Sixty years ago, on 1966 June 29, I typed up the earliest known edition of my first newspaper. I covered family news, a seaman's strike in Britain, a coup in Argentina and the selection of Governor Spiro Agnew as the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate. Just a few years later a chance encounter led me to submit a story about a rock concert to a weekly paper. They paid $5 a story. The highlights of my time with the Belleville Times including having the mayor elect kicking me out of his campaign headquarters on election night (he hated the paper, I was 16 so I doubt he knew who I was), conducting a long interview with the new, out of town, director of education who made wildly optimistic predictions about future enrolment levels and being the editor of the paper for the last issue it published. I also helped put out a student newspaper in high school and got threatened with a libel suit by the principal over one article. Even as a student, I knew there was not much point in suing me so it was not much of a threat. In the years that followed I published articles in three different newspaper at university and dreamed of getting something in a "big paper". I didn't do much for many years and then the Timmins Daily Press decided to start a monthly paper for the James Bay Coast. I was primarily interested in photography but supposed I could write too. One of the first stories I covered was an emergency exercise. I took a picture of a bunch of students dressed as victims and suddenly remembered that I was expected to get all of their names. No wonder I preferred photography but I got them. It only lasted a few years but I got a lot of pictures and stories printed. One month they paid me $350 but mostly a lot less. I got a few calls from other papers asking for photos. I lived in Moosonee so there were not a lot of reporters on the ground in the area. The Globe and Mail asked me for a few things including photographs of the oldest survivor of residential school, Marguerite Wabano, and the Toronto Star used me to cover the first Cree language opera, Pimooteewin by Thomson Highway, when it came to Moosonee in 2009. I had a few pictures and stories in the Timmins Daily Press; I suppose it was a lot cheaper to use me than to fly someone up. I think 2013 was the last time I had something published in a newspaper. Some of my pictures from Moosonee and area got used in various school textbooks; at $50 or $250 a shot that was easy money from pictures I had already taken. My focus these days is on enjoying retirement and photography but I had a good time during my brief forays into journalism. I learned a few things: to conquer my fear of approaching older and more important people, the importance of getting the correct spelling of people's names and to be aware of the hidden issues that people didn't talk about. Of course I met some great and a couple of not so great people. On the whole I am reasonably glad that I didn't pick journalism as a career. I suppose that I would have found it stressful especially when I got involved in "controversial" stories where there were influential people who did not want to see things become public. Of course, that is really journalism is all about at a serious level, anything else is just public relations. For me it was a hobby, a chance to write about generally positive things and to see my name in print once in a while. I had a full time job that was stressful enough.

Two great skies in a row

It's Sunday morning and I have just finished processing the pictures I took around sunrise. I looked out first about three quarters of an hour before dawn and the sky looked great so I grabbed a couple of shots from my front door and then got ready and headed out.

It was a couple of degrees below zero which is not cold if you are walking around but it gets to me a little when I am standing around taking pictures so I dress warmly.

The colours in the morning are best before sunrise when the sun is still below the horizon.

There is a bit of ice, nothing that is going to stop a boat but enough to remind me that we are living on borrowed times when it comes to open water.

Last night was great too. I noticed the sky when I was leaving the store (Moosonee is a small enough place that when you say "store" people know you mean Northern). A very kind person, Sharon Ross, saw me waiting with my groceries and gave me a ride home. That meant that I had time to grab a few shots of the sunset up the river.

I have been keeping my exposures down a bit when shooting sunrise and sunset. I have always tended to "shoot to the right", to make sure that my pictures have elements that show up at the right edge of the histogram. This means that the image, as recorded by the camera, should have bright things in it, even if the actual scene was not that bright. Things can always be darkened later. Sometimes I ended up with the nasty spike of overexposure. Yes, it can often be saved in Photoshop but I am finding that the colours are much better when I avoid that spike.

Making maps and since when is Moose Factory not on an island

There was a great article in the New York Times about the ways in which ordinary people are getting involved in making maps of their communities.
On line maps are very important and useful. They can be up to date and can let you choose between road maps and satellite views. Some now incorporate Bird's Eye views that can make me believe I am flying around in a low altitude aircraft. Traditionally they have been made by businesses who have people who go and check things out or rely on previously published materials.
Now, more and more people are getting involved in gathering the data needed to make maps.
The New York times article mentions how a couple of hundred volunteers set out in Atlanta last month to get information missing from current maps.There is hope for a worldwide collaboration to produce accurate and current maps of everywhere.
For some people involved in producing maps, it is important that what they produce will be available to anyone instead of being owned by a corporation and used for commercial purposes or kept hidden from the public.
 OpenStreetMap is a user generated street map of the world. It has a lot of fascinating stuff such as traces of people's travels from their GPS's and diaries written by the kinds of fussy, careful people so vital to the generation of accurate maps.
I look at online maps from the point of view of someone in a small place that is out of the way. Right from the start I have noticed that online maps of where I live tend to have interesting errors.
For example, according to Google Maps, there is a place called Killarney in the part of Moosonee that used to be Canadian Forces Station Moosonee and that everybody here calls "the base". There is a place called Killarney and a Provincial Park but those are on Georgian Bay in Southern Ontario.
Also on the Google map: various Moosonee roads are labeled "Local Services Board of Mooson". There is no such body; Moosonee is a town now and was a Development Area before and was always spelled "Moosonee".. There is a Local Services Board in Moose Factory so perhaps that accounts for the confusion.
Still, the Google map is pretty good and the satellite photos let you see your own house in Moosonee.
If you choose to search with Microsoft's search engine, Bing, you did a different picture of this area.  You will see that Moosonee is clearly on the mainland and on the north shore of the Moose River. Moose Factory is moved off its island in the middle of the river and shows up on the south shore. That's on the map version, if you check out the aerial shots it is in the right place although you cannot zoom in as far as you can with Google.
Being a coward and a respecter of copyrights, I have not reproduced the map errors in images but provided links to them. I hope that at some point in the future, somebody will correct the errors. And yes, as you probably guessed, I already sent in corrections, years ago.

As someone alive to importance of visuals, I decided I would include an aerial shot of Moosonee. Here are some more aerial shots taken from a helicopter including a few of "the base"; perhaps somebody can find Killarney on one of them. In the interests of being fussy and accurate I should and will mention that they were taken on October 1st, 2005 from the right rear seat of a helicopter being used to transport people out to look for gravel up the Moose River.

Missed again

I am not a very serious railfan.
I can tell you the models of the Ontario Northland's locomotives and I know where to lookup where their passenger cars originated but the minute I see much else I am hopelessly lost. I have never spent days chasing trains up and down dusty roads or climbed high cliffs to take spectacular shots of trains in mountains.

What I do is walk over to the station when the train is going to be there and take some pictures. One time this summer I did wait for the Northlander (Toronto to Cochrane) where the tracks crossed a river channel just north of New Liskeard but that is about it.
I have taken lots of pictures of the Ontario Northland tracks that go out to the airport in Moosonee. These are a relatively recent feature of the line -- the extension of the tracks past the former military base and across Butler Creek was a bit controversial. Local truckers feared they would lose business when freight that was formerly offloaded to trucks at the station and driven to the airport ended up staying on rails the whole way there.

Today, there is a small bridge across Butler Creek and a couple of tracks at the airport that are mostly used for cargo heading up north or into the warehouses near the airport.

Two pictures I do not have are those of a train crossing the Butler Creek bridge and of switching at the airport itself.

I have lots of pictures of trains crossing the Store Creek rail bridge; I have a pretty good idea when the train is going to go across and sometimes I have the patience to wait a few minutes for it.

Freight activity does not have to adhere to the same kinds of schedules as passenger traffic. It is not easy to predict when a train is going to be at the airport. Twice, I have been at the former base when I saw trains running along the line to the airport.

Tonight was one of those nights. Naturally no camera with me. It was raining and it was dark but I bet I could have gotten some kind of shot as the locomotives and their cars headed past on the other side of the former military buildings as I watched from the parking lot of the convenience store at the base, Le Tempo.

Oh well, another time perhaps I will get lucky.

Moosonee: Development Area to Town

When I first lived here, Moosonee was Ontario's only Development Area. It was not a town, village, city or even an improvement area. It was governed by the Moosonee Development Area Board, the MDAB.
Some day, I will know the story of why it got this unique status. How it got it is easier to answer, from a legal point of view.
I assumed at first that a Development Areas was a kind of municipality defined in the same manner as towns and cities. I was wrong. Moosonee had its own law.
In 1966, the Ontario legislature passed the Moosonee Development Area Board Act. It was revised a little over the years but remained mostly unchanged. The Act appeared in the 1970 Revised Statutes of Ontario and the 1980 Revised Statutes of Ontario. When it came time to do the 1990 Revised Statutes it was decided to save paper. The Moosonee Development Area Board Act was relegated to the "Table of Unconsolidated and Unrepealed Acts" along with such legislation as An Act to provide for the establishment of a Hospital for the reclamation and cure of Habitual Drunkards ( 1873), the Temperance Act of Ontario (1877)and An Act respecting Tithes (1897). Putting it on this list meant that nobody who looked in the 1990 Revised Statutes would find it.
The Moosonee Development Area Board Act provided for a board appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. This nice phrase simply meant that the members were officially appointed by the government. In practice, what happened is that elections were held and the government appointed the people who won the election. That practice was modified a little bit when the Bob Rae government was elected. The next time Moosonee held elections, the winners were asked to submit resumes to the government. This request was generally seen as an insult to the voters.
The Act explained and set out the powers of the Board and listed the situations in which it was or was not treated as a municipality. It was accompanied by two schedules. The first set out the boundaries of the Development Area (see Note 3) and the second was list purposes for which the Board had all the powers of a township (Note 4).
Section 11 of the Act made clear that "The Development Area shall remain territory without municipal organization".
All this came to an end with the passing of the Town of Moosonee Act in 2000 which turned Moosonee into a town, pretty much like any other from a legal point of view.
Anyone can easily find the Town of Moosonee Act online, I think that it would be useful if the older legislation was online as well. The new Act makes reference, for example, to the geographic description of Moosonee but does not include. To someone, someday, knowing the exact boundaries may be a vital piece of information.
For now, I will do my best to make sure we do not throw out our old law books.
This posting is dedicated to Mary Etherington, long time secretary-treasurer and Maude Tyer, long time board member.

Note 1: Statutes are laws passed by the legislature of Ontario. They are numbered by year. In the past, approximately every decade they were consolidated into the Revised Statutes of Ontario to make things handier. The last edition of the Revised Statutes was 1990. Since then, people rely on the internet.
Note 2: One reason I hate writing about anything about is law is the compulsion to be precise. When I say approximately every decade I mean that they were consolidatedin 1990, 1980, 1970, 1960, 1950, 1937, 1927, 1914, 1897, 1887 and 1877. The province of Ontario dates from 1867 when it was created as part of the creation of the Dominion of Canada. Prior to then, it was Upper Canada or Canada West, etc. The Revised Statutes did not contain all laws, only the most likely to be used laws.
Note 3: Schedule A was a lengthy description of the land included in the Development Area. It starts off: "All and singular that certain parcel or tract of land and premises situate, lying and being in the District of Cochrane and Province of Ontario, being composed of the whole of the geographic townships of Caron, Horden and Moose, including the Moosonee Townsite, part of the part of the right-of-way of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission and part of the Moose River, which said parcel or tract of land may be more practically described as follows:
Commencing at the southwest angle of the said Township of Horden;
Thence due north astronomically along the west boundary of the said township being along the centre line of the allowance for road between the townships of Winnington and Horden, as established by Ontari Land Surveyor H. W. Sutcliffe in the year 1932, a distance of 1 Mile (5,280 feet) to the 1-mile post;.......
Note 4: Schedule B included purposes such as fire protection, street lighting, licencing of cabs, sewage, cemeteries, library services and part 1 of the Dog Licencing and Live Stock and Poultry Protection Act.

What a great day outside

Today was unbelievably nice, clear skies mostly, not cold (got up to 13C or 55F). I spent a lot of time outside with a camera.

First went earlier in the morning down the river bank towards the Moose River. This whole area was the subject of a stabilization project over the last couple of years.

Last year they shot 1700 soil nails into the ground and placed a lot of very nice granite from a quarry near Peterborough along the water's edge.

This year they got rid of the vegetation and shaped the bank. The result is a quagmire. You have to be very careful where you walk or you will sink in. Poor drainage, I suppose. Probably an expected consequence of getting rid of the plant life and spreading dirt around. I sink in once in a while, usually not that bad and I have learned to wear rubber boots. Today a little worse, almost over the tops of my boots. Ok, remember the drill. Put the camera in the plastic bag that is always carried (to deal with condensation in cold weather, rain or situations such as this). Put two hands on the ground to get the weight off the feet and struggle out and hope nobody is watching (laughing). Go home and wash the clothes.

Then, change cameras. I went out with a Canon 40D with 100-400mm lens. With crop factor of the 40D this is the equivalent of 640mm on a 35mm film camera. Did not have a lot of luck. The combination is not really quick focusing enough. But, got a few shots of ravens coming for eggs and one smart one deciding why bother with the ones on the ground when you can get more from the carton.

When I came back out I decided to stay on the grass as much as possible and brought out my Canon 1DIIN with the 300mmf2.8. While the camera is a few years old this is a much faster focusing combination for birds in flight. It is a heavier setup but tolerable.

Birds are flight are a tough group of subjects for me. I find that I throw away the vast majority of my shots but I imagine that is true for many people. The 300mm lens with the 1D is the same as a 390mm lens on a 35mm camera. This is not very long but my expectation was that I would be mostly photographing ravens. They are big birds and they come pretty close. Sometimes, in fact, too close for effective focusing or useful depth of field.

First thing I noticed was the flock of geese on the sandbar. Naturally taking pictures of them was shooting into the sun. So no great results and the geese did not have the common courtesy to come and fly over to the shoreline and perhaps give me a chance at some beautiful shots of birds lit up by the morning sun. Did a few shots but nothing spectacular.

Spent more time with the ravens. They come for eggs, not my personality. Today I went through a lot but got a few good shots of the ravens in flight and on the ground. One of them grabbed an egg and flew off and then somehow dropped it on the road so got a few shots of it and then, after I threw out a fresh egg and that bird took off with it, a more timid raven finishing it up.

I love the shapes the ravens assume when they fly especially when they are landing or turning or flying close to the ground or buildings. I try to focus on the eyes/head because once the birds get really close there is not way that the whole bird is going to be in focus with a 300mm lens. I turn exposure compensation way up, usually plus 2. Ravens are dark birds and I want to get details in them more than in the landscape.

Noticed myself in the eye of a raven in one shot so blew that up a little.

I posted a bunch of pictures from today on http://www.paullantz.com/ under Ravens and Birds - General

Sometimes it pays to live in a small town: H1N1 vaccine delivered well

The problems in vaccinating millions of people across Canada for protection against H1N1 are in the news every day. There are pictures of lineups and accusations of special treatment for bankers, hockey players and clients of private clinics.
When I talk to family and friends down south I realize they have gone to considerable trouble sometimes to get their shots. People miss work and school and spend hours and hours waiting.
Once in a while, I am compelled to say something nice so say something nice I will about the Porcupine Health Unit and its nurses and assistants in Moosonee.
I arrived five minutes before the start of the first H1N1 clinic and was the eighth person vaccinated there. I was out of there in less than half an hour, including the 15 minute wait around and see if you collapse period after I got my shot.
Porcupine Health had three nurses giving out shots. It was not instant because there is a lot of paperwork involved but it sure beat standing in line for hours in Toronto.
What's more, it didn't hurt (great needle skills).
The injection site was tender for a couple of days but I could not say my arm or anything else was sore.
The session was well organized and well delivered. It was the first of ten clinics in Moosonee on different days and in different locations.
It seems that some organizations were not ready for the vaccination program. Porcupine Health was ready or, if they were not, they did an awfully good job of hiding it and getting large numbers of people vaccinated.

Dull weather ravens

Yesterday was a typical mostly overcast day. I set out to shoot pictures of ravens in the morning after going out before for the sunrise.

When I photographing ravens I know I need exposure compensation, usually up to two spots, the birds are very dark andI have to choose between getting detail in them and the rest of the picture at times. The only time this is not the case is when I have the sun shining directly on the birds.
Ravens most quicky and they come pretty close. I like to keep a speed of 1/1000s or faster. This means high ISO, especially on less than sunny days. Yesterday I ended up using iso 1600 on a 1DIIN camera which is the best I have for fast focus but not the best for high ISO (since it is several years old).
Decided to put the shots in a separate gallery:
http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Birds/Ravens-2009-November-1st-high/10175063_ZrRct/
A few shots in flight but nothing spectacular. The best were from behind:
http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Birds/Ravens-2009-November-1st-high/10175063_ZrRct#700271451_VDukt
and close to ground:
http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Birds/Ravens-2009-November-1st-high/10175063_ZrRct#700272380_AyBgJ
A lot of shots of on the ground behaviour.
Some of this was displacement activity -- basically doing other stuff to make others think they are not after food. The ravens grab and throw around stones, grass and leaves, pull sticks out of the ground and toss them. For example, this shot of a raven tossing grass:
http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Birds/Ravens-2009-November-1st-high/10175063_ZrRct#700273835_F9Uc9
I had some Cheezies left over from Hallowe'en. Cheezies are a fine product of my home town and it is rare to find them for sale here. They go over well with ravens. I would have loved a great shot of a bird flying off with a bag but didn't get any I really liked so only posted a few of them on the ground:
http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Birds/Ravens-2009-November-1st-high/10175063_ZrRct#700266215_XF7tn
Plus a lot of shots of eating meat on the ground. My favourite was one where I caught the bird yanking at a piece of meat to pull away a small piece:
http://paullantz.smugmug.com/Birds/Ravens-2009-November-1st-high/10175063_ZrRct#700265341_EKmBD

Overall a reasonable morning although a bright sunny day would have yielded better shots.
Usual problems with ravens up close. They are big birds relative to the distance from the camera so it is common that parts of them end up out of focus, especially when shooting at f2.8.