Skiing is finished in Ontario, pouring rain outside, but lots of photography happening with 52frames. Here are my first 16 weeks of 2024, along with my mumblings.

[Click on any photo for the slideshow. Please leave comments at the bottom of the page]

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The Photo Booth ( Self Portrait )

Week 1. The Photo Booth ( Self Portrait )

I’m sitting up here
Nice and cozy
In the north

Thinking about what this new year will bring
Kinda scary
A little anxious

When I look at what’s happening around the world
And in the south
I want to escape

To Coney Island
But only in my mind

52 Fatigue ( A New Technique )

Week 2.  52 Fatigue ( A New Technique )

A week that’s blank
That’s how I feel
Lots of ideas
But nothing for real

I’ll shoot black and white
Negative space
And manual mode
Just in case

No snow up here
Corduroy reflections
All lined up
Northy’s penguins

The Invasion ( Black and White )

Week 3.  The Invasion ( Black and White )

Like Martian invaders
Lined up in formation
Stark, Isolated and Surreal
A floating frame of steel
Adamski black and white
Sentries in the bright sunlight

(War of the Worlds)

A Woman Screams ( Scene From A Movie )

Week 4.  A Woman Screams ( Scene From A Movie )

After his deadly encounter with the weirdo psychopath, the dark stranger sits at the bar with a glass of whisky. We wonder if he’s celebrating his saving the sexy, sultry woman or drowning his failure? To find out and read the whole story, go to A Woman Screams!

This photo is based on Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca, 1942.

The Hockey Stop ( Shoot From Below )

Week 5.  The Hockey Stop ( Shoot From Below )

I just went over to the neighbourhood ice rink and found one person, a stranger, skating. When I walked up to the Zamboni door, which was open, he skated over and I told him what I’m doing. After 3 takes, shooting in burst mode, I decided on this one because of the spray.

The Gathering ( Shoot From Above )

Week 6.  The Gathering ( Shoot From Above )

Times are uncertain and
Stressful
We gather round the flame of
Enlightenment
Searching for the light and
Heat
That guides us from ignorance
Trickery
And conspiracy

Broken Dreams ( Unexplored )

Week 7.  Broken Dreams ( Unexplored )

Once thriving and important
A post office or general store
A mill no longer needed
A place of pioneer lore

I stand, look and ponder
Enchanted by the remains
Lonely and abandoned
But not forgotten names

I hear the whispering wind
As it murmurs through the glens
And I will explore and capture you
With my Toxic Lens

Just an Algorithm ( Complementary Colours )

Week 8.  Just an Algorithm ( Complementary Colours )

In the Canadian north
Colours are elusive
Black and white
Pretty much exclusive

The colour wheel is
A thing of science
I search for colours
But come up silence

Mother nature
Has her own routine
Not orange and teal
But orange and green

Lightspeed ( Move The Camera )

Week 9.  Lightspeed ( Move The Camera )

Shot on a leap day
Not losing momentum enough
For me
I watch this torrent of blur
Warp speed, Number One
Engage!
And another year streaks by
In a burst
Closer to the final destination

Symmness ( Symmetrical Composition )

Week 10.  Symmness ( Symmetrical Composition )

Skiing in Western Canada
Much vertical here
Linear
But this covered bridge
Has a symmetry
That defies natures
Linearosity

Forgotten Steel ( Road )

Week 11.  Forgotten Steel ( Road )

Along an abandoned railroad
Once connecting the South
To Ontario’s ski country’s
Station by the Bay

Misty sepia images I ponder
Bear-traps leaning on the side
Echos of fuzzy chatter laughing singing
About the runs they’ll have

Indifferent about the ribbon below
Now only rotted steel and wood
Replaced by the black oily snake
And carbon emitters

Liminal Chaos ( Chaos )

Week 12.  Liminal Chaos ( Chaos )

Standing on the edge
Of liminality
Shifting architecture
No rationality

Chaotic dream
distorted perception
Infinite loop or
State of Inception

In this level
I am stuck
Is this reality or
Just a mindfuck

Back Road ( Minimalism )

Week 13.  Back Road ( Minimalism )

I usually try to be intentional in my photography
Which usually leads to minimalism
I notice this attribute in fine art photography
Seems that they’re always minimal
And I would hang them on my wall
So that was my aspiration

 Out of Place ( Background )

Week 14.  Out of Place ( Background )

This is one of those challenge types that seems easy to me. But then I start thinking… over-thinking. I went out for several shoots, trying to improve, but kept coming back to one of my original shots. These balloons seem out of place, but the colour contrast grabbed my attention.

Dark Tech ( Technology )

Week 15.  Dark Tech ( Technology )

The city is lit up
But it’s dark
People walking bravely
Like they’re free
But a fearsome entity is watching
Started in 2017
The first AI
Where will technology take us?

The Watcher ( Anthropomorphism )

Week 16.  The Watcher ( Anthropomorphism )

I was being watched
As I walked along the trail
Then I saw the cancerous growth
On the birch tree
A face with no eyes.

So I came back later
And nailed up some eyes.

Dogs started barking
People looked out their windows
I quickly got my shot
Pulled my hoody over my head
And stealthily creeped away.