This is my last story for 2025 – and it is totally different from any other story I have posted before.
In what way is it different?
Well, for want of a better description this is a very informal collaboration between myself and Brian Small of Alberta, Canada.
Brian commented on my last story about cameras with CCD sensors, and whether they produce film-like images so I asked him to send me a few sample images from his Olympus CCD sensor equipped DSLRs. Brian was happy for me to share his images, so here they are accompanied by some of his (and my) comments.
The only photograph of mine in this story is the header image which I took at Peggy’s Cove, near Halifax, Nova Scotia when I visited there in 2014 after doing a cross-Canada train trip.
For the record all the other images here, apart from being resized for web use, are straight out of Brian’s Olympus cameras. Oh – and they are all JPEGs of course.
Brian’s notes to accompany his images are in italics.
Camrose, Alberta is a small city with a large coulee (ravine) park that cuts the town in half. I find it an endlessly fascinating place and it’s where I’ve done most of my photography since moving here from Nova Scotia 25 years ago”
The landing pad for these medevac helicopters is about 100 meters from my house. I once mentioned to my wife that it makes me sad whenever a chopper arrives since it means someone (and their family) is having a very bad day. She said their arrival always reminds her how fortunate we are to live in a society that can provide this kind of service too people in need.
This is one of my favorite store fronts on main street in Camrose. It was built in the early 1900s with an angled front wall leading to the inset door – a very common arrangement for the period. But sometime in the ’90s the facade was updated with a modernist vibe: I think it works.
These two photos were taken on the waterfront in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When I was growing up there in the ’70s this area was still a working port.
Taken during a whale watching cruise on the Saguenay River in Quebec. It was early in the season so the Blue whales hadn’t arrived yet. There were plenty of Beluga and Minke but they kept their distance – it’s illegal for boats to actively approach/chase whale pods.
Tractors are an important part of any parade on the Canadian prairies!
You’re never far from a rail line in this part of the world. Unlike most photographers I enjoy the “brown season” at the end of autumn just before the snow arrives.
Kouchibouguac National Park, New Brunswick (province).
Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta
I always find it interesting to see what other photographers like myself (i.e. amateurs/hobbyists) are up to to, so I am very grateful to Brian for allowing me to share his images here on my photoblog.
Whether these images support the idea that CCD sensors produce film-like images is still open to debate, but the concept certainly has it’s believers.
Thanks for reading – and as always I love to receive any feedback and comments from you, so please leave a reply below.