The Atlas Coal Mine was established outside Drumheller around 1911. This images shows the shower room. After a long shift in the coal mine a whole lot of very dirty men would come here to clean up. In fact, because it was a coal mine, this was the only location in town that offered hot showers. The story goes that the women back in town were really jealous of the hot showers, especially in the deep cold of winter. The men, knowing what was good for them, argued with the mine manager to let the women use the shower when it wasn’t in use. They managed to get the women one night a week – Sundays. In the days before readily available hot water in the homes, I bet these showers felt really good.

Yesterday, I read David DuChemin’s blog where he had a bit of a rant (actually he had three separate rants) about gear snobs. If you don’t know who David is, you really should go read his blog, then go buy his books. David is a very well-known photographer who’s slogan on his blog is “Gear is good. Vision is better”. One of his goals in life is to get photographers to focus on the image they are creating and not to be too concerned with the gear they’re using.

With that in mind, I am including a photo taken with my iPhone while waiting for the train yesterday.

Clearly, if you have a specific purpose intended for a photograph (like say a wall mural) you will need to select the appropriate gear. I still rely on my DSLR for the vast majority of my photos, but I have to admit to being surprised by how much I enjoy taking pictures with my iPhone. I don’t get the same quality of image (as with my DSLR), but not every image needs to be blown up to poster size. Plus, it beats my DSLR hands down on portability, convenience and let’s face it, fun.

With Hipstamatic, I can swap lenses and film on the fly. If you’re really feeling brave, you can have it randomize the lens and film selection by just shaking the phone. Sadly, I’m not that brave (I don’t like my camera to surprise me) so the randomize feature is off for me. The latest version adds a new lens, new film and increases the size of the view finder (yay!). It’s far from perfect, but it’s a fun alternative and it reminds me to focus on the image and less on my gear.

I think I’m going to have to find a photo project and just shoot it with the iPhone. Could be a good test to see if the photographer makes the camera or the camera makes the photographer.

Processing note: None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Another fun plus of the Hipstamatic app, the processing is already done.

As you walk through the main doors of the Legislative Assembly, you enter the Rotunda. The Rotunda, which rises five floors, is finished in over 2,000 tonnes of marble that was shipped by train from Quebec when the building was constructed from 1907 to 1912.

This picture above is taken facing the south side of the Rotunda and shows the Grand Staircase leading to the hand-carved solid mahogany main doors to the Legislative Assembly Chamber. Above the chamber doors is the provincial coat of arms, also carved from mahogany. On the next level up you can see two very large portraits of King George V and Queen Mary who were the reigning monarchs when the building was completed. The flags on either side of the staircase (and around the Rotunda) are actually Regimental Colours. They represent Alberta’s military units. Some are in very rough condition as they are hung in the actual state they were in when the unit returned from war.

The chamber is where the legislative assembly holds its sittings. The participants are the elected Members of the Legislative Assembly. The government of Alberta has had a Conservative government for 40 years.  Today, the Conservatives dominate the assembly with 67 of 83 seats. The official opposition holds just half of the remaining seats with the rest divided among three other parties and one independent.

Saturday’s in Edmonton are market days for me. I like to make my way down to the Old Strathcona Farmer’s Market. It runs every Saturday from 8am to 3pm. There are arts and crafts, fruits and vegetables, cheese, bread, meats and even some local photographers.

I go for the free-run, organic meat and eggs, but also enjoy the breads and veggies. If you ever get to the market, you must go see Baker Bill – his bread is fantastic!

The market is always busy; a very popular Saturday destination. During the warmer months there are outdoor markets, but this is it from the end of October. The market is located in the middle of Old Strathcona, a historic part of town with origins dating back nearly 120 years.

The photo is a stitched panorama of two HDR images. The tilt-shift effect was added in Photoshop using a quick mask with a reflected gradient and some lens blur.

This past week, I’ve been doing the single parent thing while my wife was in Toronto doing research. Yesterday she returned just in time to prep for Valentine’s Day. She and the girls made and decorated sugar cookies, which made my photo(s) for today so very much easier. All I had to do is set up and shoot. And then taste, of course!

I don’t necessarily have data to back up the claim that this is Canada’s favourite dish, but maybe we can just call it local lore for now. Shortly after we arrived in Edmonton, I was in the car with my kids listening to the local radio station Joe FM. The drive-time show (3-6pm) is hosted by Rhubarb Jones who just happens to be our next-door neighbour. He was running a trivia contest with a couple of callers. This is basically how it went in our car:

Rhubarb: What is the most popular dish in Canada?
My 10-year-old daughter (in the backseat): Macaroni and Cheese!
Me: What?! It may be your favourite dish, but there’s no way that’s the most popular food in Canada! [Blogger’s sidebar: Seriously, what could she know? She’s barely lived in Canada!]
Contestant: Macaroni and cheese
10 yr old: Ha!
Me: Doesn’t mean the contestant is right!
Rhubarb: That’s right!
Me: Okay, but I want to see his sources.
10 yr old: Ha!

True or not, this is certainly my kids’ favourite dish. My 10yr old is starting to learn how to make it herself. We keep it basic and make the cheese sauce from the oldest cheddar we can put our hands on. We sprinkle a mix of cheddar and parmesan over the top and bake. We made it often enough in Melbourne, but this dish makes so much more sense in the depths of winter.

Technical details: ISO 100, 1/100s,  f2.0, 100mm (with 12mm extension tube)
Photoshop mods: Crop, combine, and frame (with canvas size)

By now, most people will have gone through all their turkey leftovers from December, but apparently not me. I had two packets of diced turkey in the freezer so for today, I recreated something I crafted shortly after Christmas. At the time, I was trying to think what else I could do with leftovers and the idea of turkey and cranberry sauce ravioli seemed like a great way to clean out the fridge. It was a hit at Christmas, so I hoped I could do it again.

This dish has no proper recipe since I just made it up myself though I have since discovered (no surprise) that I’m not the first person to try this. So there is a recipe out there but why use someone else’s recipe when I can risk destroying it all by myself?

Pasta is dead easy so no worries there. The turkey’s cooked already so that’s pretty straightforward. Cranberry sauce is mostly just cranberries. I just have to get the turkey to cranberry ratio right.

Well, it turns out I didn’t quite get the ratio right. There was a bit too much cranberry sauce for the amount of turkey I used. Still tasted great, but the I’ll pull back on the cranberries a bit next time. I even wrote down the recipe this time (adjusted to use fewer cranberries).

The photo shoot was straightforward. Despite the strong recommendations I read on FoodPress yesterday, I used artificial lighting because natural light in my kitchen is done and gone by about 11am.

I used a simple white plate sitting on white matte board. I used to Canon 550EX flashes – one to provide a soft top/front light (bounced off a white reflector) and the other to blow out the white background.  I used my smallest macro tube (12mm) with my 100mm lens to get in a bit closer.

Technical details: ISO 200, 1/100s, f8.0, 100mm
Photoshop mods: Levels to fine tune lighting

 

Recipe (just in case you’re interested)

Pasta:
– 500 gm plain (all-purpose) flour
– 5 eggs

Filling:
– 175 gm of finely chopped turkey
– 75-100 gm of frozen cranberries
– juice of one orange
– 1 tspn of sugar
– 2/3 cup parmesan

Alfredo sauce:
– 1 cup heavy cream
– 2tbsp butter
– 2/3 cup parmesan

Put the flour in a medium-large bowl. Form a hole in the centre and fill with five eggs. Use a fork to scramble the eggs gradually drawing in the flour to form a dough. Once roughly mixed, shift to the counter top to knead the dough together. Keep a small cup of water on hand. If the dough is too dry, just add enough water to get it to the right consistency. Dough should be firm and smooth to the touch, not sticky. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and put it in the fridge to rest.

Put the cranberries in a small saucepan with the juice of one orange and a teaspoon of sugar. Place over medium-low heat and keep half an eye on it while you get on with the turkey.

If your turkey is still in big pieces, now is the time to finely chop it. You can use a food processor if you have one or just grab a big knife. Chop the turkey into very fine pieces.

Stire the cranberry sauce occasionally (you wouldn’t want it to burn!). It takes 5 to 10 minutes to start to thicken. Break up the berries with a fork or potato masher and you’re all set. Add the sauce to the turkey and mix in 2/3 cup of parmesan. Set the filling aside and retrieve the pasta from the fridge.

I use a pasta machine to roll the pasta into thin sheets. I then lay one sheet over a ravioli maker filling each ravioli with filling and then press a second sheet over the top. Some vigorous rolling with a rolling-pin and presto-chango we have ravioli. The one thing I strongly recommend with the ravioli maker is liberal use of flour to make sure your ravs don’t stick.

Make sure you have a sous-chef on hand to prep the alfredo sauce while you’re making the ravioli. They just need to bring the cream and butter to a boil, simmer it on low heat for one minute and then stir in the parmesan. Stir quickly and continuously or it will burn or separate (yuck!).

Top off the pasta and sauce with a little parmesan and cracked pepper and serve.

In addition to being a photographer I also enjoy cooking. I make most of our meals these days, including our bread for the week. I make bagels less frequently than my family would like. I used to make a lot of desserts, but my sweet tooth isn’t what it once was. That said, I still enjoy the occasional treat. And so today’s post was born.

My wife takes responsibility for making almost all of our Christmas sweets. I chipped in this year and made some mediocre shortbreads and some average gingerbread men. Somehow – I don’t remember how – talk turned to rum balls. It probably had something to do with the bottle of dark rum I bought to go with some egg nog. My mother-in-law said she had a good recipe for rum balls that she’d send me, but then couldn’t find it until recently.

I’m getting tired of the winter theme that I’ve been running with since starting this blog. I still haven’t figured out what my next theme will be. I’m considering weekly projects. Until I work out what I’m going to do, my posts might be a bit random.

I’m no food photographer either. I don’t have a clue. I can recognize good food photography, but I don’t have a gift for it myself so this might not be such a clever idea. I like making food that tastes good, but I certainly don’t make food that looks good. Somewhat lumpy looking is my style.

A food project takes a lot longer to prepare because you have to make it first. That’s where my other challenge arrives. Not only are my results not terribly pretty, I am a very slow cook. I’m sure my wife has theories about why I’m so slow, but I think I just tend to putter a bit. I started on the rum balls with a trip to the supermarket at 12:30 – home by 1:15. Had to make two stops to get everything I needed. I mixed the ingredients into a bowl full of rum ball mix by 2:15 and broke for lunch and picking up the kids from school.

I drafted the elder daughter, and we set to forming the balls and rolling them in cocoa or chocolate sprinkles for the next 40 minutes. We churned out 103 in the end. As per yesterday’s posting, we then had to break for pizza, movie and pop night.

I set up the backdrop and lights while the kids got themselves sorted for bed and then the shoot was quick and easy at about 9:30pm. Not sure a nine-hour turnaround on the shoot was quite what I had in mind. I guess I won’t do that everyday. On the bright side, we get to eat the props!

Technical details: ISO 100, 1/100s, f8.0, 100mm, lighting with two 550EX flashes with scrim to soften
Photoshop mods: Levels to bring up the white and even out the black

RUM BALLS

6 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips (melted)
1/4 cup almond paste at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
4 cups finely crushed Christie vanilla wafers (about 2 boxes)
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
3/4 cup melted butter
1 cup finely chopped pecans
3/4 cup “overproof” rum
dash salt
chocolate sprinkles or cocoa for finishing

Combine melted chocolate, sour cream, almond paste and salt. Cream well and set aside. In separate large bowl combine wafers and remaining ingredients except sprinkles. Mix until it holds its shape. Add choc/sour cream mixture and knead with hands until blended and soft. Refrigerate until firm enough to form small balls but soft enough to hold sprinkles. Roll into balls, roll in sprinkles or whatever, and place on wax paper to harden overnight in fridge or freezer. Take out of fridge a few hours before serving to bring out rum flavour.

You can use a blender or food processor for wafers and pecans.

If mixture seems too runny add about 1/3 cup icing sugar to firm up.

Having recently returned to Canada from a long stint in Australia, there were a few things that I missed and was looking forward to sampling once again. What I didn’t expect was that, without fail, I had adjusted my perspective and that thing that I once craved when it was not available to me, no longer held much interest.

It was primarily food and restaurants that I craved. Not that the food in Melbourne wasn’t great (it was!), but you sometimes crave the foods you grew up with. It seems that after seven years away, I’ve grown accustomed to their absence. Those restaurants that I once missed, I’ve now visited and found wanting without exception.

For me, at least, it seems that the old saying that you can’t go back appears true. Now, of course, I miss my Melbourne favourites.

Today’s photo is another monochrome macro because I’ve been receiving some positive feedback about those and who doesn’t appreciate kind words? This is condensation on our lounge window.

You can only spend so much time indoors, even when the temperature is sitting at -25C and the wind chill is testing you with a punishing -35C. The trick, as I have learned over the past few months, is that you need to get active, preferable very active.

For a photographer, that can present a challenge because you frequently need to be still. Sometimes I just need to put the camera down for a little while so I can warm up.

In the spirit of staying active, we have a major snow fort construction project underway in our back yard. We have a main fort that is connected by a five-metre long walled path through a small quinzhee (snow hut) to a circular tower (under construction). The main fort has two rooms with a third underway. A second larger quinzhee sits off to the side on its own.

Fort construction keeps us warm and sheltered from the wind. It also gets us out of the house, although fingers, toes, and noses eventually get too cold to stay outside.