GRAFFITI, NORTH BAY

A different kind of image today. Over the years I have posted a variety of graffiti on my blog. I simply enjoy looking at interesting expressions in public places. Much of it is not very imaginative but I liked this one because of its complex composition. It has been made by a variety of people who simply keep adding their primitive scribbles to this wall, which makes for a very imaginative picture.

HAIR SALON, BURKS FALLS

It always amazes me when visiting  towns like Burks Falls, how many small local businesses still keep going. Actually in many of these places you will find some very interesting and ,yes inventive successful  companies you will find in these communities. I simply like these towns because they offer me great visually interesting subject matter like this scene, rich in textures and patterns.

MAGNETAWAN, ON

Yesterday my friend Dan and I went on a little photo tour in the Magnetawan area. We came across these covered trees, which someone tried to make them look like reindeer. With the small church in the background I thought they appeared to be some strange, alien guardians. Anyway it made for a fun picture.

CUMBERLAND, ONTARIO

This picture is for Krys and Paul, who obviously enjoy old architectural buildings like this restaurant in Cumberland. David Ernst will enjoy the image because he truly likes rich black and white pictures. I think this building dates from between  1880 and 1890. Personally I find it somewhat overdone and obviously some changes have been made but the overall architecture has been largely preserved.

OAKSTREET, NORTH BAY

Yesterday morning I made this picture of Oakstreet. Of course I made some adjustments by applying tonal mapping to give more impact to this  image.

CHIK GEAR, NORTH BAY, ON

 An empty store in downtown North Bay. I simply liked the textures and shapes of this sad little place.

GROCERY STORE, CUMBERLAND, ON

One photographer, whose work I like, is Ralph Greenhill.  His great interest was photographing the exteriors of the old historic buildings. A subject matter I also enjoy. Its a pity that Greenhill is now largely forgotten. I picked up some great books on old historical buildings all across this province. Hopefully someone will curate a n exhibition of his work.Check out some of his images on the site I linked to his name.

THE FIRST SIGN OF SPRING

Ah, the Winter is coming to the end. The first sign for me is the removal of the ice fishing huts from the lake. Soon the snow will be gone and the warm weather returns.

PARKING LOT, OTTAWA

 

I just returned from another family visit in Ottawa. It would have been great if I could have gone on a photo tour but the weather was just atrocious. On Thursday it started to snow which turned to rain and did it ever, Friday was basically the same weather condition. The rest of the time it was very dark and overcast. So here is a picture I made in a supermarket parking lot. At least the snow is slowly disappearing.

ABSTRACT, BURKS FALLS, ON

Another one of my found abstract artworks. I will be out of town till Tuesday so on my return I hope to have some new images. See you next week.

BUSSTOP, NORTH BAY

We received quite a bit of snow yesterday. Obviously Winter decided that teh season was not over yet. Anyway this morning I passed this busstop and thought that it would make a nice image for my posting today. It was also time to satisfy our black and white fans so here it is.Enjoy.

WAITING FOR SPRING

Today it looks as if Spring will never arrive. We are getting quite a bit of snow, maybe that's an understatement, we are getting lots of it and you almost despair Winter will never end. I remember a book by Andre Norton, whith a story where the season lasted seven years. I hope that this Winter will be gone in less than seven weeks! Anyway this is just apictures of the trails near our house in April. So this image reminds me of the beatiful walks in early Spring. Seeing the first new plants and flowers appear between the still leafless trees.

WINDOW, HUNTSVILLE, ON

One other picture I enjoyed making in Huntsville, is this image of a window. Iliked the contrast of the warm red colur with the cold icicles, covering a plant box with artificial plants.

WALL, HUNTSVILLE, ON

As I explained yesterday, I did not take many pictures in Huntsville but I did photograph some marks on a wall. Initially it did not look very promising when I  viewed it on my screen. I decided it had possibilities so I started with intensifying the colour. It still didn't work so I then used a technique called  tonal mapping. This brought out texture now it looked much better. Simple dodging and burning further enhanced the image and finally I turned the picture into a vertical and this is the result.

STOREFRONT, BURKS FALLS, ON

It was a beautiful sunny day today so we decided to take a little tour. We drove as far as Huntsville, where we had a very nice lunch but I did not get many images. On our way back we stopped in Burks Falls where I had more luck. I liked the strong colours of this little storefront and I definitely will return here because right next to it was another store painted in a bright pink however I could not photograph them together because the street was lined with cars. I guess I will have to return on a weekend.