Shop Studio

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Live View, Journaling, Light Intensity, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Sigma Lens - Wide Angle 10-20mm, Spring, Vehicle, Vehicle Restoration

Chevrolet Pickup – Reynolds-Alberta Museum – Wetaskiwin, Alberta

One never-done project I hope to undertake is to photograph a vehicle indoors and to control context and lighting and to create a cluster of images from various perspectives. The vehicle could be a sports car, a restored relic or a project vehicle about to undergo rehabilitation – each will reveal character in its grillwork, lights, repetition of shape, door handles, badge-work and interior. The task will be to explore pattern, shape, design and colour. This 1940 Chevrolet pick-up truck has me thinking about the project because museum lighting is a fixed entity, something not within my control; multiple lights reflect at several points on the pick-up’s glossy sheen – the hood, cab, windscreen, fenders, grill and bumper. In a controlled, albeit impromptu shop as studio, limiting light in terms of source versus sources, controlling light intensity and in terms of directing light to the vehicle – all will allow freedom to photograph the indoor vehicle with intent. Key, here, would be having light that can be intense enough to allow work at lower ISO. Some of the work will be about context – borrowing shop space, ensuring that it’s tidy and setting/planning how to light the vehicle. It will also be about coordinating invitations and times to shoot. And, once each vehicle arrives the matter becomes that of seeing the shot, discovering the vehicle through the lens and then keeping the vehicle clean – lint-free, dust-free and smudge free.

Other News – Dave Brosha is offering a workshop in Fort Vermilion, Alberta, an event sponsored by the Fort Vermilion Community Library – +1 (780) 927-4279; a friend called and encouraged me to lock-in my spot with a deposit; check out Dave Brosha’s photography and website – http://www.davebrosha.com/ .

Listening to – Sigur Ros’ ‘Glosoli’ and ‘Hoppipolla.’

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

Other Sunsets

Backlight, Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Live View, Journaling, Light Intensity, Night, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Spring, Sunset

Sunset – Whitecourt to Valleyview, Alberta

Poet and fellow photo blogger, Jim from ‘notyethere’ blog highlights the truism that there will be other sunsets – found, seen, discovered and relished. In this instance, I chose to pull the car off the road between Whitecourt and Valleyview, Alberta and capture the sunset. Check out http://notyethere.wordpress.com/ .

Listening to – ‘Across the River’ by Peter Gabriel.

Quote to Inspire – “I guess I’ve shot about 40,000 negatives and of these I have about 800 pictures I like.” – Harry Callahan

Relics Restored

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Live View, Light Intensity, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Sigma Lens - Wide Angle 10-20mm, Spring, Vehicle, Vehicle Restoration

4 Wheel Drive Auto Co – Reynolds Museum, Wetaskiwin, Alberta

Front End – Graham Farm Truck – Reynolds Museum, Wetaskiwin, Alberta

Graham Farm Truck – Reynolds Museum – Wetaskiwin, Alberta

Part of Easter break took me into central Alberta to Wetaskiwin for an afternoon at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum. With permission I photographed vehicles that had played a part in Alberta’s history – McLaughlin Buicks, Grahams, a Duisenberg, a Cord, some Chevrolets and Fords. With my Sigma 10-20 mm lens and at ISO 6400, the museum’s lighting was somewhat harsh and it’s possible that different metering and bringing down the ISO with longer exposures might have yielded more satisfying results. A speedlight might allow more control of lighting although reflection from vehicle gloss and finish would need to be anticipated. My intention, for my next visit is to bring my macro lens (for pattern and design work) and my 70-200 lens (to get closer-in to vehicles from a distance) – exploring other possibilities. So, these images become scouting shots, first looks at subject and context and first looks towards what might be done next time. The upcoming May long-weekend begins a tribute to cars from the fifties at the Reynolds Museum, something to return for.

Listening to – Peter Gabriel’s ‘In Your Eyes,’ ‘Sledgehammer,’ ‘Shaking the Tree,’ ‘Steam,’ ‘Don’t Give Up’ and ‘Come Talk to Me.’

Quote to Inspire – “My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.” – Steve McCurry

Edmonton – Other Views

Backlight, Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Home, Journaling, Light Intensity, Night, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Sigma Lens - Wide Angle 10-20mm, Spring

Edmonton – from Mill Creek

Edmonton – from the River Valley

Edmonton – Looking Southeast 2

Edmonton – Looking Southeast

The past week presented the opportunity to move around Edmonton and to look at skylines from different vantage points.

Listening to – Mozart’s ‘Requiem, K. 626’ performed by La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Dominique Visse, Choeur Regional Nord-Pas-De-Calais, Odile Bailleux, Martin Hill, Colette Alliot-Lugaz & Gregory Reihart.

Quote to Inspire – “I am forever chasing light. Light turns the ordinary into the magical.” – Trent Parke

North Country Cloud-work

Backlight, Barn, Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Farm, Farmhouse, Home, Homestead, Light Intensity, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Prime Lens, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Season, Sigma Lens - Wide Angle 10-20mm, Spring, Still Life, Sunset, Weather

Country Road Sunset – Mayerthorpe, Alberta

Farm Silo Silhouette – Mayerthorpe, Alberta

Wednesday’s travel took me from my Calgary, Camera Store stop northward on my return drive to High Level. Around dinner-time, between Mayerthorpe and Whitecourt the cloud-work and evolving sunset on the southwest of the highway were a spectacular sight among a huge and open northern Alberta sky, land less frequently frequented, something quite different from the frenetic congestion of people and land encountered between Edmonton and Calgary, an area still held in grey bleakness of winter. It was good to be traveling home in familiar North Country.

Listening to – Collective Soul and ‘Shine’, and, Sigur Ros and ‘E-bow.’

Quote to Inspire – “While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see .” – Dorothea Lange

Cold Sunrise – Spring

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Fog, Home, Journaling, Light Intensity, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Spring, Still Life, Sunrise, Weather, Winter

Saskatchewan Drive – Edmonton, Alberta

Edmonton – a cold sunrise, winter lingering on into spring, colours buildings and fog haze in muted and rich tones reminding of Russian narratives.

Bartholomew Scott Blair misses a trade show for book publishers. Boozy Barley Blair, life on a tangent, haphazardly and unwittingly finds himself in possession of serious, sobering prose; the film of this narrative takes you from Lisbon to London to Moscow and to Boris Pasternak’s grave and Dacha in which Dr. Zhivago was written. That world is presented in much the same colours as this Edmonton image. The narrative explores the rambling of Barley’s unanchored heart navigating forward recklessly in hope and unchallenged belief at a time of life when legacy is what should concern him. Barley’s life becomes entangled – verifying story source and author, working within prescribed tradecraft and pursuing relationship. That relationship and possibility change the course of this narrative – hope and promise are honoured.

This Edmonton image looking out to Saskatchewan Drive high above the North Saskatchewan River surprises me in perspective, time of year and colour. These are the familiar tones and colours and climate of my childhood and youth cycling Edmonton city streets or walking and talking with friends. Likewise Moscow’s tones, colour and climate as featured in the film of John Le Carre’s ‘Russia House’ also surprise me because they are so strikingly familiar.

Listening to – Ernest Hemingway’s ‘A Moveable Feast.’

Quote to Inspire – “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” ― Dorothea Lange

Butler Bins

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Journaling, Light Intensity, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Still Life, Winter

Butler Grain Bins – Blue Hills, Alberta

Four Butler tin grain bins are placed on the crest of a field near Blue Hills and Tompkins Landing, Alberta, positioned near a range road for ease of access, away from water, able to take advantage of the sun’s heat to dry grain stored within. The bins remind of Egypt and Joseph, a pharaoh’s dream that disturbs and Joseph’s dream reading – seven abundant years followed by seven famine-filled years; at pharaoh’s request, Joseph undertakes and manages Egypt’s grain collection (in grain bins) in the abundant years and oversees grain distribution in Egypt’s lean years. Joseph is a name meaning ‘he who removes my shame,’ a name Rachel gives this first born son of hers following barren years with Jacob (Israel). Joseph is the dreamer whose father, Jacob, gives a coat of many colours. It’s Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams (and to see what’s happening as a visionary) that allows him to serve others throughout his life. Josephs, those who remove shame, feature elsewhere in the Bible story. The Joseph who marries Mary, mother of Jesus is stepfather who extends grace to Mary when she’s found to be pregnant prior to their marriage. The story grows ever-bigger and Mary’s Joseph often guided by dream revelation has a role to play in the lives of Jesus and Mary. Then, there’s the Joseph of Arimathea who provides tomb for Jesus and who removes Jesus’ body from the cross becoming unclean in touching a dead body as the Sabbath begins. Each Joseph removes shame and extends grace into the situation.

Listening to – Chris Whitley’s ‘Dust Radio,’ the Lumineers’ ‘Ho Hey’ and ‘Stubborn Love,’ John Trudell’s ‘Rockin the Res (Live)’ and Congregation’s ‘Don’t Pay No Mind.’

Quote to Inspire – It should be the aim of every photographer to make a single exposure that shows everything about the subject. I have been told that my portrait of Churchill is an example of this. – Yousuf Karsh

Cattails & Snow Curves

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon 70-200 mm 2.8 IS L Series Lens, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Journaling, Light Intensity, Lookback Photos - One Year Ago, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Spring

Cattails and Snow, High Level, Alberta 1

I’m liking these cattails and the lengthening curves of the snow in which they are set.

Listening to – Tim Reynolds fret a number from the Live at Radio City concert with Dave Matthews, ‘You Are My Sanity’; then it’s Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds with a Neil Young tune, ‘Down by the River.’

Quote to Inspire – “I really don’t have any idea about photography, but I take pictures.” – Alex Majoli

Cable & Ice Bridge

Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Light Intensity, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Sigma Lens - Wide Angle 10-20mm, Spring, Still Life, Weather

Cable – Tompkins Landing, Alberta 1

Ice Bridge, Tompkins Landing, Alberta 1

Ice Bridge, Tompkins Landing, Alberta 2

Cable has been wound upon one of two huge snow-covered spools used to pull the Edmonton Queen ferry up and out from the Peace River at Tompkins’ Landing, Alberta. The first image, a macro shot explores light, colour and texture of cable on the spool. The other two images are of the Tompkin’s Landing ice bridge – one kilometre in length, crossing the Peace River – a solid structure between December and March, capable of holding a transport truck weighing 60 tons.

Listening to – Coldplay from the Mylo Xyloto 2012 tour beginning with ‘Major Minus,’ then ‘Yellow,’ ‘Princess of China,’ ‘Up in Flames,’ ‘Clocks’ and ‘Charlie Brown.’

Quote to Inspire – “Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.” – Don McCullin

Snow – Warmed

Backlight, Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Journaling, Lookback Photos - One Year Ago, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Spring

Alberta Skies – High Level, Alberta 1

Alberta Skies – High Level, Alberta 2

Alberta Skies – High Level, Alberta 3

Alberta Skies – High Level, Alberta 4

In Spring wind skims over sun-warmed snow, blowing and lifting moisture laden air sky high. A blue sky day can become cloud-ridden in hours. Alberta skies feature in images along the southward drive to Edmonton in Spring.

Listening to – Coldplay’s ‘Mylo Xyloto,’ ‘Hurts Like Heaven,’ and ‘In My Place.’

Quote to Inspire – “I’m very open to any visual conceits and any possibilities at my disposal to be better explain to people the ideas I’m exploring.” – Tim Hetherington