WINTER TRAIL

Saturday was a beautiful day forvtaking pictures. It almost felt as if Spring was getting closer. Four of us went out on a little walk along Chippewa creek. Without snow shoes, we had to stay on the track but, even with that restrain, we had a very good time. I think all of  came with some fine black and whit images.  

OLD RAILWAY STATION, MATTAWA

Just before lunch last Monday, we made a little detour to take some pictures of the old railway station in Mattawa. We have visited this building regularly over the years but now it seems that it is coming to its final stage of deterioration. Soon this building will probably disappear. 

WINTERLANDSCAPE, BONFIELD, ONTARIO

Another picture from our Monday morning trip. The light was perfect to create a strong graphic image with a rich variety of textures.

OH, PLEASE NO MORE SNOW

Yesterday John and I decided to go on a morning photo excursion. Neither of us had been interested in wandering around the area because it has been, and still is very cold. But we could not resist the beautiful fine Winter weather, so we left early. However when we started taking pictures, it was very cold, -17C, but we persisted and by lunch time we had some very nice pictures. All in all quite a good day. I could not resist posting his image because I think everybody is now ready for Spring and please nommore snow.

WINTER LANDSCAPE WITH HORSE

High time to post another picture. We have experience some pretty harsh Winter weather, so I have been looking at some older pictures in my files and yes have been scanning quite a few of my B&W and colur negatives. It is quite an interesting experience looking at some of the old files, which bring back memories of old photo trips from earlier times. Looking at your old files you have a different view of some of these older images and you ask yourself why didn’t I print this negative. Over time I learned that it is a good practice to take some time before processing a negative or digital file. 

PAKENHAM, ONTARIO

The last few days have been very cold, this morning our thermometer read -31 C. So definitely not a good time to go outside to take some fine pictures. Thinking about nice Summer weather, I found this picture I took a few years ago along the shores of the Mississipi river in Pakenham, Ontario. Of course it was a beautiful nostalgic landscape so remembering old pictures from around the beginning of the twentieth century I recreated a landscape photograph reminisent of style of that time.

OLD TRUCK, DETAIL

It has been a month since my last posting. My excuse is that we first had the busy Christmas holiday time, then I worked on some other projects and also the weather lately has not enticed me to go out and wander around looking for photographs and another reason of course is simply procrastination. So time to post a picture of my on going abstract photo project. I took this picture in November just before the Winter hibernation. The strong graphic impact of black and white images is still very important to me. Maybe because that is where I started when getting interested in the art of photography and I do miss working in the darkroom.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a great and happy new year.

CHRISTMAS AMARYLLIS

The tradition continues. Every year we have flowering amaryllises as our favourite Christmas flower and every year I take pictures of these magnificent flowers. Sometimes I photograph them in colour other times, like this year, I prefer the black and white interpretation. 

TABLE LAMPS

The few weeks before Christmas are certainly a busy time. So picture taking and posting has been placed on the back burner. But last week I walked into a local business and saw this display of table lamps. Of course I could not resit taking some pictures of these whimsical creations. 

EARLY SNOW FALL

Winter has definitely arrived early this year. Last Friday we had a heavy snowfall. In the morning I went to one of my favourite spots at Kinsmen Beach to take some pictures. I was looking for some very minimalist subjects like the these two trees. The background is not the sky but the dark water of the lake which has not frozen yet. A fast shutterspeed kept most of the snowflakes sharp while my large lens opening allows for the snowflakes close to the camera to be completely out of focus, just to add impact to the image.

NOVEMBER SNOW, BLACK FOREST, NORTH BAY

Yesterday we had another big November snowfall. So I took a little trip up the road to the Black Forest. Walking down one of the trails I saw the wind blow the snow from the trees. I liked the effect but of course I was too late to capture the beautiful grey tones swirling around the trees. I waited for quite a long time, of course it did not happen again and then a man came along the trail with his dog. We were talking when all of a sudden a windburst blew the snow right into the scene. I just snapped the shutter not certain I got my shot. Well I got lucky. Here is the result.

REMEMBRANCE DAY, 2018

Tomorrow is remembrance day and I thought that this poem by Wilfred Owens expresses the horror of war and in particular the anguish and pain of the first world war. A note on the  quote from the Roman poet Horace "It is sweet and fitting to die for your country"

PORTRAIT OF AN OLD TRUCK

Last Thursday Dan, Kirk and I made a return trip to the Burks Falls and Magnetawan area. A few years ago I had photographed an old truck on the road to Magnetawan and of course we had to stop to take pictures of this old work horse. Originally it was an old army truck, we had no idea how old it was and it certainly has not been used for many years. It certainly was a great subject for some good images.

ANTHROPOCENE, NATIONAL GALLERY CANADA

I took this picture two weeks ago after seeing the great exhibition Anthropocene at the National Gallery in Ottawa by the collective of Edward Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier. The show is very powerful and should be seen by anyone even slightly interested in the environment. Edward Burtynsky is not only one of the foremost landscape photographers but also a great environmentalist. I chose this image of elephant tusks. In the exhibition Jennifer Baichwald shows the burning of these tusks from 7000 elephants, which were confiscated from poachers by the Kenyan government. It is a  very powerful and emotional documentary. Two days ago, the WWF published their report The Living Planet 2018 document an astonishing decline since the nineteen seventies of 60% in the size of populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians largely linked to human activity. 
So, if you get a chance go and see this very important exhibition at the National Gallery or the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

RAILWAY STATION, SOUTH RIVER, ONTARIO

Another picture from our photo trip  to South River. I am still looking at the landscape pictures by Don McCullin and also at the photographs of another favourite photographer of mine Joseph Koudelka. Both of them are famous of course for their documentary work but they have made very powerful landscape photographs. Their images are quite dark,reflecting the strong emotional quality of their journalistic work. 

RAILWAY BRIDGE, SOUTH RIVER, ONTARIO

Yesterday was a great day for another photo trip. Gerry and I left early in the morning and decided to go to some of the small villages and towns South of North Bay. The weather started was very nice, a crisp sunny Fall day, but later in the afternoon the sky clouded over. Still we had some time before the rain started and ended up at the railway bridge in the village of South River. Most of the fall colours were gone so I concentrated on getting some good black and white pictures. Returning home both of us came back with some fine images.

ANOTHER VIEW, ABANDONED CHURCH

I think David might like this image of the old abandoned church too. My idea was to recreate a romantic, maybe even a nostalgic view of this old building. It is basically a straight toned print similar to the architectural prints of the nineteenth century photographers. It is a pity that this building is left to simply deteriorate. 

ABANDONED CHURCH REVISITED

After photographing this old abandoned church, I wanted to take pictures later in the season when the trees were changing colour. It was a little disappointing because there were not that many brightly coloured trees around. but I made some fine images. My idea was to create a picture reflecting the feeling of the passing of time. So I used a variety of techniques recreating the old sepia toned pictures with some added colour. The final image is reminiscent of the old autochrome photographs of the early twentieth century.

WAVES (BLACK AND WHITE)

This is the black and white version of yesterday's posting. It is more dramatic interpretation of the than the coloured image. This morning I was looking at some of Don McCullin's dark and somber  images from his forthcoming book Landscapes. His pictures are rich in textures and beautiful lighting. When working in black and white I always look for the same visual elements in my images, strong dramatic light and rich textures similar to McCullin's landscape work.