Hawk: 1 Robin: 0

Hawk: 1 Robin: 0, originally uploaded by Gordon Williams Photo.

 Arriving home yesterday after picking up Nannette from work, She noticed an unusual (to our yard) bird on the front lawn. We quickly realized that it was a hawk dining on a bird.

 We quietly got into the house and I ran and got my camera and made this image through a ground floor window approx 10 feet away. The hawk was feasting on a robin it captured, not much of the robin was left when we arrived. After a couple of minutes the Hawk departed with what was left to dine without an audience.

Hershey

Merry Christmas!

3 weeks ago we adopted a dog into our family, we found him on kijiji. He is 3 years old and we believe him to be a Nova Scotia Duck Toller - Corgi mix. The kids decided to name him Hershey. We now come home to an excited pup that likes to give you "Hershey Kisses"

The day before yesterday the kids were hugging him and told me that their Christmas wish had already come true, they got the best dog in the world. Must say I agree.

Ten Thousand Villages Sale Nov 27 & 28th

The Ten Thousand Villages Sale 

 Friday, November 27th, from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM and Saturday,
November 28th from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at 

St. Paul's United Church, 404 Cleveland Ave., Riverview. 

Admission is free.

Ten Thousand Villages villages sells beautiful, fairly-traded gifts benefiting artisans from more than 35 Third
World countries. The gifts you buy at the Ten Thousand Villages Sales will give the blessings of steady work, fair wages, and a better life for struggling families around the world. Your purchase makes a difference!

The reality is that very little publicity has been picked up around this sale. So please, forward this message on to your friends and families who might come to the sale. This is the only sale in the Greater Moncton area during this Christmas season.

Many realize the importance of shopping for fair trade goods. Those who work at the sales are volunteers and the facilities that act as host do so at no charge. This means that the costs to the consumer have no profit margins built in for anyone other than the craftsperson whose product you purchase. (There are some minor costs such as shipping that do get added in.)

Ten Thousand Villages is a project of Mennonite Central Committee, the outreach arm of the Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches in North America.

6th Annual, Ways of Seeing: Photography for the Artist in Us

6th Annual, Ways of Seeing:
Photography for the Artist in Us
October 23 - 25; Fri 7pm to Sun 1pm

Experience the magical setting of Tatamagouche Centre in the fall, for the purpose of deepening your photographic practice. Then, prepare to "push the envelope" through creativity exercises, group critiques, discussions, artist talks, films - and more - while enjoying a group process of safety and support.

Come away with powerful creative tools, refined technical skills, and a rich learning community to fuel your inspiration all year.

All levels of experience welcome.

Leadership

Margot Metcalfe
has been an educator for over forty years. She is a contemplative photographer with work in public collections nationally and private collections around the world. www.secordgallery.com

 

Silver Frith
is a graduate of Holland College School of Visual Arts, and studied photography at the University of Saskatchewan and NSCAD University.  Her work is in private collections in Canada and the US. She exhibits regionally.

 

Gordon Williams
is a graphic designer, photographer and artist. His works have appeared in regional and national publications and in private collections in Canada and abroad. He is a graduate of the NB College of Craft and Design.www.gordophoto.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

Past Participants

At the end of the program I did reflect back and realized that I would probably never look at an image the same way. All of my intention was realized.

This combination of three facilitators works splendidly; they each bring a distinctive perspective; I can't imagine a better format.
Eye-opening approach. I wanted a different outlook on photography and this workshop did exactly that.

The program was hugely inspirational; I came with little confidence and left with tremendous confidence - to experiment and continue to learn.

An amazing group of people who shared so many different ideas and creative feelings.

Leadership Goal

To create a learning event wherein participants are inspired, challenged and supported so that we may be creative, experimental, trusting and celebratory with our photography.

Leadership Objectives

To build a learning community. To explore the creative use of our camera as an expression of our artist selves.  To strengthen our awareness of the circumstances that enhance our connection to our creative selves. To increase our awareness of barriers to our creative photographic expression. To offer the opportunity to give and receive constructive feedback. To work hard and to have fun.

CALL FOR PHOTOS

As we prepare our program calendar for 2010 and update the website, we are looking for new photos taken here at Tatamagouche Centre. They could be program pics, scenery, or people just 'hanging out' and enjoying their time here. Please keep in mind that we may use the pictures in promotional material, in the printed calendar, and/or on our website, so be sure to get permission from any person in the picture. And be sure to include the name of the photographer so they can receive credit. Please send them to sforward@tatacentre.ca as soon as possible so they can be included! Thanks!!

Tatamagouche Centre's Meeting and Convention Services

Book your next meeting, retreat or family reunion. Beautiful natural setting combined with great rates! For more information contact the Hosting Coordinator at  evertje@tatacentre.ca

Stay tuned for our 2010
Program Calendar.
Prepare to be amazed!
Coming to a mailbox near you this November!

Call us or visit our website for information on the 

many great programs and services we offer.
LET US WELCOME YOU BACK VERY SOON!

Tatamagouche Centre
259 Loop Route 6 RR3
Tatamagouche NS B0K 1V0
1.902.657.2231 / 1.800.218.2220 / www.tatacentre.ca

The Message - Miracles

My friends, The Message just released their 2nd CD "Miracles" this weekend.  I was pleased and fortunate to do the photography and graphic design on this project.  I wasn't able to make it to the CD launch this past Saturday but I am looking forward to seeing and hearing them this coming Saturday in Saint John.

Here is a snapshot of most of the CD artwork, I am rather happy how it all came together. The photo session in the recording studio was a lot of fun and the term surround sound holds new meaning for me.

AX7 - Fernwood

Detail with bird AX7

Shorebirds Confederation Bridge

Recently on a trip to Fernwood, I photographed some shorebirds roosting at high tide. There were mostly Ruddy-Turnstones, a few Sandpipers and some Bonaparte's gulls. Upon close inspection of the images to pick the best ones, I noticed that one of the Ruddy-Turnstones had a green tag on it's leg. So I did a quick web search on bird tags an came up with an email for a scientist with the Canadian Wildlife Service. She quickly responded and I sent her some images and she forwarded them to her counterpart in the US. He emailed me back with some detail on that bird :

FL(AX7) was banded on Reeds Beach, New Jersey, USA on 18-May-08 with federal band #1282-01166.


He also provided me a link to a new website that is a database to report and track sightings of tagged shorebirds. www.bandedbirds.org

March 2010 Update! the little guy was spotted in Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines see the comments and map below

Tidespiral

This land art project was made in August of 2007 at the beach in front of my parents place in Fernwood, PEI on the Northumberland Strait. I have not shown this work before this as I wanted to present it in a way that illustrated the ephemeral, transitional nature of this piece.

Watching something I spent time gathering elements and creating being slowly consumed by the tide was a very much a spiritual experience for me. I did not see this as destruction but rather a transformation and a re-integration back to the sea and sand.



For the music, I layered portions of 3 pieces from the Touch the Sound Soundtrack.  a wonderful film btw

Images from Sackville

These two images were made in Sackville when I was there as a facilitographer for youth forum about a month ago.

   

This image was made on my way to breakfast the first morning. I was struck by the texture of the wall and the clouds.

This image was made later that morning during a walk in the waterfowl park with my homegroup.

Salmon release with class

Yesterday I joined Ben's class for a field trip to release salmon in a local stream.  Over the last few months his class watched in their classroom tank as the eggs developed into many stages before they were large enough to release.

Awestruck, Youth Forum 09

Youth Forum this year was wonderful as usual. This year I served as both Facilitator and Photographer... a Facilitographer :)  This year's theme was Green Faith, Green Earth, we sang, watched videos had discussions and activities around issues related to the environment and the impact they make on our lives as Christians in the United Church of Canada. A series of workshops were offered as well and I was fortunate to lead one on contemplative photography.

Transition

These two images were made back in 2005 during a family vacation in PEI.  Inspired by the art of Andy Goldsworthy, I created this piece on the beach at Ross Lane.  Made the next morning, the second photo reveals the tide's transformation.


Transition


Transition II


I have a few other land art pieces in my archives that I will present in future posts.

Five

Five, originally uploaded by Gordon Williams Photo.

Today marks 5 years since my 1st blog post.
the "walk to far" continues.