EARLY SNOW FALL

Winter has definitely arrived early this year. Last Friday we had a heavy snowfall. In the morning I went to one of my favourite spots at Kinsmen Beach to take some pictures. I was looking for some very minimalist subjects like the these two trees. The background is not the sky but the dark water of the lake which has not frozen yet. A fast shutterspeed kept most of the snowflakes sharp while my large lens opening allows for the snowflakes close to the camera to be completely out of focus, just to add impact to the image.

NOVEMBER SNOW, BLACK FOREST, NORTH BAY

Yesterday we had another big November snowfall. So I took a little trip up the road to the Black Forest. Walking down one of the trails I saw the wind blow the snow from the trees. I liked the effect but of course I was too late to capture the beautiful grey tones swirling around the trees. I waited for quite a long time, of course it did not happen again and then a man came along the trail with his dog. We were talking when all of a sudden a windburst blew the snow right into the scene. I just snapped the shutter not certain I got my shot. Well I got lucky. Here is the result.

REMEMBRANCE DAY, 2018

Tomorrow is remembrance day and I thought that this poem by Wilfred Owens expresses the horror of war and in particular the anguish and pain of the first world war. A note on the  quote from the Roman poet Horace "It is sweet and fitting to die for your country"

PORTRAIT OF AN OLD TRUCK

Last Thursday Dan, Kirk and I made a return trip to the Burks Falls and Magnetawan area. A few years ago I had photographed an old truck on the road to Magnetawan and of course we had to stop to take pictures of this old work horse. Originally it was an old army truck, we had no idea how old it was and it certainly has not been used for many years. It certainly was a great subject for some good images.

ANTHROPOCENE, NATIONAL GALLERY CANADA

I took this picture two weeks ago after seeing the great exhibition Anthropocene at the National Gallery in Ottawa by the collective of Edward Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier. The show is very powerful and should be seen by anyone even slightly interested in the environment. Edward Burtynsky is not only one of the foremost landscape photographers but also a great environmentalist. I chose this image of elephant tusks. In the exhibition Jennifer Baichwald shows the burning of these tusks from 7000 elephants, which were confiscated from poachers by the Kenyan government. It is a  very powerful and emotional documentary. Two days ago, the WWF published their report The Living Planet 2018 document an astonishing decline since the nineteen seventies of 60% in the size of populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians largely linked to human activity. 
So, if you get a chance go and see this very important exhibition at the National Gallery or the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

RAILWAY STATION, SOUTH RIVER, ONTARIO

Another picture from our photo trip  to South River. I am still looking at the landscape pictures by Don McCullin and also at the photographs of another favourite photographer of mine Joseph Koudelka. Both of them are famous of course for their documentary work but they have made very powerful landscape photographs. Their images are quite dark,reflecting the strong emotional quality of their journalistic work. 

RAILWAY BRIDGE, SOUTH RIVER, ONTARIO

Yesterday was a great day for another photo trip. Gerry and I left early in the morning and decided to go to some of the small villages and towns South of North Bay. The weather started was very nice, a crisp sunny Fall day, but later in the afternoon the sky clouded over. Still we had some time before the rain started and ended up at the railway bridge in the village of South River. Most of the fall colours were gone so I concentrated on getting some good black and white pictures. Returning home both of us came back with some fine images.

ANOTHER VIEW, ABANDONED CHURCH

I think David might like this image of the old abandoned church too. My idea was to recreate a romantic, maybe even a nostalgic view of this old building. It is basically a straight toned print similar to the architectural prints of the nineteenth century photographers. It is a pity that this building is left to simply deteriorate. 

ABANDONED CHURCH REVISITED

After photographing this old abandoned church, I wanted to take pictures later in the season when the trees were changing colour. It was a little disappointing because there were not that many brightly coloured trees around. but I made some fine images. My idea was to create a picture reflecting the feeling of the passing of time. So I used a variety of techniques recreating the old sepia toned pictures with some added colour. The final image is reminiscent of the old autochrome photographs of the early twentieth century.

WAVES (BLACK AND WHITE)

This is the black and white version of yesterday's posting. It is more dramatic interpretation of the than the coloured image. This morning I was looking at some of Don McCullin's dark and somber  images from his forthcoming book Landscapes. His pictures are rich in textures and beautiful lighting. When working in black and white I always look for the same visual elements in my images, strong dramatic light and rich textures similar to McCullin's landscape work.

WAVES

Fall has definitely arrived. Walking along the beach I took quite a few pictures of the waves and dramatic sky. Initially I was thinking this is definitely a scene for black and white of course but when I started to process the picture on the computer I  decided that the final colour image was my favourite. 

DERELICT FARM HOUSE NEAR WARREN, ONTARIO

Photographers are nearly always attracted by old derelict buildings and, I have to admit , that I enjoy photographing these old places. I guess that the attraction is the great richness on textures and patterns. So, when John suggested that we visit this house, which he had photographed a few years ago, I was quite interested in seeing the old place. I was not disappointed so we spend some time photographing this old abandoned homestead. 

LANDSCAPE, SUDBURY, ONTARIO

A few weeks ago I posted a few scanned pictures from my files. In the seventies and eighties I had photographed regularly in the greater Sudbury area. So John and I made a little excursion to see what is left of that really desolate but very interesting landscape. To our surprise most of the area around Sudbury  has changed.The barren rocky landscape has been transformed, which is beginning to resemble the traditional Northern Ontario landscape with predominantly pine trees. John and I found remnant of the old barren landscape  around the Stobey Mine. Its a pity that you are not allowed in on the property because the rock formations are beautiful and we would have loved to wander and explore the landscape. 

LATE SUMMER LANDSCAPE

Going down the street this morning I passed the old Thorn farm property and I just had to stop and walk into the abandoned fields to wander around this beautiful natural garden. It was raining and that created this wonderful soft atmosphere. what a great visual feast.

LOW TIDE, BAY OF FUNDY

I made this picture on a trip to Nova Scotia. it is a scanned image from a  colour negative before I completely switched to digital photography. It is an interesting exploration going through my old files and I will spend quite a bit of time going through all my old files. It promises to be quite atrip of rediscovery. 

YELLOW TRUCK WITH RED MAPLE LEAF

The blue grey colour of the house and the magnificent blue Summer sky with the strong contrast of yellow and red truck, is what attracted me to this otherwise mundane city landscape. I toned the overall colour down to accentuate the brightly coloured new truck.

STILL FOR SALE

This picture is for John and Bob, who both told me that the statue of Christ was still for sale. Last year I posted a picture of the same statue. But I guess the owner could not get the price he would like to get so he is displaying the statue again. I don't think it includes the angle I simply liked the subject and it certainly makes for an interesting garden design.

STREET ABSTRACT

This morning I was looking for some images on the computer, I came across this picture of a wall I photographed quite a few years ago in the Kitchener area. In my photo wanderings I am always interested in abstract painterly subjects. it probably comes from my interest in the visual arts.This complex subject rich in textures, colour and pattern  is a very intriguing image.

FEED SILO WITH RED HORSE TRAILER

Traveling along the road from Cache Bay to Verner, we stopped off at a farm with an interesting feed silo. I had photographed this silo many years ago when it still had a weather vane of a horse. The young farmer gave us a tour of the farm and explaned that his dad designed and built the silo using concrete building blocks which he poured himself using a mould he made himself. It must have been quite a job.

BLUE DOOR 13

Another image of one of the boat sheds in Cache Bay. It is the weathered surface of the wood and metal, which gives this picture such a strong visual effect.