WETLAND ABSTRACT

Walking along a swamp I took a series of pictures of reeds outlined in stark black because of the strong back light. I had to increase contrast to eliminate the light gray of the water. The final result became an abstract pen and ink drawing.

BEACH, NORTH BAY

What a beautiful day. It was very warm for November. Actually it felt like Spring. I took this picture in the afternoon and liked the pattern of lines made by a strong back light.

NOVEMBER

Today was a typical gray, dark and very wet November day. Just a day to sit inside reading by a nice wood fire. I went for a short walk for some fresh air and, even though we had some wet snow, I noticed that there still was quite a bit of colour. This picture actually worked better in colour than black and white.

BLUE SHOPPING CART

This image is closely related to a picture I made in Ottawa a few months ago. The composition is very reminiscent of the paintings by Mondriaan and the artists from the Style group but ultimately the image depicts an overall feeling of uneasy emptiness.

FALL TRAIL

The rain which fell the last few weeks have made walking in the bush rather difficult. Some trails have become impassable. However I did manage to take a few interesting images .

LAKE NIPISSING SKY

The sky over lake Nipissing reminded me of the drawings and prints by the nineteenth century book illustrator Gustave Doré. I remember his very popular bible illustrations full of dramatic skies. The ky was not as dark and dramatic as in the photograph but I first underexposed the picture by about one stop. I further enhanced the image in the digital darkroom till I got the atmosphere I was looking for.

WINTERLANDSCAPE, POWASSAN, ONTARIO

It has been quite a few days since my last posting. The weekend was very busy with visitors so yesterday I decided it was time for a short photo trip. We received a fair amount of snow which is a little too early for my taste however it gave me a chance to take my first winter landscapes like this image I made just outside of the town of Powassan.

RAIN

We have had quite a bit of rain this month. Actually I should mention that in addition to all the rain we also received an unusual amount of snow this early in the season.

BRIDGE, FIELD, ONTARIO

Here is the bridge I had to cross to get to the ruins of the old sawmill in Field. I wonder how long this bridge will be there.

OLD SAWMILL, FIELD, ONTARIO

Visited Field yesterday. Field is a very small town near Sturgeon Falls. This is what remains of the oldest steamdriven sawmill in North America. A pity it burned down. So, on a beautiful late Fall day, I drove out to take some pictures before everything would be torn down.

ONTARIO NORTHLAND RAILWAY

What a miserable wet day. Everything was grey and wet. Black and white was the only way to record the mood of the day. Driving over the railway crossing I noticed the tracks, the puddles and the old part of the Onatio Northland Railway repair shops. Perfect.

OLD HOME NORTH BAY, ONTARIO

While this house is not particularly interesting from an architectural viewpoint, I do like the unusual porch and balcony. The leaves and almost bare trees give this image a feeling of the approaching winter season.

SURPRISE IN OCTOBER

It was a big surprise this morning to wake up to a blanket of fresh snow. It is only middle of October and Winter is coming very early. Hopefully it will melt soon. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

END OF AUTUMN

A very cold and wet day. The first snow fell this afternoon. A reminder that Winter will be here soon. The trees have nearly all lost their leaves, there are still a few trees in full colour.

FIGURINE

Again, it has been a few days since I posted a new image. The weekend has been very busy with visitors and yesterday friends helped me split wood for the Winter. Today is a dreary wet Fall day so I made this image of a little figurine on our coffee table. I think it is an old chinese incense holder. What or who the little figure represents I don't know but he looks somewhat scary.

SASKATOON BERRY

The Fall colours in Ontario are always spectacular. In our garden we have a beautiful Saskatoon berry bush. I love the very bright red of this shrub. So here is a picture celebrating Fall.

STREET, QUEBEC CITY

This picture is for Rob. I know how much he enjoys France and the streets in old Quebec City is very reminiscent of cities and towns in France. Enjoy Rob.

STREET IN OLD QUEBEC CITY

I have been busy this week so I neglected my blog. Monique asked me for more pictures of Quebec City. Here is another street scene in the old city. You can find some very interesting murals depicting the history in various locations.

VIRGINIA CREEPER

Fall colours are at their brightest right now. Here a picture of the Virginia creeper next to the front door.

ABANDONED HOUSE, RESTOULE, ONTARIO

Old abandoned houses always intrigue me. I wonder about who built and lived in the place and what were their stories. This old place in Restoule is ready to collapse but it still has a story to tell.

WOLFE LAKE, NEAR COMMANDA, ONTARIO

I made this picture on a recent phototrip around the area. Wolfe lake is a small intimate lake. I have made quite a few interesting pictures of that particular lake.

SCULPTURE, QUEBEC CITY

You will see many sculptures around the old city. I particularly liked this one.

POSTERS, QUEBEC CITY

Another street scene but in this image I combined colour and black and white in one picture. I simply did this to add contrast.

DUSK, QUEBEC CITY

Dusk in Quebec City. On our way to dinner I took this typical old Quebec City street. This picture is for Lawrence. I thought he might enjoy this view.

ROOFS, QUEBEC CITY

I just switched to the new Blogger Beta. It does not work well with Picasa so I will have to figure out how that works.In the mean time here is another image from my Quebec City trip.

GALLERY, QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC

Last weekend my wife and I visited Quebec City. It had been quite a few years since we had been there. Much has changed since our last trip. It is a marvelous city with lots to see and do. I tried to avoid taking the traditional tourist pictures instead I looked at details, things you would normally walk past. The weather was fine but the lighting rather flat because of the overcast skies. Anyway I will be posting some of my impressions over the next few days.

PANORAMA, LAKE NIPISSING, ONTARIO

A few weeks ago I received a book on the work of the Chech photographer Josef Sudek. I like his work and especially his panoramic images of Prague and the Chech countryside, so here is a panorama of my environment lake Nipissing.

LANDSCAPE, CHISHOLM TWP, ONTARIO

Another picture of my photo trip yesterday. The trees were planted so close together that they transformed in a massive dark shape.

MAINSTREET, POWASSAN, ONTARIO

Visited Powassan today. Powassan is a nice country town close to North Bay. On Mainstreet I photographed this local landmark. Its a beautifully restored store.I thought it was worth a picture.

A BEAUTIFUL LATE SUMMER DAY

It was a beautiful late Summer day. A great day for hiking. I took this picture on my walk along the shores of Lake Nipissing.

PINK HOUSES

I noticed these "pink" houses in a new housing development near Ottawa. It always saddens me when I see how good farmland gets destroyed to build housing. I realize that people have to live somewhere but I think that we could come up with better solutions to our housing problems.

FIRST FALL CLEANUP

Today we started our annual Fall ritual of burning the garden debris. After the big storm in July, in which we lost ten big trees, we have to clean up quite a bit. So this Fall we will have a few fires to enjoy.

METAL ROOF, PARRY SOUND

Another "minimalist" image. Walking along the waterfront in Parry Sound I noticed this metal roof. It fits very nicely into my theme of simplifying the picture.

PARRY SOUND, ONTARIO

Yesterday I visited Parry Sound on Georgian Bay. Its a very pretty little town but I concentrated more on small abstract details like this concrete wall then photographing the town. The pictures I made were very simple. I like pictures which are based on the principle "less is more".

PARKING LOT, ORLEANS, ONTARIO

While talking about architecture, I feel, while there are some beautiful and innovative buildings, that much of our visual surroundings are mindnumbing. Just look at this little tree against this wall. How sad and how boring.

CANADIAN MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY

I enjoy good architecture, not only historical but also contemporary buildings. This image is the entrance to the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ottawa.

BALCONY, OTTAWA, ONTARIO

Walking though Ottawa I noticed this beautiful balcony. Its definitely an architectural gem. Jo-Ann would like to know hwere this balcony is located. Well it is part of the building where you will find a very nice art gallery, the Jean-Claude Bergeron Gallery, at 150 Patrick Street. Go and have a look.

WALKWAY, NORTH BAY

Thanks for your comment on my cloud picture Jo-Ann. Hope you will enjoy this picture of a walkway in North Bay. I posted a picture earlier of the same site but I think this one is better. The perspective and the strong colours make this image while the white wall and blue colour of the sky give it an almost mediterranean flavour.

APPROACHING RAIN STORM

We have had quite a bit of rain this month. Of course the clouds were great. I like cloudy skies because it adds drama to otherwise visually mundane landscapes. Tee Jay asked if this image was taken near Verner. he quite correct the picture was made on the road between Cache Bay and Verner.

SUMMER, LAKE NIPISSING, ONTARIO

Lake Nipissing always looks different. I love taking pictures of the lake any time of the year.Hope you like this summer view.

NEAR NOELVILLE, ONTARIO

I took this picture on the westarm of Lake Nipissing near Noelville. The light gives a rich texture and shape to the rocks and trees.

RIBBON GRASS

sitting in the garden I noticed the texture of the ribbon grass against the dark almost mysterious background of the trees.

OLD MAPLE, SOUTH RIVER, ONTARIO

Noticed this old tree in the Tom Thomson park in South River. I loved the shape and texture.

OPEN HOUSE

Seeing a sign like this makes me curious why people would put such a sign at their door. It certainly doesn't look as if they are eager to sell the place. Just wondering

RED CAR

An ordinairy scene in small town Ontario. What attracted me was the bright red of the car.

NICHOLSON LOCK, RIDEAU CANAL

This picture of the Nicholson Lock is for my friend Rob who knows the area quite well. Again I made this picture in black and white. It is a complex image with intersecting lines and shapes.

OLD BRIDGE, RIDEAU CANAL

The locks on the Rideau Canal watersystem are quite interesting because this historic system is still in use today. I just like the old bridges and locks. I felt that black and white rather than colour give a better impression of these sites.

MERRICKVILLE, ONTARIO

It is always a challenge to photograph in a popular tourist area. I concentrate on details rather than buildings, although some of these can be visually very interesting . This image is of the floor in a block house built in the early 19th century as part of the Rideau canal system, in Merrickville Ontario. I noticed the texture of the wood marked by the shoes of hundreds of visitors to this site.

SMITH FALLS, ONTARIO

My last posting was quite a few days ago. I was out of town for the long weekend and just returned this afternoon. It was afamily visit but I still found time to take some pictures. I was not familiar with the area South and of Ottawa. Some of the towns were blessed with nice old architecture, which made them very attractive for tourists. Others looked rather dismal because they lacked the very things necessary to bring people to your town. Like many of these communities they have lost their industries and all thats left are empty and abandonded buildings. These places attract me because I find that you can get some interesting pictures.

SAWBLADE CASE

Walking around a small country sawmill I noticed this sawblade case. Its a simple subject of texture and shape. The original picture is in colour but I prefer the black and white image.