Series 8: Niagara Falls A Spring Perspective #1

To be very clear, this is not a “How to do it …” blog. I created this blog to show where and what can still be seen and captured on film (or digitally) for commonly visited places. In short, a different perspective of the same theme and where these places or sites are located exactly. Hence a map, preferably a satellite map will always be included.

Part of this blog project is also to include a body of work that has a theme of eight (8) images as a series. Hence the Series 8 as the main title. The first Series 8 that I am working on is called Series 8: Niagara Falls A Spring Perspective. Even though it is considered complete, I still have to print and matte the final prints. I have to admit, I never anticipated that it would have taken me this long to complete this project. This was undertaken in early March, 2009 and it has taken me almost nine months from the initial visual image stage to final print. I guess, this project would qualify as my little “baby.”

Here is image #1 of the Series 8: Niagara Falls A Spring Perspective.

This was shot at around 7:00 a.m. right after the rainstorm. This spot is located directly across from the “Canadian Falls” on Niagara Parkway on the Canadian side. You can see the exact location where this shot was taken here. The aerial (satellite image) map was taken from Niagara Falls Live.  The silhouette statue/figure is the statue of King George VI in Victoria Gardens.

Shooting of these images were the easy part, this was over a span of two weekends. These images were shot with a Hasselblad 503cw and 100mm planar lens only. Using only one fixed focal lens was a deliberate attempt on my part – it forced me not to loose focus on the composition and get closer to the subject. The film used were Ilford 100 Delta Pro and Ilford HP5 Plus. These images were than scanned by Epson Perfection V750 Pro on to my desktop and edited through Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Editing was the biggest challenge … each time I thought it was completed, I kept seeing something that needed to be corrected or highlighted as the tones and tonal contrast were a little off. Black and white editing is a process that I am always learning as I go along, it is and will always be a learning process for me. I can understand why the late great Ansel Adams had stated that his goal was to make one masterpiece a month … or was it a year … Either way, I have to admit, I am glad I no longer use the wet darkroom process for printing. It would have been a royal pain in the a**e  … nor will I ever claim … to be anywhere close to the league of Ansel Adams or Edward Weston … one can only hope and strive for.

Plug-In: Ride to Conquer Cancer

One final “plug-in” note. This set of Series 8: Niagara Falls A Spring Perspective will be for sale. ALL PROFITS will be donated to Ride to Conquer Cancer.

You can also donate to the Ride to Conquer Cancer cause without purchasing any of the prints. Please go to my Ride to Conquer Cancer webpage for making a direct donation to this worthy cause.

Each print is retailed for $100.00 each. Image detail:

• Image size = 12″x12″
• Image printed on Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper (archival photo paper)
• Total dimensions with matte & foamboard (unframed) = 20″x20″ (archival paper matte & foamboard)

If you are interested in making a purchase of this print and donating the proceeds to Ride to Conquer Cancer, please contact me through email contact form on my Ride to Conquer Cancer blog page or click here.

Tagged as: B&W, black & white photography, camera, cancer, dawn, donation, fog, gothic, hasselblad 503cw, moody, Niagara Falls, princess margaret hospital, ride to conquer cancer, series8, spooky, spring, twilight, twilight stance