Morning visit to a prairie dam
Took a country drive this morning and happened upon a small dam.
Visiting churches with my camera
One of the delights of this summer is visiting old country churches that, while no longer used by a congregation are lovingly kept up and open to the public. They make wonderful subjects for the camera.
My first visit was to Ste. Thérèse Church in Cardinal, an unincorporated community consisting of a handful of houses and the church.
This was the largest of the churches I found and the only Roman Catholic one. It was the “newest” church of the three I visited being constructed in 1927-1929.
This was the only church with statuary, with Mary on the right, Joseph and child on the left, and the namesake saint in the middle.
It had an impressive bell tower.
Late last week I visited two other churches south of Manitou.
St Luke’s Anglican Church - Pembina Crossing was built in 1922 to replace and earlier church that burned down.
The interior is lined with unpainted boards giving it a warm feel. It has an impressive altar and painted triptych.
I then moved on to St. Mary’s St. Alban’s Anglican Church. In what is now sparsely populated farmland these two churches are only 8km (5 miles) apart. This was the oldest of the churches being built in 1892 and an impressive 28 x 44 ft stone structure.
While the oldest structure it seemed the most modernized with carpeting on the flooring and quite hideous fluorescent light fixture at the peak of the ceiling. I’m curious if the curtains in the front were there when people worshipped here, or if there had been stained glass in those front windows. I find the cross design with the circle and the round ends curious, as well as the designs above the doors on either side. I’m sure these have some significance.
The thick stone walls were covered with plaster on the interior.
I was amused that the bible on the podium was opened to the Song of Solomon.
I went through the door on the right side and found a tiny room with this little setup. It seems like a space with stories to tell.
Visiting St. Therese, or, f/8 and be there
I often succumb to the temptation to sit inside and watch videos of photographers rather than going out with my camera and actually taking pictures myself. A video by YouTube photographer Thomas Heaton reminded me of the expression “f/8 and be there.” The expression is attributed to the photographer Weegee. It is most often used in documentary photography emphasizing the importance of being there and simply capturing the moment, over worrying too much about perfect technique. For me, however the phrase is similar to the quote attributed to Wayne Gretzky “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
The most important thing for me to do photography, and seemingly one of the hardest things for me to do is simply grabbing my camera equipment and heading out with the intention to take pictures.
So, motivated by that spirit I headed out Sunday afternoon to the tiny village of Cardinal, Manitoba, whose population may reach the double digits. It is home to the Ste. Therese Chapel, a restored old, prairie, Catholic Church. It is currently more of a museum piece than home to a parish. I also stopped and caught a few pics along the way.
(Thanks to Jolene at Pembina Valley Go for making me aware of this chapel.)
Along the way I drove through a large windfarm. I was particularly struck by the patterns in the field. I wish I could have made the windmills “pop” a little more.
Also along the way I stopped in Miami to capture some pics of their historic train station.
The Ste. Therese Chapel has a very impressive spire. The church faces north, which means the face of the church is mostly in shadow which is less than ideal.
I really liked the spire/bell tower.
Saint Therese of Liseaux was a 19th Carmelite sister also known as the Little Flower of Jesus. She is renown for her spirituality of the little way, or simple way of a life of doing little acts of love.
The simple rose window of the chapel. There is something about the presence of the ladder that I really enjoy in this picture.
On the way home I saw this empty road in my rearview mirror and needed to stop for the shot. f/8 and be there!
My year in pictures
I found this to be a very challenging year for me photographically. I feel like I didn’t take enough pictures, and I really didn’t take enough pictures that I like, and took even fewer pictures that inspire me to take more similar pictures. I also know that as I get better at this (which I hope I am) I am a harsher critic of my work.
Below are some of my favourites from the year. I would be hard pressed to explain what appeals to me about some of these pics, but these are the ones that still capture my eye.
I also did some portraits - some of myself, and some of others that I’m pleased with. The two portraits not of me were done for a local “Faces of Winkler” exhibit.
Despite this year’s photographic challenges I committed to this practice and have a bit of studio lighting equipment on order. I hope to do more with studio photography.
Picturing Winkler at night - Downtown
I got up at 4am this morning to explore some night time photography. Unfortunately, getting up at 4am is not much of a feat for me, as I often wake up around then. I’ve darn hardly any night photography and was curious how it might turn out.
Being out on the streets of Winkler at 4am on a Saturday is an introverts dream. I was out for more than an hour and saw maybe 5 cars and 1 person. I could plant my tripod anywhere I wanted to.
I thought I’d be converting most of these to black and white, but the colors are really intriguing.
Finally at 4 am people are paying attention to this sign.
The person at the right of the image is actually just a silhouette.
Access Credit Union drive thru
City Hall
Even at night the library offers a welcoming space.
Bethel Heritage Park
The nigh-time light is quite amazing to work with.
Winter Winkler stroll
The temperatures are above -20C. I have a new/used zoom lens. You miss all the photos you don’t take. So, I walked around a couple blocks and took a few shots.
Hydrant by our house
City Hall
Closed Sorry Migraine
I love these two old buildings.
Encouraging words & Photographer
Encouragement is a great thing.
I’ve had a few experiences of encouragement lately.
A friend and colleague asked me to take some photos of him as promo pieces for his burgeoning music career.
Kind words were offered in response to some photos with text I offered for a Visio Divina project.
A photographer/Instagramer from the UK said very kind things about me and my work on his regular Friday video.
Not surprisingly, I can be my harshest critic and routinely think I’m a hack and should just stop. Too often I find it easy to dismiss people’s compliments because they are just family or they are just trying to be nice. It’s quite the act of dismissal not to believe the words they say are true.
Occasionally, there are cracks in my armor and I can actually receive and celebrate these encouraging words. And sometimes I believe them.
I added the label “Photographer” to my Instagram account today. Of course, I feel like an fraud doing that, but perhaps by seeing that word there I will learn to accept that label.
Never underestimate the value of a few words of encouragement.
Photo Anxiety - Picturing Winkler
One of my many anxieties is worrying about if I’ll ever find something interesting to photograph again. This is dumb and annoying. It feels like the experience of staring at a blank page and thinking I’ll never find something to write or paint ever again. It’s actually less about finding something interesting to photograph than if I’ll be able to create an interesting photograph.
When I lived nature-filled woods of southern Michigan I was certain there were no more trees, branches, leaves for me to find any interest in.
Now that I live in the flat, bare, suburbia of Winkler I often sit inside certain that my surroundings have nothing to offer me and my camera.
At least the rural woods of Michigan had the advantage of not having any people around to notice me and my camera. In Winkler there are people everywhere, and they seem to like being outdoors. This means I also need to overcome the anxiety of people seeing me take pictures. Changing lenses and getting out my tripod so I can take a closeup of an interesting pattern in a sidewalk that people are using is just not something that I feel I can do. Photographer imposter syndrome is not unfamiliar to me.
And yet, sometimes I am able to tamp down some of those anxious voices, grit my teeth, and, with low expectations, head out with my camera.
No matter where I am, doing this has almost never let me down.
Here are a few such shots from my new (old) home of Winkler, Manitoba.
Thanksgiving in South Haven
The wife and I are spending a couple days over Thanksgiving in South Haven. Naturally, I needed to do some lakeside photography.
Zen Camera - Day 3
Today’s photographs are not suggested by the Zen Camera book, but seem to be in the spirit and intention of the book. I went out looking for pictures this afternoon and I made two changes to my typical practice: I switched the lens to manual focus, and I left my glasses at home. I have quite poor vision. Getting things in sharp focus is a bit of a challenge at the best of times so I generally hope autofocus will do a good enough job. So today, with my blurry eyes and no electronic focusing help I shot pics. I noticed I was shooting pics i very likely would not if I had my glasses on, and I don’t really know why I shot some of the pics I did. Naturally, many just turned out bad. Not intriguing bad, or quirky bad. Just bad. But I liked how others turned out. Out of focus pictures are curious. If they are just a little out of focus they look like a mistake, then there is a level of out-of-focus that seems attractive and mysterious, and then there is a level of out-of-focus that just seems like a senseless blur. I think these fall in that midrange.
This is scene that often captures my eye. I think its because of the curving path. The blur and darker background make this pathway look a little more ominous
I took several looking up at the trees and sky pics. Definitely more than I would typically. Once again we have a curving “path” and darkness.
I couldn’t tell you why I thought to take this and yet there is something about it that keeps bringing me back.
There is this small stand of about a dozen pine trees that were planted in a clearing on the property. I’ve used it for several pictures. I don’t think I had ever noticed this formation.