Friday 26 October 2012

photo art friday - derelict

One person's derelict is another person's beauty

When I read the Photo Art Friday challenge for this week
over at Bonnie's Pixel Dust Photo Art,
I was thrilled that it came at a time
when I would be heading up north!

As I headed up on Wednesday morning,
I was all ready to photograph my favourite
derelict garage in Minden, Ontario...

: : :

Side note: 
Favourite because it was the subject of the 'outside my comfort zone' challenge 
You can see the explanation of that challenge
and why these photos 'qualified' here.

: : :

As I drove along the highway coming into Minden 
I first noticed the absence of the familiar sign...



and then I realized...
Walker's Garage is gone!!

I asked a few questions of the locals, who revealed that the garage
that I had photographed late last November
has actually been a HUGE bone of contention in the area.

Rumour has it,
that the battle over the future of Walker's Garage
has been raging for years!

So I visited my friend Google for a little recon...
Apparently, some felt it was an historic building...
and others...not so much
... as the Minden Times reported last December:

"The reeve was urging the instant demolition
of an old auto-repair shop that is to be replaced
by a new county building.
The old Walker's garage, she announced, is 'unsightly'."

Unsightly in a charming way, I thought.




Neil Campbell, the reporter for the Minden Times article put it well...

"Unsightly? It might need a shave and a haircut after sitting empty for a while, 
but it looks pretty much as it always has, 
the way service stations have always looked. 
Neat but not gaudy."



I find myself wondering what happened to the really cool stuff that was still inside the garage...


I tried at the time to take photos of that cool stuff through the windows...
(take note of the paint on the walls and wood window frames)

In fact,
trying to take those photos resulted in the accidental 'selfie' 
that is now my profile picture!! 


A little more research led to the discovery of an Engineering firm's report
to the Director of the County Roads Department, on September 17, 2012
where it was reported that:

"The demolition of the Walker building was complicated 
by the presence of lead paint on the exterior of the building. 
Samples were sent to SGS Laboratory and it was determined 
that the levels of lead were higher in the darker green paint 
than the lighter green or blue paint"


Apparently I even captured a photo of leaded paint...who knew?


I am so glad that I got these photos before Walker's was levelled.

When I think of all the barns, sunrises/sunsets, trees and other photos
that I haven't taken while driving back and forth over the past month,
always telling myself that I will have another chance to capture them...
well...
 let this be a lesson to me! 

Be sure to pop over to Photo Art Friday
and see the wonderful art folks have created this week



Janet xo



Photo Art Friday

Monday 22 October 2012

the best part about Monday...

...is Macro Monday
over at Lisa's Chaos!!
If you have never been there
it is well worth the trip over today!
You'll see a lot of diverse and amazing work!

My shot today
is just an ordinary leaf
that I discovered on the lawn while 
putting the garden 'to bed' last week.
What makes it special, to me,
is the patterned way in which the colours have changed!

Click on the photo to really see the detail!
I hope everyone's week is off to a good start
and wishing you all a great week ahead!

Janet xo



MM3


Also posting to leaves for Leontien


Saturday 20 October 2012

52 photos project yr2 wk26


There is a harmony in autumn, and a lustre in its sky…
                                                   ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley


...and the lustre is golden
and as it happens...

Golden
is this week's prompt over at Bella's

It is such a perfect prompt for this time of year!
Though the sun often looks silvery and flat
it somehow seems to swathe everything in its path
in a golden glow!


Especially towards the end of autumn's ever shortening days


Janet xo


52 Photos Project


Thursday 18 October 2012

It's Friday!!

Time for 
and

Bonnie, over at Pixel Dust Photo Art
offered a very cool texture, Leafy Landscape, for use in this week's prompt!

Applied to a sunset shot from last summer,
using several layers of the texture and a variety of blending modes,
created this piece...
"Leafy Sunset"


I was attempting to capture the effect of trees and a sunset in reflection...
and when I was finished fiddling I was kind of pleased with the results...


For LeAnne's Photo Art Friday
I applied a French Kiss texture,
Golden Orb
to a photo of a rose that I had taken a month or so ago
after receiving a beautiful bouquet from a dinner guest...


the roses were a beautiful combination
of a peachy yellow outside and a rich red on the inside
giving a stunning overall look.
I felt that the texture enriched the colours on the rose of focus.


I am running a bit behind on my SkyWatchFriday shots!
Though I frequently shoot the sky, 
this was taken from my back deck and
has been waiting on my desktop to be posted for two weeks!!


When I was a little girl, my Mom used to lay on the ground with me,
point out the shapes of the clouds and we'd try to identify what it looked like.
I thought this one looked a bit like one of our dogs as she leaps across the lawn...


No? *lol*

That's it for this week folks!
As always, check out these sites to enjoy the work of others!
Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Janet xo






Photo Art Friday        photosbyleanne