Judah Homestead

Homestead, Journaling, Winter

The weather was that of early spring – a day grey and overcast, later filling with snow flurries, then shifting to bright sunlight among clouds as I drove south from Peace River, Alberta. I was taking time … to look around, to explore, to learn more about a region I drive through regularly but through decades had not yet investigated.

Back in December 2022, interested in the terrain of the Peace River’s river valley, I asked a farmer from the region about possible vantage points for viewing the river. The river that is from one kilometre to a kilometre and a half wide as it moves through a region I teach in has intrigued me since my wife, and I flew into a fly-in teaching community three decades ago. Two locations were recommended to look over the town of Peace River and along the river valley.  The Twelve Foot Davis gravesite was high above the town on its east side. The second recommendation caught my attention – the Sagitowa Friendship lookout point had been described as being along the road to Judah, the hamlet of Judah … perhaps forty minutes south and west of Peace River along a road that follows the southern river bank. This lookout point allows the eye to travel west and south following the river; it allows for a look down and north to the town of Peace River’s south end, up to its north end; it allows, for a look across the river to the Shaftesbury Estates, the West Peace area, Saddleback Ridge and the Pines.

I was at the Sagitowa lookout working with my camera. After several shots, it began to snow. I packed up and began a drive toward Judah. In the early afternoon, the sun came out, somewhat harsh in terms of the contrast of light and shadows. Within the hamlet of Judah, I found treasure – this homestead.

Quotes to Inspire – two quotes have found me this week; both have value for a photographer.  First, ‘We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are (Anais Nin).’ The second is one that seems related, ‘People only see what they are prepared to see (Ralph Waldo Emerson).’ This quote highlights a photographer’s readiness to see a given subject and perhaps maturation in terms of seeing that subject. It attaches to a follow-up statement, ‘If you look for what is good and what you can be grateful for, you will find it everywhere.’ So, perhaps Emerson’s quote is a nudge out-of-context but still has import as we use it.

Listening to: Motorhead’s version of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes,’ Fred Eaglesmith’s ‘Can’t Dance,’ Pickin’ On U2 – A Bluegrass Tribute’s version of ‘One,’ and Bono’s ‘Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story’ audiobook reading.

Burning It Down – Seeing It Through

Journaling, Photography, Winter

On the final day of 2022, I drove from Lethbridge in southern Alberta to
High Level in northern Alberta, a long fourteen- to fifteen-hour journey. As a
return drive, I had started early, reached Edmonton just after noon, and
continued northward through the day. In that time, I concluded my listening to
an intriguing audiobook, ‘The Splendid and the Vile’ by Erik Larson, about
Winston Churchill written recently and with access to documentation from
previously unavailable sources; the book compiles memoirs and correspondences
into a more intimate view of Winston’s world – Britain and its people,
colleagues, family, friends, brokered loyalties, royalty – all at a time of
war, World War II.

Close to 9:00 p.m., my drive brought me to Manning, Alberta, where I fueled
my Corolla, got snacks and began the last leg of my journey home. Northward,
cresting the hill leading out of Manning, clouds in the night sky reflected
bright, red-orange light. As I drove toward the Manning airport (ahead, on my
left), flames reached high into the sky.

A building was burning, not at the airport, but at a farm on land
immediately preceding the airport. The building was one I had considered
photographing through the years. But it had been dressed down. While the
overall shape and architectural style held interest, the building’s windows
were boarded up, and the structure had been painted a dark chocolate
brown.  It was more a dark brown brick than architectural interest worthy
of a photograph.

I pulled into a service road connecting the farm and the airport. I
photographed this blaze from my vehicle. Looking at this image now, the fire’s
light reflects on people’s faces, the fire holds the gaze of people who have
come to witness this spectacle, and people chat and are at ease with each other.
It was New Year’s Eve, a night to say goodbye to 2022, a night to say goodbye
to this old farm building.

A week later, driving south, the building was absent. Nothing remained. The
area where the building had stood was flat, cleared of debris and now offered a
clear, unimpeded view from the farm home out to the service road and highway.
Winter likely had been the safest time to burn this farm building, and burning
the structure may have been the most efficient way to remove it.

Listened to: Erik Larson’s ‘The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill,
Family, and Defiance During the Blitz.’

Quotes to Inspire (1) ‘I walk, I look, I see, I stop, I photograph (Leon
Levinstein).’ (2) ‘Photography must be integrated with the story (James Wong
Howe).’

Dandelion – Look Back Edit

Fall, Flora, Project 365 - Photo-a-day

In my free time, I looked back through my Lightroom catalogue this past summer. I took the opportunity to view images I had taken a while ago.  The intent was, in some ways, a historical look back. In another way, it became an opportunity to edit images I like using my present workflow. This dandelion image became a series of different edits – these edits. Looking back, I was surprised that this is a photo from October 2016 and that I had taken the image with my Olympus E-M5 Mark II. Pocketable and light, this camera was easy to use, rendered good images and was a camera I enjoyed using.

Quote to Inspire – “If you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them. But if you argue for your possibilities, you get to create them!” ― Kelly Lee Phipps.

Listening to: Spencer Elliott’s ‘Torque,’ Charl du Plessis’ ‘Ode to Peace,’ Pat Green’s take on U2’s ‘Trip Through Your Wires,’ Birdy’s ‘Quietly Yours’ from the ‘Persuasion’ soundtrack, and 100 Mile House and ‘1952 Vincent Black Lightning.’

Framed to Edit

Project 365 - Photo-a-day

Three weeks back, in the midst of mileage and a COVID pivot, on a road west in Southern Alberta I was able to stop, get out of my truck, frame this image and two others, return to my truck and motor on. Many elements make this image come together, not the least of which is the encounter of colour within what is largely a monochromatic image. Liking it.

Quote to Consider / Inspire – “One should not only photograph things for what they are, but for what else they are.” – Minor White, Frames Magazine, February 2021.

Listening to – Kathleen Edwards’ ‘Take It With You When You Go’ and Appalachian Road Show’s ‘Don’t Want to Die in the Storm.’

January Homestead

Project 365 - Photo-a-day

Liking this bit of winter morning light, directional light, side-light – intensity and shadows – falling on snow and an Alberta homestead, a first image in a long while.

Quote to Consider / Inspire – “… I believe that the real challenge of photography lies not in finding something or someplace exotic and beautiful to photograph, but in revealing the hidden beauty in what most people would consider mundane.” – Howard Grill, The Challenge of Photography, Frames Magazine, February 2021.

Listening to – Ian Tyson’s ‘Yellowhead to Yellowstone,’ Galen Huckins’ ‘The Kennicott,’ Roo Panes’ ‘A Message to Myself,’ and Hollow Coves’ ‘Adrift.’

Homestead – near Fairview, Alberta

Waikiki – Dawn

Backlight, Best Practices - Photography, Canon 60D, Canon Camera, Canon Live View, Flora, Light Intensity, Photoblog Intention, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Sigma Lens - Wide Angle 10-20mm, Still Life, Summer, Sunrise

Morning's Walk - Honolulu, Oahu, HI 1

Morning’s Walk – Honolulu, Oahu, HI 1

Morning's Walk - Honolulu, Oahu, HI 2

Morning’s Walk – Honolulu, Oahu, HI 2

Morning's Walk - Honolulu, Oahu, HI 3

Morning’s Walk – Honolulu, Oahu, HI 3

Summer, summer break – vacation … settling into a new time zone five hours different from that of my year’s norm finds me out of our hotel with camera and tripod early in the morning, walking, gathering photos of Honolulu’s Waikiki – the day of the surfer and vacationer (from all parts of the world) prior to that day beginning. Surprisingly, even before 6:00 a.m., surfing instructors are out on the beach, with early morning animation, drumming up the day’s business, ready to take out the novice surfer. Looking from the beach to the ocean, before 6:00 a.m., finds surfers already surfing on moving and curling waves and along trails of the Waikiki strip joggers are already jogging. People conclude their sleep in city parks where they’ve been sleeping through a tropically warm summer night on the grass. Looking towards the buildings, Waikiki hotels are being restocked in daily essentials prior to the day’s formal start, Coca Cola products included. All this occurs before the sun crosses the horizon bringing us into day – fodder for photos.

Listening to – Glenn Miller’s band perform ‘Tuxedo Junction’ and Satchmo sing Happy Birthday to ‘Poppa’ Bing Crosby.

Quote to Inspire – “Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.” – Ansel Adams

Boyer Bridge – Bisection

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

Boyer River Bridge - Fort Vermilion, Alberta

Boyer River Bridge – Fort Vermilion, Alberta

Looking south, through the bridge crossing the Boyer River en route from High Level to Fort Vermilion, this perspective, looking through the bridge to the incline and curve on the other side becomes my first opportunity to photograph a bridge straight on, from the roadway, along a center line bisecting the road and bridge structure; the place I’ve gotten to in editing recalls impermanence of things man-made.

Listening to – Peter Himmelman’s ‘Impermanent Things,’ John Mayer’s ‘Route 66’ and Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs ‘For the Summer.’

Quote to Inspire – “A portrait is not made in the camera, but on either side of it.” – Edward Steichen

Solitary Return

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

Aways Down the Twin Lakes Hill - Twin Lakes, Alberta

Aways Down the Twin Lakes Hill – Twin Lakes, Alberta

Solitary, a Sunday afternoon motorist returns home northward along northern Alberta roads, descending down the five kilometres that comprise the Twin Lakes hill.

Listening to – Sigur Ros’ ‘Glosoli,’ the Lumineers’ ‘Stubborn Love’ and Ed Sheeran’s ‘Firefly.’

Quote to Inspire – “There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”

Impermeable Equation

Backlight, Canon Camera, Canon Lens, Canon Live View, Light Intensity, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Prime Lens, Rail Yard, Spring, Still Life, Weather

Water & Railroad Tie - Sexsmith, Alberta 1

Water & Railroad Tie – Sexsmith, Alberta 1

Water & Railroad Tie - Sexsmith, Alberta 2

Water & Railroad Tie – Sexsmith, Alberta 2

Water & Railroad Tie - Sexsmith, Alberta 3

Water & Railroad Tie – Sexsmith, Alberta 3

Kasia Sokulska, part of the husband and wife duo that comprises MIKSMedia Photography, presents inspired macro images on her Google + profile page, outstanding and beautiful work to view. Her work inspired me to take advantage of railroad ties, made impermeable to water yesterday in Sexsmith, Alberta. With my EOS 60D, a quarter of an inch from the railroad tie, hung upside down from my Manfrotto tripod (also a never-done) I explored water droplets.

On the weekend, Dave Brosha e-mailed to highlight upcoming workshops likely in Calgary and Grande Prairie, Alberta; these would be accessed through his facebook page.

Listening to – Shawn Colvin’s ‘Change Is On The Way.’

Quote to Inspire – “Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph.” – Matt Hardy

Dusk Rescued

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, Night, Photography & Conceptualizing Beauty, Project 365 - Photo-a-day, Rail Yard, Still Life, Sunset, Winter

Sunset - Dusk - Peace River, Alberta

Sunset – Dusk – Peace River, Alberta

For a second time, a Peace River, Alberta sunset arrests my attention. This photo is an image exposed incorrectly, but one that has been shot as a RAW file; editing is able to rescue the image returning it to Life and intention – a sunset shot. Earlier this fall on a day when we (my family and me) had been to Peace River for a day’s outing, the day’s return journey began at sunset; we in our vehicle making the long five kilometre climb westward out of the Peace valley and enjoying an array, scatter and stir of cloud work – hues deepening, then diminishing. A sight to have caught as a photo, this sunset … but just as easily enjoyed by each of us for what it was; there will be other sunsets (we do live in Alberta). As an entity, the immediate follow-up to sunset is dusk, light that softens as it leaves, light that colours as it diminishes – in photographic terms it de-saturates (withdraws colour). As an entity, dusk is intermediary between the stark, factual reality of daylight and that part of Life that occurs in the unseen. As an entity, dusk seems to be a visual reminder of transience – at sunrise dusk is a part of how we enter the day; at sunset dusk moves us from our day into night. The day’s movement is a part of our forward Life movement reminding us of our impermanence.

Listening to – Snow Patrol’s ‘Please Just Take These Photos,’ The Eagles’ ‘Seven Bridges Road,’ Don Henley’s ‘Sunset Grill,’ The Cars’ ‘Good Times Roll,’ Cheap Trick’s ‘Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace,’ The Verve’s ‘Bittersweet Symphony,’ and U2’s ‘Crumbs From Your Table.’

Quote to Inspire – “It’s not how a photographer looks at the world that is important. It’s their intimate relationship with it.” – Antoine D’Agata