March I processed several batches of 8" x 10" sheet film.  A few were processed in open tanks with hangers, and some were processed on my Jobo.  It was the batches that I ran on the Jobo that finally burnt out the motor, and forced me to purchase a new unit.

This is a shot of a log pile over on Swale Road, that was stock piled by West Fraser Timber.  I shot this several years ago while I was out exploring near the cottage.  This was taken on Kodak Tri-X Pan film, rated at 320 iso.  I processed the film in HC-110 Developer and gave N+1 development to increase contrast.  Development was for 6:30 minutes at 20C, Dilution B.

I shot this with my Chamonix 810V view camera and a long 450mm lens.  An extension factor of plus 1/3 stop was needed due to the close focus.  The exposure was F64.0 at a shutter speed of 1/15 second.

C-41 Color Negative - Sanitorium

One more scan of another 4" x 5" Color Negative from the batch that I processed on St. Patrick's Day.  This one is also from the Apparitions trip out to Vancouver Island last fall, with Arturo and Chris.

This one was taken on our way back home to Edmonton.  We spent a night in Kamloops on October 31st, and the next morning we explored a little in the area, before pushing on to the east.  This is the Tranquille Sanitorium just outside of Kamloops.  We had to photograph it from a nearby road as the site is privately owned and closed to the public.  A developer purchased the site and plans to demolish it to make way for a residential development.  Here is a link to Chris' website post about our visit...

https://www.bigdoer.com/57284/short-subjects/random-post-tranquille-bc-sanatorium/

I took this shot on November 1st 2023, at about 10:00 in the morning. I shot it on a sheet of Kodak Ektar 100 film, with my Ebony view camera and a long-ish Nikkor 200mm lens.  The exposure was F25.0 with a shutter speed of 1/8 second.

C-41 Color Negative - Hemlock Trunks

Here is a scan of another 4" x 5" Color Negative from the batch that I processed on St. Patrick's Day.  This one is also from the Apparitions trip out to Vancouver Island last fall, with Arturo and Chris.

This one was taken on October 24th at about 3:15 in the afternoon.  On this day Arturo decided to stay behind at the rental house and do some work.  Chris and I headed south from Courtenay and explored Englishman River Falls Provincial Park, near Parksville.  It was a rainy day, and we thought that heading inland into the trees would give us some opportunities to photograph while hopefully staying a little drier.  Mostly it worked and we managed to get a few good images.

This shot of fallen leaves amongst the Hemlock Trunks was taken in the park, near the trailhead.  I used my Ebony view camera and a slightly wide 125mm lens, with no filter.  The exposure was F20.0 and a shutter speed of 4 seconds.  The light levels were rather low at this later time in the afternoon, and down under the canopy of the forest.  I shot this on Kodak Portra 160VC color negative film.

C-41 Color Negative - Rosewall Creek Bridge

Back on March 17th, St. Patricks Day, I processed a batch of 4" x 5" color negatives on my Jobo Processor.  This was with the old processor, shortly before it died.  Since then I've replaced the processor with a new CPP-3 version.  I mixed up a Jobo C-41 press kit that I had in stock.  The process is really simple and consists of just a sort pre-soak, followed by 3:30 minutes in developer, 6:30 minutes in bleach/fix, and then a wash.  A short bath in a stablizer solution is required at the end.  The process temperature is quite high, at 40C, and this is what makes the Jobo unit ideal.

This particular shot was taken on the Apparitions outing to Vancouver Island last October.  I was out there with my friends Arturo and Chris and we spent a week exploring and photographing.  This shot was taken on October 25th at around noon.  I used my Ebony view camera and a slightly wide 125mm lens. The film was Kodak Ektar 100, exposed at F20.0 for 1/2 second.  No filter was used.

This is a shot of the now abandoned Vancouver Island Railway. I understand that a section of the line down around Nanaimo is still in use, but it has been shut down to all points north.  This is the crossing over Rosewall Creek, in the Provincial Park of the same name, near Mud Bay.

A Drive West on the David Thompson

On Monday May 13th Shawn and I made a quick trip up to the dump to get rid of some garbage, and then headed west on the David Thompson Highway.  We made a brief stop near the elbow of Abraham Lake and I dug out my view camera and took a photograph of some low clouds sweeping over the mountains.  After that we continued further west as far as Whirlpool Point.  

Along the way we saw a group of Bighorn Rams licking some winter salt off the highway.  Once we got to Whirlpool Point I pulled out the big camera again and took a few photographs there.  It was Shawn's first visit to the place and he really enjoyed it.  The skies were partly sunny, the breeze was light, and the temperature very pleasant.  Some showeres threatened a little, but it never really amounted to much.

On our way back to the cottage we made a stop along Abraham Lake and Shawn grabbed a couple of rocks for his flower beds back home.  We also stopped at Dry Haven Creek and checked out the campsite there.  Shawn wants to try to do a little tent camping this summer, and this place was on his radar.  There were some cool old timbers here from an abandoned highway bridge.

During our visit to the cottage there were some intense displays of the aurora borealis... but we didn't see any of them.  It seems we were never up at the right time of night, or we were too busy drinking beer and watching hockey, or it was too cloudy.

I did manage to get the address signs installed onto the gate at the guest cottage before we packed up and headed for home on Tuesday.  We made another lunch stop at James' Grill in Rimbey on the way home and got back to the city in the late afternoon.