Water Lens

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Live View, Fall, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Light Intensity, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty

Water Lens – Kananaskis, Alberta 1

Water Lens – Kananaskis, Alberta 2

Water Lens – Kananaskis, Alberta 3

Water Lens – Kananaskis, Alberta 4

Water Lens – Kananaskis, Alberta 5

Last Saturday with conference concluded in Kananaskis, Alberta, I made myself stop, turn around and return to this mountain creek for an hour’s look through my camera lens. While capturing the blur of bubbling, gurgling, running water as it fell over these rocks was my initial intention, using water as a lens to focus upon and magnify the rock beneath also intrigued. I am liking the colours and renderings of these images.

Listening to – John Mayer’s ‘The Queen of California.’

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

Walking On

Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Fall, Farm, Flora, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Home, Homestead, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Season, Still Life, Sunset

1 Grain Bins – Manning, Alberta

2 Leaning Grain Bin – Dixonville, Alberta 1

3 Leaning Grain Bin – Dixonville, Alberta 2

4 Former Farm – Manning, Alberta 1

5 Former Farm – Manning, Alberta 2

6 Former Farm – Manning, Alberta 3

7 Former Farm – Manning, Alberta 4

8 Rails – Keg River, Alberta 1

9 Rails – Keg River, Alberta 2

Imagining, remembering former times of a much younger Life when the journey taken was as much as a walk to a friend’s home – ringing the doorbell, checking to see … ‘You want to come out for a walk?’ Not an appointed or scheduled time, not appointment, not a time with rigorous intention or time to be maximized, fully, just time to talk, to get beyond the four walls of our homes and explore the world, to see what’s happening and to return. My friends and I were the better for it – the fresh air, the walk and the talk enriched us.

Now, at my present age time and times are planned with others and very rarely do they involve shared journey. Getting out, photographing the world, paying attention to surroundings now involves the disciplined journey of getting away, most times alone, and the work involved is in ‘seeing’ the world. Talk and exploration occurs with photographs and now holds narrative about what each photographer has seen and experienced. Meeting and narrative rather than journey have become focal point. Here, a day’s drive has taken me south and back and photographs record fall’s early morning colours. And, my wife will be the first to recognize the association to my cousins’ Rimbey farm with the farming imagery.

Listening to – Martyn Joseph’s take on many Bruce Springsteen songs; standing out are ‘The Rising,’ ‘Walk Like a Man,’ ‘Thunder Road,’ ‘If I Should Fall Behind’ and ‘One Step Up.’

Quote to Inspire – “I love photographing. It’s that simple.” – Stuart Franklin

Field – Selling Point

Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Fall, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Season, Still Life, Vehicle, Vehicle Restoration

R E O Speedwagon – Manning, Alberta 1

R E O Speedwagon – Manning, Alberta 2

In an open field, displayed for sale, parked next to a 1969 GMC grey and white one-tonne cab and chassis and a dented, yet intact retro green with white, 1957 Chevrolet sedan, sits an REO Speedwagon one-tonne cab and chassis. Further up this same field is a fenced-in area with large storage shed for large farm equipment and a farmer’s mechanic’s shop for working on equipment. Spray-painted on three sides of a smaller building closer to the road is the phone number needed for making contact with the seller of these implements and vehicles. Not a junk yard and not a used car lot, the field does serve as selling point for these vehicles that may be of interest to travellers driving by. This image is the badging as found on the REO Speedwagon with colour and with some desaturation.

Listening to – Ashley MacIsaac’s ‘She’s a Rare One’ performed with Jackie Robitaille.

Quote to Inspire – “A photograph is the pause button on life.” – Ty Holland

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

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

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

Wet, Grey, Bleak – Fun

Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Fall, High Dynamic Range (HDR), Journaling, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Summer, Weather

ATS Customs – Mud Bogger – High Level, Alberta 1

ATS Customs – Mud Bogger – High Level, Alberta 4

ATS Customs – Mud Bogger – High Level, Alberta 3

ATS Customs – Mud Bogger – High Level, Alberta 2

Moving from fall into winter’s weather the world becomes wet and grey and bleak, weather similar to that which you’ll find on the leeward side of mountains at altitude with its drizzle and snow. For many, the sensible thing is to remain indoors. But, others find it difficult to sit still and you’ll find them active within our northern environment, beyond road’s end carving paths with tow ropes and winches through mud and water, a texture not of soup, but stew, in a vehicle set up for the activity of ‘mud-bogging.’ Here, a seventies Toyota Land Cruiser has in its customization been lifted and engineered by ATS Customs – a vehicle set up for mud-bogging. Had I had this vehicle in Wood Buffalo National park (years ago), the weekly grocery runs in June and September would have been more expedient … accomplishing the two-hundred kilometre trek in several instances took more than eight hours one way; in one trek we needed to create our own bridge over a culvert that had washed out.

Listening to – Dar William’s ‘The Beauty of the Rain’ and ‘Let’s Go Fishing in the Morning.’

Quote to Inspire – “I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed.” – Garry Winogrand

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