GORD DOWNIE AND LEONARD COHEN MURAL, NORTH BAY

On Saturday I heard about a mural, which was painted to commemorate two of our most beloved and famous Canadian musicians and poets, Gord Downie and Leonard Cohen, in downtown North bay. So of course I was eager to see it and photograph the painting. It is quite a good contribution. However it is painted on a wall in a small walkway, which is a pity I would have liked to see it in a more visual space in the downtown area.

STREET ART, NORTH BAY

Sunday mornings are always my favourite time to walk around the city. There are very few cars to obstruct the scenes I am interested in. I had seen this little alley earlier in week but it was of course packed with cars. yesterday morning only this truck was left. Actually it makes the image more interesting because it adds visual impact to this image.

GREEN AND BLUE DOORS

On one of our latest photo wanderings we revisited a favourite place of ours, which is one of the marinas on the South shore of Lake Nipissing. The old boathouses offer a wealth of interesting subject matter, like these colourful and richly textured details of a few boat sheds.

FALL, THE SOUTH RIVER, ONTARIO

Another great photo trip on a glorious fall day. Dan, Gerry and I decided to retrace our last trip to Restoule Provincial Park. On the way we first stopped off at the South river in Nipissing. Walking down a little trail I came upon this interesting scene. The boat and the dock were in the shade which was quite blue in stark contrast with the sunlight trees across the river. It was still early enough to have a slight fog rising above the water. 

STORMY LAKE, RESTOULE PROVINCIAL PARK

Another picture from last Thursday's photo trip. This time a view from the dock in Restoule park. I decided to post a black and white image, which I like because , even though colour is missing, it still depicts the season.

RESTOULE PROVINCIAL PARK

Last Thursday, Dan, John and I made another photo tour in the area. It was a perfect picture taking day, although the colours were definitely not at their peak. However we visited a variety of our favourite places including of course the beautiful Restoule Provincial Park. All in all we had a great day.

END OF THE SEASON

It was a grey, rainy day yesterday, when I walked along the empty government dock. . The Chief Commanda will be finishing the Summer season this Thanksgiving weekend before moving to Callander, where it will go in dry dock for the Winter. 

REMEMBERING KODACHROME

Last weekend I made another visit to one of my favourite photography spots, the Treasure Mill in Powassan. When I was working on the pictures I started to think how I missed the beautiful quality of the now historic Kodachromes. I just loved the rich colours and strong blacks of these photographic jewels. So lately I have started to experiment trying to recreate that special quality of the Kodachrome slides.

EARLY FALL GARDEN

Fall arrived early this year. I took this picture yesterday and the colours were quite vivid, also the leaves are already falling. Of course we can't resist getting our cameras and record this yearly colour feast. Our garden is again a magnificent display of texture colour. Pity it last only a short time. 

SUNRISE

Walking to my mailbox, early this morning, I made this picture of the early morning sunrise. it was just a beautiful beginning of this late Summer day.

WALL BRACES, QUEBEC CITY, PQ

I made this picture in Quebec City on our return home. Of course it is always interesting wandering through the old city. Its fun taking pictures of the old buildings and picturesque streets but that does not interest me as much as looking for subjects you would normally not notice. Walking by this vacant lot I was intrigued by the two wall braces. It reminded me of the sculptures made by modern abstract sculptors like Anthony Caro for instance. It turned into a very interesting image.

HIGHWAY 630, EAU CLAIR, ON

Yesterday another photo trip with some of my friends. The weather was not great, actually at times it was quite wet with lots of rain. But of course we had a great day with good conversation, some good photography and a nice lunch in Mattawa. I chose this image of the highway to Kiosk
because the light and sky  made for a dramatic picture.  

LATE SUMMER MORNING, LAKE NIPISSING

What a splendid morning to go sailing on the lake. I simply had to take some pictures while on my daily walk. I hope we have many more days like this before the first signs of Winter appear.

MARTINIQUE BEACH PROVINCIAL PARK, NS

On our Nova Scotia trip, we visited Martinique Beach Provincial Park, which has the longest white sandy beach in the province. Of course everyone enjoyed this relaxing day on the beach. I like exploring the park where I found these interesting rock outcrops. So I had a wonderful time taking pictures. Here is one image I particularly liked. Beautiful light and textures reminding me of images by Edward Weston.

LOOKING FOR LOWER GAS IN PINTO - BRADFORD NAUGLER

I could not resist posting a picture of the marvelously whimsical wood sculpture by the well known Nova Scotia folk artist Bradford Naugler When we visited the Shelton House gallery in Mahone Bay and saw this sculpture, I knew that's what I would bring home with me. Oh there was another simply fantastic piece by the same artist but it was far too big. So regretfully I had to leave it at the gallery. Maybe something to bring back  next year, who knows. 

MAUD LEWIS HOUSE, HALIFAX, NS

If you are visiting Halifax in the next few weeks and you are interested in folk art, I would recommend you go and see the marvelous Maud Lewis exhibition at the Nova Scotia Gallery of Art.  If you are not familiar with Maud Lewis and her art, this is definitely the show to get acquainted with her life and work.

THE BERLIN BRIDGE ENTERING HALIFAX HARBOUR

On a grey misty morning, I am watching the ships entering large tankers and container ship entering the port of Halifax. When this large ship passed me I noticed the little pilot boat behind this huge ship. It was funny actually because it appeared as if the tiny boat was pushing  this Goliath into port.

ALEXANDER KEITH, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

We just returned from a wonderful holiday in Nova Scotia. We always enjoy visiting that great province. So here a picture of the famous brewer Alexander Keith. 

DOOR,TORONTO,ONTARIO

After posting yesterday's picture of the door in Field, Linda commented and asked "What is it about a picture of a door?! I always like them so much". She is right of course. Doors are very intriguing. Doors are used in religion, art and literature. For instance doors are prominent in literature, think Alice in Wonderland, the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis, The lord of the rings and harry Potter just to name a few titles. This door was located in a dark little passage in downtown Toronto. Thinking about Harry Potter I could imagine that if you stepped through this door you might find yourself back in mid nineteen century Toronto. Pity I never found out because it was locked of course and I did not know where to get a key.

DOOR, FIELD, ONTARIO

Lately I have not been happy with the pictures I made. So I started looking through my files and found some very good images, which I took on a little field trip with my friend Dan earlier in the Spring. we had been to the village of Field on an earlier trip. Both of us made some fine pictures and I liked this one of a door of a abandoned service station. What attracted me of course was the very painterly quality of this subject, in particular the subtle pastel tones and textures.