Mission Creek Regional Park, Kelowna, B.C.

[Zone VI 4x5, 210mm Schneider Repro-Claron,  Kodak Tri-X]

Panorama Series

As the New York City work hit 50 images I felt the need to change my posts to something different. I have decided to do a series of panorama images I made with Linhof 617 and Fuji GX617 cameras over the years. Some of the images have never been posted before anywhere and have never been outside their protective sleeves for a good many years. Shooting with a large panorama camera which sees in a 3:1 ratio can be challenging. I do love the 3:1 format, but I need to keep in mind that a person’s eyes will tend to travel from the left side across to the right and I must have a subject that stops the eye from simply traveling off the edge of the image and encourages it instead to pause and return back into the image again.

This camera produces 6x17cm images on medium format film. I get 4 images on a roll of 120 and 8 on a roll of 220. Shooting with this or any other of my large cameras, I must first look for a potential image before setting up my camera. Fortunately, this camera has a removable finder that allows me to scan for an image with the finder up to my eye and only after having found the spot to shoot do I set up my tripod and mount the camera to it. I sold this camera a few years back when in need of money, but I am having yearning for one again. I have always loved seeing in the panoramic mode and I can stitch together images digitally, sometimes with outstanding results. Some photographers say a camera is just a tool, but I happen to love the process of using them as well and this particular camera was a complete joy to me.

Let’s get started with the series!

July 1st is Canada Day, and you know there is going to be a fireworks show!! While waiting for the show to start on English Bay in Vancouver, British Columbia I decided to make a long exposure to catch all the boats moving around the bay. Someone out there decided to fire off an emergency flare and soon all the boaters were firing them off. Throw in some onlookers along the shore and the moon for good measure and you have an interesting recipe for a rather unique image.

Flooding

What a spring for flooding! This image goes back a few years when British Columbia was experiencing very high rainfalls. I can’t remember the year just now, but it was probably about a fifteen years ago or so. This normally tiny creek just south of Wells Gray Provincial Park near Vavenby, was roaring after a week of heavy rain. This small creek entered the North Thompson River just behind me as I made this image. I recall the river being extremely high and Laura and I could here huge boulders, being pushed along in the turbulence, slamming into a massive rock in the middle of the river.
[Zone VI 4x5, 210mm Schneider Repro-Claron, Tri-X]

Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park

I know it’s been a long time since I posted. I apologize for that. My computer is sorrowfully done it’s duty and packed it in. I cannot work on images for the time being, so I have pulled a scan out of the archives. I made this image two years ago near the Tolman Bridge along the Red Deer river.
[Anba Ikeda 4x5, Fujinon 125mm, Velvia 100F]

Autumn

Well wouldn’t you know it, autumn has arrived in full fury. What was with the snow this morning!! Granted the colours are spectacular now and honestly autumn is my favourite season. The smells, colours, and change are about the most dramatic of them all. I especially like to capture the change of seasons – not quite autumn, not really summer anymore either. You know, a little green is still around, it’s raining(mostly, except for last night!), not snowing yet, but definitely a chill about. Makes for a rather cool ride to work on my bike, and what better way to observe the seasons than to ride the trails in Red Deer 5km to work from April to November(if that snow stays away – how can you tell I think winter should wait a while?).

This image was made in a light rain at the Chikakoo Lakes Recreation Area just north and west a bit from Spruce Grove, Alberta. When this image is enlarged, thousands of tiny raindrops can be seen hanging from all the branches and leaves.
[Anba Ikeda 4x5, Fujinon 300mm C, Fuji Velvia 100F]

Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park

One of my longtime dreams was to photograph using an 8×10 camera with transparencies. I purchased a Wehman 8×10 camera and some boxes of Fuji Velvia 50 film. Using a camera this large requires a concerted effort and takes far longer to set-up than any camera I’ve ever used. This can be good and bad. Good, because it forces me to slow down and really examine the scene in front of me , and it’s worthiness of making an image. Many times I have gone through the ritual of setting the camera up and making all the adjustments necessary, only to discover that the scene doesn’t cut it for me, or the light has disappeared. With a digital, 35mm, or medium format, I would likely make the image anyway, but when looking at the expense involved with 8×10 transparencies and development costs, I sometimes think that pressing the cable release isn’t worth it. The size of the camera can be bad too, as transient light doesn’t wait for me to get set-up, and I miss the image only because I am still fiddling with the camera. Practice is helping me speed my times and I’m sure I will become more proficient with more experience.
[Wehman 8x10, Schneider 240mm G-Claron, Fuji Velvia]

Looking at an 8×10 transparency on my light table is amazing, and the level of detail stunning. The image presented here is a 4×10 crop from an 8×10 and the smaller detail below is what a print would like at 60″. This small detail is taken from the mid left side of the image. Remember, you can click on any photo on this blog to make it larger.

Rockies

A view of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta along the Icefields Parkway. The highway parallels the continental divide, traversing the rugged landscape of the Canadian Rockies. It is within Banff and Jasper National Parks, linking Lake Louise and Jasper. You pretty much can’t go wrong on this highway if you love mountain scenery. I would rate it near the top, maybe even at the top, of my list for scenic road trips. The beauty here can be overwhelming and the possibilities are endless for making beautiful images. There really isn’t a “must see” along the highway, it’s all fantastic!
[Zone VI 4x5, Schneider 210mm, Kodak VPS]

Trees 5

Shuswap Falls Recreation Area, British Columbia.
[Anba Ikeda 4x5, Fujinon 300mm C, Fuji Velvia 100F]

My parents live only a five minute walk to this park. I have visited there many times over the past 16 years in all different seasons, and have never grown tired of exploring it. Mission Creek Regional Park, Kelowna, British Columbia.
[Anba Ikeda 4x5, Fujinon 125mm, Fuji Velvia 100F]

Snow / Ice / Water 2

Another from the same outing as my last post, along the West Kettle River in British Columbia.
[Zone VI 4x5, Schneider 210mm, Kodak Tri-X]

Snow / Ice / Water

Trudging through waist deep snow for a distance allowed me to get close enough for this detail of the West Kettle River in British Columbia.
[Zone VI 4x5, Schneider 210mm, Kodak Tri-X]