Edmonton’s 2016 Pride Parade celebrations.
YEG Pride Parade
Old Man River
Paddling the Old Man River from Monarch (Highway 3A) to Taber (Highway 36). Trip notes, resource references and maps below.
If you’re looking for a classic southern Alberta paddle, the Old Man River certainly fits the bill; an overall grade I river suitable for Novice to Intermediate paddlers depending on flow. This trip was an abridged 4.5 day (166km) paddle adapted from Mark Lund’s Paddle Alberta trip notes which are an invaluable resource – excellent for planning and handy to have along for reference on route. NTS map references are provided in the document but if you’re interested in this specific stretch – put in at Monarch (Highway 3A) with a take out at the Highway 36 Bridge – feel free to use these. They’re 1:42,000 topo maps from Natural Resource Canada’s Geogratis portal (2016) assembled into three tabloid size documents, that when printed and laminated to 10mm thickness, are not only impermeable navigational aids, but make excellent cutting boards and placemats after the fact.
The car ferry from the Highway 36 bridge to Highway 3A took approximately an 1hr, making a 2hr roundtrip that was easily done. Access to the put in off Highway 3A is straightforward and on the right just after you’re crossed the bridge, if you’re headed southwest on 3A (coming from Lethbridge). There’s plenty of room to maneuver and lots of places to leave a vehicle. Highway 36 is relatively straightforward as well; access is on the left if you’re headed south (towards Taber) just after crossing the bridge, however a barbwire fence 100m from the river makes things trickier and requires canoes and gear to be hauled under/over on take out. And if you’re planning on leaving a vehicle at the Highway 36 bridge, or any other suitable take out along the way for longer than 48hrs, it would be wise to get in touch with the local RCMP detachment (in this case, Taber) beforehand and notify them of your plans.
Overall there’s beautiful scenery and lots of wildlife along this paddle, with the current going through a familiar ebb and flow – picking up in the twists and turns and then dumping out into what could be confused with lake paddling at other points. Though there isn’t much above class I, there are a few sections that depending on flow can/could prove tricky. It’s a good section to practice reading, as making heads-up, informed choices in advance can save hauling one’s canoe over rocky shallow sections and avoiding standing rocks, while misreading is less likely to end in dire circumstances, just hauling one’s canoe over rocky shallow sections and bumping into standing rocks.
Nuit Blanche
France
North Saskatchewan
Paddling the North Saskatchewan from Rampart Creek to Preacher’s point, with a scramble up Whirlpool Ridge.
Japan
The first time back in 8 years after living and working in Japan as part of the JET Programme. I’m not sure how one composes a love letter to a country; whether it’s even possible to do so, not to mention wise. But in that light, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten over Japan, and I doubt I ever will. Three weeks for eight years.
言葉は日本気持ちについてちゃんと表現しかたはできません。写真はたりるかな？
Karnak Hypostyle Hall
Introduction & A Brief History:
The University of Memphis’s Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall Project (KGHHP) is a collaborative effort between Egyptian, American, French & Canadian research teams funded by grants from the The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) and the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE).
Karnak’s Hypostyle Hall columns and their inscriptions have been known about since antiquity and recorded many times over, however an exact epigraphic survey and publication of the scenes in their entirety has as of yet, not been successfully undertaken. This is due in large part to the difficulty of photographing columns without distortion. As you can imagine, taking photographs of curved objects and then flattening them is difficult!
In 2008, French laser scan data sets, know-how, and programs allowed the first real survey attempts, and members of a CFTEEK team successfully photographed all of the columns for conservation purposes. Unfortunately the quality of the photographs prevented them from being used for epigraphy.
The KGHHP column photography uses technology developed by Institut Géographique National (IGN) cartographer Yves Egels, with the assistance of Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique (CNRS) member Emmanuel Larose. As a former ARCE photographer, I bring a photographic knowledge set and experience to take as well-lit, high resolution photographs as possible. Combined with Yves’s technology the results are pretty incredible: photogrammetrically accurate photo-déroules of the columns with pixel to millimetre accuracy.
Although a few of the columns will be photographed in entirety, the most important and unique parts are the scenes inscribed on them from the reigns of Seti I, Ramses II and Ramses IV. If you’re visiting this site following the information board QR code this is what you have seen (or are watching) me do. After all of the photographs of these scenes have been taken and processed they will serve as the foundation for an accurate epigraphic survey. They will published both in print and online and available for research purposes via Peter Brand at the University of Memphis and Jean Revez at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). They will also be published in a coffee table book and as a series of limited edition prints.
A Few Facts:
• Our work wouldn’t be possible without the permission and help of the Egyptian Ministry State of Antiquities (MSA), director of Karnak Temple, Abdel Laziz, and a cadre of Karnak inspectors: Peter, Bahaa, Wahlid, Mahmoud & Haggag.
• I have a crew of 6 dedicated workers with experience in Karnak Temple: Raiese Mahmoud, Haggag, Mahmoud, Hassani, Hamada and Farouk. Without their help I wouldn’t be able to photography anything!
• There were originally 134 columns in the Hypostyle Hall. Of those, 3 are missing and 2 have been destroyed to their bases leaving 129 columns in total.
• There are 12 large columns standing 29 m (96 ft) tall, and 117 small columns standing 13.5 m (45 ft) tall.
• The large columns are roughly 10 m (32ft) in circumference, and the small columns are roughly 8 m (26 ft) in circumference.
• Each column typically has three scenes inscribed from the reigns of Seti I, Ramses II and Ramses IV. However, not all columns are complete!
• In total there are 286 small column, and 36 large column scenes. Currently 174 small column scenes have been photographed. (*Note: As of Mar/30/2015, all 286 small column scenes have been photographed.)
• Rectification is the process of removing distortion and flattening the photos on a 2-Dimensional plane while retaining their proper proportions.
Methodology:
In order to photograph the columns completely they are divided into 16 segments or points. A series of 7 photographs in a row from the top to the bottom of each scene is taken from each of the 16 points. On the small columns 8 metres in circumference this means every 1/2 metre. The photographs have roughly 1/3 to 1/2 overlap between them and are taken as flush to the column as possible. Because of the power of the rectification software they are taken handheld, allowing for quick movement.
An aluminum scaffolding array of 4 levels on wheels is aligned to each of the 16 points and levelled to the column. The scaffolding plank is lowered incrementally to match the position of each of the 7 photos in the row. Large pieces of frosted plastic are hung from the back and sides of the scaffolding and used to diffuse direct sunlight. This creates the atmosphere of a giant lightbox which helps light the columns in addition to a photo studio strobe light.
The photographs are taken with a professional DSLR, using a fixed 28mm lens. In order to photograph the column scenes with even lighting, a studio strobe fired through a lightbox is placed a 1/2 meter above the top of each scene. The intensity (wattage) of the strobe is adjusted to maintain as even as lighting as possible for each photograph in the row.
After the photographs have been uploaded and adjusted, they are exported as high resolution jpegs. These jpegs are assembled using programs written by Yves Egels to specifically rectify and align each of 112 photographs into one photogrammetrically accurate photo-déroule of the entire column. More information on this process can be found on Yves’s blog and via the Ecole Nationale des Sciences Géographiques publication, Close-range Photogrammetry for Architecture. The rectified and properly aligned photographs are then merged and blended together and exported as a high resolution tiff file. The tiff file is level-adjusted and checked for epigraphic and photographic (lighting) consistency.
A Few More Facts:
• Each small column has 112 individual photographs blended together to make one entire déroule of that column.
• It takes roughly 10 minutes per point to adjust the scaffolding and take the photographs for that point, so each column takes roughly 2.5 hrs to photograph.
• In one day, I can generally photograph 2 small columns.
What’s Next?
Though I haven’t had the opportunity to photograph the large column scenes that’s soon to follow. Tests will be done at the end of this season and with any luck, next season will be devoted to their photography.
For more information about the Karnak Great Hypostyle Hall Project, the history of the hypostyle hall and epigraphic documentation click here.
A Manitoba Summer
On the Campaign Trail
In the recent YEG civic election I threw as much of my visual weight behind Don Iveson’s campaign as possible. Although I approached the shots from a photojournalist perspective, my goals were anything but impartial — I wanted to see Don succeed in his bid to lead Edmonton over the next four years.
Along with photographer Tom Young, I documented the Iveson campaign over an intensive 3-month period (August – October 2013). The following photos come from 28 stops along the campaign trail engaging with Edmontonians both young and old, across a range of ethnicities and socio-economic stratums: from Heritage Days to coffee shops and doorsteps through to mayoral forums, community gardens and election night.
Much has been made of the cadre of amazing volunteers and politically astute campaign team, tactics and technology that facilitated Don’s bid for mayor. Engagement was the name of the game. But the results on election night speak not only to an extremely well-organized, well-run, positive campaign, but to all of us as Edmontontians. The stage has been set, and I’m curious and hopeful of where we will go. In the same way that these photos speak to Don’s successful campaign bid, over the coming years I’m looking forward to documenting how this city grows, engages and moves.
It’s not just about benefitting the top 10% and maintaining the status quo, it’s about building positive, engaged communities that talk and listen to one another — whether these be communities of neighbours living next to one another, or those of business, industry, education, health and technology that drive our economy. It’s about honouring consensus and pluralism; truly core Canadian values that have both given, and in return, will give us, an ability to adapt to the challenges that lay ahead. It’s about demonstrating and championing these values to the world, and this will take all of us, trying to build something, together.
Tracy & Rob’s Wedding
