A Happy Accident

My wife and I attended the Paul McCartney concert in Edmonton last night and the iPhone Hipstamatic app got a bit of a work out.  This photo looks like a portrait but in fact it was an accidental shutter release that captured this image of what could not possibly look more like a face but is in fact a blurr caught by the moving camera.

Recent Hipstamatic Images

Around our house Christmas references are welcomed anytime after Grey Cup; note the HOHOHO markings on the side of this Canada Post mail box.   iPhone Hipstamatic image capture with colour saturation made with Oloneo Photo Engine.

Recent Hipstamatic Images

Here's another take on the bike rack from yesterday's post.

Recent Hipstamatic Images

Here is a detail photo of a bike rack in downtown Calgary.

Recent Hipstamatic Images

This photo of a grating in the sidewalk was made with the Hipstamatic iPhone App; I processed it with Oloneo Photoengine then did the black and white conversion in Photoshop.  Oloneo Photo Engine was selected because I could saturate the little bit of colour there was in the image.  Using Photoshop for the black and white conversion allows the use of virtual filters that effect the way the saturated colours are rendered.

Recent Hipstamatic Images

The next six photos to appear on the daily blog postings were all taken withing about 1 minute of one another.  I was walking from a swanky Calgary camera store in back to our hotel and I was feeling inspired so I pulled the iPhone from my pocket and selected the Hipstamatic app.

Recent Portraits

Meet Philip.  He has the distinction of being the youngest person whose portrait I have taken; he was just 3 days old when he sat for me...er...well..lied down really.  This photo looks great printed on white fine art paper as it has a slight off-white cast and it is very soft, much like a babys skin.

Portraits on the Fly

This portrait was no exactly made on the fly but it was executed with a very simple lighting set-up; an on camera flash fitted with a modifier to diffuse the light.  The setting was the grand stair in the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy at the University of Alberta.

Portraits on the Fly

I had been asked around to photograph a new born baby and I was asked to take this portrait as well.  I had my 'big lights' along but was missing a few bits and pieces of my standard portrait set up.  We found a suitable back drop which was held be a couple of family members.  They also managed to get mu subject laughing a bit and we got this nice casual but work-appropriate portrait out of the deal.


Portraits on the Fly

From  time to time I get asked to create an impromptu portrait of someone or even a group of people; sometimes I'm prepared and other times I'm not in that I don't have my preferred lighting kit or lens ready at hand.  This portrait was taken under just such circumstance; I had been asked to do an event assignment and it was decided that the organizing group should have their portraits taken.  All I had was a flash and me 24-105 f/4 lens.  I hunted for an uncluttered background, set the camera to program mode (60 sec at f/4) and got down to the task.  The flash had a modifier on it to diffuse the light.  Not a bad result.

Recent Projects

The entrance of this hangar building has very strong geometry; I'm rather partial to the black and white version - looks great on high gloss photo paper.  If you look closely you can see the moon just to the right of the dark vertical element.

Recent Projects

The closure of the City Centre Airport is a long slow process - some of the first operations to leave have now found a home at this new hangar at the Edmonton International.  STARS has settled in and some of the government aircraft will soon be housed here.

Lots of sky seemed warranted for this overall shot.

Recent Projects

Here's the last of the Arctic Shores Pavilion series; we'll let Hula have the last word.


I personally think that anyone who commits themselves to the care of animals in any capacity has the most noble calling there is.  It's a ton of work and other than the silent bond that develops with the creatures in their care it's kind of thankless.  Hats off to the staff at the Valley Zoo for their assistance and cooperation in recording these photos, and to Hula for being such a cooperative model.

Recent Projects

This is one of my favourite shots of the Arctic Shores Pavilion.  When I walked the site with the project architect in advance of taking any photos we talked about including some winter shots in the final selections.  This is almost exactly the vision that came to mind; a photo from an elevated position with loads of snow on a bright winter day.

Canon 5DII with Canon 24mm TSE lens; f14at 1/60 sec.  This is a compostion of two photos; the bottom and the top.  This technique effectively doubles the resolution of the camera sensor; the 5DII is a 21 megapixel full frame camera so with merging the files the file size is 42 megapixels (or thereabouts).  I did this so the file could be printed at very large size with no loss of sharpness.  Lastly, I used the tilt function of the lens to hold the sharpness in the foreground and the distant elements.  Oh...one more thing; there was a Singh Ray 3 stop soft edge neutral density filter over the sky to hold the details and darken it a bit.  RAW files edited in Adobe Lightroom; merging and final edit made with Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Recent Projects



I did the Arctic Shores photos at two different times, late fall and winter.  I didn't expect to get the winter shots until much later in the year; possibly even January.  However we got a blast of winter early so I was able to wrap up the assignment early.  Here's an overview of the facility.

Recent Projects

The designers of the Arctic Shores Pavilion have done a great job of recreating a true arctic shors experience, complete with some man-made 'skeletons' poking up from the trundra.

Recent Projects

The Arctic Shores Pavilion is home to various creatures, harbour seals, arctic seals etc.  This is Hula and she is a harbour seal.  She was found along the shores of British Columbia and she suffers from seizures and was deemed not releasable into the wild.  So now she is a permanent resident of the Valley Zoo Arctic Shores Pavilion.  She's quite the gal and is very fond of her trainers and caregivers.  And she likes visitors.  And fish.  She really likes fish.

Recent Projects

Anybody who knows me half well knows I'm a big fan of Black and White photos.  Here is an overview of the Arctic Shores Pavilion.  Canon 5DII with Canon 17mm TSE lens; black and white conversion made with Oloneo Photo Engine.

Recent Projects

I've taken my camera gear into nasty environments over the years; frozen lakes, up on man lifts, dusty industrial sites etc., but I've never had to watch to make sure a harbour seal didn't knock the tri-pod over.  First time for everything I guess!  Here is the indoor tank at the Valley Zoo Arctic Shores Pavilion.

Recent Projects

I made this photo using the 17mm TSE lens on the Canon 5DII camera.  The 'T' stands for 'tilt' and I used this function on several of my photos of the Arctic Shores Pavilion.  This allows for maximum sharpness and infinite depth of field.  I wanted the foreground objects to be in perfect focus as well as the pavilion beyond; very hard to achieve without a TSE lens.

Recent Projects

This is one of the coolest photography assignments I've had in a long time - the new Arctic Shores Pavilion at the Valley Zoo.  I'll feature several shots over the next few days.

Recent Projects

Machinery used in road paving and surface maintenance is cared for in this new industrial building in Acheson just west of Edmonton.

The oily-looking black and white is better than the colour image I think and seems appropriate given the fact that most of the gear pictured is in itself rather oily.

Recent Projects

Here's the last in the Heritage Buildings series, Holy Trinity Anglican Church is Strathcona.

Photographing this fine old building brought back memories for me as I photographed when going to NAIT in 1976.  I'd have liked to have been able to record this photo at a different time of year when the shadows were not so prominent on the brickwork.  But there was no time as the client needed the photo right away.  It is ever thus in the world of architectural photography.

Recent Projects

This private residence is on the list of Heritage Buildings in Edmonton.  Designed by Charles W. Coppock in 1912, the City's Heritage Website reports:  'The artful simplicity, efficient use of space, extensive use of natural wood, and open eaves exemplify this Craftsman bungalow, although it remains distinct in its inclusion of a hipped rather than gabled roof'.

The house was the home of  Dr. Norman Terwillegar and his family. Dr. Terwillegar was held in very high regard by patients from all over.  In later years he operated his practice from this house on 125 Street.  Terwillegar Heights in Southwest Edmonton was named after him in the 1960s.

Recent Projects

The Connaught Armoury building in South Edmonton is also on the list of Heritage Buildings that I recently photographed for the City of Edmonton.

Recent Projects

Next up in the Heritage projects series is the Garneau Theatre in Strathcona.  Now the home of Metro Cinema Edmonton, the theatre opened its doors in 1940.

You can read more about the Garneau at:

http://maps.edmontonheritage.ca/garneau-theatre


My favourite personal memory of the Garneau was seeing 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' there.  There was an Asian guy there alone seated in front of our gang; I thought he was having some sort of seizure as he literally rolled about on the floor in the aisle he was laughing so hard.  To this day I think of him when I drive by the Garneau.

Recent Projects

The designers of this strip mall have done an excellent job of articulating the facade to give a potentially otherwise flat building some relief and visual interest.  It faces north and in the autumn the sun does not shine on the most appealing elevation of the building.  I took this shot at dusk when the store lighting had come on and there was a little visual interest in the sky to compensate for the lack of sunshine.

Recent Projects

There was no client for this assignment; it's just a building I've been meaning to photograph for sometime.  The Peter Hemingway swimming pool and fitness centre in Coronation Park was named for the architect who designed it in the late 1960s.  I recall taking swimming classes there when I was in high school.  I liked to float on my back and look up at the structure trying to figure out how it worked.  When the Art Gallery of Alberta compiled their exhibit 'Capital Modern' (http://capitalmodernedmonton.com/)   several years ago featuring Edmonton's modernist buildings from 1940-1969 a photo of this building taken be architectural photographer Jimmy Dow was on the cover of the companion book.

Peter Hemingway left many fine buildings as his legacy.  Sadly, some of them, like Peter himself are no longer around.  Sounds like a project in the offing - photographing the buildings of Peter Hemingway and his peers.

Recent Projects

This is one of the newer buildings on the list of Heritage Buildings, the Telus Space Science Centre in Coronation Park.

Recent Projects

The Balfour Apartment block has stood on 116 Street north of Jasper Avenue for many, many years.  It's in excellent condition, as you'd expect for a building with Heritage Status.