East Coulee, Alberta

I am going to start a new series of B&W images which I made over a period of a few days in the spring of 1988 using my Linhof 6×17 panorama camera. As I was working at the time and because it got dark early and I needed to travel between 20-30 kilometers, I was forced to make very long time exposures for most of these images. Anywhere from a few seconds to well over a minute was normal. Some of the structures in this series of images no longer appear anywhere close to what is shown in these images. In fact, this garage in East Coulee, was renovated and clad with steel paneling and painted. I like the older look better, but it is now, at least it was a few years ago when I last visited the area,  run as a proper filling station with it’s new look and new pumps too. I will be showing these images (6 anyway) at the Fine Photography Gallery in Drumheller later this spring.

[Linhof 617, 90mm lens, Kodak TMax 100]

Mountainview, Alberta

[Fuji GX617, 90mm lens, Fuji Provia 100F]

Sauble Falls, Ontario

The Sauble River is a river in Bruce County, Ontario which flows from headwaters in Chatsworth County to empty into Lake Huron at Sauble Beach, Ontario.

Sauble Falls Provincial Park is located at a waterfall close to where the Sauble is joined by its tributary, the Rankin River. Despite its low height this is a very popular waterfall. It serves as a natural water slide and an excellent fishing spot.

The river was originally called Riviere aux Saubles, or sandy river, by the French. It was named the River aux Saubles in 1759 and became the Sauble River in 1859.

In the spring, rainbow trout make their way from Lake Huron up the fishing ladder at Sauble Falls to spawn in the tributaries of the Sauble River. Huge fish can be seen leaping and thrashing their way up the falls. In the autumn, salmon make the same journey up the Sauble River for spawning.

The day we visited Sauble Falls, the temperature hit 36C and there were a lot of people sliding down the falls. I set up my Fuji panorama camera for my shot, and waited and waited, hoping to find even a couple of seconds when there was nobody in the photo. Unfortunately, after waiting for what seemed like forever, I almost gave up thinking it wasn’t going to happen. Just then a thunderstorm opened up and started to downpour and people were scrambling to leave. I quickly covered my camera and within about a minute or so I had my chance at a clear shot. I purposely chose a very small aperture, which in turn allowed me to use a long shutter speed of about 1 second, which renders the flowing water beautifully. I then quickly packed up my camera and stashed all my gear under a large tree to keep it from getting soaked by the rain. Just as quick as the rain started, it stopped, and back came all the kids again to continue in their fun, and I had my shot!!

I envisioned it at the time in b&w and so I transformed the original colour image into b&w using Photoshop. The colour version just doesn’t have the impact of b&w in this case.

[Fuji GX617, 90mm lens, Fuji Provia 100]

Relief on the Prairies

This storm was photographed in 2002 near Coronation, Alberta. Central Alberta was in the midst of a severe drought and this storm brought some relief, unfortunately it was too little too late for that year’s crops.

[Fuji GX617, 90mm lens, Fuji Provia 100]

Kneehills, Alberta

The “Knee Hills” as named by the Cree and Stoney indians because of their shape, are a group of hills which rise to approximately 1000m above sea level, and are located approximately 20 kilometers west of Three Hills, Alberta extending southeast through Kneehills  County.

[Fuji GX617, 90mm lens, Fuji Provia 100F]

Cathedral Grove

[Linhof 617, 90mm lens, Fuji RFP]

Horseshoe Canyon, Alberta

I grew up in and around the badlands near Drumheller and very seldom did I see them completely blanketed with snow. Usually the sun would come up and, even when it is well below zero, the warmth of the sun would start melting the snow on the south facing slopes leaving patches of the darker soil showing. This was a day that never got above -33C so there was no melting to done.  The shutter on my panorama camera stopped working properly and I needed to fire it numerous times to get an image that wasn’t over-exposed due to the shutter firing very slowly in the cold.

[Linhof 617, 90mm lens, Fuji RFP]

Calgary, Alberta

[Linhof 617, 90mm lens, Fuji transparency converted to b&w]