We’ll let you in on a little secret…in our minds some of our earlier stuff…well…it doesn’t fill us with the warm and fuzzies. Mainly it’s the images we don’t like and not so much in regards to composition, but specifically how we processed them when we started shooting RAW (in about 2014). All to frequently we did it very badly*. (RAW: a direct uninterpreted image that gets processed in “post” with a software package like Lightroom instead of in camera as a JPG).
As with many photographers, a few years ago, we were lead down the “HDR” rabbit hole (even when not shooting true High Dynamic Range). You’ve seen those often overly saturated, frequently dingy looking pics done in an over-the-top way that in the early to mid-2010s were all the rage? That’s probably HDR. You looked at a photo done this way and instantly you thought it’s a painting, right? Another common trait of the technique.
Milk River by Francis Marte: an honour bestowed. With Chris Doering & Connie Biggart & Francis Marte (BIGDoer/Synd)
For a time we saw this style (naively) as a way to elevate or improve our work, but now see the results as cringe-worthy. It was a phase, with numerous photographers sampling the drug, not just us. We’re always learning and improving in skills (even if today, we still think we’ve got far to go) and have taken a more dialed-down approach in post the last few years.
Scroll down for photos and to comment.
All this rambling leads us to the photo seen here, one shot in the Southern Alberta Community of Milk River back in 2014. It’s a street scene showing one of the town’s Grain Elevators, which became fodder for something awesome.
Comes a saviour, an artist. The photo’s redeemed on being chosen by talented Francis Marte, out of Edmonton, as inspiration for something fantastic in watercolours. Our photo that looks like a painting, becomes one! Francis’ actions have changed our outlook and instead a dreading the idea of showing you the original, we display it proudly, in a most reserved way of course. A big thanks to him, and encouragement to continue. Scroll down to look at our work and his.
From the Philippines Arts Council website in regards to the artist: “Francis Marte is a professional watercolourist and charcoal artist, specializing in realistic landscape, cityscape, still life, figurative, and portrait paintings…Albeit still young in the arts scene (he has been doing this professionally for only 2 years now), Francis dreams of being able to devote full time to painting.”
We think he’s got the stuff. The level of realism in his work is something incredible.
And what a great honour it is that this person choose our photo, one that we saw basically as worthless today, and with a bit of reinterpretation, made it into something cool and epic. Bravo!
This is not the only BIGDoer image Francis has used as the basis of a painting. We’ll soon be posting about another he did (here: Old Jack’s Hand by Francis Marte). To look up Francis, search “Francis Marte Watercolours” on Facebook. Tell him we sent you.
Interesting timing, the grain elevator seen in the photo, as we’re typing this, is being demolished. These wooden prairie sentinels don’t have a lot of value in today’s world and on being unneeded and of no use for any other purpose, they get torn down. One more old elevator bites the dust. But it’s economics, plain and simple. We understand.
Artists who wish to use our photos as fodder for other works, much like Francis did, are welcome to contact us. We welcome it.
*While we’re on the fence mostly as to the value of our earlier (RAW era) photographs, with some that we downright hate, we don’t hide them away. Search our site and you’ll see every single article with every single photo, going back to day one, no matter what we think of it. We were pretty bad back then, mostly and much better now, mostly, and we hope it shows how we’ve matured in what we do. Some of our write-up are badly done too, but hey, that’s another story. Hope you enjoyed the piece.
Very cool picture. It’s also my home town. I’ve hauled more bushels of grain to this elevator than I can count lol. It was torn down last year. The last remaining elevator will be torn down soon, and Milk River will be left with no elevators. We used to have quite the row of them. Very sad.
Love that connection. It’s sad the loss of all these old elevators, but we’re happy we got to see them while they were still were around. Francis is an amazing artist!
I recall the HDR rage back then, I edited a few photos like that myself, but have since shelved that process. It doesn’t speak to me anymore, but it was just a fad, though a few still do it online yet to a varying degree….
Yes very much a fad. Like lensballs right now. I quite honestly cringe inside on seeing our photos from then, but they are what they are, and so we proudly display them in all their shitty glory.
The Trolleybuses of Sandon BC (2018) & how they're seen through the eyes of our good friend Byron Robb. More below 👇
These buses all hail from Vancouver BC (which has the last trolley network in Canada) and many came by way of many other Canadian cities. So Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg, who all ended their electric networks in the 1970s. Vancouver bought them and ran then into the '80s or used them for parts to keep their own fleet in service. The buses date from the late 1940s to early 1950s period and that they were brought here saved them from being scrapped.
Stop by the central library in Calgary to see examples of Byron's cubist works of art on display, including his trolleybus photo seen here.
We are heading back to Sandon B.C. in 2025 if it kills us and we have some unfinished business up in the hills. The past is calling and there's so much up there we want to document before it's gone. ______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Chris.
Pic: 2024. Showing at the Corral-4 Drive In (Calgary's east end) on opening day in March of 1980...below 👇
The Changeling and Piranha on one screen, 1941 and National Lampoon’s Animal House on another, Silent Scream + Search and Destroy on a third, and finally The Jerk and More American Graffiti on the last.
The Corral-4 officially opened that spring although they did some test showings the year before. First and lasts: the first and only multi-screen venue in town. The last drive in to open in Calgary and the last to close.
A big fire in 1999 at an oil recycling plant right next door was its undoing, but it does appear business was on the skids anyway. Talk of them closing was documented even before and we suppose this gave them a good excuse.
Some of the land has reverted back to nature and other sections were used for trailer storage for a time. They were all gone on this visit and the only thing left is this lane guide.
Have Corral-4 memories? Share them in the comments.
2023 Kananaskis Alberta. Ours son's doggie Drea and everyone's best friend on the trail. Say the four magic words "go for a walk" and she'll whine at the door and then make a line for the car. She's been atop mountains, done grueling 25km hikes and thrilled to be in the outdoors. A great hiking companion.
2017 Consul Saskatchewan. The End of the Line RV Park ironically reached the end of the line. Read on below 👇
Consul is the very last town for a long time if you're heading down south to the Montana or west into Alberta from the area. Not that many people choose either route and this is perhaps why the business closed. The road sign says next services 110km (Havre Montana) and 114km (Elkwater AB), respectively.
2020 & 1950s. An old abandoned car & the place on Macleod Trail Calgary where it was sold. Classy sign! More below 👇
🚗 🚗 🚗
This early '50s Hudson was found on a decommissioned road deep in the Alberta Rockies. Car Strip operated into the 1960s and seemed to move a lot of inventory. They financed everyone!
The building seen in the old photo is still here today and home to a (you guessed it) used car dealer. Check the comments.
Car Strip advertised heavily and had extensive listings of their for sale inventory posted to Calgary papers. We scoured every ad we could find in hopes of seeing this one (it is a rare car, so it would stand out) but it didn't make mention.
Photo credit: unknown. Shout out to: House Of Cars Group. _______
Exploring history with Chris & Connie from Off the Beaten Path. Thanks, Chris.
Very cool picture. It’s also my home town. I’ve hauled more bushels of grain to this elevator than I can count lol. It was torn down last year. The last remaining elevator will be torn down soon, and Milk River will be left with no elevators. We used to have quite the row of them. Very sad.
Love that connection. It’s sad the loss of all these old elevators, but we’re happy we got to see them while they were still were around. Francis is an amazing artist!
A beautiful watercolour! Very neat!
I recall the HDR rage back then, I edited a few photos like that myself, but have since shelved that process. It doesn’t speak to me anymore, but it was just a fad, though a few still do it online yet to a varying degree….
Yes very much a fad. Like lensballs right now. I quite honestly cringe inside on seeing our photos from then, but they are what they are, and so we proudly display them in all their shitty glory.
Oh yes, the glass spheres for the photos… Another $$ fad.
I feel the same for my earlier photos as well, but it was a learning curve. We’ve improved considerably since then!
The journey to getting better is part of the fun!
Wonderful!
Short and sweet! And we love it.
This is great!
Thank you, we try!
Drove by this on the way to Montana.
One more landmark soon to be gone (or maybe gone already).
This particular elevator is gone now. The one beside it is still standing at the moment, the last one in the row.
And I suspect soon it’ll be gone too. Another small town loses another part of its very being.
A great collaboration
Thank you!
Please save our history.
A fine sentiment but it’s hard to when there’s no money there to do it. Sadly.
Francis has some major talent. And your photo is not so bad.
Yes! And thanks…we’re always so hard on ourselves.
Amazing work both of you!
Thank you. We’re sure big fans of Francis’ work.
That pictures not so bad. Stop being so hard on yourself.
I know. It seems the person who’s created something is always the biggest critic of their own work.