CAR RAMP, OTTAWA, ONTARIO

This rather mundane view becomes a very abstract image of different shapes and colours.

BARRYMORE'S IN BLACK AND WHITE

I guess you are right Rob so here is a black and white image of the complete building. It still looks very rundown and could do with some nice restoration.

BARRYMORE'S, OTTAWA

Visited Ottawa this weekend and spent time wandering around the Bankstreet area taking pictures. I noticed this sad looking theatre. It is a pity to see buildings like this one in such a state of decay. Sure we cannot save everything but you wonder about the history of these places and if people are even interested in keeping these architectural artifacts, after all a city is a living artwork.

ALONG THE SHORE, LAKE NIPISSING

It is a good time for me to clean out my small office. I am sorting through my files and came across this picture I took quite a few years ago of this rock along the shore of Lake Nipissing. It reminds me of some ancient prehistoric image or even a sketch by Henri Moore.

DEER IN THE GARDEN

Saturday a family of deer came to feed in the garden. Normally they come at dusk or very early in the morning but I guess they have become so used to humans that they are not bothered by people.Its fun to see them evnthough they can do lots of damage to your garden.

SPATHIPHYLLUM CLOSE UP

It has been a chaotic few weeks here because we are renovating our house. So my apologies for not posting more. Hopefully this is the final week. Nonie asked me "where is Monkton ?" well it is a small community in Perth County, Southern Ontario.So I will be posting more regularly after this final week of renovations.

AGAIN OLD RAILWAY STATION

This picture is for Rob who thought that the old railway station in Monkton looked like the one in Mattawa. Well this building is considerable smaller but of course most stations were based on a similar design. I liked this one precisely because it reminded me of some old doll house.

MONKTON, ONTARIO

I was sorting through some files and of course found all kinds if images I forgot about. This is a picture of an old railway station, now in deplorable state, which is being used as a storage shed I guess. A real pity.

HIBISCUS

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday so I thought this image of a hibiscus in our living room would be an appropriate picture to celebrate the occasion.

RED ONION

Walking into the kitchen I saw this beautiful red onion just waiting to be photographed . The colour was a deep red, which intensified when I photographed it in mixed lighting.

RED FARM

This image is just a reminder that Winter certainly has colour, maybe not as exuberant as the vibrant Fall colours but, as this image of the red farm, shows enough to realize that Winter is not all black and white.

TO CATCH A FISH TAKES LUCK

Thanks Rob and Nonie for your comments. Here is the last picture of the open air art show "Ice Follies". I enjoyed several of the artworks, not all, but I still thought it was a good show.

MODEL LANDSCAPE

Thanksfor your posting Skeeter. I thought you might enjoy a complete view of Jeannie Thib's art work, which she titled "Model Landscape".

ONE EYE FOLLY

This strange looking rowboat is actually a pinhole camera. The British Columbia artist Donald Lawrence has been working with a wide variety of home made pin-hole cameras in very divers and strange locations. He is one of the artist taking part in the North Bay Ice Follies. A biennial art exhibit presented by the WKP Kennedy Public Art gallery.

ICEFOLLIES, NORTH BAY

Today was the first day of the biennial art exhibit on Lake Nipissing at the North Bay waterfront. I will show some more of this show in the next few days . This first image is the work of the well known young Toronto artist Jeannie Thib. She has based this art work on 19th century faience tile patterns.I enjoyed the strong visual aspect of this "fishing hut".

POWASSAN WINTER

I am still making monochromatic pictures. The graphic quality of the Winter landscapes really appeal to me so I tend to "see" subject in black, white or sepia.

NEAR NIPISSING VILLAGE

Time to post another image. I could not resist taking this very romantic Winter landscape near Nipissing Village.

WINTER RAIN

Rain today and lots of it. It was impossible to leave the house because the streets had become skating rinks. Overnight the rain will change to snow again. Lots of fun.

SHADOWS AND REFLECTIONS

Enjoying my coffee early this morning I saw an image in the shadows and reflections on the floor and glass table.

NOT YET SPRING

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day. After all the gray dark days we had these last few weeks it was great to see and feel the sun.So I took this picture of a crocus on the window sill. I also posted a link to my Summer course. So if you are interested , check it out.

FROST

I am still in hibernation. This morning the thermometer stood at -26°C. When I went for lunch at a local coffee shop and eatery I noticed the thick layer of ice on the glass door. Some people had placed their hands on the ice , which partly melted, leaving their impressions. I could not walk by without taking a picture.

SUMAC

A beautiful Winter day. Went on a little walk along the lake and made this picture of sumac outlined against the sky. Just a simple exercise in line.

SUMMER WALK

A little reminder of a warmer season. I posted this picture because someone in Brazil contacted me via email and I would like to ask him to write me again because I accidentally put his email in the trash bin. So if he sees this posting please write again.

GOURD #2

Another image of the gourd series I am working on. I am photographing them in the style of the nineteen century nature pictures. Hope you like this one Ken.

WINTER FARM

This picture is already a few years old. I noticed it in my files and made me think how the Winters are changing. Today again we had a massive thaw with weather more like March than January,it is quite scary how quick the global warming is taking effect.

GOURD

Thanks Steph and Peter for your postings. Here is an image of a series of pictures I am making of gourds. I like this one because the surface looks like an image of some unknown planet.

WINTER, SUNSET PARK, NORTH BAY

It has been awhile since I posted an image. I am busy with some different projects so i have neglected my blog. This image is an older picture of Sunset park but after seeing it again I thought it would be an appropriate picture for the season.

TRAIL, CORBEIL, ONTARIO

This picture is for Rob who wanted me to post an image made with my NIKON D80. Well here is a picture I made yesterday when I walked the nature trail in Corbeil. It was pretty rough but fun.

WINTERLIGHT

A simple Winter picture of light, shadows and snow. Enjoy.

ICE, CRANBERRY TRAIL, CALLANDER

Along the trail many of the little streams and ponds showed open water with just a little ice along the edges. The ice showed beautiful textures and patterns.

CALLANDER BAY

It was quite amazing to see most of the snow gone in January. Yesterday I walked along the shore of Callander bay where most of the snow had disappeared. I made this picture of the rich texture of the grasses along the waters edge.

FACTORY WINDOW, NORTH BAY

The appeal of Winter is the strong graphic black and white subject matter. I noticed this window on a walk a few days ago. I liked the different pastel colours, which is a change from the black and white pictures I have been posting lately.

WINTER IS NOT OVER YET

This picture is for Gunther and Linda who wrote me about the very warm weather in Southern Ontario (+15°C) Of course the Winter is not over yet so here a little reminder. I took this picture last week and I think we will be returning to snowy conditions very soon.

GLOBAL WARMING?

The weather changed completely, from -32°C to +5°C today and the prediction is that the temperature will rise even higher in the next few days. I have never experienced this kind of extreme changes in all my years here in Canada. A heavy fog this morning made driving somewhat hazardous but it cleared later in the day. It looks and feels like march, when the snow starts to melt and everything is wet. Of course Winter will return but I have a feeling that we wont see the very cold days we had in the past.

TREES AND SNOW

The cold snap is over. Actually the temperature is expected to go up to +5°C.Yesterday I made a little photo tour in the Verner-Lavigne area. It is a very rural area with old barns and white, wide open fields. I liked the graphics of this group of trees.The Winter appeals to my preference for strong graphic black and white images.

VERY COLD TODAY

It is very cold today. I took this picture earlier this morning. It was -32°C. The cold created a fog,which I could not resist to make a few images. Thanks Jo-Ann for your email and of course I wish you also a very happy New Year.

ANOTHER AMARYLLIS IMAGE

I keep taking pictures of the amaryllis. Just look at this image of the unfolding of the flower.

AMARYLLIS

Again my apolgies for not posting but the holidays have been busy. Today I spent some time taking pictures of our traditional Winter amaryllis. This time I concentrated in the shapes and textures of the leaves and stem. Of course I also took pictures of the budding flower, which has not opened yet. In the next few days I will be thinking how to present these images, either in colour or black and white or maybe a combination. Thats the pleasure of photography,trying to see your subjects in your own way. Now before I forget, I wish everybody a very happy new year.Keep taking pictures.

WINTER, ORLEANS, ONTARIO

I just returned from a very nice Christmas in Orleans. So let me wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas. Taking pictures in an area like Orleans is a challenge for me. I find it difficult to relate to the suburban landscape. Of course I realize that you can take very good images so I will try to explore the suburban environment a little more. It is the living space for many people, who will place their own personal stamp on their living environment.

NEAR COBDEN

It has been and still is a very busy time so neglected my blog for a few days. Anyway here is a Winter image I took on my way to Ottawa yesterday.

ALSACE ROAD, POWASSAN, ONTARIO

today we are getting quite a bit of snow. A big snowstorm is just hitting Southern Ontario but we missed the brunt of it. Mind you its pretty miserable outside with a windchill factor of -29°C. But its nice reading and listening to music.This picture reminds me of the landscape paintings by the Québec artist Jean Paul Lemieux,very minimalist but very expressive.

WINTER SUN

A cold and very dark Winter day here in North Bay. I have been looking at some old magazines and got inspired by some of the old nineteen century pictures. So I started to experiment with some images I took of our front garden. I liked the result.

BARN ROOF

Thanks Nonie for your comments. I am very happy that you are enjoying my pictures. So here is another Winter image this one is colour, although I prefer black and white for my Winter pictures. Black and white would not be as effective because this picture's impact is based on the strong primary colours of the barn.

NEAR POWASSAN, ONTARIO

Another image from yesterday's trip. I toned the picture to slightly soften the tones.

WINTER SKETCH

This afternoon I took some black and white Winter landscapes. The day was quite gray which I like, because the strong contrast of the Winter scenery is excellent if you want very graphic images with visual impact.

WINTER LANDSCAPE

As I said in an earlier posting we are back into the snow images. I like Winter because it does allow you to take stark graphic images, like this landscape of abandoned farmland.

HOUSE FIRE

Driving home along a country road this afternoon, my wife and I saw this burning house. Of course we thought how terrible to lose your house but actually it was not as dramatic as it appeared. The local fire department was burning down this abandoned house as part of a fie fighting exercise . However it still looked quite dramatic in a cold winterly landscape.

ABANDONED NESTING BOX

It has been a few days since I posted my last image. It has been and still is a busy time, think of holiday season coming up and you get the idea. We did get quite a bit of snow in the last week. Actually it broke a few records here in North Bay. I guess we had been spoiled in the last few years but I don't mind the white stuff myself as long as I don't have to drive in it.So here is an image of an abandoned nesting box in our back yard. It is appropriate when you think that the birds have gone South.

ANOTHER WINTER VIEW

I did not have time to take pictures yesterday so here is another view from the edge of Lake Nipissing.

WINTER HAS ARRIVED

What a difference distance and time make. I took this picture late yesterday afternoon at the end of the Cranberry Trail in Callander. Winter has definitely arrived here in Northern Ontario. A warning for a heavy snowfall has been issued for today. That means staying off the roads. Well that is part of living in this area of Canada.