©Ian McGillvrey

Here is what Ian McGillvrey has to say about his Turning Point Image:

I don’t know if I’d really call this image a turning point for me but it certainly has some significance.  The reason I wouldn’t definitively say that it was a turning point is that it’s still a relatively new image.  I can’t look back to 1991 as Darwin can with his image and say that this image defined my personal style and directed the course of my career… plus I was only a 10 year old boy in the spring of 1991!  The image was only made just this past summer, and I’ve had very little of a career per say in the nine months since then.  But from some of the feedback I received from my peers and people I really look up to I started to get the feeling that a style was beginning to develop and that maybe I might be starting to get the hang of this stuff.

I made this image while on Sam and Darwin’s Buicks Badlands and Old Buildings workshop in Trochu, Alberta.  I think part of the reason it is significant to me is that it was one that I really had to work for.  Sam and Darwin will attest to the very difficult conditions and challenging location we had on the afternoon this image was made.  Harsh mid day sunlight, wind, and a very cluttered and busy scene all added up to an extremely challenging set of conditions for shooting.  This was one of the very last images I made that afternoon and when I finally saw it show up on my LCD, I knew that I had literally “worked” all afternoon to find and capture this one shot.  I think this one was as much about experiencing that process as it was the final result. I still can’t really say for sure what my style exactly looks like, but I’d like to think that this image represents a significant part of that, and more importantly, what it will become.  I’ve only been at this a little while and I think there’s so much more room for a style to grow and evolve.  It’s a process I’m looking forward to!

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©Jay Gould

Jay Gould describes his Turning Point Image:

 Moeraki Sunstar, created on South Island, New Zealand during a Kah Kit Yoong workshop clearly represents the turning point for me in my transition from birds in flight to landscapes/seascapes with strong foreground images. It also represents my decision to adopt my style – “Nature Interpreted” – and to envision a ‘finished’ scene prior to capture. For me, photography begins with your mind and eyes, and ends with an image representing your vision and your reality of the captured scene; my photography exceeds the camera sensor’s limitations. Capturing and processing landscapes and seascapes allows me to express my vision and reality of Nature.

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©Deborah Ehrens

Above is a lovely Turning Point Image by Deborah Ehrens. Here is what Deborah has to say about the making of the image:

In the year after I bought my first digital SLR I took a series of meetup photography classes that culminated in a portfolio assignment. Looking around my living room for inspiration, I picked up this nautilus off my bookshelf where it had been collecting dust for 20 years.  Immediately I realized its potential for back lit beauty.  But more than that – I imagined how it would look with the light of the autumn sunrise bouncing off the water behind it. I knew the feeling I wanted the image to evoke.

For the next several mornings I set up my tripod at the ocean’s edge and with boots, DOF tables and a tape measure I worked and waited until the wind, water and light allowed me to capture the image that I had imagined.

While the path to becoming an artist is a long one, I was able to take the first step after this image. It gave me the confidence to believe that I could create art, not just take photos.

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©Tom Nevesely

Tom Nevesely submitted the photo above of Mount Kidd Reflecting Pools as his Turning Point Image.  Here is what Tom has to say about the image:

This image of Mount Kidd from an outing to Kananaskis Country, Alberta in May 2005 is what I would consider to be my turning point image. I’ve been (casually) photographing for a few years before this, but my images were lacking and I couldn’t quite figure out why. I guess I’m a really slow learner!

Shortly before this trip, I attended Darwin’s seminar on mountain photography and it was at this seminar that I learned about light (sidelight/front light/backlight) and how to control it (ND Grad filters/time of day, etc). I was so excited! I bought my first set of ND Grads and headed out to my favorite place in the mountains where I made this image. Image details: Canon 10D with a Tamron 19-35mm lens at 19mm and a ND Grad Filter.

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©Marion Faria – Beavertail Lighthouse

Thanks to Marion Faria for submitting her Turning Point Image

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©Darwin Wiggett – Fenceline near Leduc – Canon T90 with a 20mm lens, a 3-stop hard-edge grad filter, Fujichrome 50 Velvia slide film

What is your most important image? Do you have an image where you finally saw the emergence of your personal style? Is there an image you made that sealed your direction as an artist?” The photo above, taken in the spring of 1991, is THE image that for me told me I had something to say as an artist. It served as a road map for my personal style for years to come and showed me that I could make evocative images from any subject if I paid attention to light and composition. It also showed me that I had a solid understanding of the techniques of the craft. So… simply put, this simple little image of a beat up and forgotten fence in a pasture near Leduc, Alberta was the turning point in my evolution as a photographer –  everything I’ve created afterwards has been based on the template set by this image. 

Do you have a turning point image? If so send us the image and its story to darwin@oopoomoo.com and we’ll share on the oopoomoo blog (please size the image 585 pixels in  the long dimension).

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My sister and I were reminiscing recently about a cookbook that featured prominently in our lives as we were growing up…or at least featured prominently at the dinner table.

A Guide to Good Cooking!

The Five Roses Flour cookbook was the main go-to resource in our household. And no wonder! From the perfect vichyssoise to the Spencer method for fish fillets, this cookbook covered it all. I tried my first standard rolls (‘buns’ in modern parlance) as a teenager. They were quite the failure! Last year I attempted them again since I’ve learned a thing or two about cooking over the last decade or so. Alas, they were more like pucks than fluffy spheres. Even though the introduction to the book exclaims, “No wonder the Five Roses Guide to Good Cooking has become a popular gift for the new bride”, it was my dad who was the baker in our house. I still remember his homemade buns and loafs…the sweet freshness of ‘from-scratch’ bread is just not found in today’s supermarkets.

There’s something about a homemade roll….

Maybe I can get Darwin on this baking thing, since he eats a lot more bread (and peanut butter) than me. Growing up, tea biscuits, pancakes and waffles were also very popular pages. The pancake page has long since detached itself from the coil binding and is at great risk of venturing out on its own someday. Quick question: pancakes or waffles?

Pancakes or waffles?

French pancakes rock (and they’re easy to make)!

This cookbook has seen some hot, greasy days in the kitchen. I confess to a secret but passionate love for butter, chicken fat, bone marrow…the more savoury the better! Back in the day, lard was not a four-letter word and it was used frequently in baking and cooking. I think the solution is not to eat less fat necessarily but to get off our lazy butts, work less at the computer and spend more time outside with family. Oh, and make our food from scratch rather than settling for the over-processed, nutrient-deprived pap that passes as food for too many of us today. I may not be able to make buns rise, but I do make a mean oatmeal cookie!

Grandmothers’ cookies are the best…because they have brown sugar, butter and shortening!

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The beauty of the Canadian Rockies is legendary among nature photographers. Not only is the scenery stunning and the wildlife abundant, it’s all easily accessible by highway. To whet your appetite, and for those just passing through, we offer you three scenic drives that we consider the best of the Canadian Rockies. And if you’re looking for more than a quick scout, we have many ‘where to’ guides on these parks for those of you wishing to experience the area in more depth. Watch for the next installment in this topic,  Three Amazing Secret Drives in the Canadian Rockies.

©Darwin Wiggett – Highway 40 in Kananaskis Country

Getting There 

The Canadian Rockies form a jagged spine along the western border of the province of Alberta and the eastern border of the province of British Columbia in Canada. For fastest access to the roads described in this article fly into Calgary International Airport in Calgary, Alberta, rent a car and drive west from Calgary on the Trans Canada Highway (highway 1). In just over an hour you’ll be swinging left onto highway 40 which leads you into Kananaskis Country where you’ll find a memory card full of photos.

©Darwin Wiggett – Wedge Pond, Kananaskis

Read more »

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We are happy to report today that Gertie Goosepimple of the Chain Mail Chicken clan has achieved her dream of being the first rubber chicken to venture to the Arctic Circle! Thanks to Dave Brosha for accompanying Gertie on her journey and for making her arctic portraits so memorable.

©Dave Brosha – Gertie sun tanning on an Arctic Circle beach

©Dave Brosha – All the locals loved Gertie – she seemed surprised! 

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Yesterday we reported the sad news that Chain Mail Chicken appeared to have been kidnapped right out of Mike Fitton’s luggage. Today we received news from Cuban immigration that Chain Mail was not taken by some poultry-plucker but had, in fact, defected! Can you believe it? Apparently Spring’s refusal to visit Alberta this year really upset Chain Mail. (Chain Mail may even have claimed refugee status… some hints of abuse… being frozen in the ice at Abraham Lake or some such nonsense…we denied everything, of course.)

©Chris Manderson – he’s not frozen; he’s just resting!

But all is not fowl news! In tracking down Chain Mail’s family to tell them the sad news that Chain Mail had flown the coop, we were amazed to hear that Chain Mail’s cousins wanted to carry on Chain Mail’s photo adventures around the world! We found the Cluckers in Brooderheim, Alberta. This is a family portrait of the Cluckers below. Aren’t they cute?

Meet the Cluckers!

So, we are super excited to confirm that Chain Mail’s dream of traveling around the world and sharing photo adventures with new photo friends will continue. You can read about how it all got started here, but in a nutshell, everyone who responded to our first call-out to be a photo-host for Chain Mail will receive one of the cousins (more about each of them below). The photographer will have two weeks to show the cousin around, take the cousin to the scenic spots and iconic stops of their home, and then the photographer will mail the chicken on to the next photo-friend. As the photographers send them in, we’ll post photos of the happy Cluckers’ experiences on the oopoomoo blog so everyone can share in their journeys! And this time the avian adventurers will be traveling with a journal so that their thoughts can be recorded and shared with us all. Oh, the stories they will tell!

A chicken and his journal

Before we send the cousins on their way to their first photo-hosts, we should tell you a bit more about them. Meet the Cluckers!

Grandma Gertie Goosepimple

Grandma Gertie Goosepimple always acts surprised when invited over for dinner. — ©Catherine Byram

Gertie actually left Brooderheim long ago to live in the cold wilds of northern Canada. But she had never ventured as far north as the Arctic Circle before, so when photographer (and oopoomoo eBook author!) Dave Brosha volunteered to escort her there, she flew at the chance. We’ll have more on Gertie’s adventures shortly, but we thought it appropriate to start with the matriarch of the Brooderheim Cluckers. Gertie’s a big-boned girl (they grow ‘em big up there). Her favourite activity is lawn bowling.

Cluckin Chuck

Cluckin Chuck

Chuck is probably the most talkative and friendly out of this broody-bunch! When we drove into the yard, Chuck ambled over to greet us right away! He loves poetry: his favourite activity is crooning about his love of corn at 3 am (much to the annoyance of his barnyard buddies).

Stu Pott

Stu Pott

Probably the biggest intellectual, Stu has previously ventured out into the big world before. He returned to Brooderheim with a degree from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of ALES (Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences) — wow! We couldn’t understand his thesis — something on the origins of pecking order as a hierarchical behavioural strategy — but we were impressed with his ability to play the kazoo in the local band, The Domestics!

Larry Lays-Two-Eggs

Larry Lays-Two-Eggs

Out of all the Cluckers, Larry is the most shy and sensitive. He’s a bit of a homebody. In fact, he’s borderline agoraphobic, so taking up this journey is a big step for him! His favourite activity is babysitting eggs in the hen house.

Peter Pecker

Peter Pecker

Peter is quite industrious, even athletic (for a chicken). He got his nickname because of how good he is at scratching through the dirt for juicy bugs.

There you have it! Watch the blog for the Cluckers’ adventures with their photo friends, and a big thanks to the cousins and their photo-hosts for carrying on Chain Mail’s legacy! Stay tuned!

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