Alexo

On Saturday July 17th, Margarit and I were out at the cottage.  My colleague Chris and my sister-in-law Natalia were out with us.  Later that evening Connie drove out to meet us.  She took the bus to Red Deer from Calgary after working Saturday afternoon.  There she picked up their car that Chris had left there when I picked him up.

The newlyweds Shawn and Lisa were out for a short honeymoon, staying at the Beehive Cabins in town.  They spent much of the weekend hanging around with us.  On Saturday we all went out for a ride on the ATV's and explored some of the trails above the townsite.  Later that evening we had a big barbecue back at the cabin.

On Sunday, Chris and I went out for another ATV ride.  The ladies stayed behind and checked out the Beehive Artisan Market in town, and later watched a movie.  The newlyweds went out for a drive on their own.

Chris and I took the Rail Trail from Nordegg east towards Rocky Mountain House.  It was rather wet and muddy following the recent rains.  Nothing was difficult in terms of getting through, but the Side-by-Side sure got dirty...!  Our first stop was at the old Alexo mine site.  There was once a town here, and a large underground coal mining operation.

The ATV trail mostly follows the old Canadian Northern Western rail line.  At Alexo a little of the old old track has been left in place.  There is an interpretive panel that describes the operation and has a photograph of the old tipple.  We found two of the footings from one of the tipple structures.  It was curious to see that the ever frugal mining companies threw all sorts of scrap iron... old rail wheels, etc., into the concrete as reinforcement.  We also found an old log beam on piles that matches up to the support for one of the outbuildings, as seen in the photo on the interpretive panel.

As we wandered about in the bush searching for any other evidence of the mine we came across a couple of fresh cougar tracks.  They were about 4 to 5 inches across, and very distinct in the soft mud.  No other sign of the cat itself and we suspect that these tracks were made the night before our visit.

The Alexo Cemetery is down in the woods just below the rail line and the tipple site.  A very peaceful setting on a slope overlooking Shunda Creek.  Some of the graves there were quite old, dating back to the mining days, while others were more recent.  There was a memorial for a young man that served in the Canadian military.  Some friends had left offerings of beer and liquor, and his dog tag hung on the memorial.  The was a wood box, split and broken open by the elements, that I once contained his ashes.  They were now washed out onto the ground... a fitting final resting place I suppose....

Beer Parlour Project - BP 15.0 Fife Lake Hotel

This is the last of the recently processed negatives from the Beer Parlour Project.  This batch was Ilford HP5+, rated at 1600 iso and developed in 510 Pyro, 1:100 for 30:00 minutes at 24C.

These four locals were in the Fife Lake Hotel tavern, enjoying steaks from the steak pit, and watching the Oilers in the Stanley Cup final.  I shot this on back on June 18th, at about 8:00 in the evening.  This is Clay, Lou, Luree and Mark... not sure of the proper spelling...?

I shot this with my Ebony view camera and Nikkor 150mm lens.  The exposure was F10.0 and a shutter speed of 1/2 second.  I have made it a habit of explaining that my old school film camera is very slow, and that subjects really need to hold still for me.  All but the totally intoxicated seem to be able to oblige.  I count down 3-2-1 to give the subjects some warning before tripping the shutter.  Sometimes I hesitate a little if it looks like someone is going to crack a smile.  Mostly it has been working pretty well.

Beer Parlour Project - BP16.0 Grand Hotel

On Friday August 16th, I travelled from the cottage in Nordegg to Red Deer to pick up Chris.  After we scouted around for a while we headed over to Rimbey.  There we met up with Natalia, Arturo, Sharon and Margarit and had lunch together.  After lunch we headed over to the Grand Hotel.  We had pre-arranged to be here on this date, for another episode of the Beer Parlour project.

The turnout was reasonably good and we had a great time visiting with the staff and other patrons.  I shot about eight or ten sheets of 4x5 film, plus a bunch of stuff with my smaller 35mm gear.  We were told that business is not as brisk as it was in years past.  Covid really put a dent into things... for all restaurants and bars.  And in Rimbey, the Grand has significant competition from several other venues. Back in the day guests, and touring bands, would write something on one of the ceiling tiles.  There was tiles from many of the great Arena Rock bands from western Canada that were big back in the day.  This included Prism, Trooper, the Headpins, April Wine, Gerry Ducette, and more.

We got a laugh out of the roll of toilet paper that was hanging above the bar.  It has a portrait of Justin Trudeau on every square....!

We also got a laugh out of the fact that the attached restaurant advertised an all day breakfast, but closed shortly after noon.  It was dark and locked up when we arrived at about 3:00.

Once the evening wound down, Arturo and Sharon headed back to Edmonton.  The rest of us headed west to Nordegg and settled in there for the night.

Two outta Three

On August 10th we attended the small backyard wedding of Margarit's brother Shawn, and his new bride Lisa.  All three of our girls attended, and Hailey made the drive up from East Coulee for the event.  Anna attended and brought along her boyfriend Braeden.  I was tasked with taking some wedding photos of the happy couple.  There was limited space, and the light was a little harsh, but I think I managed a few decent digital shots.  While I was plunking around with the camera I managed to snap this shot of two of my three daughters.  On the left is the oldest, Hailey [21], giving me the stink eye.  On the right is the youngest, Helena [16].  I missed out on getting a shot of Anna and Braeden.

Beer Parlour Project - BP 14 Cadillac Hotel

This is a scan of another negative from the Beer Parlour Project.  This was from a batch of Ilford HP5 4" x 5" sheet film, rated at 1600iso.  This batch was developed in 510 Pyro Developer, 1:100, for 30:00 minutes at 24C.

Chris and I were exploring in southern Saskatchewan back in June.  We were just on a general exploring mission, taking photographs, but also visiting a few venues for the Beer Parlour Project.  One of those was at the Cadillac Hotel.  We were staying in Cadillac, and the hotel was just down the street, so we popped in on more the one occasion.  The night of our official visit was June 15th, and this shot was taken at about 6:30 that evening.  That visit shall now live on in perpetuity as BP 14.0.  This is a portrait of Allison, who manages the tavern.  The suites in the upper part of the hotel were in the process of being renovated to short term rentals.  So the hotel and restaurant were on the only revenue generating parts of the operation, at the time of our visit.

I shot this negative with my Ebony view camera and a Nikkor 210mm lens.  The exposure was F10.0 and the shutter speed was 1/2 second.

Military Wreck

This is another scan from the batch of Ilford FP4 film that I developed in HC-110.  This is the batch that I gave plus development.  The film was rated at 160 iso, and developed for 14:20 minutes.

This is yet another image from the trip to Saskatchewan back in June.  Chris and I explored a wrecking yard in the town of Wood Mountain.  We got permission from the owner, and wandered around among all the scrap iron for a couple of hours, and photographed some of the treasures.

I shot this on June 19th at about 3:45 in the afternoon.  I used my Ebony view camera and a 135mm lens.  This only military vehicle was fascinating.  It has a Saskatchewan license plate dated 1959, and was manufactured by Ford.

Beer Parlour Project - BP 14 Cadillac Hotel

This is another image from the recently processed batch of HP5.  Even though this one was shot out from in from of the Cadillac Hotel in daylight, I still rated the film at 1600iso.

This is Johanny, one of the waitresses at the Cadillac Tavern.  She came out to Saskatchewan from Quebec.  I shot this on June 15th at about 8:00PM.  I used my Ebony view camera and a Schneider 135mm lens.  The exposure was F13.0 and a shutter speed of 1/15 second.

Another Oops!

This is a scan of a sheet of FP4 4" x 5" film.  This old building in southern Saskatchewan.  I intended to process this one normally, and therefore exposed the film at 100iso.  But it accidentally got mixed into a batch that received N+1 development in Kodak HC1-110 Developer.  So it was exposed normally and over developed, resulting in a denser, more contrasty negative than intended.  Once again the huge latitude of B&W film is amazing, and the negative is still easily printable, though probably not ideal.  I still have a second version of this shot on a different film, that has not yet been processed.

I shot this on June 17th at about 11:00 in the morning.  I used my Ebony view camera and a long 300mm lens, fitted with a #11 Yellow Green Filter.  The exposure was F20.0 and a shutter spped of 1/8 second.

Beer Parlour Project - BP 15 Fife Lake Hotel

This is another HP5 negative from Fife Lake.  Chris and I visited the establishment for the Beer Parlour Project, back on June 18th.  This photo was taken around 7:45 in the evening, with my Ebony view camera and a Nikkor 150mm lens.  

Like the previously posted negative, this one was rated at 1600iso, and developed in 510 Pyro developer.  This group of locals was out enjoying steaks and all the fixings at the Steak Pit.  On top of that the Oilers Stanley Cup Final playoff game was on the TV.  There were a few locals out watching, and of course, being an Oilers fan, my eyes were glued to the TV between photographs.

Beer Parlour Project - BP 15 Fife Lake Hotel

This scan is of a 4" x 5" negative taken on Ilford HP5.  This was part of the batch of film that was rated at 1600 iso and developed in 510 Pyro developer, 1:100, for 30:00 minutes at 24C.

I took this photograph on June 18th at about 6:30PM.  Chris and I were out in Saskatchewan, visiting small town hotels for the Beer Parlour Project.  This is Gail and Lawson Harkness, the long time owners of the Fife Lake Hotel, in Fife Lake, Saskatchewan.

I used my Ebony view camera and a Nikon 150mm lens for this shot.  The exposure was F11.0 and a shutter speed of 1/2 second.

Lawson and Gail were most gracious hosts and regaled us with stories from their half century of being in the hotel business.  The establishment was very cozy with all the typical tavern paraphernalia on the walls.  They also had a steak pit, where for a very reasonable price we grilled our own steaks, cut from locally raised beef, and they provided all the sides.  Chris and I really enjoyed our visit and came away with some great photos and history for our project, as well as some great memories.

Oops!

I took this photograph of this old house back on June 15th 2024, at about 3:20 in the afternoon.  Chris and I were out on a road trip, exploring southern Saskatchewan.  This 4" x 5" Ilford HP5 negative was exposed at 320iso and I intended to give it Normal development.  I mistakenly mixed up the negative when I was unloading the film, and it ended up in a batch of the same film, that was exposed at 1600iso.  Those sheets were all images taken on Beer Parlour Project outings.  Shooting in low light and pushing the speed of the film requires significantly extended development.

Normally the stuff that I shoot at 320 iso get developed for just under 8 minutes, in 510 Pyro Developer, diluted to 1:100.  With the pushed film, the same developer is used, but the time is significantly extended to 30:00 minutes.  With this normally exposed sheet, that extra development resulted in a significant increase in contrast, not to mention a very dense negative.  It's surprising how much latitude film has and this negative is certainly printable.  It actually looks pretty good.  I shot another sheet of film at the same time, on Ilford FP4, and that one will be given normal development in Perceptol developer.  Once I get around to processing that one, I will compare the two and see which is better.

This shot was taken with a wide Schneider Apo-Symmar 110mm lens and a #25 Red Filter.  The exposure was F22.0 and a shutter speed of 1/8 second.  I was striving to show the old weathered split cedar post in the foreground and hold depth of focus.  I think it worked, despite the mixup.

The Beer Parlour Project - BP 13.0 Hilda

This is a scan of another 4" x 5" HP5 negative.  Like the previous one, this sheet was rated at 1600 iso and developed in 510 Pyro for 30:00 minutes.  This was taken back in June when Chris and I paid a visit to the Limerick Hotel, formerly the Delaney Hotel, in Limerick, Saskatchewan.  This is Hilda, the former owner of the Hotel.  She was invited to come and meet with us and share some of her stories from the years that she ran the hotel.  The current owners, Doug and Sandy, recently purchased the hotel from Hilda and took over it's operation.

The Beer Parlor Project - BP 14.0 Cadillac Hotel

I just processed a batch of film that included eighteen 4" x 5" negatives from various Beer Parlour Project outings.  I will be sharing some of those here over the coming days.  This was Ilford HP5 film, rated at 1600iso and developed for 30:00 minutes in 510 Pyro Developer.  Needless to say the long development time is rather tedious...!  I spent over two hours standing in my darkroom, in total darkness, running three batches of film on film hangers, through the various tanks of the process.

This shot was taken at the Cadillac Hotel back on Jun 15th.  This is Johanny, the waitress in the tavern, being interviewed by my colleague Chris Doering.

Stay tuned for the details on some upcoming Beer Parlour Project outings.  We plan to be at the Grand Hotel in Rimbey, Alberta on Friday August 16, and possibly the Eckville Hotel a day or two later.  More to follow...

The Big Day

On August 10th we attended the wedding of my Brother-In-Law Shawn, and his fiance, now my Sister-In-Law, Lisa.  It was a small backyard wedding, with about 30 guests.  It was mostly just immediate family, and a few close friends.  Margarit and all three of our girls were able to attend.  Hailey took the day off from work and blasted up to the city from East Coulee.  Shawn and Margarit's sister Natalia drove in from Point Roberts and was at the wedding as well.  It was a great day...!

One More

I have one more scan from that batch of Ilford FP4 4" x 5" that I gave plus development in HC-110.  This shot is from the Reynolds Alberta Museum.  I shot this in early July, when Arturo and I made a return visit.  This truck is REALLY old.  The brand name on the front radiator is "Federal"  which I have not heard of before.  The wheels had wood spokes, and there was some sort of crane or winch apparatus on the flat deck.  The cab was also made mostly of wood, and this is a detail shot that I took with my Ebony view camera and a 200mm lens.