Buttertown Homestead – Fort Vermilion, Alberta
My wife points us to music tonight. At day’s end she’s responding to both of us, each a vortex of thoughts, moving, tumbling, clustering, dot-to-dot, aiming toward productive, tangible result – saturated with the day, not here, not in the now, needing to release the grip of endeavor, to withdraw and to settle. Time away from the pursued pace is needed, time that interrupts the cycle of ‘home-work-and-back-again,’ that kind of quality time that permits fresh aspect and new grasp on perspective, a good thing. Music is our choice tonight for plying away our adhesion, breaking contact with the day that’s been. The music we turn to is longstanding legacy from BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday show at 8:00 p.m., ‘Rhythm and Soul’ hosted by Steve Stockman; it’s music that’s been on my wife’s iPod this week in and around her classroom. David Gray’s Hammersmith concert, ‘Live, In Slow Motion,’ is the concert video my wife chooses and with our daughter away at dance class we sit down to supper, downstairs, in front of our television and engage this concert, slowing ourselves, listening to a cellist, two guitarists, a bass player, a drummer and David Gray bring music to Life. Allowing ourselves to become vulnerable to lyric, melody, rhythm, sound and silence, we are drawn to familiar songs, songs I’ve fretted in former days – ‘Sail Away,’ ‘Shine,’ ‘My Oh My,’ ‘Silver Lining.’ These songs draw us out to that part of our Lives beyond endeavor. They open-out memory and memories. We move into and travel along new melodies. Engaging with these songs orients us in terms of presence and our present – where we are needing and aiming to be, a reset of sorts.
Homestead – this October exposure is one of a handful of images taken within the golden hour near Fort Vermilion in a pre-winter sunset, winter-ready clouds billowing in regular, heavy patterns across the sky. The linear clarity of homestead lines mingles with the subtle bend in its roof and the regular, yet unique line of each board. It’s old, yet it’s solid and well-preserved. Coloration and luminance chosen in editing work best with the available light and draw me to this photo, again and again.
I am definitely wanting to be out and about with my camera, perhaps with others seeing other ways of viewing the world. My Canon 60D has developed a hiccough, though – three years wear and tear has made the spring ejection of the SD card difficult; it’s also become difficult to set the card back in. Sending the camera for repair is likely to cost one-third to one-half the cost of replacing the camera with another 60D body or its next generation body the 70D. And, then I wonder if I should move to a pro-sumer camera the Canon 7D, 6D or 5D.
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T h a n k y o u ‘ s
– My gratitude goes out to all who are a part of this blog, those of you who add your comments and engage in the dialogue about photos, photography and music.
Listening to – Tyler Bates’ ‘Ventura,’ one of those captivating songs from Emilio Estevez’ film, ‘The Way.’ The post reminds me of several Martyn Joseph songs – ‘The Good in Me is Dead’ from the ‘Don’t Talk About Love’ album and talking with Martyn at the Alexandra Community Hall in Edmonton, Alberta on the eve of the Iraq invasion. Other songs come to mind – ‘Wake Me Up,’ ‘Strange Kind of Friend,’ ‘Walk Down the Mountain’ and ‘Just Like the Man Said.’
Quote to Inspire: “Still images can be moving and moving images can be still. Both meet within soundscapes.” Chien-Chi Chang
In My Back Pocket - Photography 
The photo is so captivating! I follow another blogger who posts from Alberta … I’m just going to have to get up there someday!
I’ll be interested to read what you decide to do about the camera … I have yet to move to DSLR and plans to do so are on hold what with recovery and a new bike purchase coming in the spring. BUT I do want to upgrade and I love to learn the process and how folks decide what to purchase
Good day, LB:
It’s good to read the Alberta holds possibility for you in your travels.
If you are going to a DSLR it might be worth considering how you’ll edit the images you produce. You’ve got a keen eye for beauty and colour. I’d aim you toward Adobe Lightroom and NiK Software as editing tools that will enhance the image capture you’ll be capable of with a DSLR. In terms of DSLR, I’m considering a Nikon to re-configure my thinking of image making; likely though I will stick with a Canon Camera – I’ve been looking into the EOS 70d, 7d, 6d and 5d. One of the deciding factors may involve an increase in sensor size from the 60d cropped sensor to a full-frame sensor – the idea, here, would be to work with a broader palette of colours in RAW format.
Sony, Nikon, Fuji have enticing cameras – Sony’s NEX series is good, Nikon is as good as Canon and Fuji’s X-Pro, X-10 and X100 have been cameras I’ve reviewed.
You’ll find a number of podcasts about photography that can steer you toward gear review (Shutter Time with Sid and Mac) or concepts of photography (e.g. The Candid Frame).
Take care … 😉
Okay … so I’ve read through this reply a couple times, and I appreciate your suggestion of looking into editing software. In the same way that I learned to ride a motorcycle by starting small and used, and then moving up, I have started the journey into photography with a “bridge camera” and Picasa. I’m learning, albeit slowly! Thanks so much for taking the time to teach!
Hey there, LB:
Adobe Lightroom is very similar to Picasa; with Lightroom you can add different presets for how you render your photos – not just one or two; we’re talking of hundreds. Many people use Lightroom as one of the best ways to organize photos and to have them all available for editing at any time. I have a friend who will go back to photos with new ideas and edit the same photo again and again. Lightroom keeps your original photo as it was shot and each edit is done as a copy (new file) so you’ll always be able to come back to the original shot a begin again … if this makes sense.
With the camera stuff, the key is to pay attention to how it feels in your hands. The Canon will be bigger and have a larger grip to hold if compared to Nikon. What you’re also wanting to do when you move to the DSLR is work with different lenses, to be able to switch them as the situation warrants. For both the Canon and Nikon, there are walkabout lenses that cover a big range (e.g. 18 – 270 mm); they are good for not having to switch lenses according to situation. On the other hand, being able to switch lenses and put a telephoto on to get up close when you’re far away is one advantage of changing lenses.
http://thecandidframe.com/ (The Candid Frame – podcast)
http://shuttertimewithsidandmac.com/ (Shutter Time with Sid and Mac – Edmonton photographers, discussing gear and ideas)
Hope this makes sense. 😉
i can hear Robert Redford’s voice narrating your words in a slow, beautifully shot movie as it pans out of your memories. 🙂
Cool … cadence and meter bring words (and memories) to Life – connecting within a recognizable auditory frame. I’ll bet you’re not just a reader of the word, nor a listener of the word, but one who lives out the word. Good, good schtuff! 😉
I have a cold. 😦
Take care ….
You know, I hadn’t considered that I might be describing sabbath …. 😉
hope you feel better soon.