Photo of the Week 2020-04-27

' from the archive '

Switching things up after a string of posts from Windfields Farm and before that, other abandonments, though I'm still mining my library of images having photographed little in the last 8 weeks ...

' yellow eye '

I think all photographers go through a "bird phase" at some point. For that you likely need a telephoto lens and my first for my digital cameras was the Canon EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM. The lens was touted for it's sharpness and versatility but not part of the Canon L-series and hence not with the accompanying price tag.

The next step is frequently to visit a zoo or a location like the Mounstberg Raptor Centre. Back in 2012 when I visited, their birds were all rescues in rehabilitation of deemed unsuitable for release back into the wild. Personnel at the centre cared for the birds and used them for public education. Many of the birds were kept in enclosures that allowed photography through wire netting. There were also paid sessions where handlers would bring birds out and perch them for photographers to snap pics.

On my first visit to the centre, I happened to arrive just as the Snowy Owls were being tended to by staff. They had just watered the vegetation in the enclosure and the two Snowies were sitting near the front looking at the keeper, he commented "they want their bath" and gently sprayed them with the hose. I grabbed this image while one was still fixated on getting it's shower.

The images is processed with "selective colour", the eye being the only colour in the frame, everything else converted to grayscale (B&W). It's not something I normally do, or like for that matter. But a friend asked me if I would make a print as a gift for someone who loved owls.

Here's the image without selective colour ...

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-04-20

I knew little of Windfields Farm before it caught my eye while driving by sometime early in 2012. I first photographed the gates and exterior fences on a snowy February day and returned on at least 3 additional occasions, twice entering the abandoned, vacant property to photograph what was then a deteriorating Canadian icon. This is the third recent 'Photo of the Week' post featuring those images from Windfields.

As I have revisited, remembered and reprocessed, the image below stands out and continues to have a haunting effect on me. Marked as Barn #1, I envision it as the barn where the cream of the crop would have been housed. It was by far the most well appointed of the barns I was able to explore.

While inside, as I explored, looking for a composition to capture the disintegrating equine luxury, I could almost hear the neighing, snorting and the sound of hooves from famous thoroughbreds in the chilling icy silence.

High Rent District

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-04-13

Eight years ago I had the opportunity to photograph a now all but gone location. Canadian thoroughbred racing icon E. P. Taylor's Windfields Farm had sat abandoned for a few years and was deteriorating rapidly when I stumbled upon it on a drive south on Simcoe Rd. in Oshawa.

I had heard of E. P. Taylor and Northern Dancer but never much of the famous farm Taylor operated breeding his horses on 6 square kilometres of farmland in Durham Region. It's a fascinating story and piece of Canadian history for anyone who has an interest to dig into it. We all have time now in our cocoons of COVID isolation.

On four separate occasions at the end of winter 2012, I photographed here. Twice from just along the road, capturing the gates, related offices and dwellings associated with the operation. As I became more fascinated with it's story, I decided to probe further and onto the property. Each time I visited, the conditions were different. I was able to capture very different moods. The last visit, on a foggy March morning was my favourite. I spent a few hours there photographing around the property and in the buildings that were open and accessible. Although not readily identifiable as Windfields, the image above is a favourite.

Dark Hedges of Windfields

I set up on the long entrance lane just inside the main gate with my 70-200 f/2.8 on a EOS 50D (camera long gone now) and shot at 200mm, f/4 to compress the perspective and narrow the DoF looking off into the fog. I think the effect creates great mood and an interesting image.

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-04-06

As days begin to blur together in COVID isolation, the already less formal in retirement daily routine has been further defocused. Now too, the weekly rhythm weakens, becomes less important with external activities curtailed, and getting ready to go to bed last night, I realized it was Sunday, that I had not prepared a regular blog post for the morning.

I have been spending a considerable amount of time these days at my computer in the basement, reviewing images, most from 10 or more years ago and you would think that I might have a collection of images flagged for posting ... you'd be right.

Fortunately I have, and I've wanted to keep to the stream of Urbex / Rurex images that I've been posting. Coincidentally, I had begun work on a series from Windfields Farm, a location steeped in Ontario history, particularly in the equine community.

the light beyond

The grave of Northern Dancer

I have a fairly extensive catalogue of images from a few visits to this location and will likely be posting more on my social media feeds in the coming days.
NOTE: 
As I sat down to wright this post, I was shocked to see a news article about a fire at an abandoned structure in my social media feed. Just the other day, I saw a significant collection of images of this place posted to a FB page I follow. It was a grand log home that I was previously unaware of, and apparently very close to developed Brampton.
This is an all too familiar scenario, remembering the fires resulting from arson in Wellington County and surrounding area several years ago. It was at that time I stopped visiting and photographing abandonments. The increased security and police presence aside, publicizing these locations was very probably attracting the wrong type of attention. In the case of the structures in Wellington, a troubled mind, now charged with setting several of the fires. In the case of this recent Brampton fire, cause or those responsible yet to be determined. Whether accident, carelessness, misadventure, stupidity or sickness, I'm again left contemplating to what degree posting images of abandoned places contributes to the frequency of these fires.
Final Note: I understand that Windfields Farm is no longer abandoned or standing as it did, that the property has been developed or repurposed and as such no longer exists as I experienced it.

DJE