SHELTER, PORTLAND, OR

I could not resist taking another picture of this shelter when I came home on the train. The late afternoon sun shining through the glass created a nice moody image.

ALONG THE TRAIL, ECOLA STATE PARK

Another picture along the trail. It was getting later in the afternoon when I made this image. I slightly underexposed the picture and enhanced the the mood by adding grain.

ECOLA STATE PARK, OREGON

After Christmas day, it was a nice change to go to the coast for some whale watching. The sea was quite choppy but the weather was very nice for a change.We walked the beautiful trails of the Ecola State Park near Cannon Beach, OR. I took some very fine pictures , a few of which, I will post this week.

FLYING OVER THE ROCKIES

Of course the days before Christmas are busy. I sill had some time to work with some images I did from the plane flying over the rockies. I liked the abstarct compositions wen I turned the images to black and white. Particularly the strong shadows and textured highlights appealed to me.

WINTER, NEAR WATERLOO, ON

Again it has been awhile since my last posting. I have been very busy and will be spending the Christmas holidays in Portland, Oregon. here the Winter is just very damp.So here is a picture showing the Winter I am more familiar with. The image was made near Waterloo, Ontario. I will be posting for the next few weeks from Oregon. So for the next few weeks, I will not be posting any snow pictures.

WINTER AT BERT'S

It has been a very busy week for me so my apologies for not posting more images. Winter has definitely arrived. I made this image at my friend Bert's property. I took the image with the Olympus C8080, made it a black and white image then added the colour to the tree.Hope you like it.

NATIONAL GALLERY, OTTAWA

I really enjoy visiting the National Gallery in Ottawa. The austere architecture of the building enhances the artwork. The image recalls Piet Mondrians angular, mathematical paintings. I deliberately made the image in black and white the emphasize the lines and surfaces.

SUNSET PARK, NORTH BAY

This image is for Kelly who enjoys my pictures. Its always a pleasure to hear that people enjoy my blog. I will not be posting for a few days because I will be out of town till Wednesday.

TRIBUTE TO RALPH GIBSON

Yesterday I received the new book by Ralph Gibson, Brazil. It is stunning. Ralph Gibson is truly one of the great masters of photography. So this image as a salute to his work.

WINTER BARN

The remnants of this old barn formed a interesting pattern of "windows" looking out on a wintery landscape.

FIRST TASTE OF WINTER

This picture is for Jo-Ann, who likes my black and white images. Winter has arrived. This week we received our first load of snow. Of course we like having snow for the Christmas season but after about three months of the white stuff we will be looking forward to Spring again.Meanwhile I hope you will enjoy my Winter images.

REEDS, LAKE NIPISSING

A last image of Lake Nipissing before it is frozen over for the next few months. This picture has the feel of an etching and reminds me of one of my favourite books by the Japanese haiku poet Matsuo Basho "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" Of course comparison is highly personal and subjective.

OLD BARN

I am always attracted to old barns. When passing a farm I always look for the barn. This one is going to be demolished in the very near future. I guess this picture will be one of the last images of this old building.

FALL STORM

Its been a few days since I posted an image. But I am back again and will post more regularly. This picture is for Rachel who sent me avery nice email. She is interested in some technical details. Well I took this picture yesterday on the shore of Lake Nipissing. The wind was very strong. Of course at this time of the year you can expect that. It was impossible to mount the camera on a tripod so it was shot handheld with my Olympus C8080, lensopening F8 and a shutterspeed of 1/250. Hope this is what you are looking for Rachel.

NEAR CALLANDER, ONTARIO

A crisp afternoon walk. The ice on a puddle had been broken by a cyclist burt The curve, the shape and the shadows of the trees just appealed to me.It is always interesting to me how subject and light make me stop and take the picture. Home I looking at the image I try to understand what moved me emotionally to take the picture.

ALONG THE WATER FRONT

Yesterday, unlike today, was a beautiful late Fall day. Walking along the North Bay waterfront I took this picture of a branch on a sandbank. I thought it made for an interesting image. Enjoy.

LAKE NIPISSING, NORTH BAY, ON

A dramatic picture of Lake Nipissing. Interesting how a camera angle can change the perception of a scene. The light was just right with a dark stormy sky which gave this scene an almost epic connotation. This last word is for my friend Rob.

NOVEMBER

November, the dark month, I like the grey and browns of the month of November. It also brings us the first signs of Winter to come. This image symbolizes those short dark days of the end of autumn.

MORNING LIGHT

It has been awhile since I posted an image. Other commitments have kept me from giving some attention to my blog. This picture is for Jo-ann who posted a very thoughtful comment. I am glad she enjoys my images. I have been busy printing black and white pictures so continuing in black and white a picture full of subtle greys accentuated with strong blacks.Hope you like it.

FALL TAMARACK, NORTHERN ONTARIO

The Fall is showing its final colour. Yellow. I especially like the tamarack, dresed in pure gold. This simple scene is very typical of Canada at this time of the year. Pity the season is so short.

SHADOWS AND REFLECTIONS

I am always looking for interesting images. Walking into the kitchen I noticed how the reflections and shadows from different kitchen utensils made a very interesting and intriguing composition.

LAKE NIPISSING, GARDEN VILLAGE, ONTARIO

On a little phototrip yesterday I made this mage of Lake Nipissing. Romantic? Sure but why not. Again I prefer black and white for this image. The picture reflects the distinct quiet Northern Ontario landscape.

ATWOOD MEN'S CLUB, ATWOOD, ONTARIO

Driving through the small town of Atwood in Southern Ontario, I noticed this peculiar building called the Atwood Men's club. I am very curious about this club. Anyway this picture is for my friend Rob who is interested in seeing the photograph.

TREE, NEAR WATERLOO, ONTARIO

Driving along a country road on a dark Fall day I noticed these strangly shaped maple trees. Starkly outlined against the grey flat sky this tree made a graphically interesting image.

SAILBOAT, CALLANDER, ONTARIO

I made the image in colour and black and white. I think the black and white is visually stronger. Maybe my preference for black and white was the deciding factor why I selected this image.

MORNING FROST, NORTH BAY, ONTARIO

The first sign of the coming Winter.

GRAFITI, PORTLAND, OR

Of course in most cases the photograph becomes far more interesting than the splashes of paint on a surface somewhere. This picture looks more like a painting than a photographic image. I like it because of the painterly effect.

BUS STOP, BEAVERTON, OR

To continue with my grafiti theme, here is a busstop with a very delightful "grafiti" but here the busstop has been designed by a professional artist. One of many who have made the different public transport stations in Portland into an open air art gallery.

FOUND ART, PORTLAND, OR

I found this image on the side of a garbage container in Portland. I am always on the lookout for neat images and grafiti. I don't mind good grafiti artists. Most of them are not very creative because they copy the same stuff over and over but when I look at all the visual polution created by businesses then why shouldn't individuals express themselves.

SIDEWALK, HILLSBORO, OREGON

Pavement and leaves, simplifying the subjects to some very basic essentials can produce visually strong images.

FALL IN NORTHERN ONTARIO

I took this picture quite a few years ago. Its still one of my favourite Fall images. Maybe because of the strong exuberant colours or it just makes me happy walking through the country on a beautiful autumn day. Whatever it is I like it.

WOODSTOCK, ONTARIO

Walking through an old grave yard in Woodstock, Ontario I could not resist taking this picture. . I took the picture in colour but I felt that it worked better in sepia because of the nature of the subject which looked very Victorian.

FALL COLOURS, NORTH BAY, ON

Fall colours keep me under their spell. No wonder so many Canadian artists were atracted tot this splurge of colour.

FALL MAPLE, ONTARIO

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends Marsha and Rob Greenfield. Rob disaggreed with me about my comment that Fall pictures tend to become cliche. But as I said I still love taking pictures this time of year and I certainly feel that the Fall, and maybe the Winter season, identify the image of Canada.

OUR BACK YARD, NORTH BAY, ONTARIO

Fall is always a beautiful season. Every time I marvel at the blaze of colour. Of course images become cliche but every year I take a few shots. Its a great time for walking in the country. This view is in our back yard.

FLIGHT AC192 - VANCOUVER TO TORONTO

Back home again. I spent a few weeks in Oregon. Of course I hada great time but its nice to be home again and return to working on my images. I took this quick picture late in the evening somewhere over Western Ontario.

SUNSET, SEASIDE, OR

LANDSCAPE NEAR VERNER, ON

A beautiful cloudy sky and the scene reminds me of John Steinbeck's book the Grapes of Wrath. I will not be able to post for a few days but will be back next week.

PARKING LOT, NORTH BAY, ON

One last night image. I like this picture because of the colour. The red lines give this image a slightly abstract feel. The markings on the ground add perspective.

STORE SIGN, MAINSTREET, NORTH BAY

Another image from my excursions on Main street. What makes night photography so interesting is the variety of lighting sources which create different moods in the picture.

HAIR BIZZARE, NORTH BAY, ON

The two dimensional view of this image shows a composition of rectangles. The light and the colour give the image a forlorn impression.

UNION TAXI, NORTH BAY, ON

Continued last night with my series of night images of North Bay. I started this project many years ago and felt it was time to see how things have changed.I think the city has become bleaker. The downtown looks run downa situation you will find in many small towns and cities all over North America.

HYDRO DAM, SOUTH RIVER, ON

I enjoy making panoramic images. The pictures give a different feel to a scene because of the perspective. In this image I used three negatives.

ABANDONED CHURCH, NORTH BAY

For some reason this picture of an old abandoned church gives me a strong feeling of Summer. I sepia toned the image and then handcoloured the image. Actually I did all that on the computer.

VIRGINIA CREEPER

This picture is for my sister- in-law Addy and her friend Keitha who love painting. Hope they enjoy this image.