POND, LAURIER WOODS

Noon on a Summer day is not the best time to take landscape photographs. The light is harsh creating strong contrasts in the scene. But that of course is the challenge to still make a visually interesting image. In this case I concentrated on textures, colour and reflections. I don't know if it really worked but for me it has the feeling of a warm Summer day.

LAURIER WOODS, NORTH BAY

Yesterday I took a walk through the Laurier Woods, a conservation area in the the city of North bay. It had been a long time since I visited the trails. The weather was glorious and I simply enjoyed the walk. I met a few hikers and even a group of mothers who were enjoying a picnic with their children on the trails.This conservation area is definitely worth a visit.

WATSON'S GARAGE, CUMBERLAND, ONTARIO

In this image I wanted to recreate a vintage picture of the nineteen thirties. An impression of a Summer day in less busy times. of course it is only a nostalgic impression of  an imaginary peaceful time. 

MER BLEUE BOG, OTTAWA

Last Sunday we visited the Mer Bleue Bog conservation area in Ottawa. Its a magnificent nature reserve in the greater Ottawa area. It definitely is worth further exploration and if you have never visited the bog I would urge you to go there.

PRINT SHOP, CUMBERLAND HERITAGE VILLAGE MUSEUM

I have been away in the last few weeks but again it is time to post some fresh  images. This picture I made last week at the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum It is a small museum but it also is one of my favourite places to visit.  Walking into the museum printshop is quite a nostalgic experience for me. A long time ago when I was studying at the art college in my then home town I had to take a course in printing, which I enjoyed very much. But just like photography, the printing profession has changed also. Gone are the days of the old lead type and letter presses everything is now all  computer generated. Luckily the skills are still preserved by artist crafts people keep producing beautiful hand crafted books using the old printing methods. 

JEFF McKENZIE'S GARDEN, NORTH BAY

Yesterday on our walk we came across this wonderful downtown garden. The owner of this garden , Jeff McKenzie, invited us to come and have a closer look. Jeff has done a tremendous amount of work since moving to the property last October. Of course Marianne being an avid gardener, she and Jeff were very busy talking about their hobby. This gave me some time to spend my time taking pictures. It is always difficult photographing a garden because you are trying to translate a three dimensional scene into atwo dimensional image. But I think the picture gives a fairly good translation of Jeff's creation.

BEE TRUCK, POWASSAN, ONTARIO

Last Thursday Dan and I went again on a photo trip in the Powassan area. We quite often make little excursions to this familiar country side.  When driving along Alsace road we spotted this truck wreck but we did not stop. But yesterday I remembered the colourful old vehicle and returned to take a few pictures. The light was just right without strong shadows and highlights. I liked the various textures of the trees and the grasses. The colour contrast between the truck and the green foliage worked well   in this composition.

BIRD HOUSE, TORONTO

 On this cold wet day its a good time to look at some images from my files. I took this picture of a bird house some time ago in Toronto. I forgot all about it because at the time I had other images I preferred but I do like the reflections in the store window which give this picture a mythical quality.

WAVE, KINSMEN BEACH, NORTH BAY

I still have not been taking many pictures lately. We are busy with the garden so I have not been on many photo trips. however a few days ago I did go down to one of my favourite Lake Nipissing beaches, the Kinsmen Beach. What I had in mind was to do a series of images on waves.I like the final result of this first picture and will develop a series of images from the pictures I took that afternoon. 

TRUCK, ANNUAL VINTAGE CAR SHOW, NORTH BAY

Yesterday my old colleague and avid collector Joe, gave me a beauiful book on the history of photography. Looking at the old colour images I thought that it would be interesting to make some of my pictures from last Saturday's car show into vintage colour photographs reflecting the period.

MAINSTREET ANNUAL CAR SHOW, 2016

Yesterday I visited the annual car show on Mainstreet. This year there were a much larger amount of cars. Of course all the cars were beautifully restored but I liked this old beaten up truck, which was obviously "restored" to this decrepit state by its owner. So reflect this old neglected view I made my image look like a picture from the depression era. Similar to the images by the photographers, who worked for the Farm security Administration in the thirties and forties of the last century.

OLD BARBER CHAIR

Yesterday I posted a picture of the JD Barbershop here in North Bay. I forgot to complete the information about the new barber chairs, which replaced the old "antique" chairs. One of these old chairs will be kept as decoration. So here an image of that chair. I think the American photographer William Eggleston would appreciate this barbershop interior.

GETTING A HAIRCUT

It has been quite awhile since my last posting. But yesterday I went to my favourite barbershop to get my hair cut. In my experience its definitely the best barbershop in town. Actually I posted a picture of this shop in October 2010. A few weeks ago the old barber chairs were replaced with new chairs and  an extra chair was added. While waiting I kept myself busy taking a few pictures. 

CEDAR GROVE, ANOTHER VIEW

I could not resist posting another view of the cedar grove. What I like in this image is the illusion of movement. Every time I visit this small cedar forest I enjoy the sculptural quality of the trees, which seem to be taking part in some natural dance performance.

CEDAR GROVE, VILLE MARIE, PQ

What a beautiful day it was yesterday, when my friend Gerry and I traveled to Ville Marie to take some pictures at the site of the old Fort Témiscamingue in Ville Marie. It was very quiet because the site is not open yet. this of course was ideal for taking pictures. for me the most interesting section is the old cedar grove. I simply love the almost mystical atmosphere of the grove. The magnificent shapes of the trees and the light accentuating the textures and form of the trees.   

DUCHESNAY FALLS DRY

I took this picture at the height of Summer when Duchesnay Falls is almost dry, in contrast to the the Spring and fall when the water cascading down the falls is truly spectacular. But I do like the rich textures and shapes of the bare rocks of the dry falls.

FUCHSIA

When Linda Large asked me to post some landscapes from my files, it started a train of thought. Ansel Adams compared photography to music. He explained that the negative is the score and the print is the execution of this score. I think he was absolutely right because if we have a negative or a RAW file for that matter we can always go back and re-interpret the score. So when I scanned a series of images from a fuchsia I made some very different images then I made in 1982, the year I took the pictures. 

LANDSCAPE, SOUTH RIVER

Another classic black and white interpretation of the hydro dam in South River. Again its an older image and this landscape has changed since extensive upgrades to the dam some years ago. 

ABANDONED HOUSE, NEAR VERNER

Linda Large asked me if I could publish some landscape images from my files. well here is one of an old house in the Verner area. I made this picture in 1985 when Jack Shepherd and I were roaming the area looking for good  photo subjects. This house was of course ideal it had rich textures, patterns and shapes. The light was excellent and as abonus a very beautiful sky filled with clouds.

VINTAGE MOTEL AND COTTAGE SIGNS, NORTH BAY

Last week I bought the book "Nipissing" by Françoise Noël. Most of the books on local history lack focus and are simply like a family picture album. This book however I like its well written and above all well designed.  In one chapter Françoise describes a trip along Lakeshore Drive, which in the thirties had many motels and cottages. Several of these places are still in business and a few even have vintage 1950's signs. I should have taken these photographs in the 1970's because, over the years, quite a few of these signs have disappeared. Anyway hers are the most interesting signs, I decided to re-create the feeling of the times in retro fil images.