We love to walk the streets of a small town. There’s so much to discover on getting close and intimate with a place and we get to see all the cool stuff that would otherwise be missed if we simply drove by. Getting out and exploring on foot is what...
On the first day we “rode the rails” from Climax Saskatchewan to Shaunavon. What an amazing time touring this part of the province in a little railway speeder. After all these months there’s still an afterglow. So we jump to day two, our itinerary taking us from Shaunavon to the...
We love a good hike. It matters not if we’re deep in the wilderness or in an urban setting, as long as we’re in motion and having fun. We’re so darn easy to please. Today’s outing finds us kicking about town – there’s just too much snow in the mountains...
As it sometimes happens we stumble across a random Boler Trailer parked in or around someone’s property when out for a stroll. There’s a fair number of them here in Calgary – dozens and dozens that we know of, and many more, no doubt, we’ve yet to be introduced to....
This is becoming a tradition it seems. Simply, we wander a part of town after dark and practise our low light photography skills. It’s not so much about the subject at this point but the technical aspects, including getting a good and shape image which was the one big problem...
Flashback, September 2017! We’re in Eastern Saskatchewan, in the town of Unity (no, the “community of Unity”), a copy of a vintage postcard in hand. We’re here to shoot a trademark BIGDoer.com then and now and that old picture is the fodder. The subject of our attention, what’s seen in...
The late 1950s/early 1960s era was witness to some interesting architecture, in particular for commercial and business use. Sure there was the plain old shoe box design philosophy that’s always been there and dominated the scene, square and unimaginative, and cheap to build. But for those who dreamed it got...
A message arrives in our inbox. What’s this? An invite? “Want to join us on a speeder trip?” Whoaaa, a speeder trip? Adventure on the rails? With not a second of hesitation…YES Please! And with that plans are made. It’s spring 2017, the trip to take place later that summer....
Standing on the very edge of the Alberta Badlands, peer down and be awestruck on seeing the scenic valley below. There’s the car way over there by the river. Hello, we just came from there. All that layered strata. Next spin around and it’s endless fields of golden grain waving...
We walk. A lot. Our neighbourhood’s a good-sized one, and sometimes we just step out, point ourselves in some random direction and start exploring (it makes the day better). Even after all these years, there’s still a fair number of streets we’ve never been down. And what happens when you...
As is often the case when out on the road heading to an assignment, we see something interesting and have to stop. And that’s what happened this day, even if it was only brief. So here, in the “sprawling metropolis” of Unity Saskatchewan, a couple large industries, one a grain...
Another instalment in the “Roam at Night” Series. Here, it’s not about the subject and composition so much, but rather practicing the technical aspects of night photography. You know, getting the exposure right and the challenges of focusing in those conditions, and keeping noise to a minimum. Later we can...
A message arrives. Come view some trucks it says…we have some old big rigs. That has our attention. Now to make it happen. It’s not anywhere close to us, but as we always manage to do, we’ll find away. It might just take some time. And so the months pass...
A number of factors, nagging injuries being one, have kept us in the city for some time now. Still, we get out and have fun. It really doesn’t take much to amuse us and we find adventure where ever we are. Lately, for the hiking end of things, we’ve been...
The road in is rough, more a cart track than anything. Bouncing along for many kilometres there’s nothing as far as the eye can see. Then come to the edge and look down. Way down. Drop into a valley, the track steep, narrow and precipitous. It’s something very logging road...
Another instalment where Chris & Connie train to be better night photographers and share the results with you. Low light shooting is an area we have much interest in, but struggle with. The big problem, which we’re not the least bit ashamed to admit (outside the fact that meds don’t...
What you see in this post has changed since we documented it last fall. The subject, an old house sealed up for decades, has been cleared of possessions which have been put in safe storage. Next any issues with the building will be tackled, with eventual plans that everything be...
We only need explore our own neighbourhood to find Boler trailers. There’s a couple we know of, one of which even shows up on our very street a couple times each summer. They come to us! And from time to time, while out for a walk, we find new ones....
We didn’t come up with the title of this post, someone at Midfield Park did. We borrowed it. Here, we’ll be peering over a security fence to a look at a huge empty lot, a former “mobile home” community with a population once counted in the hundreds. They’ve all moved...
The small town watering hole, often housed in an old hotel (and not always providing accommodations), a place for locals and passers-through alike to partake in libations and socialize. Near every community across the country, no matter the size, had one. Or so it seemed. But we’re losing them, fast,...
The Team has documented our fair share of churches, every last one of them special and beautiful to us in their own unique way. As subjects go, they’re one of our most favourite and we get giddy photographing and writing about them. The one seen today, even among all the...
We bought the book “Calgary’s Best Walks” by Lori Beattie. Love it. If you’re into urban trekking, it’s a recommended addition to your library too. It’s BIGDoer approved! Like that means something. Chuckle…so, inside the covers are a multitude of possible routes covering all quadrants of the city. For one...
When was the last time you saw an independent computer shop? Bet it’s been a while. There used to be lots of them, busy places all, with seemingly one on every corner, but mostly they’ve gone the way of the dinosaur. It’s one tough racket and even the big chains...
The past four or five years now a group of friends get together and explore. This merry band whose domain is dusty backroads, spend some summer weekend in some corner of Alberta (sometimes venturing into Saskatchewan too) in search of abandoned and forgotten stuff. Lots of cool things are seen...
Screaming down some back road, we come over a rise, and there off in the distance, we see an abandoned farm house. Looks pretty darn interesting. Looking over to Connie…”yeah?” “Oh yeah!” Stopping in a cloud of dust, we fire up the Internet (a vehicle hot spot is such a...
There we were enjoying ourselves, wandering about Nelson BC in the summer of 2016, and we find this. It’s a little fibreglass trailer, something Boler-like for sure, but what make is it? Thought is might be a Beachcomber, but no…a Trillium Jubilee, no again (both are pretty uncommon models). Scan...
Here’s a fine city trek, a loop of sorts taking in the entire length of Edmonton Trail in Calgary’s (shallow) Northeast and on the return leg quieter residential streets off to the east. It’s like going back in time, the closer one gets to downtown, the older things become. There’s...
Sometimes it takes us a while to get to things. Too much to do, not enough time, not nearly enough us. Anyway, here’s one from waaaaay back in late 2016. Yikes! We’re on the road and find ourselves passing through Sylvan Lake Alberta, a modest sized community west of the...
There used to be a vast network of railway owned telegraph lines spanning the country. Where the tracks went, so went the poles and the wires. This early incarnation of the information superhighway stood alongside the rights-of-way and were a familiar scene to people back when. Look at any old...
It’s a lonely forgotten place, this rural property. The ride in takes one down a long dusty backroad, then a muddy cart track all squishy and rutted up, and finally cross country through pasture and field. Regular cars are unlikely to survive the journey. Arrive, stand and look around. In...
Kenopsia: "the eerie atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but now vacant or abandoned."
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Jack Rutherford:
Anastasia Lords of Anastasia Village
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Nier Alberta’s Psychedelic Grain Elevator
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A Downtown West End Alley (Calgary)
Helen Besterling:
Stampede Speedway Calgary (1982-1987)
Anonymous:
The Grist Mill / Blacksmith Shop (2015)
Byron Robb:
Ogden Road Calgary 1950 & 2016
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Sibbald Gentleman’s Club (Closed)
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
Riverview Hospital Coquitlam BC
Johanna (Connie) Biggart
Empress Alberta at the 4th Meridian
Johanna (Connie) Biggart:
St Peter and Paul Church 1918
Anonymous:
Radio Shack Westbrook Mall (Calgary)
Anonymous:
Ghost Railways: Fort Macleod Alberta
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Berte George’s William’s Grocery Lethbridge
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Union Bay (Vancouver Island) Coal Wharf
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
1 Day: Denman & Hornby Islands (BC)
- shot in & around the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta. A TV production, it follows her adventures as she works to save a herd of feral horses. 
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