SURPRISE !

It definitely was a surprise to see so much snow this early in the season. It turned out to be a very nice day. It was sunny most of the morning so I made a few pictures in our garden. The red of the early sun contrasted nicely with the blue shadows. This image  definitely more interesting in colour than the black and white rendition of the same picture.

RAILWAY TRACK, NORTH BAY

Today was another snowday. It did not snow much but just enough to create some interesting textures. I would have liked to see a little more snow to create a stronger contrast but I am happy with the final result of this landscape. The emphasize should be on the track of course so I made a dark print with almost no texture in the background. I was inspired by the landscapes of the Chech-French photographer Josef Koudelka, who published a great portfolio called Chaos with very graphic black and white panoramic images from mainly Eastern Europe.

FORMER ST.RITA'S CHURCH, NORTH BAY

A detail from the former St. Rita's church. I took this picture on one of our city walks. Again, it was a wet and dark day. Walking around the old church I looked for some graphic elements because I decided that image should be in black and white. I think by simplifying the picture to just lines and texture, this would be visually the strongest solution.

UNTITLED,NORTH BAY

Dave, you might enjoy this image as well as my earlier posting of the container. Initially I thought of a title like Dessert Heat but that would be too obvious so I left it untitled.

ALONG HIGHWAY 17

yesterday we went on alittle trip to Sudbury. No I did not atke pictures but on the way back I could not resist taking this picture of the truck in front of us. It was a dark rainy day and I simply wanted to recreate that dark Fall day in this image. I think it worked well.

CONTAINER, NORTH BAY

I could have named this "Abstract" or some other fancy title. But actually it is city landscape art. Actually I really enjoy finding this type of street art.

WINTER ARRIVED EARLY

Yes, winter has arrived early. As I mentioned before our first snowfall came on Halloween and here it is still staying on the ground, but it looks that it will be gone by the beginning of the week. I certainly hope so because I am not looking forward to a long Winter like we had last year.

WAITING

Yesterday afternoon I pickup some groceries at a local supermarket. Coming out of the store I saw this little fellow waiting for his or her owner. I thought about the wonderful dog photographs by the great American photojournalists Elliott Erwitt I am certain he would have loved this well dressed little dog.

GONE SOUTH

We had our first snowfall of the season today. Walking on Fraser  Street today I passed this little, very colourful, subdivision. All the house were empty and of course I knew that the owners were quite smart and had already left for warmer areas like Florida, Mexico or even further.

WELCOME !

Getting ready for Halloween. Tomorrow evening all the ghost and goblins will be out on the annual  trick or treat ritual and , even though it seems we are in for quite a bit of snow, I am certain that it will again be a very memorable event.

ABANDONED

Yesterday I promised to post a picture of the limousine but of course there was none except this old abandoned truck. The late afternoon light gave this scene I richness in colour which I liked. I also would like to promote a new blog by my fellow photographer and friend Dan. I recommend his site because he is a very fine landscape photographer and I am certain you will enjoy his images.

ANOTHER GREAT VACATION SPOT

Cyn G commented on my last posting and obviously likes my choice of holiday spots. Well here is another great place you might enjoy. Ken D wondered where do I find these places, obviously they don't advertise so I simply find them through word of mouth recommendations by my friends.

ABANDONDED HOUSE REVISITED, RESTOULE,ON

In September, 2006 I had photographed this old abandoned house Well, on our little trip I revisited the place and found that the house was reverting back to nature. it looked pretty sad. Soon this image will be the last record of this house.

TWO RED DOORS, NIPISSING, ON

Stopping at a marina in the village of Nipissing, I made some pictures of the boat sheds. The contrast of the red doors and the grey metal of the walls made a otherwise mundane subject into a more interesting image.

APHRODITE OF THE NORTH

On our recent photo trip, John took us to an abandoned house. This house was constructed of concrete and reminded me of the wartime bunkers in Holland and Germany. Inside one of the rooms we found this completely dressed mannequin but without her arms so I named her Aphrodite of the North.

REMEMBERING TOM THOMSON AND THE GROUP OF SEVEN

Yesterday I went with Dan and John on a photo field trip along the country roads. There was still quite a bit of colour and this scene reminded me of the paintings of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. It is a scene which reflects the image of Ontario.But, While the paintings of the Group of Seven are very good, the problem for me is that their art does not really challenge you. I refer to their work as comfort food for the soul.

FALL, SIXTH AVENUE, NORTH BAY

Rain, rain and more rain but the colurs are of course magnificent. Yesterday afternoon I decided to go and take some final Fall images in the downtown area. The predominant colour now is yellow. I liked this very texture and pattern rich cityscape and still not all trees and shrubs have changed yet. all in all quite a romantic image.

A DARK AND WET FALL DAY

The last few days were weather wise very wet and dark. Actually it is very nice to get great Fall colour images but when I walking along the shores of the lake I made this one simple image. I liked it because of the limited colour range, which resulted in a picture reflecting the mood of these dark Fall days.

FIELDS, FOUR MILE LAKE ROAD

Maybe not as visually spectacular than yesterdays posting but I just like this quiet late Fall landscape.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2014

Its a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend. The lanbdscape colour is now predominantly yellow. reminding me of Vincent van Gogh, who loved the colour yellow.

REFLECTION

This time not a Fall image full of colour but a black and white image of a reflection but very rich in complex forms  and textures.

JUKEBOX, FOR K

This image is for K We had a great week together and we enjoyed breakfast at this traditional diner here in North Bay. So I hope you like it.

END OF THE PARTY

The Summer party is definitely over. The trees are bare and the remains of the party form a thick colorful carpet. Soon the first snow of the Winter season will arrive,  a season, which offers other opportunities for photographers, especially for those of us who like to create black and white images.

ANOTHER VIEW, SUNSET COVE, LAKE NIPISSING

I could not resist posting another image from my trip to Sunset Cove. It almost looks like a theater set. I guess its the light and the dark sky, which are the elements that create this dramatic landscape.

SUNSET COVE, LAKE NIPISSING

It was a very pleasant sunny Fall day, when we went on a little photo tour but by the time we came to one of my favourite spots along the shores of Lake Nipissing, it the grey clouds started to move in. I still made a few interesting images like this rather romantic landscape.

FIRE PIT WITH RED BENCH

It rained hard overnight, leaving most of the trees in our garden almost bare. Of course on overcast days the colours are rich, which is a great time to take some Fall photographs. I liked the bright red coloured bench and the dark circle of the fire pit against the pattern of yellow leaves.

FALL FENCE, DOWNTOWN, NORTH BAY

Walked by this fence this afternoon and the colours and textures reminded me of a very beautiful abstract tapestry. Of course this will only last a few days but every year it will reappear in a different variety of colurs and patterns.

FALL, TROUT LAKE, NORTH BAY

Last week a few friends and I went on an afternoon photo trip. It started out with an overcast sky, which cleared within an hour. I did like this scene with the dock and boat. It made for a very good image with a very narrow colour palette reflecting the coming season. 

FIRST FALL COLOURS

This morning I woke up seeing the first blaze of Fall colours in our garden and, like every year, I go through the ritual of photographing this yearly colour feast. It is actually amazing to see this magnificent riot of colour, which for me, as an immigrant to this country, is one of the defining Canadian symbols. 

FINAL DAYS OF SUMMER

Summer is slowly merging into the Fall season. Walking through the old North bay neighbourhoods you start to notice the the first signs of colour in the trees but the gardens are still displaying are wide variety of flowers. Soon the gardeners will be busy getting everything ready for Winter.

UNION JACK, NORTH BAY, ONTARIO

I was surprised to see a Union Jack flying from the balcony of one of the old stately homes here in North Bay. Well it is of course a very historic day for the united Kingdom and whatever the outcome of the vote in Scotland it does spell the symbolic end of the British empire.

FORT HENRI, KINGSTON, ONTARIO

I agree with David Ernest I do like the square format. I loved using my old Rolleiflex and I am happy that the Rolleiflex is back in production.However the price is quite steep, you are looking at about C$10.000, so I don't think I will be buying a new TLR. This image I made at Fort Henri. Its a great site for making this type of architectural pictures.

END OF SUMMER LANDSCAPE

The weather, this Summer has certainly not been great. We had lots of rain and very little sunshine. But every year at the end of the season I love the magnificent riot of colours from the great variety of wild flowers. Of course it also means that Fall will bring its own palette of reds and yellows.

PATIO, GATINEAU, P.Q.

When walking by this patio, I did not think this would be a great place to wile away a nice afternoon, reading a book or simply enjoying the surroundings. I did like the the abstract quality of the composition.

MERMAID, KINGSTON, ONTARIO

Walking downtown Kingston, I spotted this beautiful mermaid in an antique store window. She was beautiful and, if I had the money or the space I would have loved to purchase her. I guess she came either from an old carousel or some other fair attraction.

A GLORIOUS MORNING, NORTH BAY

What a beautiful late Summer day. Early in the morning I walked out to pick up my daily paper and the light was simply perfect. So I went inside to get my camera and just at that moment one of my neighbours came down the road on his bicycle. It could not be better. The cyclist was the strong element giving the image a strong visual impact.

BLUE AND YELLOW, KINGSTON, ONTARIO

Dusk, we are on our way to a small restaurant at the end of this passageway. What struck me was the strong colours of the blue day light on the wall contrasting with the yellow light inside the tunnel.

MURNEY TOWER, KINGSTON, ONTARIO (Revised)

The Murney tower , built in 1846, was part of the British defense system in Kingston. What attracted me were the architectural details of this tower. This tower is open to the public and is actually a quite interesting small museum. 

HISTORICAL HOUSE, KINGSTON, ONTARIO

First I like to thank everybody for all the birthday wishes I received on Facebook, email and telephone. We just returned from a wonderful visit to Ottawa including a two day sidetrip to the wonderful site of Kingston. So here is a small reminder of this trip, one of the many historical houses in the downtown area.The weather was great although you started to feel that fall is just around the corner.  

THE POWASSAN TREASURE MILL, POWASSAN, ONTARIO

Yesterday I visited the Powassan Treasure Mill, which is a vintage and antique store. Its a great place to brows and for photographers a great place to make some great pictures full of colour, textures and patterns. If you get achance go and visit this interesting store.

LAKE BERNARD, SUNDRIDGE, ONTARIO

When I looked at the initial picture,  the famous image The Big white Cloud by Edward Steichen came to mind. He made that picture in 1903 and is quite dark. In this image I wanted to keep more detail but I toned it to recreate the mood of the ealy landscape image by Steichen.

GETTING READY FOR THE HARVEST FESTIVAL

Yesterday we visited Screaming Heads in Burks Falls. There was quite a bit of activity going on and the owner told us that they were getting ready for the Harvest festival. Now it became clear to me what the function was of the various domes and pyramids on the property. These were the frames for the temporary tents where a variety of performances take place. I never realized the size of this festival. It definitely is not a traditonal harvest festival taking place during September and early October. So check out the festival's website to get an idea of this truly fantastic event.

PEGGY'S COVE, NOVA SCOTIA

Peggy's Cove is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Nova Scotia. At sunset everybody watches the sun set behind the lighthouse. But what many people miss is the very interesting rocky landscape around that same lighthouse.I simply prefer the beautiful shapes and textures of the rocks.

WHALE BONE, PEGGY'S COVE, NS

Looking for some negatives I came across a few images from a trip to Nova Scotia. I made this picture at Peggy's Cove. It was a difficult negative to print because of the low subject contrast. The grey whale bone was left against a grey rock. So I scanned the original negative and using a few image programs, the result was a visually quite interesting picture.

DEPARTMENT STORE, CHINA TOWN, TORONTO

This image is just pure colour, patterns and textures, which reflect the noise and the vibrancy of this neighbourhood in Toronto.

LIQUOR STORE, NORTH BAY

Stopping off at the liquor store on a warm Summer day I took a picture of this simple cityscape. By making some adjustments, which gave this image a visually interesting twist.

OLD COTTAGE, NORTH BAY

Visited some friends yesterday who are staying at a very picturesque cottage here in North Bay. The place is quite old and simply has character, which reflect its history. It is a great place to make some very good visually interesting images.

LINES

Waiting to cross the street yesterday I noticed the patterns of the black telephone and hydro lines contrasting with the strong white markings on the road. It reminded me of some of the city images of Walker Evans.

OLD MAPLE TREE, DOWNTOWN NORTH BAY

On my walks in the downtown neighbourhoods of North Bay, I am always fascinated by the old trees in the front of the older homes. It is not only the shapes and textures but also the visual signs of its natural life.

ANGUISH

I photographed this strange sculpture, which I simply titled anguish. Because the scene looked very "Victorian" I simply made an image using that nineteen century hand coloured photographic process, reflecting that specific period character.