Ilford HP5+ in 510 Pyro

The batch of HP5+ 4" x 5" sheet film that I processed back on February 15th, in 510 Pyro developer included images from various day trips and travels last year.  I previously posted a few from the fall trip to Jasper.  Here are a few others...  This includes a couple from our spring trip down to Red Rock Coulee last May.  An abandoned church in East Central Alberta from last summer.  An old truck from that same trip.  And the interior and exterior of an old barn, taken a year ago in the winter of 2015.
I found it interesting that the door of that old truck was painted with the name, address and phone number of Norwood Lumber.  Norwood used to be a building supply company located up in north east Edmonton.  Curious that their old delivery truck ended up abandoned over a hundred miles away...

In Focus comes down

The In Focus photo exhibition recently finished its run and today was the day to take down all the photographs at the gallery.  I stopped by for an hour and helped take down all the work, and picked up my own two prints.  As one show ends, the next will carry on...  With all the exhibitions I have on my schedule, it seems this will be the case for some time to come.

Gallery Exhibitions

Procession West, and the second exhibition that spun off from it, which is called Ag2... have been successful beyond my expectations.  My friend and collaborator Rob Michiel and I first put this show together back in 2012 and started making submissions to galleries throughout Western Canada.  We were accepted for three shows in 2013 and 2014 at the Art Gallery of Regina, McMullen Gallery here in Edmonton, and then the Spruce Grove Art Gallery.  After these shows wrapped up I got a little lazy and pre-occupied and didn't get around to sending out any submission more packages.
In early 2015 I got back on my horse and put in a concerted effort to send out additional submission packages.  Over the course of the next year, as deadlines came and went, I sent out about 50 submission packages.  Some went to galleries that previously rejected us, while others went to new ones.  We still continue to get some rejections, like just the other day when I got a rejection notice from a gallery in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia.  But, we also got a lot of acceptances.  So much so that we had to peel off the Ag2 show and cover some of the overlap.  In addition to the original three exhibitions, we now have NINE more, for a total of 12 exhibitions.  We're still in the running for a couple more so it is possible this count might increase further beyond a dozen.
Some of these galleries pay an exhibition fee and some do not.  All allow us to offer our prints for sale.  None cover shipping expenses so we are obligated to drive these prints around from place to place.  Over the next few months these prints and their shipping crates will see a lot of miles.  The exhibition fees have covered most of the cost of our materials.  If we can sell a few prints, we sill start to cover the transportation costs.  This is not about making money... it is a labor of love.
We started out this year showing the Ag2 show at Leighton Art Centre in Calgary as part of the Exposure Festival.  Today I delivered three crates of different prints, the Procession West exhibition to the Okotoks Art Gallery.  The show will be installed this week, with the opening coming up next weekend.  Here is the official invitation...

Anyone that is in the Calgary area next weekend is encouraged to stop by for the opening and check out the show.  Both Rob and I expect to be in attendance.  Shortly after that I have to travel back to Calgary to pick up the images from the Ag2 show at Leighton, and move them on to the Leble Mansion Gallery in Pincher Creek, for a show that will start at the end of March.  Over the course of the next year or so the various framed photographs in their various shipping crates will also travel to Armstrong and Summerland, then to Invermere.  Later there will be shows in Saskatoon, Port Moody and Fort McMurray.  Once this project has run its course I hope to start all over again with a couple of solo exhibitions.  I am already in the process of image selection and printing for two solo projects and will start making submission of these in about a year.

HP5 in 510 Pyro

On February 15th I processed a batch of Ilford HP5+ sheet film, 4" x 5" format, in 510 Pyro developer.  The developer concentrate was diluted 1:100 and I processed for 7:10 minutes at 70 degrees F [21C].  This batch included about 20 sheets of film, all exposed during 2015 and early 2016.  I am generally happy with the results, but need to fine tune my exposure and development time a little.  This is a new combination for me that at this point is still somewhat experimental.  These four images were all taken in November of 2015, when I was out in Jasper with my friends Jon and Steve...

Exploring

In recent weeks I've been in contact online with a fellow photographer, also based here in Edmonton. Jim and I have similar interests, as he is also interested in abandoned buildings and old sites of historical significance.  I recently provided Jim with directions to one of my favorite places, and he was kind enough to share a couple of his.  On Sunday Feburary 14th, I set out to visit a couple of them...  

Both were relatively close together and despite the fact that I got a late start, I felt I would have time to check out both.  I wasn't able to spend much time at either location, but I made time to take a record shot with my view camera at each one, as well as a bunch of snapshots with my digital camera.  

I definitely need to return to both locations when I have more time, and do some more serious shooting with the big camera.  On this day I didn't even leave the city until around noon.  It was overcast and cloudy all morning and the skies were just beginning to lighten by the time I left.  As with the last few days it cleared right up by afternoon, and the temperature rose up to very comfortable levels, well above freezing.

Thanks to Jim for this and I will return on another day, ready to more seriously explore with my view camera.  For now here are a few snapshots taken that afternoon.

February Day Trip

It's been quite a while since I've posted much of anything on my blog... and even longer since I've had the opportunity to get out with my cameras.  On Saturday, February 13th, I headed out for a drive with my oldest daughter Hailey.  We played music on the stereo in the truck as we headed off to the northeast of the city.  I was trying to educate my daughter about the quality of some of the classic music that I like to listen to, and she was trying to convince me that some of today's pop will eventually become classic.  We agreed to disagree, but had a great time driving around through the afternoon.  

We didn't really get started until shortly before noon.  It was cloudy and dull in the late morning when we set out, but the skies broke open and became clear later in the afternoon.  The day was breezy and cool early in the morning but by afternoon once the sun broke out the temperature spiked up to about +5C.  By late afternoon the breeze died right off to nothing.

Our first stop was a large cemetery along Highway 16, between Mundare and Vegreville.  The clearing skies allowed the sun to pop out and provided some interesting shadows.  We made a brief stop in Vegreville for lunch and then continued on.  We stopped and photographed at an old schoolhouse, and then later at a few of the country churches in the area.  Late in the day we found an abandoned farm house with an interesting interior.  In fact, one of the exterior walls had collapsed, not only allowing a lot of nice light in, but making the stairway and railing visible from the road.  It was this that caught my eye as we drove by and prompted us to stop and explore.  By the time we finished up here it was getting to be late in the day.  We hit the road and made the long drive back to the city, all the way blasting more tunes and singing along with them.  As evening came upon us we spotted a herd of about 10 white tail deer out in a field.  Just a short distance further down the same road, we also spooked two young moose out of some trees along the ditch.  It was dark by the time we arrived back home.  With the temperatures so mild we decided to have a family BBQ that evening and it was great to throw some steaks on the grill again.

Corb Lund

Its been quite some time since I've posted anything to my blog.  I've been so busy in recent weeks getting ready for my gallery exhibitions that I haven't had much time for anything else.  There is a little breathing room now as the first shows are on display, and the next one does not have to be delivered for a while.  I hope to find some time to get out out exploring and to continue processing film.  Last weekend the two older girls and I headed down to the Jubilee Auditorium here in Edmonton to see Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans.  We had tickets in row twelve down on the floor.  It was a great show with Corb and his band performing all the old favorites, and some new stuff from his current album...

In Focus 2016 Opening

On Thursday evening I attended the opening of the In Focus 2016 Exhibition here in Edmonton.  This photo show is curated by local artist Alexis Marie Chute and is being exhibited at DC3 gallery here in the city.  A local philanthropist, David Candler, operates this gallery.  It turns out that I knew David as an adolescent, when we attended the same church, the same high school, and went to Cubs together.  He is now a medical doctor and art collector and is running the gallery.  He generously allowed the In Focus Exhibition to use his space as part of the province wide Exposure Festival.  There are about two dozen photographers taking part in this show and most were in attendance.  Of course with that many participating artists, there were lots of guests and friends in attendance.  The place was pretty packed through the evening and it was nice to visit with everyone and see such interest in photography.  The show includes quite a varied selection of work that runs the gamut of all forms of subject matter and technique.  The images are on display until the end of February so I encourage anyone with an interest in photography to stop by and check out the work.  Two of my images are included in the show.  One is an image of Thor's Well, taken on the Oregon Coast in the spring of 2015.  The second is an image of the Crooked Trees in Saskatchewan, from several years ago...

Winter Hockey

2016 has not been very kind to the Renegades Hockey Team.  We have been on a losing skid and have lost of first four games of the calendar year.  This goes back to January 4th when we lost a close game to the Flyers, 7-6 in a shootout.  

Our next game after that was the one at Rexall Place, which we lost to the Moose by a score of 5-2.  The guys played two games while I was away in Calgary.  The first was on January 23rd, the day that I delivered my prints down to the Leighton Art Centre.  The team had an early morning game and lost to the Bulldogs by a score of 9-1.  Then on January 30th, while I was down at in Calgary attending the Ag2 opening, the team played the Trojans and lost by a score of 10-4.

Last night I was finally able to get back on the ice for a late game against the Spiderpigs.  It was time to put our losing skid to an end.  Several of the players told me that I can't miss any more games because without me to organize the roster, the team doesn't play very well.  Being the oldest and slowest player on the team I know I can't contribute all that much on the ice.  But it's nice to know that my efforts are appreciated and that I do make a contribution.  Our ice time started at 10:30 at Castledowns Arena.  We had a short bench with only 11 skaters and our goaltender.  Three of our guys cancelled at the last minute so we had to play with two forward lines and five defense.  Two of the guys that played defense were normally forwards.  But, we managed to jump out to an early lead and just kept building on it, eventually winning by a score of 10-2.  It felt like a great weight was lifted off our backs and hopefully we can put together a push going into the last 9 games of the regular season and into the playoffs.  Next game is coming up on Sunday night, a rematch against the Flyers.  It's going to be a tough game to fill the roster for as this is Super Bowl Sunday and all the football fans will be pre-occupied.

Ag2 at Leighton Art Centre

On Saturday January 30th I made the drive back down to Calgary.  This time it was a solo trip... Margarit just arrived home from California the afternoon before and the girls all wanted to spend some time with her.  I was returning to the Leighton Art Centre south of Calgary for the opening of my Ag2 show.  This show is a duo project, again with my friend Rob Michiel.  Our Procession West exhibition has become so large, now with over 40 prints, that most venues don't have the space to show them all.  We used some of the prints from that project, and added a selection of new work.  We call this second exhibition Ag2, so that it is not in direct competition with our other show.  I won't quote the entire artist statement here, but the following excerpt outlines the meaning of the title...

Ag²

Our title is symbolic in two ways... 

Ag for silver; by definition,  a chemical element with the symbol Ag.  From the Latin Argentum.  Atomic number 47, a white lustrous transition metal it possesses the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and reflectivity of any metal.  Silver has long been valued as a precious metal.  Of course it is the industrial application of its compounds in photographic film and paper that is of value to us as artists.

Two for squared; as this exhibition is the collaborative effort of two artists and friends, Robert Michiel and Robert Pohl.  Preferring to differentiate ourselves from the direction that technology has taken modern photography, both artists choose to work by traditional methods.  The hands on process of working with film and in the darkroom provides us with a greater degree of personal satisfaction.  

I left Edmonton around 9:00AM and arrived at the Leighton Art Center just before noon.  It was a mild day, but with heavily overcast skies.  This gallery is the former home of landscape painter A.C. Leighton, and after his passing became a historical site, art centre and gallery.  It is in a spectacular location, perched high atop a hilltop, overlooking the front ranges of the Rockies, to the west.

Upon entering the building, the foyer was set up as seen below.  The Ag2 exhibition was in the main gallery.  We had more than enough prints to fill this space and a few overflowed into other areas.  A selection of "Badlands" images by Saskatchewan artist Ken Dalgarno were showing in the smaller gallery space upstairs.  A local photographer and board member also had a few images displayed in the foyer.  These are the ones with the dark overmats.

One of Rob's prints and one of mine were included on the left side of the foyer.  From here guests walked down the hallway to the left.  One one side of the hallway there were two prints of mine, and on the other side, three of Rob's...

At the end of the hallway, if you turned left again, there were two or three of Ken Dalgarno's color digital prints on display in a second hallway, and there were stairs leading up to the second gallery where several more of Ken's prints were on display.  Turning right would lead to the main gallery where the remainder of the Ag2 show was on display.  It was a nice space with a good amount of natural light from the windows and a skylight, and also some supplementary artificial track lights.  A couple of the corners were a little dark, but overall it was pretty good.  Fortunately Rob and I chose to frame our prints with some rather expensive anti-reflective, high light transmitting glass.  It did a pretty good job of eliminating reflections from the windows at virtually all viewing angles.

According to the gallery staff there were a total of 56 guests that attended during the two hour opening that afternoon.  There were lots of positive comments about the photographs in general, but in particular about our black and white film based work.  I was quite pleased with everything and reported to Rob the events of the afternoon.  He was not able to make it, as he now resides in the interior of British Columbia, which makes for a pretty long drive.  As this exhibit is part of the province wide Exposure Festival, on through the month of February, hopefully there will be a continuous stream of visitors over the coming weeks.
Once the opening wrapped up I hit the road for home, arriving back in Edmonton about 8:30PM.  I will pick up our prints from this exhibition in early March, when the show ends, and then deliver them on to their next venue, down in southern Alberta.

Weekend in Calgary

On Saturday morning I got the girls up bright and early.  We were on the road to Calgary by about 8:30AM, after picking up one of my trucks, loaded with the crates full of prints, from my shop.  We made it through Calgary before lunch, but then I had trouble finding my way over to the Leighton Art Centre.  The roads had all been changed in the south part of Calgary with the recent opening of the south leg of their Ring Road.  I missed my turnoff and we ended up looping way around to the south before eventually circling through Black Diamond and Turner Valley and making my way back up to Leighton.  It is a beautiful mansion, built I believe in the 1950's, and originally belonging to landscape painter A.C. Leighton.  It is perched high up on a hill and overlooks the Rockies to the west.  Today it is a historic site, an art center, and a gallery.  After unloading and dropping off the prints, we did a quick tour of the gallery.  I had all three of my daughters with me on this trip as Margarit is down in California visiting her older sister.  After leaving Leighton we headed into Calgary and made our way over to my brother Wes's place.  The girls were anxious to visit with their cousin Simone, so we planned on staying the night at their place, and heading back to Edmonton on Sunday.  We had a late lunch together and visited through the evening.

On Sunday morning Wes and I packed up our camera gear and headed out south of Calgary for a drive.  The girls stayed behind with their cousins Sam and Simone and their Aunt Barb.  The weather was not great.  The temperature was fairly mild at -2C but it was snowing, heavily at times, there was a heavy cover of cloud, and the wind was rather brisk.  We made our way down to some old grain elevators that Wes had explored in the past.  Conditions weren't very good for any exterior images so we spent most of our time exploring the interior of these abandoned structures.  I set up the view camera a couple of times and did some detail shots on the interior.  I've attached a few snapshots taken during our outing.  After finishing up here we headed back into Calgary.  By mid afternoon I packed up the girls and all our stuff and we made the long boring drive back to Edmonton.  We settled down in the evening, with everyone needing a good night's rest to be ready for school and work tomorrow.