Plans change

When I signed up for the dark room course at SAIT, they suggested buying a box of a specific paper (Ilford MGRC Glossy), and several rolls of HP5 film. I got two rolls, with the idea I'd probably print from the many negatives I already have. I also got a box of Pearl, and let's just say there's not a lot of paper left. Learning to print takes up a lot of paper, and some 'oh crap' moments. 

When I took these photos I was thinking texture, with the idea of seeing how they came out in print. I figured 12 weeks, lots of time to get to them. Well, it turns out, not. I had a list of photos that I really wanted to print, and the process takes longer than I thought it would. That whole learning thing, you understand. There are several photos of Linda, Michelle, and Susi that I particularly wanted to get nice prints of. There are several Fish Creek landscapes on my list. I spent much of last Thursday working on one of Linda reading in her favourite chair with Celina curled up. Let's just say the print version looks quite a bit different than the digital version of the negative, and I'm still not entirely happy with it. I think when I get it right, it will look quite nice, and might well be the one I put into the Exposure Festival. Then I worked on it more, and it's certainly one of the finalists for the festival.

Once I get the basement darkroom tuned up I might work on some of these. These happened in late September during a walk in Fish Creek, looking for texture. I only just finished the other roll yesterday, and hope to develop it this weekend. Maybe some more prints as well.

1. The walk started in our community association office. I had dropped in to chat with our staff, and on the way out found the shallow puddle in the basketball court made for a nice reflection. I've done a similar photo digitally, with different lenses. The trick with this one was not having the flip around screen, so I was down on my tummy getting damp to focus, and using a 50mm lens.

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4. OK, I actually printed this on at SAIT. Not 100% happy with it, as the print is a bit darker than I like.

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7. Printed this one as well, and it came out nice. Shadowed trees are difficult.

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Those who are pining for better photos of the decorations (I hope you see what I did there) are going to have to wait. There's still the better part of a foot of snow on them. In the meantime, some frosty photos to hold you over. There's been lovely hoar frost and snow build up just lately.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Film

Linda

Newfoundland

Polar bears

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

The decorations, sort of

Linda likes to put seasonal decorations in the flower pots, once autumn finishes them off. It's a bit of a balancing act that usually turns into a race to beat the snow. As long as the weather is nice, Linda is reluctant to uproot plants that are still hanging on. She says she isn't hard-hearted enough to be a real gardener.

The problem is that weather here can go from a lovely fall, with fairly warm days and crispy nights that might or might not mean covering up plants, to a snowstorm overnight. There are things that must be done, like draining the taps and water barrels. We missed one year and I was working with slush and froze my ass off. We got all that done this year in good time. 

We had a lovely long fall. Linda got started on the decorations fairly early November, which is really late. She finished the afternoon it started snowing, and it hasn't stopped. These are from this morning, Nov 23.

1. The bird herd fluttered off when I stepped out.

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3. I just love these flowers.

4. The glass sculpture, nearly buried. This might be the time it disappears entirely.

5. Starting with the decorations. You can see the brilliant and creative work Linda has done, blending together disparate elements to create a cohesive yet dynamic whole, embodying a culture of reuse and reuse melded with new items in a seasonal spirit, together with environmentally friendly support structures that are invisible, even to the discerning eye. (Yes, I'm thinking about the artists statement for the Exposure Fest.)

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9. The front roses, and the top of the decoration.

10. A closer look at that decoration.

11. The only decoration without any snow on it.

12. Linda working this morning. Yes, I was out as well.

13. A couple of the bird herd. Often there are a dozen birds around the food bell, and sometimes as many as 20. They don't seem to be quite as enthusiastic about the suet block hanging not far away.

14. Another batch of roses.

15. Two views of the white peony, with a decoration between them.

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18. An action shot of Linda.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Film

This stretch of Blackfoot trail hasn't changed much in the nearly 45 years I've lived here, but the downtown buildings tell you when the photo was taken.

Newfoundland

Polar bears

And you didn't believe me when I said they could be hard to spot.

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

Let's leave you with a dose of sunny after all the snow.

Dark and bright

 That messed with my brain a little. I was looking at my 'not blogged in 90 day's' folder, wondering what I should blog about, when I saw this one at the top.

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I remember taking that photo, and why, but couldn't believe it had been 3 months. I counted on my fingers and checked the date and I was right. Not even two months. It's just that there isn't anything older, so that's why it showed up as it did. 

It's a companion photo to these three.

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Why? One of the first things we did in the SAIT dark room class was to shine the enlarger light through an object onto the paper, rather than through a negative. It's kind of a cool idea, and one of our classmates does amazing images of flowers like this. I thought doing this object would be fun. The actual image was interesting, kind of. Then later I did a print from the negative of the one immediately above this para. It turned out ok as well, but for whatever reason I printed it fairly small. I think I was still figuring out margins then. Maybe I'll have another go at it later.

In other news the polar bear book arrived and I'm really pleased!

Yes, you say, but what about other photos? What else have you been up to? Friday Sean and I went for a ramble in Fish Creek. No photos from that yet, because I only took film photos and haven't developed yet. Linda is deep into the seasonal decorations and that takes up the space I use for film developing and the dark room process. Once she's done, I'll get back at it. There will also be photos of the decorations.

The Nov 11 late afternoon the light was really interesting. I had the new 70-200 lens on the camera, so I took it for a walk around the immediate neighbourhood.

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7. These flowers are still hanging in there, sort of.

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12. Home sweet home.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Film

HP5 in Fish Creek, taken with the idea of using it in the SAIT dark room class.

Linda from 2016

Newfoundland

Polar bears

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did