Male Hairy Woodpecker

Seen at the Cochran Ranch, site of the first really large cattle ranch in Alberta.

Doors

I haven't done a collage in a while so here are some doors from around downtown and neartown Calgary. By the way, I looked up the difference between montage and collage and I'm not sure I understand the difference.

I shot all of these while walking around this weekend after the Digital Expo. At the DE they had all the newest and coolest Nikon stuff but I restrained myself and didn't buy anything (yet).

There were a couple of pro landscape and wildlife photographers there and we listened in on their seminars. They gave interesting talks and willingly gave away some of their "secrets".

Old House

This house has seen better days for sure. It is located across from the Calgary Convention Center, not far from the casino, and close to the Stampede grounds. The parking attendant who works beside it told me that the old caretaker there "went crazy" and broke out all the windows. He said the house has nice hardwood floors. I like old buildings and ghost towns.... As for houses, here is an old Alberta farm house on the prarie that was a little less grand.

Golden Arches

There are golden arches and then there are golden arches. While we do have the commercial ones, this one is on the path to the river from our apartment. Thousands and thousands have passed through it.

They don't serve burgers at this arch but there are some refreshment stands close by in the summer. BTW, we call "cokes" pop here. And we go to the washroom and not the toilet, restroom, or bathroom.

And another interesting thing, whole places close down for the season - for example the whole town of Waterton pretty much shuts down for the winter. Where do the people go? I think they go skiing or to the hockey rink. In other words, to other cold places.

There was a pretty heavy snow on Saturday but by Sunday it was clear and pretty again when I took this picture.

Magpie

These magpies are common around Calgary and are very pretty birds in the right light and quite elegant. This was one of a pair down by the river and I followed him up and down the bank for a while trying to get a good shot. I took his picture just after he lifted off from a rock and was probably only six or seven feet away. This is a very distant Australian relation.

Late Afternoon in the Park

It warmed up today, the snow is long gone, and it was a nice day for a walk.

Dirt Road

On the road heading into the mountains outside Canmore we saw a wolf, a bear, and several white tailed deer. I didn't get a picture, but it was enough to see them.

Zombies on Stephens Avenue

Yesterday was the Zombie Walk on Stephens Avenue. See more zombies by clicking here but be forewarned! Some are pretty gruesome (but they all seemed like they would be nice once you got to know them). One cool thing about them was that they all seemed to be following a theme like Alice and the Mad Hatter or Star Trek.

I explain how I took the photos on my One Photo a Week blog....

The Rut

The male elk was in the brush and bugled a few minutes before this picture was taken. Then he came running at the young male in the foreground who was grazing with the cows. The little one was out of there....

The picture was taken at Jasper National Park - I've posted some more in a slideshow.

Snow Monkey

Dear Stu Monkey,

It is cold and snowy here in Canada. My bananas are freezing and I wish I was in Florida.

Best regards,

Snow Monkey

Clowns

Q: Why did the girls dressed like clowns cross the road in Waterton Park?
A: To get to the other side.

See their Australian cousins here

Black Bear

Q: Why did the black bear cross the road in Waterton Park?
A: To get to the other side (probably to get away from the girls).

See another picture of this Waterton Park bear here

Waterton Service Station

Pat's Park Service Station and Gift Shop in Waterton sells gas, repairs bikes, rents scooters and bikes, sells gifts, etc... Plus, on this particular morning there was a mountain getting nice light in the background. You can't really see it on this downsized web version of the photograph but there is also a mule deer just above the hood of the red pickup that I didn't see until I opened up the photo on my computer.

Goat Haunt, Montana

Upper Waterton Lake lies on the border between Canada and the United States. At the south end of the lake lies Goat Haunt, Montana in Glacier National Park and you get there from the town of Waterton in Canada by boat (or by foot if you care to walk). Goat Haunt consists only of a ranger station that is staffed in the summer.

The name comes from the mountain goats that used to be common on the mountain range along the southeast side of the lake. Unfortunately, they were fairly easy targets up there for hunters and are now uncommon. Haunt used to have an English language meaning of "hang-out" and it doesn't refer to ghosts in any way....

Crowsnest Pass, British Columbia

On the way back from Waterton we detoured west to British Columbia to take a picture. It isn't far, so I expect to be back.

Bridge over Bow River

We're going on an international road trip. More pictures to come....

Coyotes Frequent this Area

A public service message provided to you by the city of Calgary (down by the footbridge across from Princes Island).

Bird in Flight

This seagull was sitting on a rock and I had taken a shot or two. Then it took off just as I snapped the shutter and this is what I caught. At first I was disappointed but when I got back home and looked it seemed kind of artistic. Don't tell anyone it wasn't on purpose....

Blackbirds

These two blackbirds were part of a large flock down by the beaver lodge on Princes Island. I'd been trying to get a good picture for a day or two. The light was low and getting dark so the lens is wide open and I used a flash to provide a little pop. The background is nicely out of focus and the colors contrast well with the birds I think.

V=12,000 !

Peace Pole Unveiling

Today was the Calgary Community Peace Pole Unveiling Celebration in the park down below the apartment. Besides unveiling the Peace Pole (a sculpture that I don't quite get) these pinwheels made by "Ms. Drisdelles's art class" were out on the grass. When the wind blew, they sent "their messages of peace out onto the world."

First Snow

Last night it cooled off and rained. It was cloudy and windy when we woke up but by afternoon it had cleared and warmed up. The first snow fell and stuck in the mountains as you can see in this photo taken from the balcony.

Calgary Fashion

Oh yes... we have fashion in Calgary. They don't do it like this in Paris that is for sure. These mannequins are in a store window on Stephen Ave. and wearing haute couture collars representing different well known areas, cultural events, and industries in the area. Click here for the rest of the set.

Weeds are going to Seed

Weeds are going to seed. So is the grass. Hay is being collected. Must be that fall is coming.

Canadian Graffiti

Canadian graffiti doesn't seem quite as gang related to me - at least what I've seen here in Calgary. I'm no expert of course. But look at this - a heart with a peace sign? It is located under a bridge in Fish Creek Park. The artists seem to practice good etiquette and don't paint over other's work.

If someone deciphers this and it has inappropriate content for a family blog then let me know and I'll take it down :-)

Jackrabbits

This white-tailed jackrabbit lives in Princes Park, and he has a buddy that lives around the car park just down the street from us. He was chewing on a leaf for dinner when I disturbed him.

Full of Myself

The illustration at left shows what can happen if I am left alone over a long weekend without supervision. What I've done is taken a photograph and using the color range tool in Photoshop turned it into a graphic with black, white, and 50% grey. Then I stamped my name all over the place on it using a custom paint brush with the graphic being used as a mask. Finally I tinted it a bit.

Click on picture to enlarge it to see the detail. This is the original photo that I started with. There are directions here if you would like to try it yourself.

And that is how I became full of myself.

Things that strike me about the Alberta Landscape...

On a clear day, the Rocky Mountains are visible from many places on the Alberta prarie. But if you aren't looking West, it is wide open with grain as far as you can see in many places. There has to be a place to put that grain, and if you can see something on the horizon, there is a fair chance it is a grain elevator.

The picture at left is from the town of Nanton - still a thriving community. All along the old railroads they built grain elevators. And small towns, some of which are no more. And in between there are interesting old barns and farm houses, many neglected. I've posted some new pictures in the slide show or you can see them by clicking here.

Hey wait a minute! How did the starship Enterprise get in there? That is because the town of Vulcan has tried to build a little tourism off of it's name. The visitor's center has a sign with the following message out front:

WELCOME TO VULCAN
Information Trek Center

Live Long and Prosper

Internet Service Available Inside

One of the things I always try to do when I am in a new place is to give my blog a hit so it will show up on my map. And there I was in Vulcan and I didn't even go in the visitor's center and give my blog a hit. Guess I'll have to go back....

World Skills Calgary 2009

The other day I was out for a walk at lunch and stopped to listen to the fellow on the left who was talking to a small group of people about sculpture. Today I went back and photographed him.

It turns out he and two other artists, including the one posing on the right, had been commissioned by the city of Calgary to sculpt a work for the World Skills contest. Let me step back for a minute and explain that. The World Skills is a demonstration / contest of skilled trades that started in Madrid, Spain in 1950. Today it is a huge event held in different countries every two years and the skills include everything from florist to carpentry. The participants range in age from 17 to 22.

So, back to these two guys and their sculpure. They had a nice demonstration of how they sculpt, but the statute itself is the clever part. The statue is carving herself out of the stone. The part above the waist is finished with a mallet in one hand and a chisel in the other working on the lower half. The lower half is intentionally left rough and shows the stages of how sculpture is done - it is a statue demonstrating how statues are made.

They told me they make a full time living doing commissions, often for cities, but things had slowed a bit with the downturn. In Canada, a condition of building in many places is that public art be added - slow building, reduced commissions.

I was enthused enough by this that I decided to go out to the Stampede grounds and see the rest of what was going on. Turns out it was kind of like a cross between a huge trade show and career day for students. It was pretty neat, but I've seen plumbers brazing before (even tried it myself) as well as painting automobiles. It was my first time to see sculpture in progress though. It took about 3 weeks they said to complete the work.

BBQ on the Bow

There seems to be something going on most weekends down at the Bow River in Calgary. This week it is a barbeque competition so if you are a vegetarian you might want to skip this posting. I am actually quite sensitive in these matters myself as demonstrated in previous postings.

They were setting up for the competition, actually called BBQ on the Bow, when I went by this morning and stopped to talk to this fellow. His shirt is what caught my eye. Anyway, he said they had four types of competition: pork butt, pork ribs, beef brisket, and chicken (I think they also had a category for sauce). Cooking heat has to be supplied by wood or charcoal and the winner gets crowned champion of Alberta.

After having been here a few weeks now I am beginning to think Calgary should be sister city to Houston. After all they like to rodeo, like to eat barbeque, and everybody here is in the oil bidness. It is more like a twin city than a sister city....

View from the Terrace Pt. 5

I will get these views from the terrace out of my system eventually. This happens to be towards the city of course and is in the same direction as this night shot I previously posted.

What is different? The time of day of course, this being late evening along with different framing. Also, I took it with a Kodak Signet 35mm camera approximately the same age as myself and had the image scanned so I could post it here. The nice saturated colors are courtesy of modern Kodak 200 film with Fujicolor C-41 processing.