Saskatchewan Trip 2023

 12 August 2023

Drove from Abbotsford to Calgary in one day, next day 13th, drove my parents back to their home in Ponteix, Saskatchewan.  That night went out with my Nikon FM2n loaded with ILFORD HP5 plus to photograph the Ponteix grain elevators and creek and the night sky for stars, meteors, satellites, and passing aircraft if possible.  Saw four meteorites and just hope some registered on the film.  I am using a Nikkor 24mm lens with the "rabbit ears."

I returned to town and then proceeded to photograph each of the individual elevators for star trails.  What was unique about the old Pool silver elevator was tree shadows cast on a big part of it from the powerful outside house lamp across the street.

Exposures @ f/22 ran from three minutes all the way up to 15 minutes.

14 August 2023

This evening started photographing around 8:30 at the end of the old airplane runway near where Johnny Piche used to live.  There was an old farm truck there with round bales in the background.  I was using the Nikon FM2n which has a 24mm lens so there will be some distortion.  Went out to photograph the elevators and railway track curve east of town as ell as the cree with elevators in background.  I was using my Toyo 45 AII with Provia 100 film.  And during this time a guy was out walk and as he was walking by we started up a conversation.  He is a geologist with the crew rilling for helium just a few hundred metres in front of us heading south.  He seemed quite surprised to find out I am the guy who found the Plesiosaurs near Ponteix.

So when I moved into town just like the night before to photograph the individual elevator - tonight I only focused on the brown one, I took out the Mamiya C330 Pro S loaded with ILFORD FP4 plus and proceeded to make several exposures @ f/22 from two minutes to five minutes.  There is a lot of light falling on the elevator from bright street illumination.  There was also a deer feeding near by me.

It is nice to be home but each time I notice it is a much quieter place then when I was growing up here almost 40 years ago, and my parents are starting to really slow down.  I notice changes each time I visit.  Memories flood the mind and looking at old familiar places and pictures ...