tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41433108025501783982023-11-16T10:04:16.720-08:00paullantzI am a reader, an amateur photographer, a retired lawyer, a former computer programmer and a train fan who lives in Belleville, Ontario. From 1982 to 2018 I lived in Moosonee, a remote community in Northern Ontario. My photography has focused on Moosonee: its people and its natural beauty (a tidal river, ravens, the sky, boats and barges). I post photographs on this blog and also on my websites. I am starting to post pictures from Belleville and its surroundings.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-7893002505264802242019-11-13T07:41:00.000-08:002019-11-13T07:41:23.379-08:00Picking up an old text book<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjToat2o77uOaYNA1PoNo37_xahdH9rWpEvOVkWHREjGZZRQlOp1WDQb4ub1Ccd4zkgf2E9q3Qn87-vBXalWao3Oww7k-jGJFrTWM1onAMHO2YcQO7uppHPm_IzprrC_c6STO5LNNDLUuM/s1600/3072_Gear+Computer+Organization+and+Programming+partial+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjToat2o77uOaYNA1PoNo37_xahdH9rWpEvOVkWHREjGZZRQlOp1WDQb4ub1Ccd4zkgf2E9q3Qn87-vBXalWao3Oww7k-jGJFrTWM1onAMHO2YcQO7uppHPm_IzprrC_c6STO5LNNDLUuM/s320/3072_Gear+Computer+Organization+and+Programming+partial+cover.jpg" width="240" /></a>Yesterday I took a look at a textbook I have had ever since I took a course in 1972-1973. The book was published in 1969 so it is 50 years old now and is titled "Computer Organization and Programming" by Professor Charles William Gear. Professor Gear is still around; currently at Princeton.<br />
The book does not look very worn; no marks or writing or even food stains.<br />
I read a little bit of it yesterday. Well written, fascinating and requiring more focus and attention than I am likely able to provide at this age.<br />
Why is my copy so pristine?<br />
It was the assigned text for Computer Science 202 a course taught at York University by Professor Frieder Schwenkel. That was his last year at York; he was appointed a Professor at the University of Hamburg in 1973 and passed away in 2012.<br />
Neither I nor my classmates really looked into the book very much when we took the course. Professor Schwenkel's <br />
attention was focused on an Interdate 70 16 bit mini-computer that resided in a room across the hall on the 6th floor of the Ross Building from his office. For reasons good or bad he decided to have us learn about it.<br />
In some ways it was a good choice that made for a fascinating course, especially for me. The Interdata 70 was a half word machine with many of the same instructions as an IBM mainframe cut down to 16 bits. Picking up how to program it in assembly language was not that difficult and we learned quickly how to work with a machine in hands on fashion.<br />
Professor Schwenkel was pretty flexible about we did and at one point he offered me the chance to work on some of the CS408 projects. The one that intrigued me was the development of an interpreter to execute programs written for another computer. I never did program it then but did some work in the area later on.<br />
In the meantime there were some practical problems to solve.<br />
One thing I learned from the course was that you could never totally trust the documentation that came with computers. The machine had shown up with a teletype machine with paper tape as the primary input system but at some point a floppy disk (8 inch size) drive showed up. It was run through an auxiliary processor which Interdata termed a channel (just as IBM did). Only problem, it didn't work the way the documentation said it would. Much scope for endless experimentation the need for which got me a prized key to the machine room for 24 hour access.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTvOGsbEZ9o0nLtl83-HzQ5fUlTtbFKsP4mc6CeD4SzJTnOxsGBjhO2njRzL2T5Ym8FMcyHMeEpfEOSnAirnobIGvuNVa89zYmyt-728jVQ50IY9JgyyxLfa48L8hSlBiG15lxxB_v1s4/s1600/3072_Gear+Computer+Organization+and+Programming+sample+interior+pages.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTvOGsbEZ9o0nLtl83-HzQ5fUlTtbFKsP4mc6CeD4SzJTnOxsGBjhO2njRzL2T5Ym8FMcyHMeEpfEOSnAirnobIGvuNVa89zYmyt-728jVQ50IY9JgyyxLfa48L8hSlBiG15lxxB_v1s4/s320/3072_Gear+Computer+Organization+and+Programming+sample+interior+pages.jpg" width="320" /></a>Now as I glance at Professor Gear's book I wonder if I would have benefited from a course more focused on its concepts. Certainly I would have approached programming from a more principled and academic foundation as opposed to figuring things out from first principles.<br />
Maybe I should read the book although it does seem a little quaint with flowcharts and program examples written in Fortran. Flowcharts I never bothered with unless an assignment required one but I can sort of still read Fortran and it might challenge my brain a little. And, help me justify having kept the book for 47 years although keeping books around never needed much encouragement for me.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-54221124090305215782019-08-01T10:35:00.002-07:002019-08-01T10:37:06.132-07:00A big moveBig move...living in a different place now. Belleville instead of Moosonee.<br />
Late last fall, after 36 years in Moosonee I moved to Belleville, Ontario. I spent my work hours in Moosonee at Keewaytinok Native Legal Services where I worked as executive director and lawyer. That's a long time to work and live in one place; probably something that few people starting out today will duplicate.<br />
For 21 of those years I lived in a two room apartment in the office. It was not luxurious but it was handy to work. I just walked past the washing machine and into the reception area. I didn't have to go outside at all.<br />
Outside the office was the tidal Moose River and an incredible view of sunrise every morning. Over the years I managed to keep on good terms with some of the local wildlife, particularly the ravens who knew to show up each morning to pick up some breakfast.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCICtPYla7Nks82nTinFVj7c7TJAeEjdtu9U35z4-uW-hljW9DIp_rhS7p9bRG0M2CovVZGwYbWXpnrLHFwZ3y97jNhe6_9__GBDoc8JTSN9epPMPPpwlIZRrsuizeIxSKl-hQhlFZqQo/s1600/lrf_IMG_5027_181015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCICtPYla7Nks82nTinFVj7c7TJAeEjdtu9U35z4-uW-hljW9DIp_rhS7p9bRG0M2CovVZGwYbWXpnrLHFwZ3y97jNhe6_9__GBDoc8JTSN9epPMPPpwlIZRrsuizeIxSKl-hQhlFZqQo/s320/lrf_IMG_5027_181015.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Well, all of that is over. Today I live in a seniors apartment project that is much less draft and leaky than my place in Moosonee. If I want to see the sun come up I need to head down to the Bay of Quinte. I don't see any ravens around home although I have spotted a couple in town and I know there are lots out in the country.<br />
Moosonee was an isolated place. No roads led there so I spent a lot of time taking the train back and forth to Cochrane. Moosonee was also an expensive place. Almost always amazed when I go shopping at how cheap things are in comparison.<br />
Because there are no roads to Moosonee it was hard to get things delivered. Nobody wants to ship by rail so it cost a fortune to have anything sent there. Here I can order from amazon and stuff shows up in a day or two. Kind of amazing.<br />
Winter down here is pretty mild although sometimes there is freezing rain but certainly not cold like Moosonee.<br />
Moosonee was a relatively free place in a lot of ways. People did more or less what they wanted unless someone objected very strongly. Belleville is a different world, lots and lots of rules.<br />
Biggest difference between the two places: in Moosonee I knew almost everyone I saw; in Belleville I am pretty much anonymous. Good or bad?<br />
<br />Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-38657972153177237372019-08-01T10:35:00.001-07:002019-08-01T10:35:20.472-07:00Another great day with a raven family.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifS4Jsb3nvWCSRRPPgGOTzxAIT-PbIIfbhHMSZCzd6hn_rh_Ie3RE430sTAe2d8DowuYuB_LF_dkgCQ8gt4aP6Z3Re_pFhIhQosC-g3woGnlOTy_P7QV3bJhAByxAndIOYZEgpLNlgb6o/s1600/1024_5F3A4164_140720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifS4Jsb3nvWCSRRPPgGOTzxAIT-PbIIfbhHMSZCzd6hn_rh_Ie3RE430sTAe2d8DowuYuB_LF_dkgCQ8gt4aP6Z3Re_pFhIhQosC-g3woGnlOTy_P7QV3bJhAByxAndIOYZEgpLNlgb6o/s1600/1024_5F3A4164_140720.jpg" width="213" /></a>Yesterday was a bright sunny day with a good strong wind. Perfect weather in Moosonee for photographing a raven family.<br />
Family may be a strong word; two adults and four juveniles that pester them for food and spend their time screeching away to no one in particular.<br />
The wind made it easier for the ravens to hang in the air, to fly slowly enough for even me to be able to capture them in pictures.<br />
The juvenile ravens will not be around for long. Past experience has shown that they disappear pretty fast. I am sure that their life expectancy is not great; some of them get hit by vehicles before they understand about roads. The parents drive the others off to find their own space. But it is a treat to have them around for a while.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAwwMif5IJGI3ChLYoP2mAeUvfX19FsbLrYCrslZMFT_aviqL9ge9NMya9v3vHXSv1sTs6KnwKE33bvQCCMH4Kt2AQjSAfv1z9ni25tQh6wsIxX-EmOYB1_aRYkXLxbEDo_Y3l_16vSM/s1600/1024_5F3A4181_140720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAwwMif5IJGI3ChLYoP2mAeUvfX19FsbLrYCrslZMFT_aviqL9ge9NMya9v3vHXSv1sTs6KnwKE33bvQCCMH4Kt2AQjSAfv1z9ni25tQh6wsIxX-EmOYB1_aRYkXLxbEDo_Y3l_16vSM/s1600/1024_5F3A4181_140720.jpg" width="320" /></a>As usual I posted my pictures on my smugmug website: <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Birds/Ravens">Pictures of Ravens</a><br />
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<br />Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-49813696339394245012019-08-01T10:35:00.000-07:002019-08-01T10:35:12.562-07:00Living without a highwayI live in Moosonee, a small town in Northern Ontario. A couple of thousand people, one main store, half a dozen smaller stores, three schools, a bunch of churches, the post office and one bank. Probably not that different from a lot of other small towns.<br />
But there is one big difference. Moosonee is not connected to the Ontario road network. You cannot drive here (well not most of the time). If you want to come to Moosonee you need to take the train or fly.<br />
Moosonee is not the only place in Ontario that is not on a highway. There are lots of much more remote places plus Moose Factory which is just across the river.<br />
Living off the highway network brings some challenges.<br />
For one thing no courier companies come here. If you want something it is going to come in the mail or on the train. You can ship stuff here by courier but the courier company is just going to throw your parcel in the mail. Fortunately, the post office works pretty well.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-3399578672624560252017-01-29T10:14:00.001-08:002017-01-29T10:14:42.427-08:00The Economist recently published an obituary for Chief Arthur Manuel who died on January 11th, 2017. He was the moving force behind a challenge to the Canada Act in 1982. That was the legislation passed by the Imperial Parliament that gave independence to Canada. He and the other Chiefs involved in the case argued that the legislation was invalid because it had not received the consent of First Nations. The UK Attorney General applied to have the case thrown out and was successful initially and in the Court of Appeal. Leave to appeal to the House of Lords was denied.<br />
Because this is an English case its text is not easily accessible to Canadian readers so I am posting it here because I believe it is very important.<br />
What was rejected were the following propositions:<br />
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<ol style="font-family: "times new roman";"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para23"><blockquote>
"(1) the United Kingdom Parliament has no power to amend the Constitution of Canada so as to prejudice the Indian Nations without the consent of the Indian Nations of Canada and</blockquote>
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"(2) the Canada Act 1932 is ultra vires."</blockquote>
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England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions</h1>
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<restriction></restriction></center>
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<tr><td></td><td></td><td align="RIGHT"><citation><b>BAILII Citation Number: [1982] EWCA Civ 4</b></citation></td></tr>
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<b><court>IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE<br />COURT OF APPEAL<br />ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE<br />CHANCERY DIVISION<br />(THE VICE-CHANCELLOR)</court></b></div>
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<tr><td></td><td></td><td align="RIGHT"><venue>Royal Courts of Justice</venue></td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td><td align="RIGHT"><date>30th July 1982</date></td></tr>
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B e f o r e :<br />
<b><panel>LORD JUSTICE CUMMING-BRUCE<br />LORD JUSTICE EVELEIGH (not present)<br />LORD JUSTICE SLADE</panel></b><br />____________________<br />
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<tr><td width="19%"></td><td align="CENTER"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">CHIEF ROBERT MANUEL<br />of the Shuswap Nation suing on behalf of himself and all other Indians of the Neskainlith Indian Band and Others</span></b></td><td valign="BOTTOM" width="19%"><b><br /><br /><br />Appellants</b></td></tr>
<tr><td width="19%"></td><td align="CENTER"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">v.</span></b></td><td valign="BOTTOM" width="19%"><b><br /></b></td></tr>
<tr><td width="19%"></td><td align="CENTER"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">HER MAJESTY'S ATTORNEY-GENERAL</span></b></td><td valign="BOTTOM" width="19%"><b>Respondent</b></td></tr>
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</parties>____________________<br />
<b><shorthandwriter>(Transcript of the Shorthand Notes of The Association of Official Shorthand-writers Limited, Room 392, Royal Courts of Justice, and 2 New Square, Lincoln's Inn, London, W.C.2.)</shorthandwriter></b><br />
____________________<br />
<b><reps>MR. J. R. MacDONALD, Q.C. and MR. C. P. L. BRAHAM (instructed by Messrs.<br />Herbert Oppenheimer, Nathan & Vandyk? appeared on behalf of the Appellants.<br />MR. J. F. MUMMERY (instructed by The Treasury Solicitor) appeared on behalf of the Respondent. </reps></b><br />____________________<br />
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<ol style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b></b><b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para1">LORD JUSTICE CUMMING-BRUCE</a></b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para1">: Lord Justice Eveleigh is not able to be present today.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para1"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para1"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para2">The judgment of the court will be delivered by Lord Justice Slade.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para2"><br />
<b></b></a><b></b><b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para2"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para3">LORD JUSTICE SLADE</a></b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para3">: This is an appeal from an order of the Vice-Chancellor made on 7th May 1982 whereby he acceded to an application by H.M. Attorney-General that the statement of claim in an action be struck out and the action dismissed. The plaintiffs in the action were 124 Canadian Indian Chiefs, who were respectively expressed to sue on behalf of themselves and named Indian bands. The defendant was H.M. Attorney-General. As the Vice-Chancellor explained in his judgment, the term "bands" is used in the sense of a body of Indians for whom lands have been set apart or for whom moneys are held or who have been declared to be a band by the Governor-General in Council.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para3"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para3"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para4">The case raises issues which are no doubt of great political importance to all the peoples of Canada, particularly the Indians concerned. This court, however, is concerned with the bare question whether the claim to relief in the action is plainly ill-founded in English law. As the Vice-Chancellor recognised in his judgment, if, but only if, the answer to this question is in the affirmative should the action be prevented from proceeding to trial.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para4"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para4"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para5">Canada emerged as a Dominion 115 years ago. Section 3 of the British North America Act 1867 empowered the Queen, by and with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by proclamation that the provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick should "form and be one dominion under the name of Canada". Section 4 of that Act, as subsequently amended, provided that "unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the name Canada shall be taken to mean Canada as constituted under this Act".</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para5"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para5"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para6">Section 5 of that Act (which contained many other provisions) provided for the division of Canada into four provinces, to be named Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The Proclamation envisaged by the Act was duly made and the Dominion was established on 1st July 1867. Since then a number of additional provinces have been created and a number of further British North America Acts have been passed.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para6"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para6"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para7">The nature of the present action is an unusual one. The gist of the facts alleged in the statement of claim, which give rise to the proceedings, may be very shortly summarised for present purposes. Immediately before the Canada Act 1982 was enacted by the United Kingdom Parliament, the Canadian Indian bands had certain special rights which were protected under the constitution of Canada. These rights were recognised or confirmed by a Royal Proclamation made on 7th October 1763 and subsequently under a number of treaties made with the Indian bands. They include (inter alia) rights in relation to Indian reservations, rights of hunting, trapping and fishing game and fish for food at all seasons of the year on all unoccupied Crown Lands and any other lands to which the Indians may have a right of access. Such rights are expressly referred to in a number of agreements set out in the Schedule to the British North America Act 1930 which, by section 1, expressly provided that these agreements should have the force of law. For many years, the Indians have thus had entrenched rights under the Canadian constitution.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para7"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para7"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para8">In 1931, the Statute of Westminster 1931 was enacted to give effect to certain resolutions of Imperial Conferences held in the years 1926 and 1930. The Statute substantially gave legislative independence to the territories which were specified in section 1 and were there referred to as "Dominions". These included the Dominion of Canada. Before the Act became law, an enactment of a Dominion legislature such as that of Canada could not have had extra-territorial effect and, further, would have been void if it had been repugnant to an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which extended to the Dominion. These two disabilities were removed respectively by sections 3 and 2 of the Statute, subject to certain provisions contained in sections 7, 8 and 9, and to the adoption of sections 2 and 3 by the Dominion Parliament, if necessary under section l0.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para8"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para8"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para9">The third paragraph of the Preamble to the Statute had recited:</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para9"><br />
<blockquote>
"And whereas it is in accord with the established constitutional position that no law hereafter made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom shall extend to any of the said Dominions as part of the law of that Dominion otherwise than at the request and with the consent of that Dominion: ..."</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para9"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para10">Section 4 contained a corresponding provision but with one significant difference, which will be mentioned later in this judgment. It provided:</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para10"><br />
<blockquote>
"No Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of this Act shall extend, or be deemed to extend, to a Dominion as part of the law of that Dominion unless it is expressly declared in that Act that that Dominion has requested, and consented to, the enactment thereof."</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para10"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para11">Section 7(1) of the Statute provided:</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para11"><br />
<blockquote>
"Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to apply to the repeal, amendment or alteration of the British North America Acts, 1867 to 1930, or any order, rule or regulation made thereunder."</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para11"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para12">Section 7(3) provided:</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para12"><br />
<blockquote>
"The powers conferred by this Act upon the Parliament of Canada or upon the legislatures of the Provinces shall be restricted to the enactment of laws in relation to matters within the competence of the Parliament of Canada or of any of the legislatures of the Provinces respectively."</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para12"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para13">Section 7 thus preserved intact the existing powers of the United Kingdom Parliament to legislate by way of "repeal, amendment or alteration" of the British North America Acts. At the time when the Statute of 1931 was passed, these powers were very extensive, since an alteration of the Constitutional Acts of Canada could, with certain minor exceptions, be effected only by an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament. In 1949, as a result of the amendment of section 91 of the British North America Act 1867 effected by the British North America (No. 2) Act 1949, the Parliament of Canada acquired exclusive power to amend the Constitution of Canada, except as regards matters coming within a number of classes of subjects specified in the section. Even after 1949, however, United Kingdom legislation remained necessary in respect of any amendment affecting these excepted matters. The plaintiffs consider that it remained necessary in respect of amendments affecting certain entrenched rights of the Indians embodied in the British North America Acts.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para13"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para13"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para14">On 9th December 1981 the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada submitted an address to H.M. The Queen requesting that a Bill ("the Canada Bill") be laid before the United Kingdom Parliament to amend the constitution of Canada in a manner summarised in the statement of claim as follows:</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para14"><br />
<blockquote>
"by (inter alia) (1) terminating the remaining responsibility of the United Kingdom Parliament for amending the constitution of Canada and conferring all such responsibility on Canadian institutions, and (2) providing for a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para14"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para15">On 10th December 1981, before the Canada Bill had become law, the plaintiffs (or more accurately some of the plaintiffs, since others were subsequently added by amendment) issued the writ in the present action. A statement of claim was served on 22nd January 1982 and shortly afterwards amended.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para15"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para15"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para16">On 29th March 1982 the Canada Act 1982 received the Royal Assent. The long title to the Act is "An Act to give effect to a request by the Senate and House of Commons of Canada". It contains a preamble in the following terms:</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para16"><br />
<blockquote>
"Whereas Canada has requested and consented to the enactment of an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to give effect to the provisions hereinafter set forth and the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada in Parliament assembled have submitted an address to Her Majesty requesting that Her Majesty may graciously be pleased to cause a Bill to be laid before the Parliament of the United Kingdom for that purpose."</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para16"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para17">Section 1 states: "The Constitution Act, 1982 set out in Schedule B to this Act is hereby enacted for and shall have the force of law in Canada and shall come into force as provided in that Act."</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para17"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para17"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para18">Section 2 states: "No Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the Constitution Act, 1982 comes into force shall extend to Canada as part of its law."</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para18"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para18"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para19">Section 3 states: "So far as it is not contained in Schedule B, the French version of this Act is set out in Schedule A to this Act and has the same authority in Canada as the English version thereof."</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para19"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para19"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para20">The Constitution Act 1982 referred to in the Canada Act 1982 came into force on 17th April 1982 by a proclamation by H.M. The Queen pursuant to section e.g. of that Act.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para20"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para20"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para21">Part I of the Constitution Act 1982 (sections 1-34) contains the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Under section 25 the guarantee in the Charter of certain rights and freedoms is expressed not to abrogate or derogate from any aboriginal, treaty or other rights or freedoms that pertain to the aboriginal peoples of Canada. Section 35(2) defines "aboriginal peoples of Canada" as including the Indian, Inuit and Metis peoples of Canada. Section 35(1) explicitly recognises and affirms the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada. It is not, therefore, claimed that the Constitution Act 1982 immediately divests the plaintiffs of any of their subsisting rights. Their anxiety appears to stem from a different cause. Section 37 provides for the convening of a constitutional conference within one year after the section comes into force (17th April 1982), which is to have included in its Agenda an item respecting constitutional matters that directly affect the aboriginal peoples of Canada. Part V of the Act (sections 38 to 49) introduces a new procedure for amending the Constitution of Canada. The effect of this new procedure is that the United Kingdom Parliament will henceforth take no part in any such amendment. Under section 53(D, sections 4 and 7(1) of the Statute of 1931 are repealed insofar as they apply to Canada.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para21"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para21"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para22">In these circumstances, the submission of the plaintiffs, as appearing from their statement of claim, is that the enactment of the Canada Bill is inconsistent with and a derogation from the constitutional safeguards provided for the Indian peoples by the Statute of 1931 and the British North America Acts.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para22"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para22"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para23">The statement of claim was re-amended on 14th May 1982, during the course of the hearing before the Vice-Chancellor, partly to take account of the fact that the Canada Act 1982 had by then become law. The prayer to the re-amended pleading seeks a large number of declarations, but as the Vice-Chancellor observed, the first five plainly lead up to the last two, which are declarations that</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para23"><br />
<blockquote>
"(1) the United Kingdom Parliament has no power to amend the Constitution of Canada so as to prejudice the Indian Nations without the consent of the Indian Nations of Canada and</blockquote>
<blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
"(2) the Canada Act 1932 is ultra vires."</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para23"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para24">As the Vice-Chancellor commented in his judgment, a contention that an Act of Parliament is ultra vires is, on the face of it, bold in the extreme. It is not suggested that the Canada Act 1982 was not passed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords or that it did not receive the Royal Assent. On the face of it, the ordinary, elementary rules of English Constitutional law leave the court with no choice but to construe and apply the enactments of Parliament as they stand: (see <u>Pickin v. British Railways Board</u> </a><a href="http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/redirect.cgi?path=/uk/cases/UKHL/1974/1.html" title="Link to BAILII version">(1974) AC 765</a>). As Lord Morris of Borth-y-Guest observed (at page 789):<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
"It is the function of the courts to administer the laws which Parliament has enacted. In the processes of Parliament there will be much consideration whether a Bill should or should not in one form or another become an enactment. When an enactment is passed there is finality unless and until it is amended or repealed by Parliament. In the courts there may be argument as to the correct interpretation of the enactment: there must be none as to whether it should be on the Statute Book at all".</blockquote>
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para25">Though the Vice-Chancellor referred to a number of other matters in his judgment, in the end he founded himself substantially on this proposition in striking out the plaintiffs' statement of claim. As he put it:</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para25"><br />
<blockquote>
"The Canada Act is an Act of Parliament, and sitting as a Judge in an English Court, I owe full and dutiful obedience to that Act".</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para25"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para26">If the matter is as simple as that, that is an end of the plaintiffs' case. But Mr. MacDonald on behalf of the plaintiffs in effect submitted that it is very far from so simple. In his submission, it is open to Parliament to give up its sovereignty in whole or in part. In particular, he contended, it is open to it to provide that any future legislation on a specified subject shall be enacted only with certain specified consents and that, in default of such consents, such future legislation shall be void. This, he submitted, is what Parliament did when it enacted section 4 of the Statute of 1931.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para26"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para26"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para27">As we understood his argument before this court, it proceeded on lines which followed closely those which were summarised at pages 9 and 10 of the transcript of the Vice-Chancellor's judgment. By 1931, a convention had been established by a long-standing tradition that the United Kingdom Parliament could not legislate for Canada or the other Dominions, save at the request and with the consent of the Dominion concerned. Since (so it was submitted) that convention had ripened into law by 1931) section 4 of the Statute of 1931 was merely declaratory of the existing law. This convention required that, in any case where section 4 applied, there had to be an actual request and consent of the Dominion concerned. A mere declaration in a subsequent Act that there had been such a request and consent would not suffice to satisfy the requirements of section 4. The declaration in question, Mr. MacDonald strongly and repeatedly emphasised, had to be a true one and the consent had to be a real consent. Section 7(1) of the Statute of 1931) which provided that nothing in the Act was to be deemed to apply to the repeal, amendment or alteration of the British North America Acts" did not remove the need for the appropriate request and consent of the Dominion of Canada, and declaration thereof, in respect of the Canada Act 1982, because that Act went beyond a mere "repeal, amendment or alteration" of the British North America Acts. The effect of section 4 of the Statute of 1931 thus was and is that the actual consent and request of the Dominion of Canada had to be given to the Canada Act 1982, and the appropriate declaration of such request and consent had to be contained in that Act itself, if it was to be a valid statute extending to Canada. Furthermore, for this purpose, so it was submitted, the consent of the Dominion of Canada means the consent of the Federal Parliament, all the Provincial Legislatures and the Indian Nations, who are said to have a separate and special status within the Constitution of Canada - or alternatively at very least the consent of the Federal Parliament and all the Provincial Legislatures. Neither the Government nor the legislature of the Province of Quebec, nor the Indian Nations of Canada have joined in making the relevant request or giving the relevant consents in respect of the Canada Act 1982. In these circumstances, it is submitted that this Act is void, as not complying with section 4 of the Statute of 1931; or it must at least be arguable that this is so.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para27"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para27"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para28">If, as we hope and believe, this is an adequate, albeit abbreviated summary of the essential features of Mr. MacDonald's full and strenuous argument, the argument will be seen to depend on a number of propositions, each one of which would be essential to its success at the trial of the action. Included among these essential propositions, though they are by no means the only ones, are the following three, each one of which must be established as arguable, if the plaintiffs are to succeed on this appeal:-</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para28"><br />
<blockquote>
(1) that Parliament can effectively tie the hands of its successors, if it passes a statute which provides that any future legislation on a specified subject shall be enacted only with certain specified consents;</blockquote>
<blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
(2) that section 7(1) of the Statute of 1931 did not absolve the United Kingdom Parliament from the need to comply with the conditions of section 4 of the Statute of 1931 in enacting the Canada Act 1982, if the latter Act was to extend to Canada as an effective Act;</blockquote>
<blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
(3) that the conditions of section 4 of the Statute of 1931 have not in fact been complied with in relation to the Canada Act 1982.</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para28"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para29">At least at first sight, the first of these propositions conflicts with the general statement of the law made by Maugham L.J. in <u>Ellen Street Estates Limited v. Minister of Health</u> (1934) 1 K.B. 590 at 597:</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para29"><br />
<blockquote>
"The Legislature cannot, according to our constitution, bind itself as to the form of subsequent legislation, and it is impossible for Parliament to enact that in a subsequent statute dealing with the same subject-matter there can be no implied repeal. If in a subsequent Act Parliament chooses to make it plain that the earlier statute is being to some extent repealed, effect must be given to that intention just because it is the will of the Legislature".</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para29"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para30">Scrutton L.J. said much the same thing in that case, at pages 595 to 596 of the report. In <u>British Coal Corporation v. The King</u> </a><a href="http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/redirect.cgi?path=/uk/cases/UKPC/1935/1935_33.html" title="Link to BAILII version">(1935) AC 500</a> at page 520 Lord Sankey made certain observations specifically directed to the Statute of 1931:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
"It is doubtless true that the power of the Imperial Parliament to pass on its own initiative any legislation that it thought fit extending to Canada remains in theory unimpaired: indeed, the Imperial Parliament could, as a matter of abstract law, repeal or disregard s. 4 of the Statute".</blockquote>
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para31">Lord Sankey went on to observe that that was theory and had no relation to reality, but, if his statement of theory was correct, it would appear to refute the proposition now under consideration. However, a degree of support for the proposition is to be found in the writings of certain academic lawyers, for example Anson (1886) 2 L.Q.R. at page 440 and <u>Dicey's Law of the Constitution </u>8th Edition at pages 66 to 67 and, possibly, in the decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in <u>Bribery Commissioner v. Ranasinghe</u> </a><a href="http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/redirect.cgi?path=/uk/cases/UKPC/1964/1964_20.html" title="Link to BAILII version">(1965) AC 172</a>. In the latter case, Lord Pearce, in delivering the advice of the Board, expressed its view (at page 197) that "a legislature has no power to ignore the conditions of law-making that are imposed by the instrument which itself regulates its power to make law". A little later (at page 198) he described as unacceptable the proposition that "a legislature, once established has some inherent power derived from the mere fact of its establishment to make a valid law by the resolution of a bare majority which its own constituent instrument has said shall not be a valid law unless made by a different type of majority or by a different legislative process". Mr. MacDonald has submitted that the Statute of 1931 was an instrument which itself regulated the power of Parliament to make law for the Dominions and so was a "constituent instrument within this language. Accordingly, in his submission, no subsequent Act extending to a Dominion can be valid unless it complies with the conditions of the Statute of 1931.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para32">This submission raises points of great interest and fundamental importance to constitutional lawyers but, for reasons which will appear, we do not find it necessary to deal with them. For the purposes of this judgment we are content to assume in favour of the plaintiffs that the first of the three propositions to which we have referred is correct, though we would emphasise that we are not purporting to decide it.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para32"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para32"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para33">As regards the second of them, Mr. MacDonald submitted that the Canada Act 1982 does not fall within the exempting provisions of section 7(1) of the Statute of 1931, on the grounds that its provisions go beyond a mere "repeal, amendment or alteration of the British North America Acts". We do not think it has been or could be disputed that at least a substantial part of the contents of the Constitution Act 1982, if regarded in isolation, would amount to no more than a mere "repeal, amendment or alteration of the British North America Acts", within those exempting provisions. Mr. MacDonald, however, has submitted that at least some others of its contents (for example, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms) fall outside such exemption and accordingly make it necessary that the conditions of section 4 of the Statute of 1931 should be complied with in relation to the whole of the Canada Act 1982.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para33"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para33"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para34">By far the greater part of the plaintiffs' argument on this appeal has been devoted to an attempt to show that the conditions of section 4 have not been complied with in this context.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para34"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para34"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para35">In the circumstances we will proceed to consider the third of the propositions referred to above which relates to section 4 of the Statute of 1931. We will revert briefly to the second of them and to section 7 at the end of this judgment.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para35"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para35"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para36">For the time being, therefore, let it be supposed that Parliament, in enacting the Canada Act 1982, had precisely to comply with the conditions of section 4 of the Statute of 1931, if that new Act was to be valid and effective. What then are the conditions which section 4 imposes? It is significant that, while the preamble to the Statute of 1931 recites that "it is in accord with the established constitutional position that no law hereafter made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom shall extend to any of the said Dominions as part of the law of that Dominion otherwise that at the request and with the consent of that Dominion", section 4 itself does not provide that no Act of the United Kingdom Parliament shall extend to a Dominion as part of the law of that Dominion unless the Dominion has <u>in fact</u> requested and consented to the enactment thereof. The condition that must be satisfied is a quite different one, namely, that it must be "expressly declared in that Act that that Dominion has requested and consented to the enactment thereof". Though Mr. MacDonald, as we have said, submitted that section 4 requires not only a declaration but a true declaration of a real request and consent, we are unable to read the section in that way. There is no ambiguity in the relevant words and the court would not in our opinion be justified in supplying additional words by a process of implication; it must construe and apply the words as they stand: (see Maxwell's Interpretation of Statutes 12th Edition page 33 and the cases there cited). If an Act of Parliament contains an express declaration in the precise form required by section 4, such declaration is in our opinion conclusive so far as section 4 is concerned.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para36"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para36"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para37">There was, we think, nothing unreasonable or illogical in this simple approach to the matter on the part of the legislature, in reserving to itself the sole function of deciding whether the requisite request and consent have been made and given. The present case itself provides a good illustration of the practical consequences that would have ensued, if section 4 had made an actual request and consent on the part of a Dominion a condition precedent to the validity of the relevant legislation, in such manner that the courts or anyone else would have had to look behind the relevant declaration in order to ascertain whether a statute of the United Kingdom Parliament, expressed to extend to that Dominion, was valid. There is obviously room for argument as to the identity of the representatives of the Dominion of Canada appropriate to express the relevant request and consent. Mr. MacDonald, while firm in his submission that all legislatures of the Provinces of Canada had to join the Federal parliament in expressing them, seemed less firm in his submission that all the Indian Nations had likewise to join. This is a point which might well involve difficult questions of Canadian constitutional law. Moreover, if all the Indian Nations did have to join, further questions might arise as to the manner in which the consents of these numerous persons and bodies had to be expressed and as to whether all of them had in fact been given. As we read the wording of section 4, it was designed to obviate the need for any further inquiries of this nature, once a statute, containing the requisite declaration, had been duly enacted by the United Kingdom Parliament. Parliament, having satisfied itself as to the request and consent, would make the declaration and that would be that.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para37"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para37"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para38">Mr. MacDonald submitted in the alternative that, even if section 4 on its proper construction does not itself bear the construction which he attributed to it, nevertheless, in view of the convention referred to in the third paragraph of the preamble, the actual request and consent of the Dominion is necessary before a law made by the United Kingdom Parliament can extend to that Dominion as part of its law. Whether or not an argument on these lines might find favour in the courts of a Dominion, it is in our opinion quite unsustainable in the courts of this country. The sole condition precedent which has to be satisfied if a law made by the United Kingdom Parliament is to extend to a Dominion as part of its law is to be found stated in the body of the Statute of 1931 itself (section 4). This court would run counter to all principles of statutory interpretation if it were to purport to vary or supplement the terms of this stated condition precedent by reference to some supposed convention, which, though referred to in the preamble, is not incorporated in the body of the Statute.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para38"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para38"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para39">In the present instance, therefore, the only remaining question is whether it is arguable that the condition precedent specified in section 4 of the Statute of 1931 has not been complied with in relation to the Canada Act 1982. Is it arguable that it has not been "expressly declared in that Act that that Dominion has requested, and consented to, the enactment thereof"? In our judgment this proposition is not arguable, inasmuch as the preamble to the Canada Act 1982 begins with the words "Whereas Canada has requested and consented to the enactment of an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to give effect to the provisions hereinafter set forth". Mr. MacDonald, as we understood him, attempted to argue that, in the context of this particular recital, the word "Canada", as a matter of construction, means not the Dominion of Canada, but the Senate and House of Commons of Canada. In this context he referred to the long title of the Canada Act 1982: "An Act to give effect to a request by the Senate and House of Commons of Canada". Thus, he submitted, even on the interpretation of section 4 which we think is the correct one, the relevant condition has not been complied with in the present case. In our opinion there is no substance in this point. First, the court is not, we think, entitled to look at the long title of the Act for the purpose of construing the contents of the Act, except insofar as these contents are themselves ambiguous (see Maxwell's Interpretation of Statutes 12th Edition at pages 5 and 6)- Secondly, the preamble itself uses the word "Canada", followed shortly afterwards by the phrase "the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada", thereby making it plain that "Canada" is intended to mean something more than the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada. Thirdly, and most importantly, each of sections 1, 2 and 3 uses the word "Canada" plainly in the sense of the Dominion of Canada. It would not, in our opinion, be justifiable to attribute to the word a different meaning in the preamble. Section 3 of the British North America Act 1867 expressly established one dominion under the name "Canada", and section 4 expressly provided that the name "Canada" should be taken to mean Canada as constituted under that Act. Manifestly, in our opinion, the word "Canada" throughout the Canada Act 1982 bears the meaning of the Dominion of Canada. The use of the word "Canada" in our opinion involves no ambiguity at all.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para39"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para39"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para40">For all these reasons, we conclude that, if and so far as the conditions of section 4 of the Statute of 1931 had to be complied with in relation to the Canada Act 1982, they were duly complied with by the declaration contained in the preamble to that Act.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para40"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para40"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para41">Consequently, it is unnecessary to consider further the second of the three propositions referred to earlier in this judgment. It is unnecessary to consider whether the Constitution Act 1982 contains provisions which go beyond "the repeal, amendment or alteration of the British North America Acts" so as to fall outside the exempting provisions of section 7(1) of the Statute of 1931 and thus within section 4 of that Act. If it does contain such provisions, the express declaration of a request and consent required by section 4 is duly contained in the Canada Act 1982. If it contains no such provisions (as we understood Mr. Mummery would have sought to submit on behalf of the Attorney-General though we did not think it necessary to call on him), no declaration of request and consent was necessary.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para41"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para41"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para42">Clearly this is not the first time when the relationship of sections 4 and 7 has been under consideration by the legislature in the course of drafting legislation intended to extend to Canada. It will be observed that the preamble to the Canada Act 1982 contains two limbs. The first recites a request and consent on the part of Canada to the enactment of an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament to give effect to the provisions thereinafter set forth. The second recites the submission by the Senate and House of Commons in Canada to Her Majesty of an address requesting that a Bill be laid before the United Kingdom Parliament for that purpose. The second limb of the preamble follows a form of , preamble adopted by the legislature in previous instances where the legislation in question has clearly involved no more than a mere amendment of the British North America Acts, falling within section 7(1) of the Statute of 1931. The British North America (No. 2) Act 1949, for example, which was merely intended to amend section 91 of the British North America Act 1867, contained solely the following preamble:</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para42"><br />
<blockquote>
"Whereas the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada in Parliament assembled have submitted an Address to His Majesty praying that His Majesty may graciously be pleased to cause a measure to be laid before the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the enactment of the provisions hereinafter set forth".</blockquote>
</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para42"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para43">The British North America (No. 2) Act 1949 contained no express declaration of a request and consent on the part of the Dominion of Canada, no doubt because this was regarded as an Act which fell fairly and squarely within section 7 of the Statute of 1931, so that section 4 did not apply. The British North America Acts of 1940 and 1946 had contained similar preambles. In striking contrast to that of the British North America (No. 2) Act 1949 and of the Acts of 1940 and 1946 the preamble to the British North America Act 1949, which was passed a few months earlier, so as to confirm and give effect to the terms of the Union agreed between Canada and Newfoundland, contained a two-limbed recital more or less in the same terms as that employed by the legislature in the Canada Act 1982, and beginning with the words "And whereas Canada has requested and consented to the enactment of an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom ..." We infer that the first limb of the recital in the case of the British North America Act 1949 and the Canada Act 1982 must have been intended and was effective to constitute, so far as might be necessary, a declaration of the very nature specified in section 4 of the Statute of 1931.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para43"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para43"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para44">For completeness, we should perhaps add that Mr. MacDonald referred us to a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, which concerned, among other things, the consents that are requisite under the constitutional law of Canada for an amendment of the constitution of Canada: Reference re Amendment of the Constitution of Canada (1981) 125 D.L.R. I. However, with all deference to the Supreme Court of Canada, this decision, though very important and interesting, does not in our opinion have any direct bearing on the issues of English law which fall to be decided on the present appeal.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para44"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para44"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para45">For the reasons which we have given, in our judgment the plaintiffs have failed to disclose an arguable case in submitting that the conditions of section 4 of the Statute of 1931 have not been complied with in relation to the Canada Act 1982, even on the assumption that section 7(1) does not render the provisions of section 4 inapplicable. On this ground, if no other, we have reached the clear conclusion that, if this action were to proceed to trial, it would be bound to fail. The trial judge, sitting in an English court and applying English law, would on any footing be bound to follow and apply the House of Lords decision in Pi<u>ckin v. British Railways Board</u> </a><a href="http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/redirect.cgi?path=/uk/cases/UKHL/1974/1.html" title="Link to BAILII version">(1974) AC 765</a> and accordingly to reject the attack on the validity of that Act.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para46">In our judgment, therefore, the Vice-Chancellor was plainly right to strike out the statement of claim in this action and to dismiss the action. We dismiss this appeal.</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para46"><br />
<b>Order: Appeal dismissed with costs. Leave to appeal to the House of Lords refused.</b></a></ol>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="para46" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><small><b>BAILII:</b> </small></a><small style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://www.bailii.org/bailii/copyright.html">Copyright Policy</a> <b>|</b> <a href="http://www.bailii.org/bailii/disclaimers.html">Disclaimers</a> <b>|</b> <a href="http://www.bailii.org/bailii/privacy.html">Privacy Policy</a> <b>|</b> <a href="http://www.bailii.org/bailii/feedback.html">Feedback</a> <b>|</b> <a href="http://www.givenow.org/charitysearch/charitydetails.asp?ID=554118&PID=512038&SearchString=British+%26+Irish+Legal+Information+Institute&page=quick&orgname=British+%26+Irish+Legal+Information+Institute">Donate to BAILII</a><br />URL: <i>http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1982/4.html</i></small>Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-20282770425625685832015-08-23T16:24:00.000-07:002015-08-23T16:24:17.042-07:002015 August 23rd not a bad morning: red sun and floatplaneThe hydro (electricity) was scheduled to be off in Moosonee today so we were up early to make coffee before it went out. I checked outside and it really did not look that promising. No glorious sunrise seemed to be in the offing.<br />
<br />
A bit later there was a <a href="http://www.paullantz.com/Nature/Sky-Sunrise-to-Sunset/i-JZ3CGmg/0/L/lrf_5F3A7138_150823-L.jpg" target="_blank">little bit of colour down the river</a> before sunrise so I headed outside. Nothing spectacular. Some cranes around but it was pretty dark although they were pretty loud.<br />
<br />
Other people told me they saw a quartet of bald eagles at the other end of the sandbar. Also saw a hydro boat traveling to and from Moose Factory -- figured they were picking up workers.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1asJ0yu14LbOyRANqPK-BWxLJcCOnLD1wi9eRqx_8Y6_TYeAEKCBGZv2A7M6l5PvqrF6Xq611NKS2KM1M9q5DgukdZ18kGiN52c_07_GrgucldOsiL-uIVidvw_P23BK8-N3A5llRX8/s1600/1024_5F3A7163_150823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1asJ0yu14LbOyRANqPK-BWxLJcCOnLD1wi9eRqx_8Y6_TYeAEKCBGZv2A7M6l5PvqrF6Xq611NKS2KM1M9q5DgukdZ18kGiN52c_07_GrgucldOsiL-uIVidvw_P23BK8-N3A5llRX8/s320/1024_5F3A7163_150823.jpg" width="320" /></a>All of a sudden things picked up. A <a href="http://www.paullantz.com/Nature/Sky-Sunrise-to-Sunset/i-xktFRZ9/0/O/lrf_5F3A7164_150823.jpg" target="_blank">red sun</a> started to rise across and down the river from where I was shooting from the Two Bay docks. I had come outside with a 70-200mm lens and all of a sudden I wanted something longer.<br />
<br />
It took me a few minutes to get back to the house and pick up something more suitable. The sun was still red but unfortunately it was also quite bright which meant it was not possible to really place it within the landscape. I tried an HDR sequence but didn't like the results when I processed them later.<br />
<br />
The power was supposed to go off at 7:00 a.m. and sunrise was 6:23 so I didn't have a lot of time to process a few pictures before I shut down the computer. Got a few posted and turned it off and waited for the darkness.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_K0OKFF4k3qKJiIM-QosghxArUVtuYQDMDLSXhb5Aj3bTP5wHoo9RcN3FNhDb48LvtFr_1ocqZucA06E4M1jM-dh4tdTRA8_Oqzx9CY4WS7hq0e061DRWcx07vyDqoabTfIXWJrCWbM/s1600/1024_0P7A7211_150823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_K0OKFF4k3qKJiIM-QosghxArUVtuYQDMDLSXhb5Aj3bTP5wHoo9RcN3FNhDb48LvtFr_1ocqZucA06E4M1jM-dh4tdTRA8_Oqzx9CY4WS7hq0e061DRWcx07vyDqoabTfIXWJrCWbM/s320/1024_0P7A7211_150823.jpg" width="320" /></a>The darkness was a bit slow in coming but eventually did. Didn't seem much else was likely but all of a sudden I noticed that the floatplane that had been docked was moving. Got a couple of shots of it from the top of the river bank as it taxied down the river.<br />
<br />
It taxied a long way. I had time to get back on to the dock at Two bay where the aircraft would seem to come almost right at me as it took off before it turned and revved its engines for take off.<br />
<br />
I was shooting RAW so I had to watch out that I did not overflow the buffer on my Canon 7DII. Takes a little discipline, learning not to just press the shutter and fill the memory card.<br />
<br />
Got a reasonable sequence of the aircraft, a Sealane 182 taking off. Processing them was interesting since the sun had been on the far side of the aircraft. Finally decided to heck with the background and worked on keeping the near side of the aircraft reasonably light.<br />
<br />
A lot of pictures so I decided to create a separate gallery on my <a href="http://www.paullantz.com/Airplanes/Sealane-182-floatplane-takes/" target="_blank">smugmug site</a> and just post links to that.<br />
<br />
One comment I got later on was that the Sealane 182 had a three bladed propeller and the aircraft I photographed had a two bladed. A few internet sites later taught me that the plane could have two or three blades so I left my captions alone.<br />
<br />
I took a few other pictures that I didn't use; ravens following me around looking for breakfast, people camping on Charles Island.<br />
<br />
The past couple of days I had been using my new Canon G3X but today I used DSLRs. There is no way to follow a fast moving object on a back panel the<br />
way you can through a viewfinder.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-36965227349975133302015-08-19T06:28:00.002-07:002015-08-19T06:28:46.332-07:00Making money with photographyPhotography can be an awfully expensive hobby. It is one of those fields where you generally get what pay for in equipment and everything you buy is out of date a few months later. Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration, lenses tend to last for a long time.<br />
<br />
I take a lot of pictures; tens of thousands every year -- sometimes a thousand in a single day. The shutter on a camera is rated for a finite number of pictures, maybe 150,000 or so. Every picture you take is using up a bit of your equipment.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk6XPN1bfKI7GrLa-94W7_O4BUF5JcucRknOyqZZ4I-8MovFO2YBsERqazbDs4amv98y58s-InBuX-7F-Qh6cypTvUjNR6zpVgQpDCBC8rKGPA3NRJ8DbGxw0IwnmpwyiaCEwlJRNgly4/s1600/1024_MG_6051_DXOKodachrome200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk6XPN1bfKI7GrLa-94W7_O4BUF5JcucRknOyqZZ4I-8MovFO2YBsERqazbDs4amv98y58s-InBuX-7F-Qh6cypTvUjNR6zpVgQpDCBC8rKGPA3NRJ8DbGxw0IwnmpwyiaCEwlJRNgly4/s320/1024_MG_6051_DXOKodachrome200.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
If you use flash you use up batteries. Those I buy when I go down south because they are a lot cheaper at Wal-Mart in Timmins than they are in Moosonee.<br />
<br />
Replacements for cameras come out every three or four years. Unfortunately there are often big improvements with each generation and it is hard to say no, I don't "need" this new technology.<br />
<br />
That's the justification for spending the money.<br />
<br />
I'm fortunate that live a fairly simple life so I can devote much of my income to photography but at times it seems tempting to try to make some money as well.<br />
<br />
Not so easily done.<br />
<br />
One thing I don't do is charge for taking pictures. People sometimes call me and ask how much I would want to take some shots at this party or that event. The answer is zero. I have a day job. Most of the time I take pictures to please myself: sunrises, birds, trains, the river...<br />
<br />
I have several websites. On a couple of them I have <a href="https://www.google.com/adsense/www/en/tour/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">advertising</a>. So far today I have taken in seven cents from that. It adds up and some days are better than others. Mind you, some are worse. In my dream world the advertising would pay for the websites. Probably not in this lifetime.<br />
<br />
I sell prints from one <a href="http://www.paullantz.com/">website</a>. Of course I also let people download most of the pictures so they can print them themselves. Sales are not a big feature; something comes along every few months it seems, mostly small sales. It took me about five years to make $1000 in sales.<br />
<br />
Newspapers buy pictures sometimes. Out of town ones do if something big happens here or if I have a shot of something that was in the news. The bad things about this are that not much happens here that is of interest to the outside world and sometimes newspapers don't pay much or fail to pay at all. In the past there was a fairly local paper that used to print a lot of my pictures and that was a reasonable and regular source of income. I had my <a href="http://www.paullantz.com/Journalism/Belleville-Times/i-hXS9GRP/0/X3/lrf_BT_1969Oct8_13-X3.jpg" target="_blank">first article</a> in a newspaper when I was in high school and it is still a thrill to see my stuff in print, paid or not.<br />
<br />
Finally and sort of surprisingly I sell pictures for textbooks. Here it helps to have a <a href="http://www.paullantz.com/">site</a> that is relatively well indexed. This means that editors can search for specific images.<br />
<br />
One nasty thing about making money is having to pay tax on it. That takes a lot of the fun out of the whole little business. I can deduct a few expenses, e.g. web space, which helps a bit.<br />
<br />
In the end none of these small sources of income comes close to covering the costs of my photography hobby. In some ways that is a good thing. It reminds me that it is a hobby; that it is something I do because I enjoy doing it not something I have to do to make a living.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-74613530222630010182014-07-19T21:38:00.000-07:002014-07-19T21:38:44.696-07:00Do adult ravens trick juvenile ravens to keep the best food for themselves?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuO6z_iiyWcwEX9J_qnSp0agoI3txNml9Gpl7La1Y0LLkdiYL2XiRmHyptMvLnzvjJiISlaJrmAa7a3avVoYDxpTOO1tS_G6nCCYc94Q6t5joNlteBqozLPtXan_QpkDNlnoqSdKzgBg/s1600/1024_IMG_4098_140719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnuO6z_iiyWcwEX9J_qnSp0agoI3txNml9Gpl7La1Y0LLkdiYL2XiRmHyptMvLnzvjJiISlaJrmAa7a3avVoYDxpTOO1tS_G6nCCYc94Q6t5joNlteBqozLPtXan_QpkDNlnoqSdKzgBg/s1600/1024_IMG_4098_140719.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a>When I watch birds I most watch common ravens close to home. I don't go for long treks across boggy ground to see them; they tend to show up around where I live. I suppose they come around because I feed them: eggs, lard, cheezies, meat and other stuff.<br />
Right now I get visited by two adult ravens and about four very noisy juveniles. I suspect that parents have kicked them out of the nest but they still follow their parents around to beg for food.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1QIYx4yS_9Uz5pmsaF98lMeQ2zK5mn4FNF3riKeqzmbqPisEd5IieKCYwB9ZQvBe78wQNPvLTWmS_yLPh4FU13ZA0SwPkhIo87Bj43LJzTemVdE2v_vXTya_tOsFkhmOFAQd2tlw5fw/s1600/1024_5F3A4074_140719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1QIYx4yS_9Uz5pmsaF98lMeQ2zK5mn4FNF3riKeqzmbqPisEd5IieKCYwB9ZQvBe78wQNPvLTWmS_yLPh4FU13ZA0SwPkhIo87Bj43LJzTemVdE2v_vXTya_tOsFkhmOFAQd2tlw5fw/s1600/1024_5F3A4074_140719.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a>Today I watched some interesting interaction.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPyLJ2lH_UvqKU6SKHM7u858knP5f-0hN6-suQKzBv-jeTnwegBU1yZQKyTYqhBMNLlNsTnOCybouv4m8KYIadbBogkU3UrNgz-CVsBCJqlHTTnw1TtDdUn_C339uB207htoXwiBOVbQ/s1600/1024_IMG_4102_140719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPyLJ2lH_UvqKU6SKHM7u858knP5f-0hN6-suQKzBv-jeTnwegBU1yZQKyTYqhBMNLlNsTnOCybouv4m8KYIadbBogkU3UrNgz-CVsBCJqlHTTnw1TtDdUn_C339uB207htoXwiBOVbQ/s1600/1024_IMG_4102_140719.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a>I threw an egg and one of the adults took off with it; pursued by two juveniles. The adult started eating it, they kept whining and eventually the adult abandoned it to them. Feeling sorry I threw another egg and the adult grabbed it. Then something different happened. The adult dropped the egg by the edge of some tall grass and headed into the tall grass and came out with some rolls. I recognized them as ones I had thrown out earlier; the adult had cached them in the grass.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiiz51l7AuqJ8p2YTqrIGj9yt-jUMvZCRDsC7IoKhgrphPECRj9U551aMBioKBgZ3RwhxFgYvavqOLq5iNixSszICG1JCzAYetyaWU8fbKjapq8f4ZqMNMabDigjLXyv02MEtwUEvEP8/s1600/1024_IMG_4117_140719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiiz51l7AuqJ8p2YTqrIGj9yt-jUMvZCRDsC7IoKhgrphPECRj9U551aMBioKBgZ3RwhxFgYvavqOLq5iNixSszICG1JCzAYetyaWU8fbKjapq8f4ZqMNMabDigjLXyv02MEtwUEvEP8/s1600/1024_IMG_4117_140719.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEngCRCQzL1PtdsRvBsYkzkBIJmRCfeyOT-4lmP0TTsyOASaSd5HU1NrxDJETcrfAtH6VJyIA49Z6Ic2vcFQ5qv1jcpcxn8Yl0-dLIlhDLsU4Qz9GKqJ1HYfFFQDlfGSbw0yKkfr6kV48/s1600/1024_IMG_4108_140719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEngCRCQzL1PtdsRvBsYkzkBIJmRCfeyOT-4lmP0TTsyOASaSd5HU1NrxDJETcrfAtH6VJyIA49Z6Ic2vcFQ5qv1jcpcxn8Yl0-dLIlhDLsU4Qz9GKqJ1HYfFFQDlfGSbw0yKkfr6kV48/s1600/1024_IMG_4108_140719.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a>The adult started to eat the rolls. The juveniles approached. While this was going on another adult raven came and grabbed the egg and took off. The first adult broke up the rolls and gave pieces to a juvenile. Eventually two juveniles grabbed big chunks of the rolls for themselves.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-IdOupRa_zsH6Wet2WEL1DThJCnlJ60aGEXvSGDKUjAVIANtRQrFiZfCQfYLv_bjls8FiPRMbAayzopzc9hYxuu2o_V2xjNXgz6Mgmyy1SQkcGxu_4o8Yn5FR4DBVSxGvSs9IGx3k18/s1600/1024_IMG_4103_140719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-IdOupRa_zsH6Wet2WEL1DThJCnlJ60aGEXvSGDKUjAVIANtRQrFiZfCQfYLv_bjls8FiPRMbAayzopzc9hYxuu2o_V2xjNXgz6Mgmyy1SQkcGxu_4o8Yn5FR4DBVSxGvSs9IGx3k18/s1600/1024_IMG_4103_140719.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>It left me wondering: was this a deliberate strategy to divert the attention of the juvenile ravens while the adult raven removed the egg? Eggs, after all, are a favourite food.<br />
If you want to see more pictures of ravens take a look at the <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Birds/Ravens/837780_z8TLdk#!i=3363111453&k=4GJDktH">ravens gallery on my website</a>.<br />
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<br />Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-85852535259175982642014-07-18T16:03:00.001-07:002014-07-18T16:03:34.413-07:00Polar Bear Express heads south 2014 July 18th.<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yrpS-6orq0I" width="459"></iframe>Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-68214575385459434702014-07-12T22:51:00.003-07:002014-07-13T19:59:14.806-07:00Winch driven ferry at Gardiner.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOn-L8JKxVGQVbfqGWtsHcx8hV-4-vqPDpWAUELy6kFpu8UUvyfOBDArmPwZcYP2qamieRmo6UDpSAxb0j9uC3i3_nuHTmHqC_YRPGYy54jYQiyhMAtQ0VOZy7losNIhCzCwbk0DgboM/s1600/1024_5F3A3641_140703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOn-L8JKxVGQVbfqGWtsHcx8hV-4-vqPDpWAUELy6kFpu8UUvyfOBDArmPwZcYP2qamieRmo6UDpSAxb0j9uC3i3_nuHTmHqC_YRPGYy54jYQiyhMAtQ0VOZy7losNIhCzCwbk0DgboM/s1600/1024_5F3A3641_140703.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Travel/Gardiner-Ferry-Cassiopeia-IV/42675339_F9N6sS#!i=3361736512&k=6q3kR44">Photographs of the Gardiner ferry.</a><br />
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Coming back to Moosonee we usually stay overnight in Cochrane and catch the train in the morning. This trip we got into Cochrane early and decided to take a drive north on highway 579.<br />
Our goal was the ferry at Gardiner, about 20 miles north of Cochrane. It's a quiet drive on a decent road through peaceful country to get there.<br />
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We came on the ferry suddenly; the road turned and headed down to the Abitibi River and there it was.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLyKKkidqtI8UMw4fm5YsMqrn9XExPUyfLflHTbmjqTvAryi6cYOwSJ7WBX7TPbindhyW2TiHcMD1RNOdWX6VSoy28OzWAVpp54gIo6TQLv6ngH3zg-rB6NR5foaoX67IH8k5fMFY8_lI/s1600/1024_5F3A3667_140703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLyKKkidqtI8UMw4fm5YsMqrn9XExPUyfLflHTbmjqTvAryi6cYOwSJ7WBX7TPbindhyW2TiHcMD1RNOdWX6VSoy28OzWAVpp54gIo6TQLv6ngH3zg-rB6NR5foaoX67IH8k5fMFY8_lI/s1600/1024_5F3A3667_140703.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a>It is a small ferry, a couple of vehicles but it is big enough to handle the demand. It doesn't have a schedule; it runs when there are people who need to use it.<br />
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We grabbed a couple of shots, drove down and drove on. We went across to the other side of the river then drove up the hill and bank down to come back across.<br />
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Afterwards we got to talking with Alex Carriere who was the operator of the Cassiopeia IV, something he has been doing for a long time. Alex showed some pictures of the ferry and its predecessors and described how it works in the winter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInPCpOdR7NsRVJ_NAwk5-5aSwEaOl-WDijEuVMYoBJZ_PWao2GmK6lb-byZAMAYJ58Mji36l_SSmPyNyRivm_D6zUy0-tTAmzjV-saFA__ebX81z-dJNJR_1U1E-aTF52QMj0WWu34S0/s1600/1024_5F3A3706_140703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInPCpOdR7NsRVJ_NAwk5-5aSwEaOl-WDijEuVMYoBJZ_PWao2GmK6lb-byZAMAYJ58Mji36l_SSmPyNyRivm_D6zUy0-tTAmzjV-saFA__ebX81z-dJNJR_1U1E-aTF52QMj0WWu34S0/s1600/1024_5F3A3706_140703.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Coming from Moosonee we are used to people driving vehicles across the river but here was a new twist. They keep running the ferry until people can drive across beside it. That I would like to see sometime.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNm-g8eiWRlntckZBuCg0Jpd7qSEeIylpEJVHyaMFQd8CSI4miAmj4m2JSInx5N1HP13YCydRbZRhpZyutwoawpC9KECzISbZCQBFcmzLjeanY2oV3QPR-sr893VBsiZ7uRKBublaYpY/s1600/1024_5F3A3668_140703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNm-g8eiWRlntckZBuCg0Jpd7qSEeIylpEJVHyaMFQd8CSI4miAmj4m2JSInx5N1HP13YCydRbZRhpZyutwoawpC9KECzISbZCQBFcmzLjeanY2oV3QPR-sr893VBsiZ7uRKBublaYpY/s1600/1024_5F3A3668_140703.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>The ferry is winch driven. When you look at it you see that there are two guide wires to that keep it in its channel; when you look more closely you see the winch cable that runs along one edge to propel it back and forth. Apparently it is the last winch driven ferry in Ontario.<br />
After making the trip ourselves we decided to wait around for the next run and get some pictures from the shoreline. That took a while, it was more than hour before another vehicle showed up. Fortunately, it didn't rain and the bugs were not terrible. Finally got a chance to get some shots of the ferry in operation.<br />
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<a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Travel/Gardiner-Ferry-Cassiopeia-IV/42675339_F9N6sS#!i=3361736512&k=6q3kR44">Pictures of the Gardiner ferry.</a>Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-26894295294874123522014-04-19T08:25:00.000-07:002014-04-19T08:25:01.750-07:00Back in Fort Albany, Ontario again. This time for the funeral of an old friend who was also the mother of my partner's son in law.<br />
Fort Albany is a small community on James Bay in Northeastern Ontario; about 90 miles north of Moosonee.<br />
Getting here is a short plane ride; less than half an hour. The cost is $540 return per person. It sounds reasonable to me but is probably outrageous to people who are used to traveling long distances for that kind of fare. We came on a small plane where one side was taken up by mail and cargo; the other by passengers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_0N03WiNZHJ7xgGBknp7wKUlLpEPM3vEplYOWxEH6eJE5DjhTw82Y9xQx4pkb5Fxtr9gy95xTIuiZBovAexOjXq_XhXxY-yYhS9b6X0ynNuZZwkQlLrcNjhdbTvAC0LP_owYZwdGbYg/s1600/1024_2014Apr17Onplane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_0N03WiNZHJ7xgGBknp7wKUlLpEPM3vEplYOWxEH6eJE5DjhTw82Y9xQx4pkb5Fxtr9gy95xTIuiZBovAexOjXq_XhXxY-yYhS9b6X0ynNuZZwkQlLrcNjhdbTvAC0LP_owYZwdGbYg/s1600/1024_2014Apr17Onplane.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
I first came to Fort Albany more than three decades ago. In those days we flew on much slower flying DC-3s most of the time. A lot of things have changed; a lot of things have stayed the same.<br />
One big difference today is that there is a functioning water distribution system. Often, you can drink water right out of the tap. To me that seems amazing. Unfortunately right now the water is a bit murky.<br />
There are a lot of new buildings here. A lot of old ones are gone, for example the old residential school which lingered on as a day school, police station and band office for years after it was closed down. There is a good picture of St. Anne's, unfortunately mislabeled as Fort Albany Regional Hospital.<br />
On my first morning here I went for a walk. Beautiful day for it; the ground and snow still mostly frozen but warm enough that I could have gotten away with wearing a medium weight jacket. After about an hour and a half I realized I was in danger of getting a very bad sunburn.<br />
I posted a few <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Travel/Fort-Albany-late-morn-14Ap18/38583912_DV8LbR">shots</a> from my walk.<br />
One thing that is amazing is the availability of internet here. Naturally the place I am staying (<a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Family/Fort-Albany-2012-October-6/25782496_9n3sC9#2133787987_w8HmVZR">Loone's Lodge</a>) has it but everywhere I went people are online, tablets and laptops running. Cell phones don't work here; maybe some day.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-12929361823381203152013-07-19T12:19:00.000-07:002013-07-19T12:47:12.069-07:00I bought some more stainless steel cutlery. Same pattern as I purchased in 1974. Plain and simple stuff<div class="hreview">
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<a href="http://www.oneida.com/">Originally submitted at Oneida</a><br />
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<strong class="summary">Almost 40 years since I first bought thi</strong><br />
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By <strong>Paul 1974 buyer</strong> from <strong>Moosonee, Ontario, Canada</strong> on <strong><abbr class="dtreviewed" style="border: none; text-decoration: none;" title="2013719T1200-0800">7/19/2013</abbr></strong></div>
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<span class="rating">5</span>out of 5</div>
<strong>Pros: </strong>Easy To Clean, Nice Weight, Dishwasher Safe, Attractive Design, Classic Simple Look, Comfortable Handles<br />
<strong>Best Uses: </strong>Formal Meals, Daily Use, Informal Meals<br />
<strong>Describe Yourself: </strong>Practical<br />
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I first bought this pattern in 1974 and have bought a few pieces since then, most recently in 2013 when I bought four more place settings and serving pieces. I was a little worried due to some comments that quality might have slipped. When the package arrived I was impressed. Some pieces look a bit different, e.g. different cut outs in the slotted spoon, butter knife, but nothing significant. The new pieces are just as heavy and solid as the old ones. The knives are made in two pieces - on the new ones the joint is much finer - the old knives tend to show dirt around the joint. Finish may be a little different but could also be from wear over many years. Very pleased.</div>
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2013 purchase on left, 1974 on right. Paul Revere</div>
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2013 purchase on left, 1974 on right. Paul Revere</div>
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Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-78330064208753406432012-01-02T11:03:00.000-08:002012-01-02T11:03:39.802-08:00Another part of the cost of living in a remote community.<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge-LumtnUxhvmnDXk9Ar1eSxpBvnzqtnDsXKK7q_hhei7pIgtcTanim1h_ocyhiNXq0xQ9K0N8ga2O8g3SZZqYGE4yaT0q4Zgmwb-Ly1HoQLA06Y-OVlCQcuyBthk0x1VKK_50uym_tXs/s1600/mapleleafsiphone3cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge-LumtnUxhvmnDXk9Ar1eSxpBvnzqtnDsXKK7q_hhei7pIgtcTanim1h_ocyhiNXq0xQ9K0N8ga2O8g3SZZqYGE4yaT0q4Zgmwb-Ly1HoQLA06Y-OVlCQcuyBthk0x1VKK_50uym_tXs/s1600/mapleleafsiphone3cover.jpg" /></a>One hears a lot about the high cost of living in remote communities: food, fuel, etc. But it is easy to overlook another factor that makes things expensive up north - the cost of shipping.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Today, I am giving a small example.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">A friend of mine has a son in law who lives in Fort Albany. His wife wanted to give him a cover for his iphone 3 with a Toronto Maple Leaf logo on it. We couldn't find anything in Timmins, let alone in Moosonee so I went to ebay.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Found one from a place in California. It cost US$12.99 plus US$3.98 shipping. Not exactly a bargain but a week before Christmas it seemed like a good idea. Shipping in Canadian dollars from California to Moosonee, a distance of a couple of thousand miles, was $4.05.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Once it got here I mailed it to Fort Albany. Cost of mailing a distance of 90 miles was $17.40.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The cost of shipping effectively doubled the price from the amount that someone living in Moosonee or Toronto would pay for this very small item.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The recipient and his wife are happy but I suspect they would be just as happy if shipping rates were more reasonable.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-26512314994366176992011-12-24T06:29:00.000-08:002011-12-24T06:29:39.837-08:00Riding VIA business class<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79PzOJqwXzYITN4IvEo03rhh3ASJmOJb4XYDTf7WkkXPJPrGoL5L_Op1IwgeiUx1K8SEGtk-dkzdgwqgXRWRpqrdWZB9NNa408OGNjFsq-91z0S9e6jgi4K0AJ5Q2p-vtYbNGE6opmWo/s1600/IMG_2476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79PzOJqwXzYITN4IvEo03rhh3ASJmOJb4XYDTf7WkkXPJPrGoL5L_Op1IwgeiUx1K8SEGtk-dkzdgwqgXRWRpqrdWZB9NNa408OGNjFsq-91z0S9e6jgi4K0AJ5Q2p-vtYbNGE6opmWo/s320/IMG_2476.JPG" width="320" /></a>I make lots of rail trips each year because I live in Moosonee and taking the train is the cheapest way to head south (no roads here). The train is the Polar Bear Express which takes five hours to cover the 186 miles to Cochrane. Right now I am down south for Christmas and yesterday I took the train from Toronto to Belleville.<br />
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Since I do not ride VIA Rail very often (a couple of times a decade), I decided to try out business class for one leg of the trip.<br />
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Business class means you get to sit in what was a very crowded lounge at Union Station in Toronto before they call boarding for the train and lead you past all the economy class passengers who are lined up to get on. Mind you they are boarding you half an hour before the train leaves.<br />
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The coach was 4003, a nice stainless steel car with a long history that has been totally renovated inside. A good stretch of the car consists of non seating areas (galley, luggage storage and washrooms). It has 15 rows of seats and yes, they are 2+2. The seats are nice but rather narrow. The seat trays are tiny. To someone used to wide open ONR cars 4003 seems very jam packed.<br />
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Meal service was very good. The car had two attendants who were on their feet the whole trip, up and down the aisles bringing beverages (all included), appetizers and a rather good lunch around to everyone.<br />
My own vision of first class rail travel has 2+1 seating or even parlour seats so it was a bit disappointing to feel so well packed. I know that it lets them get in more passengers. It is funny to think that VIA first class has more seats in the car then a regular ONR coach.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyXL60rGoShLxDTf_fkDDCr9WG8IdtQEdAA3xogLYSAIr3MbD2iO4LPe4zTVzx2QlpiieHZcTia1yl1hglabBIo_EJQv33DfQflFOcEAzB7q4WomdLNVj5Qnjz5VUaMHA4Mqr_dRH03rQ/s1600/IMG_2469.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyXL60rGoShLxDTf_fkDDCr9WG8IdtQEdAA3xogLYSAIr3MbD2iO4LPe4zTVzx2QlpiieHZcTia1yl1hglabBIo_EJQv33DfQflFOcEAzB7q4WomdLNVj5Qnjz5VUaMHA4Mqr_dRH03rQ/s320/IMG_2469.PNG" width="320" /></a>We got up to 90 mph which is a lot different than 50mph on the Polar Bear Express or 70mph on the Northlander. The tracks are excellent, a very smooth ride even at top speed.<br />
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Lots of delays though. We were a bit late getting into Belleville after spending some time waiting to get into the station. What was also interesting was the amount of time spent at station stops. Baggage handling is fairly slow and the tightly packed cars take a long time to unload.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdZeRo8npSIkdO2LR1VfzSSCgAGlvTQLYteDDFuwJafZAT0ZbWFGtiYnXOrUzwzxS7taRLYjVh8OqLkMxhGY3d-5K3ag5IkEgsGz4z2ZO2XBvcNjQaKmpAerBoDav2Zz3QyYtAXtgQL8/s1600/IMG_2461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdZeRo8npSIkdO2LR1VfzSSCgAGlvTQLYteDDFuwJafZAT0ZbWFGtiYnXOrUzwzxS7taRLYjVh8OqLkMxhGY3d-5K3ag5IkEgsGz4z2ZO2XBvcNjQaKmpAerBoDav2Zz3QyYtAXtgQL8/s320/IMG_2461.JPG" width="239" /></a><br />
We were in the first car. We felt right at home when we got on since the door to the baggage car was open and we could see in and hear the caged dogs, just like at home.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0UuUN_nBVAmTH5crHs4RmtiK4T3hTu-oF7KY6npfviF35T3-45EXC_ErcVoGgEEYHm1jyTwv3n06-6xCnoC5v4YcsYY80BB13t1PFCcYCVyu5cLUbTHPg1TWa8l0KePs7lxEZTr8eA0/s1600/IMG_2477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0UuUN_nBVAmTH5crHs4RmtiK4T3hTu-oF7KY6npfviF35T3-45EXC_ErcVoGgEEYHm1jyTwv3n06-6xCnoC5v4YcsYY80BB13t1PFCcYCVyu5cLUbTHPg1TWa8l0KePs7lxEZTr8eA0/s320/IMG_2477.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Tm6e7rcgFap88hyZ2YpjGd4vDvtNrSArXftMR5mWaWZsY6ATHYtrdhqfD6wtKn-ZxmbdOR96SKV30b6RGHOXxaH-YcJY5xS6x8OpvseK5K-WcG6yFtZzvD3wIsqc3pyti6vXEGCSlPU/s1600/IMG_2478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Tm6e7rcgFap88hyZ2YpjGd4vDvtNrSArXftMR5mWaWZsY6ATHYtrdhqfD6wtKn-ZxmbdOR96SKV30b6RGHOXxaH-YcJY5xS6x8OpvseK5K-WcG6yFtZzvD3wIsqc3pyti6vXEGCSlPU/s320/IMG_2478.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
While we were lined up to get off, and parked on the Moira River bridge for a few minutes, the two attendants started singing in the vestibule. The passengers seemed to appreciate it. I realized that you were supposed to tip them and asked a lady behind me who said she was giving $20. It seemed fair; they were awesome at food service and attending to passenger requests.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-75192530020370711722010-04-11T18:28:00.000-07:002010-04-11T18:28:53.764-07:00From a different perspective, railcars on the way to Moosonee<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYYhLnQ8bj6QLzTnRJYN3AsHdm_4yaQHbXtxOr0zU3mK9YmC65WMD5laQiO2wDAATQpK2GTB1W4Dh4t8Xy9rCzmVRLSKxiV1oTfb3FHMPdCrzPmXfTrQvmKIU4vpmun_1RrdSEQH9iJxE/s1600/800mr_carsinshed_OO0P9304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYYhLnQ8bj6QLzTnRJYN3AsHdm_4yaQHbXtxOr0zU3mK9YmC65WMD5laQiO2wDAATQpK2GTB1W4Dh4t8Xy9rCzmVRLSKxiV1oTfb3FHMPdCrzPmXfTrQvmKIU4vpmun_1RrdSEQH9iJxE/s320/800mr_carsinshed_OO0P9304.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
About four years ago I was fortunate enough to have a chance to photograph a large number of railcars as they arrived in Moosonee.<br />
These are not much used by railways anymore, they prefer hirail vehicles which are trucks with both track wheels and rubber tired wheels for road use. Hirails are convenient and comfortable compared to small railcars.<br />
Today they are mostly used by enthusiasts and it was a bunch of them who came to Moosonee in 2006.<br />
I posted a lot of <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Trains/Railcars-in-Moosonee/1843228_neQmH#92400492_BE3fM">pictures </a>and really enjoyed seeing so many of them and meeting some of the people who owed them.<br />
Today I ran into a blog by one of the participants. It was great to see the trip from a different perspective, that of a participant. <a href="http://ontroutlake.blogspot.com/2010/04/moosonee-by-motorcar.html">Grant Bailey</a> was an ONR vice president who took part in the trip. He posted some great video along with his blog. Worth a look.<br />
The railcars had showed up in Moosonee in the evening so I was shooting into the sun when they arrived which did not make the greatest shots possible. I was glad to see somebody else's photography of them along the way north.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-32923848101995934572010-03-30T00:29:00.000-07:002010-03-30T07:08:30.439-07:00Wandering around under a full moon (again).<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsZKo7ewjT8vvnApw42RDR9XcLQCarn5B-AZgU-EVwWh6lzAZoXr-IFtTyL9ARJeR0dH-dp5XfGID-TFuA8od1tMywdm65xozyiFTvYn7yeyLgR6YCwtdxXRJiwSi4U2_aLO10x6b850/s1600/1024_MG_1595.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsZKo7ewjT8vvnApw42RDR9XcLQCarn5B-AZgU-EVwWh6lzAZoXr-IFtTyL9ARJeR0dH-dp5XfGID-TFuA8od1tMywdm65xozyiFTvYn7yeyLgR6YCwtdxXRJiwSi4U2_aLO10x6b850/s320/1024_MG_1595.jpg" /></a></div><br />
It was a full moon tonight and, what's more, it was relatively warm (even the wind chill didn't get below minus 10). That meant heading out with a camera and a tripod to take pictures by the light of the moon.<br />
The worst thing about taking pictures at night is the ugly yellow and green light from street lights. So, I try to get away from street lights. That means walking.<br />
I went to a couple of areas tonight, over by the railway bridge and out on the river at the start of the winter road to Moose Factory.<br />
The time for the winter road is coming to an end so it was nice to go out on the ice one more time. I am careful, I know about the dangerous area near the shoreline where the ice is broken up by the tides in the Moose River. So far I have not sunk in far.<br />
For my pictures tonight I decided to stick to a single focal length and took along the Canon 24mm f1.4 II lens with a Canon 5DII. <br />
A 24mm lens on a full frame camera is pretty wide, not quite fisheye but a step in that direction. So it only works well in certain situations. The ideal ones for me tend to wide vistas or foreground objects that relate well to a large scale background.<br />
When I shoot pictures at night I use time exposures. It is easy to do these up to 30 seconds each. I use mirror lock up and put the camera on a tripod to keep it steady and reduce vibration. I tend to use hyperfocal focusing--this means that I set the distance scale at the hyperfocal point. Set this way, the lens is in focus from half way to the hyperfocal point to infinity. To get the hyperfocal point for a given camera, focal length and aperture setting I use an <a href="http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html">online depth of field calculator</a>. In practice this is pretty simple, I just need to remember the hyperfocal distances for a few different apertures for a given lens and camera. I tend to stick to a wide lens at night and f5.6 or f8. This means that the hyperfocal distances are pretty short so easy to keep most things in reasonable focus.<br />
Because these shots are time exposures I use a tripod. I also use mirror lock up to reduce vibration and use a shutter delay to let the camera settle down after I touch it. My camera can be set for shots up to 30 seconds which covers most full moon situations. For longer exposures I have a <a href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/tc-80n3.shtml">Canon TC-80N3 timer remote</a> which can be programmed to do most anything including taking a series of five minute exposures.<br />
I play with exposure and the shots are usually ok until I give in the temptation to put something bright into the picture. Internal reflections sometimes cause problems. Images end up with additional bright spots, sometimes in ugly green. Since I am doing these pictures for my own pleasure I often edit them out.<br />
When I want to have the moon itself show up in a shot I hope for a cloudy night when it may be a little less bright but it is still a lot brighter than anything else in the picture. I have played around with combining shots -- this can be a problem since the moon and the clouds are moving.<br />
I put a <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Moosonee/Moosonee-2010/10819683_BmpcN#823317323_DcFf5">bunch of shots</a> on my website and uploaded low res versions of those and some "I did this because I was bored shots" to facebook.<br />
There was not a lot of traffic on the winter road tonight. I saw only about half a dozen vehicles and tried to get shots of most of them. One of them stopped and the driver and passengers wanted to know if I was Ok and once they saw what I was doing asked what I was taking pictures of. I can understand the concern, it is cold outside and cold people get disoriented and do stupid things sometimes. People stopping....another one of the benefits of living in a small town.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-78936816153191699602010-03-25T23:37:00.000-07:002010-03-25T23:38:17.718-07:00A reminder that this is still winter March 25th<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Moosonee has had some nice weather lately. It was above zero (freezing) at times and I took a lot of pictures of vehicles heading through water on top of the river ice. At work, we had a couple of consultants here who saw fantastic weather.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>I took a look at the front door around 3 this morning and it was a different world out there. Snow was blowing in under the screen door and I could hardly see across the street. I toyed with the idea of going for a work to grab some pictures but decided to go back to bed.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDlJ6MnQ_XUr4JQslPoij6WU6gTRUkW1xmPt-Lo_0KMBoZIW_6D4dlbSo32DW5agQ3B_QB668x3MJkYvd5wjn63KHuzaoO64YiQhPCQlqFEZlY9c_1205XiXa6IEnmo8OeE3pATBskVg/s1600/1024_MG_1410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDlJ6MnQ_XUr4JQslPoij6WU6gTRUkW1xmPt-Lo_0KMBoZIW_6D4dlbSo32DW5agQ3B_QB668x3MJkYvd5wjn63KHuzaoO64YiQhPCQlqFEZlY9c_1205XiXa6IEnmo8OeE3pATBskVg/s320/1024_MG_1410.jpg" /></a>It was still blowing snow when I grabbed a <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Moosonee/Moosonee-2010/10819683_BmpcN#819154612_4B8iH">few pictures</a> just before work.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Later on, the sun cut through the clouds and snow and the light was incredible for a while. Naturally, this happened while I was at work. Finally, lunch time and a chance to get outside and take some shots of the clean up. The snow was still blowing although not enough to the kind of dramatic shots of which I was dreaming while I sat at work. The nasty thing was that it was cold, minus 28 with the wind chill. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPM-_41zCweJ41jOWzhlZ-O0U2WvzBcJQsSosgohf1Myrlh38pjR8LmE-53LxtiFzOa__HLAJDRCKn4pq8O0XX8_J6o2XvhMffxuK7kPxwI4dpDT5USkMo_-rTWu1pz40k7BciHEW1wpo/s1600/1024__MG_1425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPM-_41zCweJ41jOWzhlZ-O0U2WvzBcJQsSosgohf1Myrlh38pjR8LmE-53LxtiFzOa__HLAJDRCKn4pq8O0XX8_J6o2XvhMffxuK7kPxwI4dpDT5USkMo_-rTWu1pz40k7BciHEW1wpo/s320/1024__MG_1425.jpg" /></a>There was a loader at work next door at the government building, piling up snow from the parking lot. Looks like a great way to have snow moved I thought to myself as I made a pathetically narrow path from the front door to the road, just before the plough came along.</div>Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-90658769979275654292010-02-05T19:41:00.000-08:002010-02-05T19:44:27.641-08:00Survey questions - I want more options!Today I am thinking about some of the surveys that show up. Some newspapers run a lot of them about things that are related to current events. I have an opinion on pretty much everything so I am often tempted to answer them.<br />
My problem with them is the narrow range of possible answers.<br />
For example, the Toronto Star, is asking:<br />
<em>Would you pay $12.95 to buy a bottle of wine named after Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion?</em><br />
The answer choices are Yes (18 per cent so far) and No (82 per cent).<br />
Wait a minute. Why are they asking this? It is not just because the wine is available but also because the mayor is under attack at the moment although she is immensely popular.<br />
How should I answer?<br />
Well, I would not pay the money but then again I would not pay anything for a bottle of wine since I would not drink it anyway.<br />
I would like to have the option of saying "No - I don't drink so I would not pay for it".<br />
People who do drink wine might like to be able to answer whether or not they would pay extra for a bottle of wine named after the mayor or if they would just pay what the wine itself was worth regardless of whose picture was on the bottle.<br />
There are a lot of options. It is not a simple yes or no matter.<br />
The Star, which I read online, often does short surveys of readers. I figure that since I am getting it for free it is the least I can do. <br />
One question they always ask is how often I read the printed version of the paper. There is a range of options from never through daily. I have to answer never but wish I had the choice to answer never because I cannot buy your paper here anyway (there are no daily newspapers for sale in Moosonee). Because, honestly, if they did sell it here, I would buy it once in a while.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-33260081324404279212010-01-15T12:56:00.000-08:002010-01-15T12:56:43.379-08:00Off to watch the freight train<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UMxWYpdVYQQOKJnl5jXq8CJdEjtfmdSXBLirfkTOwDfkXl_FLrQz_e0EXQ81jBH3eksS5UTR9S4YHG5iD6eTWjDkVH9HhxkVPti4g3mJ5BbIQaWONGZZoHiLkmw4kvnnNlVopGdfIeE/s1600-h/1024_MG_0016_autolevels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UMxWYpdVYQQOKJnl5jXq8CJdEjtfmdSXBLirfkTOwDfkXl_FLrQz_e0EXQ81jBH3eksS5UTR9S4YHG5iD6eTWjDkVH9HhxkVPti4g3mJ5BbIQaWONGZZoHiLkmw4kvnnNlVopGdfIeE/s320/1024_MG_0016_autolevels.jpg" /></a>Moosonee sees two different trains: the Polar Bear Express which looks like a mixed train and shows up every weekday and a twice weekly freight train. I miss out on the train most of the train because I am at work. Today, I took a holiday and decided to get some shots of the freight train.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I used a Canon 5DII and my usual walk around lens, the 24-105mm L f4.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The Polar Bear Express operates on a schedule and is often, these days, pretty much on time. I am not keen on standing around for hours waiting for a train to show up (not a real serious railfan, I guess) so getting shots of the freight can be a little troublesome. Fortunately today I timed it just right and showed up at the station just as the train could be seen in the distance. Yes, I took a taxi and yes, I have lots of radios.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaG4JjcH7VUQPcaKrwTbQL06HmzvQ48tLbOiRFKsvwkcUzTz4oW3y2ZUmYoBT1t_ST6uOZkyrae_gK2ncuziBvfSvz5D3Or6sZxWx8Sxwt_uP6wz7LOp8pg-xgFzirORvDTWqUFuDe5_g/s1600-h/1024_MG_0024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaG4JjcH7VUQPcaKrwTbQL06HmzvQ48tLbOiRFKsvwkcUzTz4oW3y2ZUmYoBT1t_ST6uOZkyrae_gK2ncuziBvfSvz5D3Or6sZxWx8Sxwt_uP6wz7LOp8pg-xgFzirORvDTWqUFuDe5_g/s320/1024_MG_0024.jpg" /></a>It was snowing more than a little bit but not that bad. The snow adds a blanket of blur to every picture especially for anything that is not up close. So when I am taking pictures of a train in the snow I can count on brilliant images of what is close to me with the far end of the train being an obscure dark blob. I guess that is art.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPq7f7hF-Pzrr2sT_VF0OdQhZLS1iyUOCDTk7eJfvvTEhj8hSovJD5TaGKIi_UH5-fMBYBmn8pbwaqG4IWfTNuZ9N2BGxh_d6hvPAdCqw6APOwldgwPALuHOJUTqG6lQuSW6bQXuOe4Es/s1600-h/1024_MG_0035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPq7f7hF-Pzrr2sT_VF0OdQhZLS1iyUOCDTk7eJfvvTEhj8hSovJD5TaGKIi_UH5-fMBYBmn8pbwaqG4IWfTNuZ9N2BGxh_d6hvPAdCqw6APOwldgwPALuHOJUTqG6lQuSW6bQXuOe4Es/s320/1024_MG_0035.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>I got a <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Trains/Trains/770944_wNf3b#765326531_KonMk">few shots from the station</a> and then, when the train stopped, headed closer to the bridge across Store Creek. The freight train is pretty long compared to the station platform. It arrives a couple of hours ahead of the Polar Bear Express so it can be switched out of the way.<br />
The train today carried mostly boxcars, some flatcars with insulated pipe and a few other flatcars with vehicles that cannot be accommodated on the Polar Bear Express. Other days the consist can include fuel tankers and containers, sometimes double stacked.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-9710181013021157942010-01-10T20:08:00.000-08:002010-01-10T20:08:02.602-08:00Not a lot of photography so far this year<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWrqsr0X0M8hAa_YAS521pLRgBofHQcboBzD4ZQY1trDjQaQ70uIavUXA_7xBcTSbNOKWHUHbMvX1bqMcLQoHHXwauG-hrK9sVssKgHweqkyzkpLsHdj7ebF63hX-tEVAhiHL_IkJ6C8/s1600-h/1024_MG_9986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWrqsr0X0M8hAa_YAS521pLRgBofHQcboBzD4ZQY1trDjQaQ70uIavUXA_7xBcTSbNOKWHUHbMvX1bqMcLQoHHXwauG-hrK9sVssKgHweqkyzkpLsHdj7ebF63hX-tEVAhiHL_IkJ6C8/s320/1024_MG_9986.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>2010 has not been a big year for photography for me. I did something to my wrist which made it very uncomfortable to do simple things such as zooming and focusing if they involved turning anything and I got very busy at work over the holidays.<br />
I missed out on some photographic opportunities because of my wrist. At times it seems a little better but then it reminds me of the agony it can cause when I go to do certain things. <br />
I should be out taking a lot of pictures given that I have two new cameras, a Canon 7D and a Canon S90. Instead I have been sitting in my office moving pieces of paper around and typing stuff into the computer. Doing these things gives me a great feeling of professional accomplishment. However, taking pictures would be a lot more fun.<br />
I have done some reading, on paper and online. One blog that I have started to read is called <a href="http://canonfieldreviews.com/">Canon Field Reviews</a> by Ole Jørgen Liodden, a photographer in Norway. I first saw it when he was talking about the cold weather performance of the Canon 7D. That is a topic of considerable interest to me since I bought one and it is cold outside here in the winter.<br />
Generally, the first thing to do in winter photography has been me, not the equipment. Battery life is an issue although it is easily handled by carrying an extra battery in a warm place. Usually I come inside when it is much below minus 20 or so although I have made some exceptions.<br />
Liodden has an amazing <a href="http://vimeo.com/8343026">video</a> that demonstrate the <a href="http://canonfieldreviews.com/7d-cold-winter/">cold weather tracking abilities of the 7D</a> and also the obedient nature of his dog. That second item amazes me the most as I have never owned a dog that was so well trained as to sit still in a designated place.<br />
He has also written a bit about a much more expensive camera, the <a href="http://canonfieldreviews.com/canon-1d-markiv/">Canon 1DIV</a>. Buying one of those could put off my retirement for another couple of years but I suspect it would be worth it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQEvVB2TdWKcKiOr3QtGdGVhOh8Tpny9zR1B-ZKpVQMJzHb-kH-OvhaMOtrQIkKyFwv67DoI7j5jsFKleRt2B6tksLIru20U3TESfxBbKQxwEaGZju80eNgWI4q118SUjo_K_4BlrfGU/s1600-h/1024_IMG_0009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQEvVB2TdWKcKiOr3QtGdGVhOh8Tpny9zR1B-ZKpVQMJzHb-kH-OvhaMOtrQIkKyFwv67DoI7j5jsFKleRt2B6tksLIru20U3TESfxBbKQxwEaGZju80eNgWI4q118SUjo_K_4BlrfGU/s320/1024_IMG_0009.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>Yesterday I stuck my 2X extender and the 100-400mm on the 7D. This means that there is no autofocus as the maximum aperture is f11 (yes I have heard that you can tape the pins so the camera will try to focus but I decided to try manual focusing). I picked a dark day to shoot at f11. I tried to focus on the hydro towers a few miles up the river. My eyesight is not what it was thirty years ago but I think it almost worked. I shot at ISO 3200 so there is a bit of noise. I should try this on a brighter day; 800mm on the 7D is the equivalent of 1280mm on a full frame camera.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-46816732619972661832009-12-27T22:01:00.000-08:002009-12-27T22:10:08.454-08:00Second walk with the Canon S90<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzka3lkIYIGnjnbZ_8d5idCTOgXefZsZRLCtU1pnrp53W_yl7V1hITsKXVpgO6fxuq8Zen7hfyYft0RsKlxrrfE9W0TFTAvaMKXwZ9YgdepbBBt8LCHstgCKkRy2HD7SrlyqP-0o1-pc/s1600-h/1024_IMG_0077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzka3lkIYIGnjnbZ_8d5idCTOgXefZsZRLCtU1pnrp53W_yl7V1hITsKXVpgO6fxuq8Zen7hfyYft0RsKlxrrfE9W0TFTAvaMKXwZ9YgdepbBBt8LCHstgCKkRy2HD7SrlyqP-0o1-pc/s320/1024_IMG_0077.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I had to go to the store today so decided to take along the S90 in case something presented itself to photograph.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Took the long way to the store and realized the Polar Bear Express was here for a special Sunday run to make up for there being no train on Christmas Day. Not only that but it was leaving a couple of hours early, at 3:00 p.m. which meant it would be leaving in daylight.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Headed over to the train station and grabbed some shots of the train. The one I liked best was a shot of a <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Trains/Trains/770944_wNf3b#751103742_P4yqk">woman with two suitcases and a small child</a>.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Walked past the head of the train and across the rail bridge to get a shot of the train as it left. Once again reminded of the short telephoto range (28-105mm) of the S90 when I took a shot of the train from the opposite side of the creek.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Decided to try a video. Got a little scared when I noticed an eyedropper that had something to do with changing the colours in a video. Could not figure out how to get rid of the icon but dialed it to zero which I hope avoided its effects.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">S90 video is low res 640 x 480. I wish it was a bit better as I recently shot some videos at 1080p (1920 x 1280) and 720p (1280 x 720). While the increased resolution does not always show up online it is clearly visible in the source files.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was happy with the S90 video of the <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Trains/Trains/770944_wNf3b#751132331_3u49U">Polar Bear Express</a> and posted it on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdJSbFttl2c">youtube</a>.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLLPsaIQR5ikCHMkXdgLYwT2Z9-V42EUtsa_tOLBxiKeNfsq8iP_P47WON98kAhDDdurw8S9NT0iOOlUW-zXplhgWvxsnQC_IX3_Bwqzr3QNbWgFjwbbS3zrYP6BBm1L7RVOM9pe4IgA/s1600-h/1024_CAFixCompare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLLPsaIQR5ikCHMkXdgLYwT2Z9-V42EUtsa_tOLBxiKeNfsq8iP_P47WON98kAhDDdurw8S9NT0iOOlUW-zXplhgWvxsnQC_IX3_Bwqzr3QNbWgFjwbbS3zrYP6BBm1L7RVOM9pe4IgA/s320/1024_CAFixCompare.jpg" /></a>Once again, I shot in both RAW and JPG. I used the JPG's for quick shots and processed the RAW's in Adobe Capture Raw. I stuck with the Camera Standard profile. I found myself getting better at dealing with chromatic aberration; at times it takes a surprising large blue shift when dealing quite large areas of blue colour that show up.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">To illustrate this, I took a shot of the front of the train and posted it <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Photography/S90-Chromatic-Aberration/10778300_9voP2#751268748_nf9pC">with</a> and <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Photography/S90-Chromatic-Aberration/10778300_9voP2#751268574_2QGKR">without</a> chromatic aberration correction. I didn't apply any post capture sharpening to either so I posted a "normal" shot as well. The shot was taken at 6mm (28mm equivalent). Some areas are quite bad, <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Photography/S90-Chromatic-Aberration/10778300_9voP2#751268724_g93Ap">I illustrated the problems in the lettering on the boxcar, the side of the switchstand and the beginning of the railing on the bridge</a>.<br />
</div>Manually correcting for chromatic aberration is no fun and I would love to have an automatic solution. I have DXO which has a module for the S90 but unfortunately that module does not handle this problem.<br />
I am not that fond of Digital Photo Professional; probably because I do not use it very much. <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Photography/S90-Chromatic-Aberration/10778300_9voP2#751292435_5tiCn">DPP did a better job with chromatic aberration</a> than Adobe did.<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcsm4StxUSJ5FpYtMu5bM24x25f4-vD86BVnzS5KdNb1UjuIz-jPkxE6wK4mX1i09GAkKcoZNMO3ve2cBHccrHdmPz6wvKrbti5hJY8Ss_sCVwzlRKIvMmUy1L8sOT90pjI9UxEO_t728/s1600-h/1024_IMG_0102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcsm4StxUSJ5FpYtMu5bM24x25f4-vD86BVnzS5KdNb1UjuIz-jPkxE6wK4mX1i09GAkKcoZNMO3ve2cBHccrHdmPz6wvKrbti5hJY8Ss_sCVwzlRKIvMmUy1L8sOT90pjI9UxEO_t728/s320/1024_IMG_0102.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>The day had a nice surprise in store. While walking home I ran into two talented photographers from Toronto, Melissa McCauley and Crimson Hosking. Melissa is originally from Moosonee and brought Crimson here to enjoy the subarctic winter and compare grocery prices. It was great to have a visit and some photographic fun with other people who habitually walk around with heavy camera bags on their backs.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-23048600291213065102009-12-26T18:11:00.000-08:002009-12-26T18:11:28.176-08:00Walking around with a small camera<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">One of the presents I opened yesterday afternoon was a new camera, a Canon S90. <br />
</div>This is a small camera, a point and shoot that still costs about $500 in Canada or $400 in the US.<br />
I had wanted a pocketable camera, something that could be on my person without announcing its prescence to all the world and also produce pictures of reasonable quality.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The S90 shares its sensor with the Canon G11 which I also considered but decided that it was simply too big or at least too big to be handy. <br />
</div>I spent some time on Christmas reading the S90's manual. Endless options and complications of the sort that delight people who want to be able to adjust lots of things.<br />
And, some nice features including a decent sensor, the ability to shoot RAW pictures, an interesting arrangement of controls including a control ring around the lens with variable functionallity, an f2.0 lens and the claimed ability to take pictures in low light (ISO 12800). On top of that, endless special modes for all conceivable kinds of photographic situations from fireworks to fish in aquaria.<br />
I played around with it at home. Trying to get the hang of a few of the features could be frustrating at times but was helped by the explanations that showed up on screen when using menus.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLeGifI9BEOMZ5solVJKls72cZ694ofdWD_uFb_rpW_1NPQ3_JSmHWuhzJSreXXI1hCYFnGyY1c56-IeGe9oSo_oqZPo_EASS3rfCvuBAPLa1pKxMVH4tFRXxTgjxdSZf-pfHLYbFL6E/s1600-h/1024_IMG_0046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLLeGifI9BEOMZ5solVJKls72cZ694ofdWD_uFb_rpW_1NPQ3_JSmHWuhzJSreXXI1hCYFnGyY1c56-IeGe9oSo_oqZPo_EASS3rfCvuBAPLa1pKxMVH4tFRXxTgjxdSZf-pfHLYbFL6E/s320/1024_IMG_0046.jpg" /></a>I head out for a walk on a very mild Boxing Day; so mild that I even saw people <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Moosonee/Moosonee-2009/6980478_eunbq#750235908_kj7HR">playing road hockey</a> in shorts. The biggest surprise was seeing a <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Birds/Birds-General/2803950_cfjBK#750238968_ntsYj">Sea Gull</a> which should have been long gone. Trying to get a good shot of that bird reminded me that the S90 has lens that is the equivalent of a 28-105mm lens on a 35mm camera. Nice for wide shots but not much good for small or distant things.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Boxing Day may be a day for big sales elsewhere but all but corner stores were closed up tight in Moosonee. People take their holidays seriously. Nobody was out shopping but lots of people were fishing.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">What did I notice about the camera?<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Well a couple of things frustrated right away. The camera has a built in flash. To call it up you need to head to the menu. To make it retract into the camera you need to go to the menu and turn off flash. You cannot just push it down or call it up with a finger.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Normally, I shoot in aperture priority mode. So I set the S90 to f5.6 figuring that that would be just as good as f8 on a DSLR and probably give a wider depth of field. There is a control on the back of the camera with multiple functions. It can rotate, can depress in any of four directions and has the Set/Function button in its middle. It is not stiff like the dials on DSLR's so it easily turns and I found that my chosen aperture had to be watched closely.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The day was not cold, just around freezing so not wearing gloves all the time was not a big hardship. But I soon realized that the S90 could not be operated with gloved hands at all, so it is not likely a cold weather camera for me.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICaHgjrUWXnyHxmCYqyZXuiAWAS091RfrQ8AHNZ-fU-977nrUnrJxIQBPgogoNu6R8BN1p3Rp5j8WXA7DRjsmyZOfuaaiYiycyvIg6Frh3gje-mzZLUDRw8bOUN1n5bmfGWfNzRrVxI0/s1600-h/1024_IMG_0060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICaHgjrUWXnyHxmCYqyZXuiAWAS091RfrQ8AHNZ-fU-977nrUnrJxIQBPgogoNu6R8BN1p3Rp5j8WXA7DRjsmyZOfuaaiYiycyvIg6Frh3gje-mzZLUDRw8bOUN1n5bmfGWfNzRrVxI0/s320/1024_IMG_0060.jpg" /></a>I choose exposure compensation as the function for the control ring around the lens. It can also handle ISO, focal length (set of fixed lengths), etc. That was fairly handy, there was snow covering most of the ground and I needed to allow for that. <br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I shot in RAW and JPG. the files are good sized, this is a ten megapixel camera after all. I took about three dozen shots and came home with more than half a gigabyte of images.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I took a look at the RAWs and JPGs. One interesting point was that the JPGs were much darker, much more conservatively "exposed" or processed. In Adobe Camera Raw when I used specific camera settings (e.g. Camera Standard) the images closely matched the JPG's. Since it was a cloudy and dull day I did not really have a great range of exposures, not much at all in the way of highlights that might have been recovered in RAW. In fact I am not sure if any of the pictures really benefited from the extra file size of RAW. However, I did increase exposure in ACR so perhaps there was some point. Sometimes I did not care for the Camera Standard, a couple of times I thought its colour rendition was off and found that Camera Neutral a better choice.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis74-j-w9rPZliMpolNIP2yczNL7rK_-i-yXDmRp57zzde9DRbx_jAfmUvhNK1Z3wlTbLs96cOpx6I0-FHi_1drKP4wePSb2tdKVMzH_W8sdLDHcKf60210oR_iStwLQx_a0VFmP87d2U/s1600-h/1024_IMG_0067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis74-j-w9rPZliMpolNIP2yczNL7rK_-i-yXDmRp57zzde9DRbx_jAfmUvhNK1Z3wlTbLs96cOpx6I0-FHi_1drKP4wePSb2tdKVMzH_W8sdLDHcKf60210oR_iStwLQx_a0VFmP87d2U/s320/1024_IMG_0067.jpg" /></a>Not surprisingly the camera has significant chromatic aberration and fringing. All lenses have this, to some extent, but this one took a fair amount of compensation. It showed up in the both the JPGs and the RAWs. I wonder why the camera does not try to fit it when it turns out JPGs.<br />
</div><a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Moosonee/Moosonee-2009/6980478_eunbq#750237739_YxPi5">I posted some shots from the camera</a>. While it is obvious that they are not as good (not as much resolution, more noise) as those from a DSLR with a good lens, I wonder if they are good enough for typical purposes, e.g. posting on websites or small prints.<br />
The S90 has a lot of features that I have barely begun to explore. In some ways I want two, perhaps contradictory, things from it. I want a point and shoot that takes no effort to use while producing good pictures and secondly I want a small camera that has the ability to let me control it completely both in how it takes the shot and how that shot is processed. The camera seems to satisfy the second, time will tell how well it satisfies the first.<br />
If you are used to a DSLR then controlling a small camera is frustrating. Instead of things being done with convenient and sturdy controls you end up dealing with tiny buttons, tiny dials and the need to resort to menus for what might wish were easily accessible functions. The S90 is no exception. It does try hard to be easy to use and even has a programmable S button and the ability to set up user menus. Most of its menus and functions were easy to use although a few required a bit of manual reading.<br />
This is not intended to be a review of what is a very complicated and powerful little camera. There are lots of those reviews out there. I have just written about my first walk around with the camera; if I get another decently warm day I may give it another try.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-6629611539783970792009-12-23T23:37:00.000-08:002009-12-23T23:39:05.304-08:00Chasing the sunset to the tracksSunset comes early this time of year, just a bit after 4 p.m. so I generally miss it since I am stuck behind a desk. However, today we had reduced hours so I got out a bit early and got some shots along the river with 7D and 300mm lens. <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRdBPK6nAHma6h43pp-vH-5VqSydrnwTdc7p6b91EkB5uSVK3BnJJWFHAqwZA8v7x8Kn34exDsM7_Pk4U7-BEFTxPCFCK7AVbUx_dI6h-MJ9I5AymRFtQvWwvd2SJDgaPHNsU_IflIOw/s1600-h/comparelens_IMG_9780.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRdBPK6nAHma6h43pp-vH-5VqSydrnwTdc7p6b91EkB5uSVK3BnJJWFHAqwZA8v7x8Kn34exDsM7_Pk4U7-BEFTxPCFCK7AVbUx_dI6h-MJ9I5AymRFtQvWwvd2SJDgaPHNsU_IflIOw/s320/comparelens_IMG_9780.jpg" /></a>When I got the 7D about a week and a half ago one of the first shots I took with it was one of the trees on Butler Island with the 100-400mm lens at 400mm. Ugh! I was not that happy with the picture. Today I shot the same picture with the 300mm and found much more detail. I am still getting pictures at time that are too crunchy (clarity setting in Adobe Camera Raw) but this was an improvement. I posted a <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Moosonee/Moosonee-2009/6980478_eunbq#748597290_Dh9MS">comparison composite</a>.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiik3A-Yy0Wx1pgDU0VMKeM68S9tYwRSYepYMR3bV7AGBicRRe9CH95COopnLJKQYhyphenhyphensauUJdalbb4eveuzkB47IrKMXYvDZ-DWSymJ1CVl4fGDWmrLXWtTkbpi3HXdRsiYU0idnzB_zG8/s1600-h/1024_IMG_9900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiik3A-Yy0Wx1pgDU0VMKeM68S9tYwRSYepYMR3bV7AGBicRRe9CH95COopnLJKQYhyphenhyphensauUJdalbb4eveuzkB47IrKMXYvDZ-DWSymJ1CVl4fGDWmrLXWtTkbpi3HXdRsiYU0idnzB_zG8/s320/1024_IMG_9900.jpg" /></a>It was getting dark but I tried for birds in flight. Probably too dark but a <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Birds/Ravens/837780_6byUA#748598626_nW833">few shots</a> that I was willing to post. The subject birds, Common Ravens, are challenging in two ways: they need a lot of exposure compensation (two stops) and they are difficult for focus (pretty featureless and dark).<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqwZ_znXm915rCkEZhHgP3-30aEpfQQBqPh4C2KPowc7kmbehEnnRSjVBjya18uIN6Keg4FkWSkrevIdcqVAqc3fwhI4HWnvA42DnWw6Mras6x25PP-IlpnnyW-2ZEg5rBY1fBoPmm7M/s1600-h/1024_IMG_9798.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqwZ_znXm915rCkEZhHgP3-30aEpfQQBqPh4C2KPowc7kmbehEnnRSjVBjya18uIN6Keg4FkWSkrevIdcqVAqc3fwhI4HWnvA42DnWw6Mras6x25PP-IlpnnyW-2ZEg5rBY1fBoPmm7M/s320/1024_IMG_9798.jpg" /></a>There was surprisingly little snowmobile traffic but got a <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Moosonee/Moosonee-2009/6980478_eunbq#748595167_GecgY">couple of shots</a> of the one that went by headed towards the setting sun.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Lots of clouds meant a chance for an interesting sunset so I went inside and grabbed a 5DII with my usual walk around lens, 24-105mm IS.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2B_vxVovdtQfsh22uEmkq_cu6FIbNJw-2DPMHNk2rbACWqoMSRmmYPe0eIqklxfUzy5UTzPtNoh53Igd6b8dN-q4rjpiNenqcIU26tsLsk8XfLIofjXRqIFGNnjNVEe3LeT86CjylO4I/s1600-h/srgb_MG_9756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2B_vxVovdtQfsh22uEmkq_cu6FIbNJw-2DPMHNk2rbACWqoMSRmmYPe0eIqklxfUzy5UTzPtNoh53Igd6b8dN-q4rjpiNenqcIU26tsLsk8XfLIofjXRqIFGNnjNVEe3LeT86CjylO4I/s320/srgb_MG_9756.jpg" /></a>A few shots up the river and then off on foot to figure out best place from which to shoot the sunset. This is not as easy as it sounds. Ideally I would like a place where I have a lot of empty space in front of me and no <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Nature/Sky-Sunrise-to-Sunset/3299388_tUv5U#748525474_omU4K">overhead wires</a>. The best place would be on the other side of the river but I didn't have the time or inclination to head over.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I kept walking until I got the tracks by which time the sun was down but the sky was still <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Nature/Sky-Sunrise-to-Sunset/3299388_tUv5U#748524080_tTdPc">interesting</a>.<br />
</div>It was about 4:30 by the time I was standing beside the tracks so I decided I might was well wait and get a shot of the train which heads south at 5:00. It was getting darker very quickly. Decided to try a video at high ISO. It turned out very noisy, as expected, and I called it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gz2rPBwKiA">Night Train from Moosonee</a>. As usual, it looks a lot better on my monitor than it does on youtube: viewed at home I can clearly see the smoke billowing from the lead locomotive. The Polar Bear Express is, for much of its length, a fairly dark train. It has lots of head end cars (flat cars, boxcars) before the passenger cars with their lights at the end. In its present form, it is only a couple of years old. There used to a train with the same name that was a summer time only excursion train and a year round mixed train that had lots of freight with passenger cars at the end. The Ontario Northland got some extra money from the provincial government to improve service. They ended up with a five day a week Polar Bear Express that has some freight type cars that mostly carry vehicles for local residents and baggage and a separate freight train. But, there is no longer a train with all passenger equipment.Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-78727824027043458072009-12-22T20:09:00.000-08:002009-12-22T20:17:44.726-08:00Pixel Peeping 7D and a stamp(Images referred to in this posting may be seen in <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Photography/Pixel-Peeping-7D-and-a-stamp/10732215_ysvvU#747786387_RWer7">full size</a>)<br />
Pixel peeping is the practice of examining a digital photograph at the lowest level of detail to determine its quality or lack thereof. Pixel is short for picture element. Digital photographs are composed of various numbers of pixels. Early digital cameras had a few hundred thousand pixels; now most have a few million and some have even more. Usually the pixel count is expressed as the number of pixels across (horizontal) X number of pixels up (vertical). For example, a six million pixel (6 megapixels) camera might be described as 3000 X 2000.<br />
In film days, people who wanted to peer at the detail of photographs in a serious way used a loupe (magnifier) to examine negatives. Everybody knew that most prints had much less detail than was actually found in the negative; something that anyone who has ever ordered enlargements from a print will know. Looking at negatives was a serious business and required skill and patience.<br />
Looking at a digital photograph up close is easy with a decent sized monitor and image editing software.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYV7iLfDKMqjbe7KcV7mIiLd4QlzItX_v0R-QsNjC9lQ7MTXJgsDq5Tq3-ecYsc6w2zhej69fqNqcBBKOS7p6bnvSR3pSlbEnkcA1kDWs6VusFefmkQ5MhCfYnLZDSfSX62VaGFb6DyYA/s1600-h/1024_IMG_9734.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYV7iLfDKMqjbe7KcV7mIiLd4QlzItX_v0R-QsNjC9lQ7MTXJgsDq5Tq3-ecYsc6w2zhej69fqNqcBBKOS7p6bnvSR3pSlbEnkcA1kDWs6VusFefmkQ5MhCfYnLZDSfSX62VaGFb6DyYA/s320/1024_IMG_9734.jpg" /></a>Now that we can pixel peep we may do so and find that our photographs do not impress up up close. When people look at pixels they are seeing their images as bunches of square blocks, each one a single colour; something like building an image with pieces of lego. It looks fine from a distance but not so great up close. What this implies is that we need to have an idea what things look like up close before we judge; we need to realize that there is no such thing as a diagonal line or a perfect circle in a world of rectangular pixels.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Having much to do and no wish to do it tonight I took some time to do some pixel peeping. I wanted to see how well the Canon EOS 7D digital single lens reflex camera did at reproducing a subject. Some of my 7D pictures have given me pause and lots of people on the internet are expressing (to say it mildly) their concerns about the 7D which is new 18 megapixel camera.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I decided to do my best to test things under favourable circumstances: a good lens (Canon 300mm f2.8 IS), tripod, mirror locked up and timer to allow the camera's vibration to settle down before the picture was taken.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvZKYvolF5Ey-V2f8qoBh9iCkPFmkOTDNJ94iYqI_Db1mCtxwVryNJwLx1RroXsrt1hLfSXePqljZZLBHDrfMF-jymEGkO53ADrVIxbiMnvKDhhtRlIDwhRCUvu5Eq34Bp9V3hrInHctc/s1600-h/1024_anno_PC220013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvZKYvolF5Ey-V2f8qoBh9iCkPFmkOTDNJ94iYqI_Db1mCtxwVryNJwLx1RroXsrt1hLfSXePqljZZLBHDrfMF-jymEGkO53ADrVIxbiMnvKDhhtRlIDwhRCUvu5Eq34Bp9V3hrInHctc/s320/1024_anno_PC220013.jpg" /></a>For a target, I taped a stamp from an envelope on some books about 12 feet from the camera. I focused with the centre point using spot auto focus (this is when the camera uses a smaller focus point).<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I took a series of RAW shots at ISO's from 100 to 12800. I processed the RAW shots in Adobe Camera Raw 5.6. I used default settings except for adding two thirds of a stop of exposure. I did not use the clarity control.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In Photoshop CS4 I added annotations but did not do any sharpening.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After the tests, I realized I could have picked a better stamp. I wish I had used one with fine engraving: lots of thin lines and tiny text. Maybe I will if I want to do more pixel peeping in the future.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was impressed with the 7D, especially at lower ISO's. I think it has the potential to take some very good pictures given good lenses and steady hands (especially with longer focal lengths). It has nearly twice the resolution of my other cropped sensor camera, the 40D. Does this mean that it magnifies every bit of camera shake and vibration by almost a factor of two? If it does then it means that it may require faster shutter speeds.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtyea4EiPD57I05QrwjobI4OlLtJTVuscnCLwciPWMJtx6EfZyCImm7ejitktQDO9-513QWHnPuQWbIVGiWSl6sH1bUliM-bE6iqUSBeGRsiDUCLIM9wOlrsYe9xWZYwljgUgxPZ9nl4/s1600-h/1024_compareScanto7D_anno.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOtyea4EiPD57I05QrwjobI4OlLtJTVuscnCLwciPWMJtx6EfZyCImm7ejitktQDO9-513QWHnPuQWbIVGiWSl6sH1bUliM-bE6iqUSBeGRsiDUCLIM9wOlrsYe9xWZYwljgUgxPZ9nl4/s320/1024_compareScanto7D_anno.jpg" /></a>I took the stamp and scanned it at 600 dots per inch on a Canon 8800F scanner. It was obvious that the scanned version had much more detail than the 7D shots. The difference in effective resolution was significant but not enormous (468 pixels acros the stamp on the scanner and 383 for the camera). <br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I posted full size annotated test shots in a <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Photography/Pixel-Peeping-7D-and-a-stamp/10732215_ysvvU#747786387_RWer7">gallery on my website</a>.<br />
Was this a useful exercise? For the purist, with an optical bench in her basement, probably not. There are too many variables that were not controlled. For example, the stamp was illuminated by fluorescent lights that flicker; not every shot is going to have the same lighting.<br />
Was this a useful exercise for me? Yes, it was. It is one of the things that has convinced me to keep the 7D. One of the other things that convinced me of that was my experience <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Sports/Moosonee-Hockey-2009-Dec-15th/10663860_xfxPP#742191661_6RKtz">shooting a hockey game in a dark arena</a> with the camera.<br />
Was it fun to pixel peep? Not really. It made me realize how much work and how tedious it would be to do this in a serious fashion. I am glad that there are lots of people who are willing to put in the effort to pixel peep and test cameras for the common good. There are lots of great sites on the internet where I go to read about their results: <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/">DPReview</a>, <a href="http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/index.asp">Rob Galbraith</a>, <a href="http://photography-on-the.net/forum/index.php">Photography On The Net</a>, etc.<br />
</div>Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143310802550178398.post-72089378975723206082009-12-20T21:31:00.000-08:002009-12-21T09:35:11.749-08:00The road to Moose FactoryIt got easy to travel to Moose Factory a couple of days ago. The winter road across the ice of the Moose River is open to light vehicles. This means that I can call a taxi to where I live here in Moosonee and get a ride to anywhere in Moose Factory. <br />
For most people, it sounds like no big deal. But for the residents of these two small communities at the South end of James Bay in Northern Ontario it makes life a lot easier for a few months.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dZLcizmnHhweWAqGVSE0IgMRDf-ySwSl1AD-A3yTFb768udKLosxJyiRUatF0hD0e3LnatMXosM7IfnjS-fHt6z8rZ8NJTbNKJs5JPQVl2GFz8S5grtNDO4eGNnGvIJhLeCqJVAbbq8/s1600-h/1024_MG_0452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2dZLcizmnHhweWAqGVSE0IgMRDf-ySwSl1AD-A3yTFb768udKLosxJyiRUatF0hD0e3LnatMXosM7IfnjS-fHt6z8rZ8NJTbNKJs5JPQVl2GFz8S5grtNDO4eGNnGvIJhLeCqJVAbbq8/s320/1024_MG_0452.jpg" /></a>No more taking a taxi to the boat docks in Moosonee, getting into a boat taxi for the trip to Moose Factory and then, waiting for a taxi at the docks in Moose Factory. Or, taking a taxi to the helicopter pad at the airport and waiting for the two minute journey across to the pad in Moose Factory when the river is breaking up in the spring or freezing in the fall.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Easy, simple, direct and convenient transportation comes every winter once the Moose River freezes.<br />
</div>This year the gap between boats and trucks was short. I took my last picture of taxi boats in the water on November 30th and my first of trucks going across on <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Moosonee/Moosonee-2009/6980478_eunbq#744242506_zL6ha">December 18th</a>. <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The first people to make it across from Moose Factory are daring travellers on fast snowmobiles. They are followed by snowmobile taxis with their passengers accommodated in covered sleds. That service lasted for just a few days this year. The weather was cold and the river froze rapidly. Somebody drove over in a truck one day and the next most of the taxis were happy to drive across. <br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It can be a rough road and it can have problems along the edges. The reason is that the Moose River has tides. Not great big ones like the Bay of Fundy but big enough (a few feet) that the edge of the ice often gets disconnected or partially disconnected from the shoreline. Sometimes this is called the tide mark, a narrow strip of slush and water along the edge of the ice. At best it is a nuisance, sometimes it is enough to stop traffic for a while or force a slightly different routing.<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvfGKlDCkj8INivhd-OmOGkOukQ7kcK6_LxeNAi1L0kMVKuosAl81ziWYeO5gFI99_4AURUQfnrmuMfnabFB9IrJbBe_locCzo9kFvqEy3S6LArm5USvZaN0kbC_cqvKYTelPsR9HpHM/s1600-h/1024_IMG_0547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvfGKlDCkj8INivhd-OmOGkOukQ7kcK6_LxeNAi1L0kMVKuosAl81ziWYeO5gFI99_4AURUQfnrmuMfnabFB9IrJbBe_locCzo9kFvqEy3S6LArm5USvZaN0kbC_cqvKYTelPsR9HpHM/s320/1024_IMG_0547.jpg" /></a>The road to Moose Factory starts at the bottom of McCauley's Hill in Moosonee. The hill is named in honour of two brothers, <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/People/Veterans/936146_ddQLX#42866888_ZbZSf">Sinclair and Oliver McCauley</a>, who lived at the top of the hill. They were the last World War Two veterans in Moosonee.<br />
</div>I went over to the bottom of the hill last Thursday to grab a couple of shots of workers flooding the ice. They drill holes and pump water from underneath the ice. The water freezes on the surface and this makes the ice thicker and safer for travel. They also dumped some snow along the shoreline to make a bit of a ramp for the road.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEL8-RUV1wjzgLvAXV3vKCCIBhLm-kNNp1khlS4KnhmEOCtnk1d9FcdNxP-BUqThDaoNx8d5R1WKMLa1nCuY1hV3RSwgFFnFy0fBb8wKygKdLeDjICvcf-oLZRwrIXnBLrubugTnOMKvE/s1600-h/1024_IMG_0578.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEL8-RUV1wjzgLvAXV3vKCCIBhLm-kNNp1khlS4KnhmEOCtnk1d9FcdNxP-BUqThDaoNx8d5R1WKMLa1nCuY1hV3RSwgFFnFy0fBb8wKygKdLeDjICvcf-oLZRwrIXnBLrubugTnOMKvE/s320/1024_IMG_0578.jpg" /></a>On Sunday, I went back just before sunset to get some pictures of traffic. The direct road onto the ice had been <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Moosonee/Moosonee-2009/6980478_eunbq#745832441_twBAm">disconnected by the tidemark</a> so vehicles travelled a little ways along the shore before turning out onto the river. There was a steady traffic and even one truck heading up the river a ways. <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirC9ZFUH9Ivt1Om9wiaxOMFl6LFx04PfRQLAPHKtdKnYuXubaiQcAyGFyfQQcdWAusVRLD0yfSikWFW1R4oGHNZVNX6gWs_S9IKdnEl-n24o31m46L2gXwgt3Hu6LvOvV_JkUZTaV0CI/s1600-h/1024_IMG_0694.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirC9ZFUH9Ivt1Om9wiaxOMFl6LFx04PfRQLAPHKtdKnYuXubaiQcAyGFyfQQcdWAusVRLD0yfSikWFW1R4oGHNZVNX6gWs_S9IKdnEl-n24o31m46L2gXwgt3Hu6LvOvV_JkUZTaV0CI/s320/1024_IMG_0694.jpg" /></a>Today I got a reminder that the river provides a road for more than snowmobiles and trucks. As I was leaving the bottom of the hill I noticed a single engine plane fly by. I paid no attention for a minute and then noticed it seemed to be coming right at me. It had turned in flight and was coming in to land a bit further up the river. It was low and fairly close and I really wished I had brought a longer lens with me. But even with a 200mm lens I was able to get some <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Moosonee/Moosonee-2009/6980478_eunbq#745833857_gcPG6">quick shots as it flew by</a>.<br />
My time at the bottom of the hill was made even more enjoyable by two friendly ten year olds, Megan and her Uncle Timothy. They had the patience to repeatedly throw <a href="http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Moosonee/Moosonee-2009/6980478_eunbq#745844295_HjZXv">chunks of snow and ice onto the thin ice</a> along the shore to let me test out the frame rate of my camera. Thanks to both of them.<br />
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Postscript: Monday 2009 December 21st: This morning I headed over to Moose Factory to get an X-Ray done at the hospital. Taxi showed up at my place we headed across the ice, the road was ok but not great. Got to Moose Factory, "oh, oh". Deep water right along the edge of the island. Bunch of vehicles, including our taxi, sitting and waiting. A couple of people went through the water, it came up over their bumpers as they drove through and headed off. Taxi was a van and driver was not keen to risk it. Fortunately, a guy in an SUV and took us thru the water. Once I was on Moose Factory I was there for a few hours, taxis were not willing to go across until the water went down, about three hours later.<br />
</div>Paul Lantzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16973582645880018910noreply@blogger.com0