Memories

When we used to sell cards and framed photos of Saskatchewan grain elevators at craft shows in Saskatoon, we'd hear many a story about parents or grandparents who had worked in elevators as agents and of those who delivered grain by horse and wagon way back when. They always came across as fond memories but also with some sadness at the thought of losing these prairie icons. With every wooden grain elevator that is torn down, memories go down with them. A physical reminder is far more powerful than an empty space beside the old railway tracks.
May this holiday season bring each of you fond memories of times past that we can build on for future generations.
All the best in 2015!

Another look at White Bear, SK

I thought I'd "paint" the falling icon and give it a look for posterity.

Bladworth impastoed

One of the "paints" that can be applied via software to photos is called impasto. I had to look it up. The link to trusty wikipedia is here. It's essentially a heavy pasting of paints creating a texture that reflects light and can give almost a 3D appearance. I applied it to a Bladworth elevator photo I took this August. I quite like the results.

Pense painted

I "painted" Pense like this using software and liked the effect of the red sky. It could be fire. Some wooden grain elevators burned down when grain got too hot because it wasn't dry enough to store. But many more were burned down intentionally when the grain companies made the decision to get rid of the town elevators. Perhaps this photo symbolizes the demise of the prairie grain elevators.

What if Van Gogh had painted Saskatchewan grain elevators?

Would it have looked something like this one I took of the Mortlach elevator?
 I'm trying out a program called Topaz Impressions. Great fun.

Moose Jaw, SK

I just had to stop, again, and take a photo of the Moose Jaw grain elevator. I stopped at the side of the highway and took it through the window of the car. It turned out to be a good thing we stopped to do this as the RCMP were catching speeding drivers close to where we stopped. IF I'd been speeding, of course.

Mortlach, SK

We drove by the Mortlach grain elevator that, thankfully, was still standing. I'd taken it before but this time there was a large puddle of water nearby offering a great reflection.

Pense, again

I got to wondering what this shiny elevator would look like in black and white. I quite like it.

Pense, SK

 Pense is a village of just over 500 residents, but still maintains its iconic wooden grain elevator.  I took another photo of it as we passed by Pense, which sits just west of the capital city of Saskatchewan.

Bladworth revisited

We drove by the Bladworth elevator during our latest trip in August, 2014. A barley crop was nearby so I included it in the photo. We noticed the absence of at least four of the elevators that I've posted on this blog, namely Hague, Hanley, Morse and Tompkins. Sad, but true.