WINTER TRAIL, NORTH BAY, ONTARIO

Every day I snowshoe into the woods. Literature and art influence the way I experience landscapes. This abstact image reminds me of some of Jackson Pollock's paintings or the large abstracts by the Canadian artist Riopelle.

SNOW PRINCESS

Walking down the little trail across from our home I saw this snowcovered pine. I thought our six year old granddaughter would immediately recognize the tree as a magical winter princess. So todays image is for Kaitlyn.

DEAD MEN FROZEN IN ICE 3

My apologies for not posting but I was away for the weekend and did not have access to a computer. Kelly obviously liked the pictures but wondered if I had manipulated the pictures in Photoshop. Yes I did, in the first image I enhanced a red reflection in the sky while in the other images I simply darkened the sky and, using curves, enhanced the overall colour. I hope this answers your question Kelly.

DEAD MEN FROZEN IN ICE 2

I promised a few more images of Andrew van Schie'sproject. Here is a picture of the large column of ice.

DEAD MEN FROZEN IN ICE

Last year the North Bay artist Andrew van Schie created an art project on Lake Nipissing. It consisted of two columns of blocks of ice human like figures inside. It was named "Dead Men Frozen in Ice".This is an overview of the artwork. In the next few days I will post a few more images. Let me know what you think.

WINTER STORM

Winter is back. This morning a winterstorm was putting more snow down. I had to go to the store to pick up some groceries. Streets, roads and parking lots were empty. Its a good time to stay indoors with a good book sitting in front of the fireplace.

WINTER TRAIL, NORTH BAY, ON

We are enjoying a very nice, mild winter here in Northern Ontario. Today our thermometer showed 12°C. something I have not experienced since moving here. Its fun to go out snowshoeing on the trails behind our house. This image reminds me of the winter paintings by many of the group of seven artists.

OLD IRON BRIDGE, MENNONITE COUNTRY, ON

Driving through Mennonite country, south of Waterloo, Ontario, I came upon this old iron bridge. It was a nice snowy day which made for a nice wintery image.

TROUT LAKE, ONTARIO

Late afternoon sun behind a fallen tree creates an interesting image of irregular pattern and texture.

LANDSCAPE NEAR RESTOULE, ONTARIO

Winter has returned. Its snowing again. I prefer this over all the rain we had recently.

NEAR POWASSAN, ONTARIO

As a black and white photographer I enjoy taking pictures in the winter. The images, like this landscape, are very stark and graphic. Almost like pen and ink drawings.

MAGICAL WINTER GARDEN

Freezing rain turned into snow yesterday.Our backyard transformed into a magical Winter garden. I made the picture with my Olympus C8080W.

OAK TREE

I have not been posting. So my apologies. I just received a new computer so I am in the process of setting up my new one while cleaning and reloading my old computer . Its fun but I have not been taking too many picturse. This oak tree is close to my house. I took this with an old Rolleiflex TLR. I love the quality of that camera. I definitely will be using it more.

MAPLE TREE IN WINTER

Almost four weeks without posting.I just returned from a nice Christmas holiday with our family in Oregon. So here is a snow scene here in Northern Ontario. After the rain I was glad to see clean white snow again.

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.