Remnant Population

Barn, Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Combine (Farming), Fall, Farm, Farmhouse, Flora, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Home, Homestead, Journaling, Lookback Photos - One Year Ago, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Season, Sigma Lens - Wide Angle 10-20mm, Spring, Summer, Weather

47 Ford Tow Truck – McLure, BC

Farm Buildings – Valleyview, Alberta 1

Field, Combine & Buildings – Nampa, Alberta 1

Harvestor Silos – Rimbey, Alberta 1

Harvestor Silos – Rimbey, Alberta 2

Hay Harvest – Keg River, Alberta

Morning Colours – Keg River, Alberta 1

Morning Colours – Keg River, Alberta 2

Summer Cloudwork – Greencourt, Alberta

Telus Tower – Edmonton, Alberta

Remnants of spring, summer and autumn, a cluster of HDR photos populate my photo folder. Farm buildings, fields ripe with grain ready for harvest, trees with autumn leaves desaturating from green toward bright yellows and reds, summer cloudwork and a final shot of Edmonton in green July splendor – all are HDR shots. The 1947 Ford Tow Truck and a cousin’s farm feature visually in this blog post.

Listening to – U2’s ‘Always,’ David Gray’s ‘As I’m Leaving,’ Ryan Adams’ ‘Hallelujah,’ Mazzy Star’s ‘Into Dust,’ Snow Patrol’s ‘Life Boats,’ The Perishers’ ‘Trouble Sleeping’ and U2’s ‘Last Night On Earth.’

Quote to Inspire – “There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described. I photograph to see what something will look like photographed.” – Garry Winogrand

Buttertown Storehouse

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Home, Homestead, Journaling, Light Intensity, Lookback Photos - One Year Ago, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Prime Lens, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Spring, Summer, Sunset

Storehouse, St. Louis Mission – Buttertown, Fort Vermilion, Ab 1

Storehouse, St. Louis Mission – Buttertown, Fort Vermilion, Ab 2

The northern lights were out this morning in my pre-dawn walk around High Level – ice crystals are in the air; with last night’s heavy billowing clouds we’re nearing our first snowfall. Here, an image contains two end-points of high dynamic range editing; curiously, I’m liking the colour (tinted) version of the old, old store house at the St. Louis Roman Catholic mission in Buttertown – Fort Vermilion, Alberta. The image has me thinking to former priest, John O’Donohue and different parts of four lectures he’s presented and a journaling exercise he has people work through. The first question to work from is to articulate the seven things that are controlling ideas/elements in your Life – premises upon which your Life is founded.

Listening to – an investigation of the ‘Primitives,’ a group recommended with the ‘iambead.com’ photoblog; ‘Crash’ is the first tune I come across. Then it’s ‘All the Way Down’ and ‘Earth Thing.’

Quote to Inspire – “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough” – Robert Capa

Deposit Point – Grain

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Fall, Farm, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Home, Light Intensity, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Prime Lens, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Summer

Grain Bin – Dixonville, Alberta 1

Grain Bin – Dixonville, Alberta 2

Grain Bin – Dixonville, Alberta 3

On the back road between Manning and Fairview old, wooden grain bins are found and are located within large fields as deposit points for grain in harvest. Well-constructed wooden grain bins still stand while those that were constructed hastily erode, leaning and falling over. Those made with plywood walls sometimes have a wall missing leaving only the frame and exposing the bin’s interior. Wood grain bins are more a thing of the past with corrugated metal grain bins made by Butler, Westeel or Roscoe now being used, bins set on cement pads, often clustered at highest dry points on a farmer’s field. This well-constructed grain bin has caught my eye regularly; caught at the time of harvest amid ready and ripe grain wood’s texture and lines appeal as does colour and context.

Listening to – Kacey Musgrave’s ‘Keep It to Yourself’ and David Gray’s ‘Flame Turns Blue.’

Quote to Inspire – “What I did, anybody can do.” – Weegee

REO Speedwagon – Manning, Alberta

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Fall, Farm, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Vehicle, Vehicle Restoration

REO Speedwagon – Manning, Alberta 1

REO Speedwagon – Manning, Alberta 2

REO Speedwagon – Manning, Alberta 3

REO Speedwagon – Manning, Alberta 5

REO Speedwagon – Manning, Alberta 6

My drive south allows a stop just north of Manning, Alberta. A La Crete, Alberta auctioned vehicle draws attention – an old rusting relic; but, it’s more … its badging sports the name of a Rock and Roll band that achieved notoriety in the late 70s and early 80s … REO Speedwagon – the revelation, here, is that the band’s name links to a truck, something similar to an International Harvester, a one tonne truck designed for heavy use such as is found in farming communities. I have stumbled across an REO Speedwagon one tonne, a rarity, a vehicle that’s been sold from a La Crete, Alberta auction (a neighboring community to us in High Level) and this truck now resides without a grain box and without headlights along the highway that takes me south in my travels. It’s the kind of vehicle that might be made good use of by the owner and vehicle-restorer of Deanz Garage in Vulcan, Alberta.

Listening to – Imagine Dragons’ ‘Radioactive’ and Cheap Trick’s ‘Ain’t that a Shame.’ Then to recall the band it’s REO Speedwagon’s ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’ and ‘Take It On the Run.’

Quote to Inspire – “For me, photography has become a way of attempting to make sense of the strange world that I see around me. I don’t ever expect to achieve that understanding, but the fact that I am trying comforts me.” – Mikhael Subotzky

July Cloudwork – Alberta’s

Barn, Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Farm, Farmhouse, Flora, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Journaling, Light Intensity, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Summer

Farm HDR, Greencourt, Alberta

High dynamic range results in this fused image combining three images (-1 stop, average and +1 stop) creating an image representing early summer cloud work in north-central Alberta, a farm within kilometres of Greencourt, Alberta.

Listening to – Allstar Weekend’s ‘Mr. Wonderful’ and ‘Not Your Birthday.’ ‘Blame it on September’ another Allstar Weekend tune follows. I’m listening to my daughter’s tunes pulled from iTunes.

Quote to Inspire – “Looking and seeing are two different things. What matters is the relationship with the subject.” – Christophe Agou

HDR Efex, Viveza, Color Efex, Silver Efex & Lightroom

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Journaling, Light Intensity, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Spring

1a McLure, British Columbia – HDR 1

1b McLure, British Columbia – HDR 2

1c McLure, British Columbia – HDR 3

1d McLure, British Columbia – HDR Raw -1 Stop

2 McLure, British Columbia – HDR Raw Average

3 McLure, British Columbia – HDR Raw +1 Stop

The images above are examples of the high dynamic range (HDR) images that can be achieved in end state for comparison with the three original photos of -1 stop, average and +1 stop exposures, HDR being something allowing the photographer (image taker) to deal with landscapes/images of extreme contrast. For these photos Adobe Lightroom was the starting program into which Google’s NiK Software was used for handling HDR (HDR Efex), for sharpening and editing (Viveza) and for colour adjustment (Color Efex); Silver Efex was used to work with Black and White. I could have used Trey Ratcliff’s HDR presets in Lightroom to move more rapidly to end state; but, there would not have been control of sharpening, editing or colouration.

Question – How did everyone do with yesterday’s World-wide Photo Walk?

Quote to Inspire – “I only know how to approach a place by walking. For what does a street photographer do but walk and watch and wait and talk, and then watch and wait some more, trying to remain confident that the unexpected, the unknown, or the secret heat of the known awaits just around the corner.” – Alex Webb

Listening to – U2 & Paul McCartney perform ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,’ Richard Ashcroft & Coldplay perform ‘Bittersweet Symphony,’ the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s ‘Open Heart Surgery,’ the Devlin’s ‘Love is Blindness’ and the Fray’s ‘You Found Me.’

Four-be-Ford

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Live View, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Journaling, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Summer, Vehicle, Vehicle Restoration

1947 Ford 4 x 4 – Sangudo, Alberta 1

1947 Ford 4 x 4 – Sangudo, Alberta 2

1947 Ford 4 x 4 – Sangudo, Alberta 3

Again, at the Alaska Highway Construction Equipment Museum, another truck, a 1947 Ford captivates – perhaps a three-ton truck and a truck with original four-wheel drive produced by the Ford Motor Company.

Listening to – Luka Bloom’s version of a U2 tune, ‘Bad.’

Bales – Harvest II

Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Fall, Farm, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Journaling, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Season, Summer, Weather

Round Bales – Sangudo, Alberta 1

Round Bales – Sangudo, Alberta 2

Round Bales – Sangudo, Alberta 3

Round Bales – Sangudo, Alberta 4

Round Bales – Sangudo, Alberta 5

Round Bales – Sangudo, Alberta 6

More round bales indicate that grains have been taken off a field in harvest and that hay is ready to be gathered for winter cattle feed. These images remind of my cousin baling this summer and his waiting for the right equation of temperature and humidity to produce useful, nutrient rich bales for cattle feed. In the north, where we’ve had a lot of rain some fields’ bales are blackened with hay that been damp either while on the ground or at the time of gathering. Such bales often do not hold shape and erode while still on the field. Bright mustard-copper coloured bales signal perhaps the healthiest bales – the brightest I’ve seen have been on the north approach to the Dunvegan bridge (west side of the highway) in the fields preceding the descent to the bridge that crosses the Peace River. What captivates in these images is bale-within-field colour, the quantity of bales that one field produces and the irregular and, at times, patterned placement of bales within a field.

Listening to – Robbie Robertson’s ‘Sweet Fire of Love,’ Shawn Colvin’s ‘I Don’t Know Why’ and Peter Himmelman’s ‘Impermanent Things.’

Quote to Inspire – “When people ask me what equipment I use – I tell them my eyes.” – Anonymous

Under the Shed

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Fall, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Journaling, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Summer, Vehicle, Vehicle Restoration

Open-Air Shed – Sangudo, Alberta

In the week prior to their auction, several old-time pick-ups and cab and chassis reside beneath an open-air shed at Sangudo’s Alaska Highway Construction Equipment Museum, a favourite place to photograph within the last year. These vehicles were auctioned off on September 7th and 8th; doing so, made way for a land sale. Quite possibly had I been at the auction I could have brought home one of these vehicles for as little as $3000 – $4000. Then, it would have been about gathering friends to help restore and add Life to one of these well-kept vintage vehicles.

Listening to – several songs my daughter has downloaded: Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ ‘Too-Rye-Ay’ and ‘Come On Eileen,’ Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball,’ Jack Johnson’s ‘Banana Pancakes,’ Ed Sheeran’s ‘Drunk’ and Emblem 3’s ‘Chloe.’ There is also The Fray’s ‘You Found Me.’

Quote to Inspire – “Ultimately photography is about who you are. It’s the truth in relation to yourself. And seeking truth becomes a habit.” – Leonard Freed

Sharing the Field

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Live View, Fall, Farm, Flora, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Home, Homestead, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Still Life, Summer, Vehicle, Vehicle Restoration

Field Shared – Greencourt, Alberta 1

Field Shared – Greencourt, Alberta 2

On the drive between Fort Vermilion and High Level, Alberta the clean, stubble-free fields were noteworthy … more indications that harvest is nearing completion. In addition to grain being gathered and hay bales being removed, the fields did look like someone had vacuumed each field, leaving no trace of the summer’s activity. In this image from a few weeks back, at Greencourt, Alberta alongside the highway north farming implements – a Mercury, two Chevrolets, a Massey Ferguson and John Deere – share a field with round hay bales waiting to be cleared off and stored. The older farming implements are on display … perhaps even for sale … perhaps memorial to farming years.

Listening to – Tyrone Wells’ ‘Time of Our Lives.’

Quote to Inspire – “All the technique in the world doesn’t compensate for the inability to notice.” – Elliott Erwitt