Last Days of Summer

The last few days of summer are upon us, but we can now look forward to  the beautiful colours and smells of autumn and the cool crisp mornings. Today, for me, was almost ideal, cloudy, cool, but not cold, and some refreshing smelling rain. I still need to get into my garden to finish getting all the cucumbers and carrots in. We had one morning last week that was -3°C, so the carrots should have a nice sweet flavour now! Autumn is my favourite season of the year. Watch the changes and the sombre leftover colours as seasons move towards monotone winter.

 

” The brilliant autumnal colors are red and yellow and the various tints,

hues, and shades of these. Blue is reserved to be the colour of the sky, but

yellow and red are the colors of the earth-flower. Every fruit,

on ripening, and just before it’s fall, acquires a bright tint. So do the

leaves; so the sky before the end of the day, and the year near it’s setting.

October is the red sunset sky, November the later twilight. Color

stands for all ripeness and success. We have dreamed that the hero should

carry his color aloft, as a symbol of his virtue. The

noblest feature, the eye, is the fairest-colored, the jewel of the body.”

Henry David Thoreau

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[ Anba Ikeda 4×5, Fujinon 300mm f8.5 C, Fujichrome Provia 100F ]

Chickakoo Lakes Recreation Area

I’m not one to stay home when it’s raining. I love rain, and this particular morning was no different. I had seen the potential the evening before as we drove to my -in-laws home north of Spruce Grove. The colours were some of the best I’ve seen in the area for quite a few years and I wasn’t about to miss it. So, before first light I headed out the door with a coffee in hand and made my way the short 15km drive to Chickakoo Lakes to see what the autumn had produced for colour there as the seasons progressed from summer to autumn. Well it was no disappointment, but I was having difficulty lining up an image in my head to what was in reality, plus it was still mostly dark. I decided to relax in one of the parking lots enjoying my coffee and listening to the rain on the roof of the car. Once it started to lighten up the colours seemed to be almost electric as the rain was saturating everything. I started the car and headed slowly down one of the small gravel roads in the park at almost a snails pace. As I came over one of the hills I slammed the brakes and immediately pulled over. This sight was right before me and I didn’t need but seconds to have the focal length I felt necessary already picked out.Grabbing the camera bag and tripod I climbed a bank on the far side of the road, which was pretty slippery. At the top I set up using my hat (a very well abused Tilley) to protect my camera and lens from the rain. I metered the scene and discovered that true daylight hadn’t really arrived as it suggested an exposure of 3 minutes. I figured I would try anyway, but there were many small breezes every now and again and watching the tree branches, I could tell the transparencies would be blurry. So, I waited and waited until it got bright enough to give me an exposure under 30 seconds. I didn’t want to wait any longer as virtually every branch had tiny droplets of water on them and I didn’t want to risk a heavy breeze knocking them all off. Unfortunately the tiny droplets are invisible on this small web-sized image. Unfortunately this park is being encroached upon by developers, and I can only hope the county has the foresight to protect this valuable resource!

 

 

[Anba Ikeda 4×5, Fujinon 300mm f/8.5C]

 

 

Renewal

 

 

 

[Chamonix 045-N1, Schneider 90mm f/8 Super Angulon]

 

 

Old Growth

Giant cedars in Revelstoke National Park, B.C.

 

 

[Chamonix 045-N1, Fujinon 300mm f/8.5C]

 

 

Mission Creek Regional Park, Kelowna, B.C.

[Zone VI 4×5, 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 4×5, 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 4×5, 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 4×5, 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 8×10, 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.