Cambridge

This was a shot I took just after Christmas in Cambridge, Ontario. I used my Leica M9 in black and white mode to take the shot. This camera shoots the most wonderful jpegs I have ever seen. This is a jpeg straight out of the camera. Generally, I would never shoot a landscape in jpeg mode with any camera. But the M9 is an exception. The result is beautiful tonality, and the image required very little post processing. This is one of my favorite images that I have taken.

Frosted

A recent image taken with my Hasselblad, shooting Delta 100 film. The Hasselblad shoots in a 6 x 6 cm format, and certain images really suit this format. I think this one does as well. The original negative had the house in the background centered in the image, but I cropped it such that the house in the background is off centre.I feel that this creates a bit more tension in the image, making it more interesting to look at. This is also another example of a photograph taken in rather poor light, but I feel that it works quite well, and in bright sunlight it would not have had that same interest.

Another shot from Canyon Lands Utah. An approaching sand storm threatened to end our photo session, and I hurriedly took a few shots of the dead tree perched on the edge of the cliff. The dust softened the scene quite a bit, but if we had had a clear sky, the shot would not have had the quality that resulted. In bright sunlight, higher contrast would have resulted, with washed out color every where. The dust storm actually enhanced the quality of the light.

Sinister

This shot was taken last spring on a deserted farm near Vegreville, Alberta. It was taken with my Leica M7, a 35 mm camera, using Ilford HP5+ film. I really like the effect that film grain has on this shot. It just seems to add an extra dimension to the image that would not be possible with digital. I also lie the sinister feeling that the shed imparts.

This shot was taken last year in Arches National Park in Utah. I love the colors that predominate in Utah and Arizona, which are mostly a warm red to orange tone. These colors are best viewed in shade, rather than in bright sunlight, which causes the colors to be washed out, looking grey and flat. I even prefer this kind of light over early morning sunlight, as the sun rises over the horizon.

Step Back in Time

Another shot taken near St. Jacobs, Ontario, this time with my Ebony 4x5 large format film camera. A scene often viewed in the area, a Mennonite farming family using their accepted mode of transportation. I noted, as the group passed me by, that they did not seem comfortable having been photographed. A large format camera is a bit cumbersome to work with. It may take up to 10 minutes to take the actual photograph. First the image is viewed and composed through the ground glass, which is 4 x 5 inches in size, under a dark cloth the size of a small army blanket, then the film holder, with a sheet of 4x5 film is inserted in front of the ground glass, a dark slide is removed to reveal the film sheet to the lens, and then the shutter in the lens is tripped. The dark slide is re - inserted into the film holder, and the film holder is removed from the camera. Then we have an exposed sheet of film, which then needs to be developed in the darkroom. I always take two shots of the same scene, since the chances of a screw up is always high. By the way, my back pack with my camera and lenses, may weigh up to 40 pounds. Not something I would recommend carrying on a long hike.

St. Jacobs Ontario

I have always liked the farming area near St. Jacobs, Ontario, just west of Waterloo. The local residents are Mennonites, whose culture is very similar to that of the  well known Amish. They are renowned for their beautiful hand made quilts, and their hard working lifestyle. Black horse-drawn buggies that are used for transportation by the locals, can be seen every where in the area. The Mennonite homesteads are almost two centuries old, having originated in the 1850's. The farms n the area are very picturesque, and always attract my eye. The image has strong horizontals, as well as a strong triangular shape, which creates interest in the center of the frame. Taken with my Leica M9.

Whose Coat?

This image was taken last summer on a deserted farm near Wainwright. The Monochrome photography group and I were hunting for images for an upcoming gallery show. I was shooting 35 mm with my Leica M7 camera. I was struck by the patterns of the spring mattress against the wall, and the coat hanging on the wall. What had happened here in this house, who knows how many years ago? Whose coat was this? Did it belong to one of the residents living in the home? Under what circumstances was it left there? Questions that will forever remain unanswered.

Winter Frost

I have always had an emotional connection with trees. Trees have been a favorite subject for me to photograph. In a sense this is an intimate photograph. Many of my shots are "quiet", and I try to make the "ordinary" compelling to look at. This is not taken in an exotic location, but very close to home. At first glance, the scene may look mundane, but on closer inspection, there are a lot of interesting details displayed here. There is the contrast between the dark trunks and the overall light value of the scene. Then the similarity of the vertical lines also create their own element, while also contrasting with the horizontal branches in the top third of the image. The "S" curve is a very strong element in the image. It is one of the most desirable shapes to have in an image. It reinforces the "quietness" of the scene.

Burned Out Shell

While hunting for some interesting shots north of Edmonton, I and fellow photographers Court Smith, Robert Pohl, and Gerald Hewko ended up in Mundare, sausage capital of the world. We came upon a building that had succumbed to a fire. Only one wall remained. I had my 4x5 large format camera with me, my Ebony 45S, and the resulting photo you see here. I instantly like the composition of the image.

Canyonlands National Park

Last summer I visited Canyonlands National Park in Utah. I was in the Needles area of the park where I took this shot just before sunset. My camera was my Nikon D700, a wonderful DSLR, which produces very sharp images, even though it is only 12 megapixels. It is also known for its extraordinary noise reduction in dim light.  This is a typical evening view of this area, always displaying beautiful warm colors in the landscape. I find I like to do my shooting late in the evening or early in the morning, although the light is cooler early in the day. I learned that the purest colors can be observed at these times of the day. If shooting during mid-day light, it is best to shoot in the shadows. In bright sunlight, colors are washed out, and pictures taken in this kind of light do not hold one's interest.

My first shot with my Hasselblad 500 CM

I went out on the weekend, the last shot I took that afternoon. As is often the case, the last shot I end up taking on an afternoon of shooting is the best one.

St. Jacobs Ontario

I love this shot I took near St. Jacobs, Ontario last January, while on Christmas break. Shot with my Leica M9, a digital rangefinder camera. What I love about this camera is that it produces very sharp images, since it has no anti-aliasing filter  in front of the sensor, as do most digital SLRs. Of course what makes any Leica camera special are the lenses. One cannot do better than a Leica lens, whether shooting with film or with digital.