APPROACHING RAIN STORM

We have had quite a bit of rain this month. Of course the clouds were great. I like cloudy skies because it adds drama to otherwise visually mundane landscapes. Tee Jay asked if this image was taken near Verner. he quite correct the picture was made on the road between Cache Bay and Verner.

SUMMER, LAKE NIPISSING, ONTARIO

Lake Nipissing always looks different. I love taking pictures of the lake any time of the year.Hope you like this summer view.

NEAR NOELVILLE, ONTARIO

I took this picture on the westarm of Lake Nipissing near Noelville. The light gives a rich texture and shape to the rocks and trees.

RIBBON GRASS

sitting in the garden I noticed the texture of the ribbon grass against the dark almost mysterious background of the trees.

OLD MAPLE, SOUTH RIVER, ONTARIO

Noticed this old tree in the Tom Thomson park in South River. I loved the shape and texture.

OPEN HOUSE

Seeing a sign like this makes me curious why people would put such a sign at their door. It certainly doesn't look as if they are eager to sell the place. Just wondering

RED CAR

An ordinairy scene in small town Ontario. What attracted me was the bright red of the car.

NICHOLSON LOCK, RIDEAU CANAL

This picture of the Nicholson Lock is for my friend Rob who knows the area quite well. Again I made this picture in black and white. It is a complex image with intersecting lines and shapes.

OLD BRIDGE, RIDEAU CANAL

The locks on the Rideau Canal watersystem are quite interesting because this historic system is still in use today. I just like the old bridges and locks. I felt that black and white rather than colour give a better impression of these sites.

MERRICKVILLE, ONTARIO

It is always a challenge to photograph in a popular tourist area. I concentrate on details rather than buildings, although some of these can be visually very interesting . This image is of the floor in a block house built in the early 19th century as part of the Rideau canal system, in Merrickville Ontario. I noticed the texture of the wood marked by the shoes of hundreds of visitors to this site.

SMITH FALLS, ONTARIO

My last posting was quite a few days ago. I was out of town for the long weekend and just returned this afternoon. It was afamily visit but I still found time to take some pictures. I was not familiar with the area South and of Ottawa. Some of the towns were blessed with nice old architecture, which made them very attractive for tourists. Others looked rather dismal because they lacked the very things necessary to bring people to your town. Like many of these communities they have lost their industries and all thats left are empty and abandonded buildings. These places attract me because I find that you can get some interesting pictures.

SAWBLADE CASE

Walking around a small country sawmill I noticed this sawblade case. Its a simple subject of texture and shape. The original picture is in colour but I prefer the black and white image.

BOWLS

Taking a picture is a question of selection but what triggers the interest in a specific subject. I saw these bowls in a winery in Southern Ontario simply took the picture. What intrigued me? Was it he light , the bowls or the design? I only start looking at my pictures seriously after I return home and see the images on my monitor. I guess the process is similar to the painter who makes sketches and then develops the ideas further in the studio. Anyway just some thoughts on the process of making a photograph.

NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO

I just returned from visiting friends in Southern Ontario. Of course we did a wine tour, which was great, and then made a brief stop in Niagara Falls. It was very hot and very busy. Instead of taking pictures of the obvious, there are enough pictures of the falls so that subject did not interest me too much. I concentrated on subjects with strong design, so here is a black and white image of lines. Actually the tourists looking at the falls make this image.

RAIN

It rained today and it was rather cool. After the hot weather we had for the last few days the cooler temperature was quite a relief. So here is a picture of raindrops on daylily leaves. Hope you like it.

ROCK PAINTINGS, NORTH BAY, ONTARIO

Not far from our home is a rockcut on the access road to the college and university. Of course this wall is a prime target for the students to decorate with their grafiti. Each year a new crop of students just paint over the previous "artworks". The result is quite interesting and I wonder if this rock will become a prime tourist attraction in, say about, three hundred years like native rockpaintings now.

HAYFIELD, CORBEIL, ONTARIO

I made this image because it reminded me of the traditional pictorial photographs so popular in the earlier part of the twentieth century. The composition follows the formal rules of composition but it makes for a very peaceful landscape.

CAMPER, CALLANDER, ONTARIO

An old trailer parked on a street in Callander, Ontario and Danny's meatshop made for an interesting image. I think its the various shades of blue which makes this picture.

COBDEN, ONTARIO

This picture is for Marie-Aline and Jo-Ann. Both enjoyed my picture of the approaching storm so I hope they will enjoy this picture of the abandoned mill in Cobden. I photographed the mill baout half an hour before I took the storm image. No Marie -Aline I did not use an HDR technique to enhance the colours. I did intensify the effect because when I looked at the image when I came home, it lacked the drama I experienced so I simply played with the picture till I felt that the image reflected my impression of the subject at that particular moment. I hope I answered your question.

APPROACHING THUNDER STORM

Returning from Ottawa we got caught in a very bad thunderstorm. I took this picture just outside of the small village of Cobden midway between Renfrew and Pembroke on the Transcanada highway. A few seconds after I made this image , the rain came down in sheets.

CALLANDER HERITAGE MUSEUM

Two windows at the small Callander Heritage museum are covered with two interesting little paintings based on old photographs. Shadows from the trees and the sunlight made this good image.

SLUSHIE

We are in the midst of a heat wave.Temperatures hover around 35�C. Add to that the humidity and you will be looking for any releaf like icecream.

EVENING

Sunset in the suburbs.I took this picture sitting in the kitchen. My intention was to simplify this picture to a few simple forms and still make a visually strong composition.

ABANDONED FARMHOUSE

I found this old abandoned farmhouse near Verner, Ontario. The texture of the weathered wood siding and the old doors was very good subject matter and i made some very nice images of this building.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

Just returned from a vivit to Ottawa. I took this picture in a small gallery downtown. What attracted me was the texture and patterns from the curtain and the reflections in the glass of the framed pictures.

THE MOMENT OF CLARITY, NORTH BAY

Even in the smaller cities and towns you find grafiti. Most of the work looks the same I would like to see more imagination displayed in the paintings.

FOREST 2

Another abstract image of the forest using camera movement. The only other change is that I inversed the picture to get a negative image with strong black lines. I like the feeling of motion in this picture.

FOREST

Yesterday I started to play with movement. I took some pictures in the wooded area of our garden and simply moved my camera during exposure. The results were more painterly than photographic but I liked some of the results.

OFFICE, MATTAWA RAILWAY STATION

Another view of the old railway station in Mattawa. This picture, if you removed the faxmachine, could have been taken in the fifties.

RAILWAY STATION, MATTAWA, ONTARIO

No passenger train stops at the old Mattawa railway station anymore but the building is still used by the railway company. I took this picture of the former waiting room through the window. The final image is not a double print but the reflection of the outside in the glass.

PEONY

The peonies in my wifes garden are just magnificent this Summer. I guess the mild Winter and the gentle thaw in the early Spring contributed to the great display of flowers this year.

BLACKSMITH SHOP

This is the blacksmith shop at Black Creek pioneer Village. What interested me was the back garden with its abundance of vegetation. I decided to first tone the image and then give it a handcoloured look to replicate a 19 century photographic view instead of using a straight colour photograph.

BLACK CREEK PIONEER VILLAGE

Today I visited Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto. It was a nostalgia trip because I had not been there for at least twenty five years. Its very nice. The trees and the gardens had matured giving the museum a lived in look. in one of the houses I photographed this rather strange arangement of stuffed birds. I made the picture in black and white to give it a nineteen century feeling.

A RAINY DAY

Its raining today. A nice day to stay inside and work on some pictures. This morning I passed a parked truck with a beautiful skull strapped on the front. Of course I had to take a picture because it has been a few days since I posted an image to my blog.

FARM LANDSCAPE NEAR NORTH BAY

Driving along a country road I saw the barn and it felt as if the whole scene came from the twenties or thirties. I knew the picture had to be in black and white but when I started working on the image I turned it into a infrared picture, which, to me, is reminiscent of a photographic style from those earlier decades.

ASTORVILLE, ONTARIO

On the weekend I visited a rural garage and farm machinery dealership with a friend, who was looking for some parts. I wandered around looking at all the old and new equipment. It was quite a collection of very ancient tractors. I made this picture but I had to separate the tractor from the confusing background. The easiest way was to make the image black and white while keeping the tractor in full colour. Here is the result.

RESTOULE, ONTARIO

Walking into the general store in Restoule I noticed the candy display. Just look at the colour and patterns from the boxes and candy bars. no wonder kids are enticed to eating so much of the sweet stuff.

EARLY MORNING LIGHT

Summer is definitely here. This week temperatures reached 33° C. and let me tell you it was hot. a morning mist provided for a romantic summer image.