Winter Hockey - Game Eleven

The Renegades played still another late weekday hockey game last night.  It was a 10:30PM game at Knights of Columbus Arena verses the Trojans.  We had a short bench with only 10 skaters and a goaltender but jumped out to an early 5-2 lead.  Then we seemed to get tired and let them back into the game.  By the third period we have given up five unanswered goals and were down by a score of 7-5.  But me managed to get a goal and bring it to within one.  Then, in the final minute, we pulled our goaltender and scored with just seconds left to tie the game 7-7.  Five minutes of overtime didn't decide anything so we went to the shootout.  Our goalie stopped all three shooters, and we scored once for the win.

Fall Photo Weekend

Five of the guys from the Monochrome Guild set out for Jasper National Park for the annual Fall Photo Weekend.  This year was the 11th Annual, but it seemed as though something was missing.  Rather it was someone that was missing... my good friend Jon had been with me on most of the previous outings, but couldn't make it this year as he was recovering from a recent liver transplant.  Hopefully he can make it next year!

The five of us set out from Edmonton on Friday morning; Remembrance Day.  Steve rode with me, while Court and the other Rob were in a second vehicle.  Arda set out from Edmonton later in the day.  Two others would join us later in the evening.  Gord is from Edmonton but was working in Calgary during the week and drove up through the mountains on Friday.  Mike drove out later that evening from Prince George and met up with us late in the evening.

The first group of four stopped at Talbot Lake and some of the other small ponds in that eastern part of the park and spent the afternoon photographing.  As the light began to fade we made a quick trip up the Maligne Road to scout Medicine Lake for the next mornings shoot.

By evening it was beginning to snow.  When we awoke the next morning it became obvious that the Fall Photo Weekend had become the Winter Photo Weekend.  About two inches of snow had fallen in town overnight, and more in the high country.  After breakfast we headed back up to Medicine Lake.  The "dusting" of snow that we hoped to capture was much more substantial than that.  But, it was a great day of photography with generally mild temperatures, mostly in the -1 to -4C range.  We spent most of the day up around Medicine Lake and the Maligne valley.  Towards evening we stopped down in the Athabasca valley and photographed some aspens, and later watched some bull elk jousting just outside of town.  Once we returned to town we went out for dinner, and then retired to our rooms.  We watched the hockey game and attempted to put a dent in the local beer and scotch supply.

The next morning we packed up, had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and checked out of our rooms.  Mike left early that morning as he needed to be back in Prince George by afternoon.  The rest of us headed out to do some shooting before we too had to hit the road for home.  We started out up at Portal Creek on Highway 93A.  It was a little more snowed in than I had hoped, which made access to the rocky shore of the creek difficult.  But I think we managed some decent images.  Then, later in the day we headed up to Horseshoe Lake.  Gord had stopped here on his way to Jasper on Friday afternoon and was amazed at how much difference two days could make.  The lake was now almost completely frozen over, and there was a significant amount of snow on the ground.  We shot here until early afternoon, and then reluctantly hit the road for home.  But, it was a great weekend to be out with friends and I know I'll come out of it with some great images. 

I actually processed a batch of film tonight, including a few from this trip.  They are currently washing and will be dry by tomorrow.  But, I am having some technical issues with my new computer.  I had a new one built, with significantly more hard drive space, to alleviate the issues I was having with my old one.  But, I am now having issues with hardware and software compatibility.  So as I struggle through getting everything up and running again I find myself without a scanner.  It may be some time before I am able to scan and post some of my recent work.....

Winter Hockey - Game 10

The Renegades played yet another late hockey game on Thursday.  We faced off against the Chiefs at Canadian Athletic Club.  It was a hard fought battle and the momentum went back and forth.  The Chiefs jumped out to an early lead and at one point we were down by a 3-1 score.  We eventually battled back to tie and then go ahead by a 4-3 score.  The Chiefs tied it in the third period before we scored with less than a minute remaining to go ahead again.  They pulled their goalie for an extra attacker and attempted to tie it yet again.  But, we managed an empty net goal and were victorious by a 6-4 score.

Drumheller Day Trip

On November 5th I had to travel south Drumheller for the day.  I had purchased a side of beef from a local farmer down there, and it was cut, wrapped and ready to be picked up.  My friend Gerald came along for the ride and we planned to make a day of it, taking pictures as we went.  Here in Edmonton we are still snow free, and although night time lows have now hit double digits once or twice, the days remain relatively mild.  The high temperatures consistently make it up to just under the freezing mark, and some days just above.  It was a different story as we travelled to the south.  Not only was there a very heavy hoar frost, but there was also a dusting for fresh snow.  The morning temperature was in the -15C range.  We stopped at a few spots in the Rumsey Morraine, south of Stettler.  We saw an enormous Golden Eagle that was hunting ducks near the edge of a frozen slough.

By around lunch time we headed into Drumheller.  We had a quick bite to eat and then picked up my order from the butcher.  Then we headed down the valley to the southeast to make some photographs.  We stopped at the Hoodoos and spent an hour or so photographing them with fresh snow.  It was the first time that I had seen them with fresh snow.  Then later we continued on to the old railway bridge at East Coulee.  After we finished making some photographs there, it was becoming obvious that we were quickly running out of daylight.  We started heading for home, but not before making one last stop at Orkney viewpoint to catch the badlands in evening light, with the dusting of fresh snow.  After that it was an uneventful three hour drive back home.

Winter Hockey - Game Nine

The Renegades played yet another late weekday hockey game on November 2nd.  We faced off at Knights of Columbus Arena up on the north side, against the Buzzards.  Despite having a short bench and a backup goaltender, we quickly jumped out to a Four-Nothing lead by the end of the first period.  We never really looked back after that and hung on for a 7-3 victory.  It's always more fun when we win...!!

Halloween

The girls had a blast carving Halloween pumpkins this year.  We had many comments from the ghosts and goblins that were out Trick-or-Treating, about how cool our Jack-O-Lanterns were.  We had a white pumpkin, and a big one eating a little one.  Hailey carved one that was barfing out the pumpkin guts, and Anna carved one that was saying Boo!  It was a nice mild evening and our girls had fun out collecting goodies.  I hope to find time next week to dress all three girls up in their costumes and take some proper portraits of them.  This has become somewhat of an annual tradition around our place...

October Day Trip 2

On October 30th my friend Rob and I set out on a day trip.  It was a pleasant afternoon and looked as though it would be one of the last nice weekends of the year.  We drove up through Elk Island National Park, on our way up into Lamont County.  We saw a Bald Eagle sitting up in a tree, watching over one of the sloughs...

As we made our way north out of the Park we decided to check out a few old buildings.  We stopped to take some photographs with our view cameras, at an old house.  Later, we scouted around and checked out a few more old farm yards and buildings.  We ended up not shooting anything else with our big cameras, but enjoyed the nice weather and a chance to get out of the city for a few hours.

Winter Hockey - Game Eight

Yet another loss....   The Renegades played a game on Friday October 28th against a new team, The Red Seals.  Although we held our own, starting the third period tied 4-4, we gave up three goals in the final frame and fell to defeat by a score of 7-4.  Following the recent divisional moves this puts us in last place in our new division.  We have to try and turn this around and get back on track.  Our next game is another late one, on Wednesday next week.

October Day Trip

To my surprise I didn't wake up today until nearly noon.  I guess the last couple of very busy weeks, and continuous late nights finally caught up to me.  When I finally got mobile I noticed that it was a clear crisp fall day with bright blue skies.  So, I decided to head out for a day trip with my daughter Hailey.  With such a late start we didn't have time to go too far so once again we set out for Elk Island National Park east of the city.  The light was beautiful and clear but the west wind was brisk and cold.  We checked out several bison herds that were congregating in various parts of the park.  We stopped a couple of times to make photographs with the view camera.  This was mostly of some aspen trunks at a couple of familiar locations.  All of the attached  images, even the black and white ones, were taken with my little point-and-shoot digital camera.  Hopefully some of the more serious work that I attempted with my 4x5 yields some printable negatives.  A bit of a challenge to say the least, considering the wind that was whipping everything around. We also checked out a few old buildings on the east side of the park as we made our way back home.  It was fun spending some one on one time with my daughter.  As I watched her taking photographs with her little digital camera I marveled at how she is starting to develop an eye for composition.  She was directing me where to stop the truck so that she could get the best angles on the herds of bison.  We had a great afternoon together listening to the radio, visiting and taking pictures.  Eventually as the sun began to settle in the west we made our way back home to go out for pizza with the other three girls.

Winter Hockey - Game 7

The Renegades played a game on Thursday evening, a somewhat late one, at 10:15PM, verses the Klondike Maulers.  We found ourselves behind quickly, and at one point in the third period we were down by a score of 6-2.  Eventually we battled back and by the last few minutes we were within a goal, down by a score of 7-6.  We pulled our goaltender and put the pressure on, trying to even things up.  After a couple of near misses the Maulers finally slid in an empty netter and went on to an 8-6 victory. 

Polaroid Scans from Southern Alberta

When I got home from the prospecting trip on Monday evening, I processed the Polaroid 55 negatives that I shot.  Of the three that I made, only two turned out.  The film is now cleared, washed and dried and I'm able to scan them.  Both of these images were taken at the old abandoned farm yard that Louis and I explored while the other guys were fossil hunting at White Rock Coulee.

Winter Hockey - Game 6

The Renegades played a game on Friday evening, while I was away in southern Alberta.  The guys went down to defeat at the hands of the Wolf Pack.  All in all, it didn't really matter...  We ended up being moved up into Division Eleven, with the point standings of all teams reset at Zero as we continue into the rest of the season.  It remains to be seen whether or not we can remain competitive against the teams now assigned to this slightly higher division.

Prospecting Trip

Quite a number of times over the past decade... and more... my friend and business partner Frank and I, along with various friends and relatives, have taken a trip out to southeastern Alberta to prospect for Dinosaur fossils.  Most years we have ended up out in the badlands of either the Red Deer River or the South Saskatchewan River.  The past couple of years we just couldn't "get around to it..." so the trip didn't happen.  This year we were determined to get out again, and to continue the tradition in the years to come.

I booked the Friday and the Monday off from work to make the weekend worthwhile, particularly in light of the driving distances involved.  I left home early on the morning of October 14th.  The trip almost didn't materialize for me...   My wife and three daughters were leaving the next morning, to fly down to California to visit her sister.  After I was already out the door she realized that some of the paperwork necessary for her to leave the country with our daughters, which I needed to sign, had not been organized.  Eventually after much stress and chaos, we got everything together, found a way to get the document notarized, and I was on my way.  I was traveling with my friend Louis, a relative of Frank's.  Louis is an avid photographer, though he lives on the "other" side and does not shoot film, preferring the digital realm.  We were both more interested in making photographs, than looking for fossils....

After a couple hours of driving we came upon an old farm yard that looked interesting.  We turned off Highway 12 to check it out.  Turned out that the house was nothing special, but there were a couple of really cool old cars in the yard...

 

A little while later we turned south onto Highway 41.  We came upon the turnoff to the Mud Buttes.  I had driven past this area a number of times in the past, but was always in a hurry to get somewhere and always had my trailer in tow.  This trip we had plenty of time, so we decided to check them out.  Up on a high rise, overlooking the surrounding prairie, we found a fairly extensive area of badlands exposure.  We spent a couple of hours hiking around and photographing, sharing the afternoon with a group of school kids out on a field trip.

We eventually hit the road again, but not before a cell phone call from my lawyer, who needed to speak to me before completing the paperwork necessary for Margarit and the girls to leave the country the next morning.   What a relief it was to get that overwith and know that I could continue on to southern Alberta, without the possibility of having to make a quick trip back home. Later that afternoon Louis and I rolled into the Sandy Point campsite on the South Saskatchewan River.  My friends Frank and Jim had arrived there the evening before and set up camp.  The two of them... avid fossil hunters... were out prospecting when Louis and I arrived.  We pitched our tents in the campsite and settled down for the evening.  This was quite a switch for me as for the past decade I always traveled with my trailer, and prior to that, with my pickup camper.  But, I had just bought a tent, a winter sleeping bag, and was decent air mattress and was determined to give it a go.  Good thing that sleeping bag was a warm one... for despite the fact that the days were mostly sunny, with a light breeze, and high temperatures in the range of +10C to +14C, the nights were quite cold, with the temperature dropping off to several degrees below freezing.

That night we stayed up really late, trying to keep warm around the fire, and trying to put a dent into the beer supply that we had brought to the site.  We did a pretty good job, and ended up sleeping in a bit.   After a breakfast of sausage and eggs, we headed out to the badlands about 30 miles to the southwest.  Frank and Jim were interested in prospecting for fossils, while Louis and I were interested in both the fossils, and the photographic opportunities at hand.  The area is very remote, and we drove for many miles on gravel roads, that eventually became rough roads out to well sites, and eventually just tire tracks across the pasture to the edge of the valley.  We spent the entire day hiking and prospecting and had the area completely to ourselves...  Initially I hiked around for a while, and found a shattered Albertosaurus tooth [note the serrations visible on the tip] and various other bones and fossils, including part of a very small ornithamimed claw.  But eventually the fossil prospecting was forgotten, and I focused my attention on making photographs.

As evening came upon us we left the badlands and headed in the general direction of camp.  We came upon an abandoned farm yard that we just had to stop and check out.  The light was phenomenal and we wandered about checking out the old buildings.  We quickly discovered that the old buildings were inhabited by a pair of Great Horned Owls.  We spent some time there making photographs as the light faded into night.  We then hit the road back to the campsite to make dinner, start a fire and continue with our task of consuming the supply of beer that had come with us.

It was a cold and frosty morning and Louis and I wandered around the campsite before eventually rousing Frank and Jim from their beer-induced sleep.   We threw together another hearty breakfast before setting out for the day.

 

Louis and I dropped off Frank and Jim at White Rock Coulee, a Provincial Natural Area, and headed back to the old farm yard that we had found the evening before.  We spent a good part of the afternoon there making more photographs of the old buildings.  

Later we headed back out to the badlands and spent a couple hours photographing in the evening light before eventually meeting up with Frank and Jim and heading back to the campsite for the night.

By this time we had run out of beer.  So, we made a side trip over to Burstall, Saskatchewan to stock up.  Eventually we ended up back at our camp once again and spent another evening around the fire, keeping warm, eating our evening meal, and working on the replenished beer supply.  Once again, the next morning I was up early and spent some time walking along the river and in the campsite, while the others slept in.

Eventually the guys woke up and we had our last breakfast together.  We planned on getting out hiking in the badlands one last time before we had to pack up and head for home.  Frank and Jim headed out to the badlands while Louis and I took down our tents and packed up our gear.  Eventually we headed out to meet up with Frank and Jim.  But, we quickly became distracted when we came across a couple of massive fields of sunflowers.  We were so blown away by the photographic compositions that we were presented with, and this graphic subject matter, that we ended up spending a couple of hours there.  By the time we finally packed up our cameras, it was too late to bother trying to meet up with Frank and Jim.  So, we just pointed the truck north and started in the general direction of home.

All the way home we kept searching for opportunities to get out with our cameras.  We checked out an alkali slough near Czar and an old farm house near Hardisty.  As the sun was setting we stopped at the Ribstones near Viking.  Just as the last glimmer of twilight was in the sky we came across a couple of combines completing the last of the harvest.  From then on it was just another hour of pounding the pavement back into the city to eventually find our way home.  It was sure nice to unpack, settle down, have a shower, and sleep in a real bed...