SHADOW RAVEN

 A few weeks ago I bought a small book on the work of the French fashion model and photographer Sarah Moon. I was familiar with her fashion photos but not with her very personal work. However ,come to think of it, I do have a children's book Little Red Riding Hood. After searching our children’s book I rediscovered it and thoroughly enjoyed it. No the photo illustrations are not what you would expect. It is a rather scary interpretation of this traditional fairytale. Looking at her personal portfolio, it is most of it in black and white, which I enjoy. In my image  I did not copy her work but still try to bring a very personal interpretation of a simple subject.

RAIN AGAIN

 Lots of rain here in Kanata. A good day to work on my pictures and even take a few pictures, which I did this afternoon. I liked this picture with rich rain patterns on the window and the dark day creating a mood, which I certainly enjoy. Time to sit down reading a good book while listening to some favourite music.

RAINY DAY, OTTAWA

It has been a few days since posting a new picture. This image Took on my mobile phone when we went downtown trying to get into a parking garage. Yes this time the picture was quite abstract. The raindrops on the window and the strong colours created a quite good composition of a dark, rainy day atmosphere.
 

MAIN STREET CAFE, STITTSVILLE

 

Friday morning we had to go for some errants in Stittsville. I did not have a camera with me, but of course I did have my phone. So when we went for a quick lunch at the Main Street Cafe I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures. It simply is a habit of me to always take at least some pictures. 

Changing environment is not that easy. We miss our longtime friends and our familiar milieu. Of course the positive aspect of the move is that I now have will find new subjects for my photography, which I am certain will result in a new way of seeing your surrounding environment. So lets see how my pictures will change. 

SPRING REFLECTION

 

Spring has definitely arrived. Yes the last two days were grey and wet days, feeling more like early Fall days. But we had some nice beautiful Spring days. Time to wander around looking for fine photo subjects. This image is more reminiscent of a impressionistic painting. It is a picture without strong subjects but rich in textures and irregular patterns. Your eyes wander first to the iregular pattern of the leaves then you see the strong shape of the the maple tree reflection in the water. 

In the next few days I will explain why I always or nearly always post only one image per day.

SPRING, LAKE NIPISSING

 Today's picture is a nostalgia image of Lake Nipissing. It is a visual remembrance of our life in North Bay. Yes we absolutely miss this truly beautiful lake and of course I will post memories of our wonderful time in North Bay.

ABSTRACT

 

Last month we visited the Ottawa City Gallery. Surprisingly we had never visited this gallery before and for us it was a great belated first visit. There were some very interested exhibition. Of course I couldn’t resist taking pictures. This was one of the more successful images. It is a picture which Andreas Feininger would identify having strong “stopping power”. The image has, beside the vivid colours, a. strong graphic power vibrating across the surface of the picture.

SPRING SUNSET

Last night I noticed the strong sunset colours reflected in the lower right windows of the new apartment building across the street. Of course I could not resist taking some pictures.
Initially I wondered why the sunset was not showing in all the windows untill it dawned on me that what I saw was the reflection of the adjacent building and the dark blue evening sky. The image was a delightful strong coloured and patterned abstraction.

 

NEW APARTMENT, KANATA, ONTARIO

 Time to start posting again. We moved last Fall from North Bay, a small city in Northern Ontario,  to Kanata a suburb an satellite community of Ottawa. Adjusting to this totally new environment was quite an emotional disruption  to our lives and we are still trying to assimilate to our new suburban lifestyle. Of course I am slowly adjusting my photography to our new way of life. So yes I see my images change. Black and white is becoming more prominent in my photographs.  Getting more adapted to living to our suburban life I think I’ll see a new interesting style developing in my photography.

HAPPY EASTER

 

After many months of inactivity I thought it is time to reactivate my blog. Easter weekend looks like a good starting time, We have moved to Kanata and because all the snow has disappeared, it is also a celebration of the start of the Spring season. 

Remembering a series of Easter pictures,which I never exhibited or even printed, looking through my files and found these strange images. The pictures symbolize the modern commercial Easter holiday with just a trace of the true meaning of the Christian spiritual celebration.

So I wish all my friends a meaningful and very happy  Easter holiday.

REMEMBERING, THE BONFIELD TAVERN

 

The old Bonfield Tavern, yes I remembered this place when I was enjoying a local photo trip with my friends Bob and Rob. We stopped off here to enjoy a small lunch and a beer of course. This tavern was a typical country pub.It is a pity that so many of these rustic establishments have disappeared. 

SCRAP YARD, NORTH BAY

 

This old abandoned truck was left in a city scrap yard, which I wandered into by accidents when I was looking around for some interesting photo subjects. There were some other vehicles and an assortment of different rusting metal objects left in a city scrap yard. Nothing spectacular but enough for me to take some visually intriguing images.

A WORK OF ART

 

One of my neighbours bought this beautiful small car. What a great piece of automotive design. It is in excellent condition, even though it had been in a garage for over thirty years. It is a Sebring MX. I had never heard of this car, which looks like a classic British sports car. Manufactured in the US where it’s still being produced but now with an  electric motor according to the information I read on the Sebring owners club in the UK.

OAK STREET, NORTH BAY

 

A few weeks ago I noticed how several businesses on Oak Street had spruced up their stores. It made this otherwise drab looking street into a happy,  festive cityscape. So yesterday I took some colourful images.It was a grey overcast day, which I preferred for this subject. Sunshine would have created too much textures and shadows, while I wanted to emphasize the colours. Returning home I transferred some of the pictures to my iPad and using and using my favourite  photo app Snapseed. So here is the result. 

SOUTH RIVER, ONTARIO

 

Last Thursday my fiend john and I made our very first photo trip of this Spring season. Wonderful day, the weather was perfect, the places we visited were very quiet, I guess in anticipation of the first holiday weekend before the Summer holiday. All in all a day to remember. 

Returning home I looked at my images of that trip and noticed that the majority of pictures were richly textured subjects. Here the combination of strong water textures but also a feeling of movement and of course dramatic lighting..

COTTONWOOD TREE, TEXTURES

I could not resist posting another image of this old tree. Just the texture of the tree bark is magnificent. So if you have never seen it go and visit this tall tree giant. 

EASTERN COTTONWOOD TREE, NORTH BAY

 

This picture of a massive Eastern Cottonwood tree is a good example of how you can simply miss a good photo subject. I must have passed this tree numerous times without noticing it. But two days ago I had lunch with two of my old colleagues and when walking over to my car Stopped because next to the restaurant I saw the largest tree I ever came across here in North Bay. So yesterday I returned to take some pictures of this truly massive Cottonwood tree. What struck me first and foremost was the very strong textured bark. I took some pictures but I know I have to return to explore and photograph this tree in order to create a more intricate portrait of this wonderful massive natural giant.

STAIRCASE, NORTH BAY

Walking along a street in downtown North Bay one evening, I saw this yellow green staircase wedged between two stores. The rich warm colours contrasted nicely with the staircase. 

WAITING FOR SPRING

 

Another cold grey morning today, yes I know we have been spoiled with some very fine warm days this month. But a feast of Spring colours is what I am waiting for. Searching or I should say rummaging through my files I choose this picture taken quite a few years ago in Toronto. What a riot of colours. Just seeing this image makes me quite happy.

URBAN ABSTRACT

 

It is always a challenge to photograph a nondescript subject and make it into visually interesting image. When I saw this uninteresting utilitarian building I also noticed the strong shadows, the various textures and the strong contrast between the different shapes of the flat walls, reminding me of the early work by the Italian Futuristic artist Giorgio de Chirico, whose paintings with its strong sunlight, deep shadows and unusual perspective made him one of the great early twentieth century artists.