GARAGE, NORTH BAY

Every small or large city in Canada has a street lined with car dealerships, garages, fast food outlets etc. Lakeshore Drive in North Bay is no exception. It is a great place for a photographer because it is a challenge to photograph the rather ordinary subject matter in a visually interesting way. What attracted me here was the strong colour contrast of this garage.

OLD GARAGE DOOR, NORTH BAY

Simple, almost abstract subject matter always attract me. Maybe its my interest in painting but I just had to photograph this door.

KING PUT, NORTH BAY

Sunday morning, all is quiet so I could get some nice pictures of this well known miniput here in North Bay.I liked the waving bear with his bulky shape and his nice blue suspenders. Oh this picture is for Blake, I hope he enjoys this image.

BUTTON MAN, JULY 1970

It has been awhile since my last posting. This week someone phoned me regarding an old photograph I took in 1970. The button man was a well known figure around North Bay. I made this image at a downtown Summer craft market. Ever since this picture has been quite popular but it has been almost ten years since selling a print. While looking through my old negatives I found many I should scan in over the next little while.So expect a few nostalgic image from a few years back.

SUMMER

Last day of teaching today. It has been a very busy week but very enjoyable. After today I can get back to making my own pictures again.

BLACK FOREST PARK, NORTH BAY

This week has been a busy week for me but I did take the time to visit a small park here in North Bay. I was not aware of this park until I noticed a sign at the entrance. Its actually an area used in the 1930s by lumber companies to grow white pine seedlings. The city acquired this place. It has some nice trails with stands of white pine. In 2006 the park lost many trees after a big storm swept through the area.

DE LUXE TAXI, NORTH BAY

What attracted me in this urban scene is the various shapes with the colour of the sky returning in the blue door but the real contrast is the red car prominent in the image.

FENCE, NORTH BAY

Again I have neglected my blog so time for a new image. I made this picture walking downtown and liked the form and texture of this mesh fence in a empty space in downtown North Bay.

ALONG THE SHORELINE

Lately I have not been out taking pictures. For the next few weeks I will be busy making preparations for my Summer Artsperience course, which runs from the 5th of July till July 9. There is still time to sign up I still have a few places left so if you are interested you can sign up on line. Just follow the link to Artsperience.

CAR MASCOT, NORTH BAY

Yesterday I had to photograph this mascot when  I noticed it in the back of a car at the North Bay waterfront.

RESTOULE, ONTARIO

On my recent trip to Restoule, I made another photograph of the abandoned house, of which I posted a picture in September 2006. I guess its time to demolish whats left because it has deteriorated quite a bit since the time I made the earlier image.earlier

ST.ALBAN ANGLICAN CHURCH, RESTOULE

This beautiful little church is in the village of Restoule. I had noticed this church earlier but I did not like the light so I returned to photograph it. There are many of these particular type of churches all over this area and again this would be an important project preserving these churches in pictures before they disappear.

AMABLE DU FOND AGAIN

As I promised yesterday, here is another version of the same image but this time in colour. I prefer the black and white because I feel it is visually richer with strong textures and patterns.

AMABLE DU FOND

A few days ago I made a little trip to the Amable du Fond river in Eau Claire. I am still working on my theme of water . This image worked well in colour but I prefer the black and white interpretation. Tomorrow I'll post the colour image so you can decide yourself which you like.

THE DRIVER

Lifeshighway will enjoy this view of the cart's driver and yes she can use this image for her Yard Art blog

RUST IN PEICES

A few weeks ago I had seen this "yard art" but did not have a chance to photograph it at that time. So last week I went to Callander to make some pictures. It was difficult to photograph because it was placed next to a hydro pole. This restricted the angles you could take good overall image of the art work, though I was able to get a few nice closeups.

AGRIDOME, BONFIELD, ONTARIO

Jim Dow is a photographer, whose work I really enjoy. I feel an affinity with his images from the book Marking The Land, in which he documents the folkart in the North Dakota landscape. Traveling around Northern Ontario you find the same type of subjects in the Ontario landscape and , just as Jim Dow did in Northern Dakota, I photograph the same type of subject matter before it all disappears.

BRAM VAN LOON

Just another picture of Bram on the road. This is for Rob, Dave and Stephanie who obviously enjoy  and admire the adventure of Bram.

ON THE ROAD

Last Friday I went out to take some pictures, I had noticed an older hiker walking down the highway towards North Bay. For the next hour and a half I spent taking my pictures. On my way back I noticed that the guy was still walking so I thought let me ask if he needs a ride. Well his little flag told me he was Dutch so I stopped and offered to take him to North Bay. But he politely declined explaining that he was walking all the way from Halifax to Vancouver then he told that last year he walked from Halifax to Ottawa and this year the next phase would take him from Ottawa to Thunder Bay. I invited him to stay over night at our place when he arrived in the city, which he accepted. He arrived a few hours later and stayed with us till today. Bram van Loon is 69 years old, he carries  a 60 Lbs backpack and has been doing this kind of trips for many many years. Before he came to Canada he had walked all across New Zealand. He traveled most European countries all on foot. We had a great time listening to his stories and anecdotes. So we wish him a great trip and hope to see him again in our home.

MORE ON REFLECTIONS

This is where my idea on the reflection series began. Last week, on our photo trip, we saw this stream and of course I took a variety of pictures of the water etc. But I was not satisfied with the result so the next day I went to another little stream I had noticed a few month earlier and the pictures from that trip came closer to waht I had in mind.