The images I present in this post remind of a time when as a young Dad, I read stories from the Thomas the Tank Engine series to my son and my/our doing so was an enjoyable way to close out each day. Thomas, Percy, Rusty, James et al each had an engineer, each had a conductor, all worked for Sir Topham Hat – each set about to complete a task each day. At the end of each day each engine returned to the engine shed for maintenance and rest. In Sangudo, Alberta, there’s a museum celebrating the vehicles and machinery that were used in the building of the Alaska Highway. Some are scattered within the museum’s yard and some are housed in a roofed shed without walls. The museum has closed and is no longer open to tourists. All vehicles seem to look onto the Alaska Highway they once had a hand in building. The scene is one you might find in a Thomas the Tank Engine story – vehicles dormant and apparently waiting for a time when they can be re-tasked with new purpose and new life. Curiously, two songs I’m listening to tonight almost personify a state of mind that could lurk, here. One is Dave Matthew’s song Where Are You Going and the other is a Hank William’s song, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry. Both songs are sung by Martyn Joseph and are found in his Passport Queue album Pq35.
Listening to: Weight of the World, Invisible Angel, Kindness and I Will Follow from Martyn Joseph’s Pq35.
Quote to Inspire: “A family’s photograph album is generally about the extended family—and, often, is all that remains of it.” – Susan Sontag (b. 1933), U.S. essayist. “In Plato’s Cave,” On Photography (1977).
Different economic forces press on the development of Alberta’s natural resources. The fall-out can mean that resource development is postponed for better days. Twenty minutes north from Whitecourt, Alberta, down a long, winding hill into a valley, a sawmill sits in disuse waiting its return to operation. In my northward return drives to High Level through this year, I’ve been meaning to capture this image. On Sunday I found myself with time enough to halt my Nissan Altima along the side of the road and allow myself opportunity for looking through my Canon 70-200 mm F 2.8 lens.
Listening to: All This Time, Liberal Backsliderand This Is Usfrom Martyn Joseph’s Thunder and Rainbows album on my return journey to High Level. My trip southward to Edmonton allowed for a six hour listen to Susan Sontag’s collection of essays in an audiobook version of On Photography, a good articulation and wrestling with photography issues.
Quote to Inspire – “To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge—and, therefore, like power. A now notorious first fall into alienation, habituating people to abstract the world into printed words, is supposed to have engendered that surplus of Faustian energy and psychic damage needed to build modern organic societies. But print seems a less treacherous form of leaching out the world, of turning it into a mental object, than photographic images, which now provide most of the knowledge people have about the look of the past and the reach of the present. What is written about a person or an event is frankly an interpretation, as are handmade visual statements, like paintings and drawings. Photographed images do not seem to be statements about the world so much as pieces of it, miniatures of reality that anyone can make or acquire.”– Susan Sontag (b. 1933), U.S. essayist. “In Plato’s Cave,” On Photography, Farrar, Straus (1977).
Lone Barn – Alberta Highway 737, near Figure Eight Lake
Homestead – Near Lone Barn & Figure Eight Lake, Alberta Highway 737
Inuksuk – Highway 685 … Others Have Been Here, too
No Through Road with Heart Wreath
Fairview Lamas and Horses in Spring Sunlight – Rendering 2
Dunvegan Bridge – B-side Photograph 1
Dunvegan Bridge – B-side Photograph 2
Dunvegan Bridge – B-side Photograph 3
Sunday – photographs that I’d intended to post linger on my computer’s desktop in a file of edited images. The week has been busy with obligations taking me into my nights. The first image is one of a barn located in a muskeg bog, just south of Figure Eight Lake on Alberta Highway 737; it is out of the weather and close to a water source; no house or homestead is in the immediate vicinity. One could have burned down. Or, perhaps the barn is associated with the homestead in the second image; this homestead is treed in and built on higher ground a kilometre further south on the west side of the same highway. In another image an inuksuk has been assembled at the southwesternmost corner of someone’s farmland alongside Alberta Highway 685, stating to all comers that others have stood right there, where they now stand. Within metres of the inuksuk, a heart-shaped wreath is fastened below a ‘no through road’ sign, perhaps inviting people to come and investigate. The next photograph presents a second rendering of the Fairview horses and lamas in spring’s sunlight; there’s a glow of sunlight from the animals. Beyond this, are the other b-side renderings of the Dunvegin bridge, photographed last weekend.
Listening to Tonic’s rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s Second Hand News, then there’s Sister Hazel’s take on Gold Dust Woman and Shawn Colvin performs The Chain, all songs are part of Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours’ album.
Quote to Inspire – “I treat the photograph as a work of great complexity in which you can find drama. Add to that a careful composition of landscapes, live photography, the right music and interviews with people, and it becomes a style.” – Ken Burns
Mercury Grain Truck, Agricultural Display, Manning, Alberta 1
Mercury Grain Truck, Agricultural Display, Manning, Alberta 2
Mercury Grain Truck, Agricultural Display, Manning, Alberta 3
Mercury Grain Truck, Agricultural Display, Manning, Alberta 4
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 1
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 3
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 5
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 6
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 7
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 8
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 9
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 10
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 11
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 12
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 13
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 14
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 15
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 16
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 17
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 18
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 19
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 20
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 21
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 22
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 23
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 24
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 25
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup, Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 26
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 1
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 2
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 3
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 4
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 5
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 6
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 7
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 8
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 9
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 10
1961 Mercury 100 & 1980s Ford Half Ton 11
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup – Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 1
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup – Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 2
1961 Mercury 100 Pickup – Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 3
1950s Greyhound Bus – Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 1
1950s Greyhound Bus – Brock Enterprises, High Level, Alberta 2
Within this past week I have photographed two Mercury Trucks, the first, an early fifties three ton grain truck, part of a display celebrating the agricultural heritage of Manning, Alberta; the second was a vehicle that is as old as I am, a 1961 Mercury 100 pickup truck located in Brock Enterprises’ industrial lot in High Level, Alberta.
As one who returned to University to complete two degrees, one job I enjoyed for an interim year in October of 1981 was that of working with Ford Motor Company (FOMOCO) in Edmonton, Alberta at Waterloo Mercury, first as a used-car car jockey, then as showroom car jockey and later as pre-delivery inspector. Not quite a gear head, I know a good deal about how a car or truck can be driven and how a vehicle should ride; and, I am someone who enjoys BBC America’s Top Gear. Back then, in 1981, detailing vehicles was my side-business, something allowing me to put money in the bank for University and it’s something I continue to take great pride in. I value a well-turned out vehicle and my preferences for waxes include the McGuiar’s waxes as well as the Autoglym waxes that have received Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II (this is the schtuff used on Aston Martins).
On Thursday, following a long day at school, I drove through High Level’s industrial area, saw a crew vehicle parked in front of Brock Enterprises and went in to ask permission to photograph the 1961 Mercury 100 Pickup stored on this property by the Brock Enterprises owner. It was a never-done experience, that of providing my name, information about where I work and about my teaching photography at our local high school. Later that evening, the matter was one moving me from our couch outdoors to seize the opportunity of photographing the Mercury 100 pickup up close. That night I got out to the Brock Enterprises Industrial Lot and spent perhaps forty-five minutes photographing this metallic green truck and another vehicle, likely a 1950’s Greyhound bus. Photography with long exposures provided me time for looking beyond the truck around at its environment. I was working with Automatic Exposure Bracketing to create High Dynamic Range (HDR) images; so, each HDR image was taking about two minutes to create at 100 ISO. I was dressed in ski pants, ski jacket and warm head-gear; warm comfort is a part of capturing good images in winter or colder temperatures. As I looked around me I saw deer in a neighboring industrial lot moving along a path taking them to the Viterra Grain Elevator where they could feast on grain spillage.
Listening to an iTunes genius generated playlist originating from Mercury Blues by David Lindley from the El Rayo-X album; others songs in the playlist include Get Right with God by Lucinda Williams from Essence, Sweet Fire of Loveby Robbie Robertson from his album entitled Robbie Robertson; Bang a Gong [Get It On] by T. Rex from Electric Warrior, Elvis Presley Blues by Gillian Welch from her Time – the Revelator album and Bob Dylan’s Dignity from Bob Dylan: The Collection – MTV Unplugged have also surfaced as song interests. I’ve also been inspired to purchase through iTunes Fly Like An Eagle, Rock’n Me and Take the Money and Run in addition to Mercury Blues by the Steve Miller Band (good old songs from a grade 11 year … all those years ago).
Quotes to Inspire (1) “The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer.” – Anonymous; and, (2) “Actually, I’m not all that interested in the subject of photography. Once the picture is in the box, I’m not all that interested in what happens next. Hunters, after all, aren’t cooks.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson
The Peace River - Dunvegan Bridge and Dunvegan Gardens
On October 1, 2011, as an educator having completed several month-long tasks associated with the September 30th student count and the paperchase associated with ministry deadlines at 11:00 p.m., the night before, the prospect of participating in a Kelby Photowalk was there, was a never-done and was possible. As a late, ‘day-of’ registrant one photowalk I could get to from High Level, Alberta, if I started my drive early enough was the photowalk in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. A five-hour drive would see me there with time to spare; the photowalk would start at 1:00 p.m., B.C. time. This was the photowalk I took part in. The other photowalk that was within driving distance but started much too early after my sleeping hard was Fairview-based but would take in the area in and around the Dunvegan Bridge, the Dunvegan historic site and the Dunvegan Gardens. That photowalk took place, in part, along the banks of the Peace River found in the image presented here.
In reviewing this image today, I note that several features of the river draw my attention. The river winds its way through the huge, open space of the river valley. The valley is welcome contrast to the linear, familiar landscape surrounding High Level in which you can look forward, side-to-side and behind you; but up-down depth of perspective and distance are fixed. Standing midpoint up the valley slope allows good change of perspective – opportunity to look down into the valley toward the river and the opportunity to look along the sides of the valley (almost a hallway of sorts) to appreciate its relief (the land’s wrinkles leading down to the river). This kind of perspective as I enjoyed it from a Kelowna hot tub looking down onto Lake Okanagan is one feature I will emulate if and when I ever purchase a hot tub, enjoying a hot tub’s warmth from a height while looking out upon something below.
The photograph, here, is a high dynamic range (HDR) shot in which colour, texture, relief and light are crisply enhanced, capturing attention. Beyond this, the subject of the image – the river – holds attention because there is natural flow and movement, an indicator of spring’s upcoming arrival. The river holds broken ice and moves along the surface of the water. And, the sky’s blue reflects in the water. All this reminds of former life in Fox Lake, Alberta when each evening I’d trek to the Peace River, enjoy its expanse, then return home. I walked to the river through all seasons. For me, this photograph of the Dunvegan river valley and reminiscence of the Kelby Photowalk seem to point to a richness in opportunity for photography throughout each day and through all seasons.
Listening to – Over the Rhine’s Drunkard’s Prayer album; songs standing out – Born, Who Will Guard the Door and Spark.
Quote to Inspire – “The world just does not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera.” – W. Eugene Smith
Round Bales and Clouds Stacking – near Grimshaw, Alberta 1
Round Bales and Clouds Stacking – near Grimshaw, Alberta 2
Round Bales and Clouds Stacking – near Grimshaw, Alberta 3
Round Bales and Clouds Stacking – near Grimshaw, Alberta 4
Round Bales and Clouds Stacking – near Grimshaw, Alberta 5
Round Bales and Clouds Stacking – near Grimshaw, Alberta 6
Round Bales and Clouds Stacking – near Grimshaw, Alberta 7
Round Bales and Clouds Stacking – near Grimshaw, Alberta 8
Round bales of hay populate the landscape in the triangle of area between Grimshaw, Dixonville and Bluesky, Alberta. As I saw them, the bales will, at times, be neatly stacked by a farmer in preparation for winter use. Some stacks will indicate surplus and that hay is for sale. In other instances, round bales are more of a challenge – the bales have ripped and given way, the stacks falling over, the hay’s colour indicating decay … hay that’s sat around for too long, presenting the problem of what it can be used for. Square bales of hay are what I’m used to in feeding cows on my cousin’s farm. The two lines of twine holding the bale together had a trick to opening and releasing the hay which did not involve cutting the twine; one of the lines was weaker; if you pulled on it first it would release the rest of the bale to the ground. And, then, square bales of Timothy hay are used innovatively as the insulating factor in hay bale houses both in warm and cold climates with an R value of 70; it can keep things cool in desert hay bale homes and keep things warm in arctic endeavors. Here, in these photographs the unified shape of the bales repeating, set on land regularly, drifted in and around by snow captures my attention. And, there’s variation in how spring light works as the afternoon draws toward dusk.
I am indebted to Russell Ray of Russell Ray Photos for suggesting the use of AVS Image Converter; not only has the software saved time in the resize conversion, it has also reduced upload times into wordpress immensely. Thank you … Russell.
Listening to Snow Patrol and Lifeboats from their A Hundred Million Suns album.
Quote to Inspire: “I photograph continuously, often without a good idea or strong feelings. During this time the photos are nearly all poor, but I believe they develop my seeing and help later on in other photos. I do believe strongly in photography and hope by following it intuitively that when the photographs are looked at they will touch the spirit in people.” – Harry Callahan
Dan Kameka, an artist and photographer in Alberta’s Peace Region has spurred me forward in this never-done photograph that I captured yesterday. I first became acquainted with Dan Kameka’s photography works at Grande Prairie’s Trumpeter hotel; there, I saw two eight-foot photographs, one a retro-green grain elevator (possibly United Grain Growers) and a second image of farming machinery from former times, a beautiful cluster of a Fargo grain truck with granaries now disused in a snow-dusted, winter fallow field.
That was ten years ago. Two years ago I found smaller versions of the same images for sale at Picture Perfect Frame & Gallery in Grande Prairie. In the set of images displayed I found two or three photographs by Dan Kameka that intrigued me because I wondered how they’d been taken. Of special interest was a Dunvegan Bridge photograph which intrigued because the riddle of working out where the photograph was taken from has stayed with me through these two years. The shot I have taken is likely taken at a point close to the location Dan would have used in capturing his image of the Dunvegan Bridge. Yesterday’s never-done was about riddling this through and then daring to navigate to the site which presented its own challenges, a task taking me from my car to the site and back in ninety or so minutes; it’s only been in the last two months that I’ve known how he probably had done it.
About this photo – this photograph associates to another I’ve posted entitled Alberta Fissure. It is the complement to this image and is taken from a point behind the far left of this image and it looks down the valley from the high left through to the expanse of the valley to the right in this image. This photograph is one of several high dynamic range (HDR) shots I’ve created with automatic exposure bracketing; but it is the first in which cloud cover accentuates significantly adding drama. In this picture I’m impressed with the zoom lens compression of distance. The bridge itself is one kilometre long reaching over the Peace River at a narrower point. The extrapolation then is that from the point I’m standing at taking the picture to the top of the S-curve on the other side of the valley is a distance of perhaps two to two-and-a-half kilometres. It would take a car travelling at 100 km/h about one minute to travel from the top of the S-curve to the point at which I stood near the highway incline. A significant distance is captured in this photograph.
Thank you Dan for those beautiful, intriguing photographs that capture my wonder and memory; you’ve had a hand in spurring me on not only with this photograph, but with my photography.
Listening to – Sarah Masen’s The Valley, Ziggy Marley’s Love is My Religion and Willard Grant’s Evening Mass.
Quote to Inspire – “There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.” – Ansel Adams
As you drive past Hay River’s Airport and look both to the run way and to aircraft parking/storage areas, it can seem that you have returned to a former time. Buffalo Airways has several Douglas DC-3s lining the airfield awaiting use in transport in and around the Northwest Territories. They are colourful workhorse aircraft – usually bright green on white or orange on white, easy to see and easy to be seen in. The reminiscence of former times is there for me with these aircraft. As research chemist, my father did a lot of flying between Canada and Europe with the parent and subsidiary plastics companies – Britain, Montreal, Toronto and Edmonton. On one of his early business trips in the sixties one of the gifts he brought back for me was that of a blue and white dye-cast model of a Douglas DC-3 advertising BOAC Airways, a plane model I would play with in my childhood and something kept still as remembrance of my early years.
Listening to Over the Rhine from the Ohio Disc 2; songs standing out are Long Lost Brother, She and Nobody Number One.
Quote to Inspire – “When I first became interested in photography, I thought it was the whole cheese. My idea was to have it recognized as one of the fine arts. Today I don’t give a hoot in hell about that. The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself.” – Edward Steichen, quoted in Penelope Niven’s ‘Steichen: A Biography’.
At sundown I found this boat, dragged to its rest among the trees; it lies on Vale Island in the industrial section of Hay River’s west channel that now caters to barges on the Great Slave Lake. The photograph may make the boat look smaller than it really is. From ground up to the boat’s keel is eight to ten feet and its length is about sixty feet. What has it been used to accomplish? Many things draw me to this photo – the juxtaposition of boat and plants, the juxtaposition of boat and telephone poles, a boat covered in snow, the colour, form and texture of the wood. The image draws highlight to the phrase, ‘coming apart at the seams.’ Possibly this phrase refers to the final demise of derelict boats and ships. As I look to the image, the final photograph I’ll consider today, it seems as though the boat sleeps under a blanket of snow.
Thank you to all bloggers who navigate regularly to ‘In My Back Pocket – Photography;’ thank you for the ‘likes’ and the ‘comments’. Good schtuff!!
Listening to a playlist while I walk tonight – U2’s Magnificent, Coldplay’s Yes, Radiohead’s All I Need, The Police’s Walking on the Moon, Kings of Leon’s Crawl, U2’s Moment of Surrender, David Bowie’s China Girl and U2’s Miracle Drug.
Quote to Inspire – “A lot of people think that when you have grand scenery, such as you have in Yosemite, that photography must be easy.” – Galen Rowell
Wooded Lookout Path atop Alexandra Falls & Hay River Gorge 1
Wooded Lookout Path atop Alexandra Falls & Hay River Gorge 2
Wooded Lookout Path atop Alexandra Falls & Hay River Gorge 3
Wooded Lookout Path atop Alexandra Falls & Hay River Gorge 4
Wooded Lookout Path atop Alexandra Falls & Hay River Gorge 5
Wooded Lookout Path atop Alexandra Falls & Hay River Gorge 6
Wooded Lookout Path atop Alexandra Falls & Hay River Gorge 7
Wooded Lookout Path atop Alexandra Falls & Hay River Gorge 8
DC-3s & Cessnas – Hay River Airport, Hay River, NWT
Frozen In, Hay River – West Channel
Ships Out of Water – NTCL Shipyard, Hay River, NWT 1
Ships Out of Water – NTCL Shipyard, Hay River, NWT 2
Saturday – a new treasure of a car, a 2006 Nissan Altima with 35000 km, a vehicle barely finished being broken in, a definite upgrade from my 2000 GMC half-ton, a vehicle that is clean, well maintained and somewhat regal. The opportunity was there to test out the vehicle and to use the day to travel and to look around at the world through my camera lens. The choice leaned heavily toward going south to the Dunvegan Bridge and Grande Prairie; undiscovered landscapes in and around Peace River were to be considered. The choice could also lean into an eastward drive to Fort Vermilion and La Crete; but, I had been in La Crete twice in the previous month. The choice could also bend westward to Rainbow Lake and Chateh; but, doing so would really require truck or skidoo. Early in the morning, as I steered the Altima toward the highway … the choice became … north.
From High Level, Alberta to Enterprise and then Hay River in the Northwest Territories has you using one highway, highway 35 in Alberta which becomes highway 1 in the Northwest Territories, their route south to Edmonton. On Saturday, I made the -23C drive from High Level to Hay River and back stopping wherever my camera lens found interesting opportunities for image capture. On the Alberta side of the drive, a train trestle on the highway’s west side was the first image. A quarter of an hour later, I arrived at Steen River where a cabin along ancestral land of a Dene Tha’ trap line was the next image. Another hour passed, looking right, left, forward and back into the landscape along the road; often I turned the car around to revisit an area and to find photographs. I got to Alexandra Falls and clouds broke to reveal sun shining into trees, onto the highway and onto the Alexandra Falls. Midday’s light was bright and harsh, but for photographs along my ninety minute walk along a snow trampled path in forest atop the west side of the Hay River gorge below the falls; the walk to me from the first falls lookout to the second and third lookouts. Early afternoon found me in Hay River scouting out potential shots for later. After a bite to eat, in late afternoon the sun worked its way into sunset; several colourful photographs became possible – Buffalo Air’s DC-3s at the Hay River Airport, ships frozen in ice in the west channel below the Great Slave Lake and then photos at the Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) shipyard. The day was colourful and cold, but a good opportunity to see winter’s north by day – one of my never dones.
Listening to – what’s been interesting in the past few days is to listen to CDs; where my 2000 GMC half-ton had a cassette deck and am/fm stereo, the Altima has a CD player. And, instead of listening to satellite radio which would require some hooking up, I’ve opted to listen to full albums on CD, a significant change from iPod playlists and satellite radio. Literally, there have been CDs I haven’t referred back to in more than a decade. Today’s listening has been to a Brian Houston album Mea Culpa and the songs standing out are Hard Man, Dancing with You and Standing Here. I’ve thought of these songs while thinking of another Brian Houston song – We Don’t Need Religion … a good enlightening tune.
Quotes to Inspire – (1)“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” – Ansel Adams; (2) “I take photographs with love, so I try to make them art objects. But I make them for myself first and foremost – that is important.” – Jacque-Henri Lartique
In My Back Pocket - Photography 
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