AGAWA ROCK PAINTING

After my posting of the Mickey Mouse rock painting here in North Bay, I remembered that, in the Summer of 1975, I had photographed these well known rock paintings along the shores of lake Superior. its a pity I took them in black and white but, after scanning the negatives, I simply toned and hand coloured the pictures. These pictures are not as old or as intricate as for instance the controversial rock paintings of Pedra Furada  or the  Australian prehistoric rock paintings  but they are now a tourist attraction, visited and admired by many tourist who travel the north shore of Lake Superior. So maybe a couple of hundred years from now the rock art from North bay will become as famous as the pictures of Agawa bay.
PS If you like graffiti art  check out the work of the grafiti artist BLU Its simply amazing.

WHY ?

I titled this picture "why" because it always amazes and disturbs me when I see the wanton destruction of our natural environment with mindless visual garbage like this. I don't understand why people feel the urge to simply destroy their world. It is actually pretty sad to see this kind of wanton destruction.

PHILODENDRON

Krys and Paul asked me about some samples of  late nineteen century photographers. Actually I should clarify this a little because I include in that the style of photography ranging from the late nineteen until about the early twentieth century. I am thinking about the fine images of Edward Steichen, Clarence H. White and especially Imogen Cunningham This picture is from a plant series I did in 1982 and  I hope I answered your question about the influence on some of my pictures by these great master of the photographic art.

EARLY MORNING FOG, LAKE NIPISSING

A dense fog covered the landscape this morning. We went for a walk along the lake and the skies were just beautiful. It did not last long but I made some nice dramatic images before the fog quickly dis appeared. The sky reminded me of the oil sketches Turner and Constable made of ever changing sea skies.

ROB RACING HIS TRUCK

Yesterday my neighbour and friend Rob told me he was a little disappointed because every day he looks at my blog but I never posted a picture I made for him last year. Rob's big hobby is his Harley Davidson with matching Ford Truck. Last Fall he asked me to photograph him racing the truck. So, to keep my promise, here is the result. Hope he likes it.

Begonia

Today I spent some time taking pictures of a begonia. I wanted to recreate the photographic style of the late nineteen century. So I experimented with some edging but I did not like all the results. This edge, which looks a little like a typical watercolour paper is probably the best one. Tomorrow I'll try some other techniques.

DECK CHAIR

Every day I have to  take pictures.I guess it has become second nature to me. A few days ago it was a dark rainy day but I liked the mood of the foggy garden and deck so I made this simple image of the wet chair and deck. I combined a black and white version with the original colour image, I simply masked the chair to keep the original colour. The result reflects the atmosphere of the wet day.

CONTAINER BUILDING, BURKS FALLS

In Burks Falls a new building is being constructed of old shipping containers. It was quite a colourful subject but I am curious what it will lokk like when the building is finished.

ST.OLAF CHURCH, BEAR LAKE, ON

On our little trip yesterday we came through Bear Lake. At this time of year it is very quiet but I can imagine the Summer is busy with cottagers. The real interesting building in this community  is this old church, which was built in 1876. The light was just right and with the old weathered fence and church offered just the right mix for a very romantic black and white image.

SPRING MONKEY

Driving through Sundridge this morning I noticed the first sign of real Spring. The first Spring monkey was swinging in a tree.

MARK'S VILLAGE RESTAURANT

Its been a busy few days. Just like Dave, we are renovating the kitchen. Also the Winter keeps lingering on so it is not a very nice time for taking pictures. But just to keep my blog going here is a black and white of an old empty restaurant in Burks Falls, which I photographed on my last trip there a week and a half ago.

GRAFFITI, NORTH BAY

A different kind of image today. Over the years I have posted a variety of graffiti on my blog. I simply enjoy looking at interesting expressions in public places. Much of it is not very imaginative but I liked this one because of its complex composition. It has been made by a variety of people who simply keep adding their primitive scribbles to this wall, which makes for a very imaginative picture.

HAIR SALON, BURKS FALLS

It always amazes me when visiting  towns like Burks Falls, how many small local businesses still keep going. Actually in many of these places you will find some very interesting and ,yes inventive successful  companies you will find in these communities. I simply like these towns because they offer me great visually interesting subject matter like this scene, rich in textures and patterns.

MAGNETAWAN, ON

Yesterday my friend Dan and I went on a little photo tour in the Magnetawan area. We came across these covered trees, which someone tried to make them look like reindeer. With the small church in the background I thought they appeared to be some strange, alien guardians. Anyway it made for a fun picture.

CUMBERLAND, ONTARIO

This picture is for Krys and Paul, who obviously enjoy old architectural buildings like this restaurant in Cumberland. David Ernst will enjoy the image because he truly likes rich black and white pictures. I think this building dates from between  1880 and 1890. Personally I find it somewhat overdone and obviously some changes have been made but the overall architecture has been largely preserved.

OAKSTREET, NORTH BAY

Yesterday morning I made this picture of Oakstreet. Of course I made some adjustments by applying tonal mapping to give more impact to this  image.

CHIK GEAR, NORTH BAY, ON

 An empty store in downtown North Bay. I simply liked the textures and shapes of this sad little place.

GROCERY STORE, CUMBERLAND, ON

One photographer, whose work I like, is Ralph Greenhill.  His great interest was photographing the exteriors of the old historic buildings. A subject matter I also enjoy. Its a pity that Greenhill is now largely forgotten. I picked up some great books on old historical buildings all across this province. Hopefully someone will curate a n exhibition of his work.Check out some of his images on the site I linked to his name.

THE FIRST SIGN OF SPRING

Ah, the Winter is coming to the end. The first sign for me is the removal of the ice fishing huts from the lake. Soon the snow will be gone and the warm weather returns.

PARKING LOT, OTTAWA

 

I just returned from another family visit in Ottawa. It would have been great if I could have gone on a photo tour but the weather was just atrocious. On Thursday it started to snow which turned to rain and did it ever, Friday was basically the same weather condition. The rest of the time it was very dark and overcast. So here is a picture I made in a supermarket parking lot. At least the snow is slowly disappearing.