Old and broken

22 Apr 2010
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Oh yes, sometimes we all feel like that, even at our age! Certainly after an evening where we did not feel like that… In my contacts on Flickr there are a lot of people who like to go into old houses and barns and photograph everything they see. That’s an idea. But after a few houses you start to smell the environment and you want to get out. Chipping paint, water damage, untrustworthy staircases, you name it. After a while it’s all the same.

Disused? Disused? Perhaps, seen in Sandy Lake, MB

But of course, some of that old stuff has some kind of charm and it needs to be photographed for posterity. Some of it will not even survive this year or the next winter. So here is my throw at it.

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Stressful shooting

19 Apr 2010
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Sometimes, taking pictures can be very stressful. You want this particular framing, without the people walking around, but it always seems that they get into the frame, no matter what you do. I always thought that this was stressful, and I found a way to calm down quickly.

Framed without people Framed without people

Either take the picture with the people and photoshop them out later, or wait. Most of the time I wait. Until they notice that someone with a camera in his hands is waiting for them to go.

However if you want to add a little extra to the picture presentation, like here on this blog, you are in for a lot more stress…

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The Assiniboine Forest

14 Apr 2010
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A forest in the city? Hmmm. Obviously someone is very optimistic here. But still, it has every quality of a forest. It represents 287 hectares of forest, prairie, pond and marsh. The forest was created in 1974 and officially opened to the public in 1980. There are more than 200 species of plants in here. Now that is a quality.

Just grass? No, Prairie Grass Just grass? No, Prairie Grass

So let’s take a little walk in this forest, still mostly barren after the cold winter…

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From quarry to natural reserve

11 Apr 2010
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Winnipeg has always been a busy city. With the geological environment we have here, it is not a surprise that a lot of that environment has been exploited over the years. Manitoba has many places where the earth has given up its riches for man to build and decorate with. Tyndall stone for the Legislature and lots of other buildings, Limestone for the houses and cement for concrete.

Not a sight for a natural reserve… Not a sight for a natural reserve…

Rare are the cases where nature has been able to get back what it lost after man’s passage.

In the south west part of Winnipeg lies Fort Whyte, now know as Fort Whyte Alive. Here they have succeeded in transforming the industrial wasteland back to a haven of peace, quiet and activities for man and animal.

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On ice II

06 Apr 2010
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Who would have thought that in April there would still be ice on the rivers in Winnipeg? Well, I suppose that on the low temp side of Winnipeg one might expect just about anything…

Ice on the Assiniboine river is today mostly gone. We have had a warm March. At least that is what I thought when looking at the Assiniboine river at Munson Park.

The Assiniboine, a bit high The Assiniboine, a bit high

But when I came a little upstream on my bicycle, there was a surprise…

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Now where did I take this picture ?!?!?

04 Apr 2010
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Many of us have asked this question over the years. Obviously if you have little pictures at very recognizable events, there is not a big problem. But the old shoeboxes with pictures will tell you differently. How many pictures do you have in these boxes (“I will put them in an album, I promise!”) of which you don’t even remember taking them?

Ok, there has always been this method: simply write down where you took your pictures and be done with it. Just look in these old shoeboxes. The proof is in there, somewhere…

A tree, somewhere in the wide wide world. But where? A tree, somewhere in the wide wide world. But where?

Nowadays we have different tools to get us through this chore of adding information to our pictures. The first one is Lightroom from Abobe, the second …

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Prairie dogs? You said dogs?

02 Apr 2010
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The first time I heard about prairie dogs was when I went to Fort Whyte Alive in Winnipeg. I expected some kind of coyote to show up. Was I wrong about that! I did have some attenuating circumstances pleading for me… The prairie dog is a native of North America and does not live in Europe.

Meet Pete the prairie dog Meet Pete the prairie dog

These little guys live in small hills in which they dig holes and tunnels.

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Geese

30 Mar 2010
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At Walt Disney’s they try to show a goose as lazy and fat. Always trying to find a way to eat the most and deliver the least of effort. Visibly Walt Disney Studios never came to Canada in spring…

The Canada Geese DO come to Canada in spring, after a flight of several thousand kilometres through wind, rain and snow.

Arrival of the Canada geeseArrival of the Canada geese

When they arrive, they are tired and rather noisy. The ice is still not gone from the water, but still they arrive. In Canada they announce spring…

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