REVISIT OLD SCHOOL, RYE, ON

Last week I revisited the old abandoned school house in Rye, an old ghost town near South River. This was my second visit in about six weeks both my friends Gerry and Dan were curious about the place, which they heard about but had never visited. I made some new images some of which I really liked.

GIESLER WORKSHOP, POWASSAN

Not only are new boats being built but also repairs and even restorations of old boats are done in the workshop as well.   

WORKBENCH

I enjoyed the various benches with an accumulation of  personal items, tools, various boxes and papers. My wife thought this would make a great image for a jigsaw puzzle.

GIESLER BOATBUILDING, POWASSAN, ON

Last week, on our photo excursion to Powassan, we visited the Giesler Boat building workshop. Giesler has been building boats since the mid twenties but in the next year or so will be moving to another location. I hope the new shop will be as visually interesting as this place but of course these premises  reflect the rich history of the boat building art in Powassan. Over the next few days I will show some more of my images of this interesting business.

OLD DOOR, POWASSAN

 This is a side door on the old Powassan tavern. I combined a colour image with a black and white to emphasize the abandoned state of the building.

EAGLE LAKE, SOUTH RIVER, ON

A very gray day but the light was perfect for this simple image of rocks along the shoreline of Eagle Lake. Surprising how strong the colours are with this flat light.

FOR DAWN

Last night we returned from another Ottawa visit. During the weekend I reconnected with an old student of mine, whom I had not seen for many years. You know how things go in time we lose contact with each other but thanks to the internet she found my blog and so we got together for a chat. Dawn, by the way, is co owner of a nice boutique on Wellington Street in Ottawa called "Heavens to Betsy". During our conversation she mention how she liked the old general store in Powassan. I know I posted a picture of this store before but last week I made this picture so here it is. Hope its the right store Dawn. Enjoy.

END OF AN ERA, POWASSAN, ON

These two buildings are slated for demolition. The  building on the right was the old Powassan hotel and tavern.  Sad to see it go. Next week when I return I will post more pictures of our little photo trip to Powassan.

CABOOSE, BONFIELD, ON

Time for another picture. I have been busy preparing some pictures for the annual Winter show in Callander. Again I will be gone for most of the week so I will not be able to post during that time. To make this rather simple image visually a bit more interesting, I decided to combine a black and white copy with the original colour image. This gave the picture a hand coloured look.  

TRACKS

I just returned from our visit with our friends in Welland. It was very enjoyable even though  I did not take any pictures. This image was made on one of my photo trips around the area. The picture was originally in colour but I liked the black and white better. The contrast emphasizes the texture better and also the starkness gives the image impact.

FALL TRAIL

For the next few days I will be away so I won't be able to post until the weekend. I hope to come back with a few good images to share on the blog.

NEAR AU CLAIRE, ON

The Fall is a great time to be outdoors. I enjoy just being outside before Winter arrives. Of course I do enjoy the Winter season which has its own beauty.

FIRST SIGN OF WINTER

Early morning, ice has formed at the edge of streams and lakes. I preferred this image in black and white rather than colour. The pictures is reduced to strong texture of the ice and the deep black of the reeds, almost like a japanese or chinese ink painting.

ALONG THE ROAD FROM BONFIELD TO AU CLAIRE

This old asphalt covered house looked abandoned but, judging by the bars on the window and the hydro meter, I suspect that it is still in use as a hunting camp maybe.I just liked the pattern of the asphalt siding in contrast the the texture of the natural vegetation of the landscape.

BRIDGE, BONFIELD, ON

Today was another of our photo trips. One of the spots we visited was in Bonfield, a small town East of North Bay. I liked this black and white image of the little bridge just outside the town. The picture has a rather gothic feel to it, which is probably the reason I enjoy it.

CACHE BAY, ON

It is always interesting for me to photograph old abandoned mine or industrial sites. I remember reading a book about archeological sites of early Victorian mills and plants in Britain. Ever since I photograph these old sites in Canada.

NEAR WOLFE LAKE

This waterfall is well hidden in the bush. People had told me about it but I never discovered it until last week when Dan and I discovered it about a 50 metres off the road. Its a very nice fall surrounded by lush vegetation.The best time to photograph here will probably be late Spring or early Summer. Its a romantic spot so I made the picture into a Victorian black and white image.

RAPIDS NEAR MAGNETAWAN, ON

On a rainy day last week I photographed these rapids near Magnetawan. It was very wet and dark but I did get some good images from these little waterfalls.