I remember back at Brown University, taking on a job from my Video Production professor, Tony Cokes.

from one of Professor Cokes's video works

I was his Teaching Assistant for the Intro class.  I remember it being a thrilling time wherein I watched an enormous amount of video (I was tasked with both providing the video screenings for 3 hours each week, as well as participating in all the student critiques for the entire class, among other things).

early video art: this from Sadie Benning

Watching all this video was great for me.  It really helped me develop both my eye and my ear for video, and embedded my earlier training in my own Intro class with Professor Cokes really deeply.

As prerequisites for the class, one had to take a certain number of critical theory classes before being admitted.  I took Intro to Modern Culture and Media, and also Film Theory.  They were both great classes, though one of my professors for one of the classes was an absolute dweeb.  I remember how he gave this one lecture before his 300 or so freshmen one afternoon with his fly down to damned near his ankles, if that were possible.  And then without a word — and to this day I still can’t figure out how he suddenly became aware it was open — he turned to the side, pulled up the zipper, turned to face the class again, and just started lecturing again as though nothing at all had happened.  I remember sitting in the class, stunned.  From the whispers that broke out after a sudden shocking silence, it was clear that everyone else was as stunned as I was.

one of my critical theory class professors, Phil Rosen

I think you had to be there.

So, thankfully, the room I will be teaching in is a computer lab, and I’ve got a podium/desk to hide behind and I won’t be pulling up my fly in front of hundreds.  About 17 or so, I think is the number of students in my class.

part of the new addition to Sault College. my class is in the older portion of the college

My class is made up of second year Photography students, who already have a wealth of knowledge about aperture and shutter settings, depth-of-field and focus, three-point lighting and Rembrandt lighting.  I can get them up and running with video right away, shooting their first week and completing assignments by their fourth.

I’ve completed the class schedule just last weekend, and by the looks of it, it’s going to be a fun class.  There’s going to be lots of work for the students to do, but there’s going to be lots of room to create and let their imaginations roam.  I’m quite excited about the assignments I’ve conceived for the class, and I hope the students are as excited by them, too.

the face of Premiere, the software they will learn

My goal is to have them learn a good command of Premiere first, and then a solid base in After Effects before the semester is out.  I know it’s asking a lot, but I know they can do it.  Just basics, so that they can then take their knowledge and go further with it if they desire.  This way, when they’re out in the big bad world trying to huckster a few bucks, they’ll also have this tool in their arsenal.

a screenshot of After Effects, the other program they will learn

Even if they don’t decide to produce video for money, this class will give them skills enough to roll up their sleeves and crank out a strongly produced Impact Video for their own use, to promote their own wares in the photographic world.  And I’m sure most of you can understand the importance of having a great looking Impact Video to hawk your stuff.

hawking stuff on the street

I was Professor Cokes’ Teaching Assistant for 2 years.  I was also Leslie Thornton’s Teaching Assistant for Intro Film, and then I worked for a professor in the Department of Visual Art as a Teaching Assistant for the Intro Photography class — as well as being TA for a professor in Visual Art’s own incarnation of Intro Video.

my alma mater

I was a Teaching Assistant a lot during my undergraduate years at Brown…

First of all, you need to start with your microphones. A good shotgun mic or Lavalier’s (lapel mics) are a great way to begin. When it comes to microphones — and all your video equipment — the more money you can spend on it the better. So a great microphone is the beginning of all great sound.

The next thing you’ll need is a Digital Audio Recorder that is worth it’s weight in salt.

Treat yourself to a Zoom Handy F4 or some other comparable Recorder and you won’t be disappointed. The Zoom records in 48 k, 41 k, and MP3 as well. You need 48 k for video, but to save room on your memory card you could record in MP3 and transcode it in the computer into 48 k. This would work out fine for most video productions.

When I bought my Zoom F4 about 3 years ago, it cost me about CAD$300, but I’m pretty sure they’ve dropped in price since then.  I think they’ve also changed their design, too — but I’m sure the new design works as well as the older design.  Whatever the case, you can’t go wrong with this little machine.  But a word of caution, read the manual over and over and make sure you understand it before you take it on a client’s shoot.  It could be terribly easy to erase something important (as I found out myself with a client, unfortunately, in the early days of my company).

Throw in some good XLR cables in the mix; throw in some great headphones.  If you can afford them, try out the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones on the market.  They’ll run you about CAD$350, but they are worth every penny.  They cancel out the extraneous noise that didn’t come through the mic so that everything you hear is what is coming through the mic.  It’s a great way to know what you’re picking up with your equipment, and that means that you can be that much more accurate with your work.  I absolutely love my pair of Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones!

When you first walk into the room you will be recording in, listen closely.  To all the noise.  To the air conditioner.  To the refrigerator.  To the central air heating.  To the hissing radiators.  To the hum from the city outside.  To the clicking of the clock.  To the fluorescent lights.  To the fan in the other room.  To the ambient crowd.  To the running water from the toilet, or the tabletop waterfall in the next room.  You get the point?  If you don’t understand, you certainly will after recording when you listen to the beautiful dialogue you’ve written in combination with the less-than-beautiful sound of the refrigerator alongside.  Trust me.  Listen closely.

To get great audio is no easy task.  There’s a lot to consider.  However, with step by step analysis of your shooting space, combined with knowing what equipment to use where and when (this comes from experience, or you could look up some helpful hints online), you should have no problem getting at least good audio, if not great.

And from here on, I can only wish you, “May Happy Video Productions Come Your Way!”.

Related articles

• How to create better audio for your video production (thenextweb.com)
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Movement & Time = Story

Movement happens through time.  No movement can occur if no time passes.  When no time passes, the only image available to view would be still – no time = no movement.

This ability for the video camera to capture movement as compared with its still image cousin, the photo camera, sets it apart from its cousin.  Since movement occurs in a time period, and you need time to build story, this is the essential difference between video and still photography.  Video builds story.  Still photography can only suggest that a story has or will occur.

There are only two kinds of movements that can occur in a video.  Camera movements, where the actual camera moves in relation to the space surrounding it, causing shifting perspectives and differing viewpoints in which the story unfolds.

The other kind of movement available to the videographer is when an object or subject moves through the field of vision of the camera.  This could be a strong movement, such as a diagonal crossing of a room from the bottom left of the screen to the top right of the screen.  Or it could be a villain entering from the left of the screen moving towards the right.  Or it could be something as simple as a light in the room turning out, to suggest that wires have been cut or the storm has worsened.

But the above two movements, or combinations of them, are the only kinds of movements available to the videographer.

It goes without saying that the masters of film and video know how to work these movements to their full effect, for each kind of movement will suggest a different reading of the scene.  For example, having the good guys entering the screen from the right and the bad guys enter from the left, because one kind of movement leaves an unsettled feeling in the viewer while the other one calms them.  A good image maker uses these movements to add weight and depth to the story they are telling.

Becoming a master of these techniques is not for the faint-hearted.  It takes a lot of work and drive and determination to learn from the masters.  Hours and hours of watching of films, hours and hours working with equipment to test movements out and to try and simulate what you are learning from watching all those films.  And friends who will help you shoot scenes with them in, trying out different camera movements and different subject movements.  Basically you need to be obsessed with film and video and becoming a master of your craft.

I think it’s also important to work with other imagemakers on pieces together.  It can be incredible how much you can learn from your colleagues and friends.  And it’s fun, like being back in video school, to get together and work on projects together, helping each other out.

I think the connection between movement, time and story goes very deep, and this relationship could be mined for a lot of insight into why I do the things I do with my work.  I think my understanding of this relationship has a lot to do with the general look and feel of my video work.  And I think we can all create our own relationships with these features of video production, so that our videos might grow in their richness and depth.

I hope your next video production is fraught with much thought, and really gets you thinking about your image-making processes and why you do the things the way you do!

A crucial step in the funding application is explaining what an organization does.  But simple explanations aren’t enough most of the time.  For many organizations, their scope of activities are varied and various.  In other words, they do lots of different things in lots of different ways.  Explaining this is the hard part.

Many organizations wear many different shoes in their course of activities.

Video is like shorthand; the combinations of music, photography, video, text, and the like weave together to form a complex structure.

What you see and hear in a good video goes much deeper than what you might read.  Explaining that you have a distinct and clear effect upon a given population is hard.  Showing that you have a this effect upon people is much more gratifying for the watcher.

For Best Start Hubs in Sault Ste. Marie, telling their funders that both children and parents have access to French language programming, or that health care organizations work in tandem with them for other programming, just isn’t as effective for them as showing this in their video.  In the video, we show them working with Algoma Public Health, we listen to children singing songs in French, and there are smiles everywhere.  Best Start Hubs is demonstrating their work in action, and this is great for their funding applications.  They may still choose to include this information in their application, but it is reinforced by the audio-visual accompaniments.

<a href=”http://www.iplayerhd.com/playerframe/d006b0b8-d036-4bad-9458-9bf43dbc772b/800×450.aspx“>

Click on the link above the video image to watch the Best Start Hubs video we produced.  After you click on the link, it will the the fourth video in the player lineup — just scroll down to see it.

Even writing professors teach their students to “show, don’t tell.”  This is true of video, too.  When you’ve got the chance to show them your stuff, then do just that!  Why not seize the opportunity to show what you do, when you can?

Video production utilizes elements as varied as photography, music, text, voiceover, lower thirds, moving imagery — all to tell a tale.

A good video tells the tale you want your funders to hear.  It may be a tale of opportunity, where you show the viewer how much you have to offer.  It may be a tale of growth, where you show the viewer how much your programming has to offer with adequate funding.  It may be a tale of security, where you show the viewer the stability of your support.  Whatever tale you tell, your video production can offer a richer viewpoint that secures the position you are assuming.

When we produced the Algoma University videos for their Foundation Office, we assumed the position that adequate funding of their Arts programs would be a boon to the greater City of Sault Ste. Marie in general.  Offering this viewpoint to their supporters helps everyone understand that supporting the Arts at Algoma U is a good thing for everyone — not just the students.  This is an essential element of their aptly named campaign, “Essential Elements: The Campaign for Algoma University”.

<a href=”http://www.iplayerhd.com/playerframe/d006b0b8-d036-4bad-9458-9bf43dbc772b/800×450.aspx“>

To view the three Algoma University videos we produced, click on the link above the image.  They are the first three videos in the player lineup.

A great video tells a story.  Story is key in an effective video.  Using this story to help secure funding?  Well, that’s just downright good use of your video.

This last week, we shot video for the Roberta Bondar Foundation — in town to mark the opening of their travelling exhibition of stunning photographs created by Dr. Roberta Bondar herself.

We followed Roberta (she apparently hates to be called by “Dr. Bondar” we learned) with our video cameras, microphones and lights for three days as she spent time speaking to crowded rooms from the Galaxy Cinemas to the Art Gallery of Algoma (AGA).  She had a hectic schedule of talks and meet-and-greets, and I admit she was looking a bit tired by the third day of rushing around our fair town.  Still, despite the difficult schedule she kept, she always kept in good humour, graciously greeting the demands upon her.

Here at Molly Media Studios, we were excited to be working with Dr. Bondar (yes, I feel very strange calling her “Roberta”).  She had been a hero of Darren’s since her space flight 20 years ago when she had flown as Canada’s first female astronaut in space.  Her drive and determination had borne her through 18 years of higher education, earning her 3 doctorates, a medical degree, a specialization in neuroscience, with 8 of those years spent training 24/7 for her eventual space flight upon the Space Shuttle Discovery.  She is a source of inspiration for women everywhere, and us all, and we were thrilled to get the call to video her goings-on about town.

Despite difficult lighting situations and poor acoustical locations, our video cameras and mics were busy most of the time she was here.  She gave four different talks during her trip to the Sault, each the topic of the work of the Bondar Foundation and their Bondar Challenge.

The Bondar Challenge

The Bondar Challenge seeks to explore the interstices of art and science in the minds of middle and high school students.  To take the Bondar Challenge means that the student will photograph some kind of environmental photo that explores the theme “biodiversity and extinction” in nature, and then write a 500 word essay on both the science and art inherent within the image.  Winners of the Bondar Challenge are chosen from different cities and geographical areas, and both the winners and honorable mentions from any one region are given public showing alongside Dr. Bondar’s own photos on the same theme.

Art is an exceptionally effective way of broaching the science of biodiversity and extinction.  Through art, people connect with these issues in ways that the language of science just might not convey for some.  Art provides a window into science, and provides a language to speak on these issues at a time and place where language might otherwise fail the speaker.  One need only look at Dr. Bondar’s stunning large-scale photographs to understand that they speak to the viewer in a way that enables comprehension, connection and communication.

The Art Gallery of Algoma is showing this travelling exhibition until 11 December 2011.  If you don’t live in the Sault, then navigate to the Foundation site (http://www.therobertabondarfoundation.org/) to find out how to bring the travelling exhibition to your area.

You won’t be disappointed.

The following pics were taken during two of Dr. Bondar’s speaking engagements, both held at the AGA.  Some of them are from a talk to Grade 9 students from each school in the Sault, and the others are from her talk later that evening at the Opening Gala for the show.  We don’t profess to know all the names of the people in the photos, so we’re not going to even try!

Some Photos

Students gather at the Roberta Bondar Foundation Travelling Exhibition. Molly Media Studios was there to video the event.

The Production Manager is tasked with making the whole production run smoothly, so that the director can do their job with minimal hiccups.  Through all three stages of the event — pre-production, production and post-production — the Production Manager oversees the work that is being done and works magic to make sure it runs smoothly.

Double exposure snapped with my Nikon D7000 dslr.

During the pre-production phase, the Production Manager helps to plan the whole production process out.  From booking appointments and interviews, to liaising with clients and talent, the Production Manager has their own say in it all.

During the production phase, the Production Manager helps make sure that the director has all their needs met in order to produce the footage.  From making sure the director meets his production schedule to making sure the talent are prepped and ready to go, the Production Manager never rests.

During the post-production phase, the Production Manger oversees the editing (along with the director) to ensure that the original vision for the video production is realized.  From watching rough cuts to keeping an eye on timing, the Production Manager is involved along the way.

Like any other manager who does their job well, the Production Manager wears many hats during the whole process.  A great Production Manager is also part Secretary, part Chef, part Waiter, part Mechanic, part Librarian — in all, part God.  At least, a great Production Manager is a godsend to any Director.

Any video production company needs a Production Manager, even if this job is done by the sole entrepreneur video maker.  A great Production Manager helps to smooth out all kinds of wrinkles in the production process, and this is a skill that is hard to learn.  Sometimes, this is a talent rather than a skill, as some people are just better suited to smoothing over problems.

A great Production Manager is likely to stay cool in tight situations.  When the equipment is failing for no good reason, when the talent are late because of the busses, when the air conditioning system is so intrusive that the audio will likely be sh%t, the great Production Manager will be capable of diving right in and finding solutions to these kinds of conflicts.

A great Production Manager just doesn’t sweat.

To visit our website and see our video production portfolio, click on the logo below:

Click on the logo to visit our website and see our video production portfolio!

Later on, I remember sitting across from a friend of a friend who was whining about how she couldn’t write her new novel without an Apple because she’d never worked on a pc before, and didn’t want to start trying now.  Apparently, she’d learned everything she knew about computers on her ex-boyfriend’s Apple Macintosh, and she was already drawn to everything Apple — though the pickings were slim back then before the advent of the iPod.

By the time the iPod came out and revolutionized the way Apple does business, I was well on my way to using early Macs to do my video production with.  I was in Brown University then, doing my undergrad work at the end of the 1990′s, falling in love with Final Cut 2 or 3 (I can’t remember which) and working on Mac’s extensively.  Still, I owned a pc to do all my other schoolwork on at that time.  I was still doing all my word processing in Microsoft Word (now available for the Mac, too), and was only making wild things with the Macs in the Video Production lab in the annex of the Modern Culture and Media Department at school.

It would be years before I would buy my first iPod.

But when I did, that was it.  By that time, I owned 2 computers of my own.  A souped up iMac, and a MacBook Pro laptop.

I use both of them extensively.  They are the basis of my career.  I couldn’t do what I do easily on a pc, and I have no intention of trying.  I’m not a Windows fan — even Windows 7.  Hell, I didn’t help create Windows 7, despite what the commercials say.  As far as I’m concerned, all those petri dishes should be junked and a new Apple empire should be borne.

Yes, I’m a diehard All-Things-Apple fan.  And like most of us out there, I’m deeply saddened by the passing of Steve Jobs yesterday at 56.  I’m sure he will be sorely missed at the helm of the crew, though he stepped down already 6 months ago to work with his failing health.

As an entrepreneur, watching Steve Jobs work was inspirational.  He was a great presenter, in his blue jeans and casual shirts and slide presentations that wonderfully illustrated whatever point he was currently making.  He believed that the less you had on the slide, the better.  The slide, in any presentation, was there to make a one-note statement to underscore the statement you are speaking, not the other way around.  And don’t read from the slides — that’s another thing any presenter could learn from Jobs’ style of presentation.

There are other great presenters out there, but none that I really followed their words.  Jobs had a way of simplifying things, and firmly holding his ground when he really believed in something.  It was this vision of his that inspired the whole company he was heading, and kept Apple as one of those enviable places every college grad worth her weight in salt wants to to work.

All day long I’ve watched the support for Jobs’ family and close friends pop up around Facebook.  I’m connected to a lot of people who use Macs, probably because of the field I’m in.  But from the looks of it, he was universally looked up to as a businessman, visionary and inspiration.  It takes a helluva man to do all that in one.

My own take on the whole business is that the world is just a little less bright today.  One of our shining stars has been eclipsed by the darkness.  But I’ll horribly misquote Jobs here, and point out that dying is one of the best parts of life.  It makes way for the young and the new.

Let’s hope so, Steve.  Let’s hope so.

The conference brought together leaders in numerous fields of expertise, including urban planning, environmental science and engineering to work out plans of action to revitalize our downtown core, sustainably.  Part of the conference included students from a Sault College class, bussed to the Bushplane Museum for the event.

We don’t usually do many events; there aren’t a lot of events being covered in the Sault it seems.  But when it comes time to work for a previous client, we’re all there and all that.  And the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre, a client we’ve worked with before, called us in for the conference.  We were only too happy to oblige.

The pics below are from the conference.  We were so busy working the event, that we didn’t have time to catch the names of the people we photographed for the blog.  Some of them are Innovation Centre staff.  Some are important people in their own particular fields.  Some are students, up and coming and learning about all things environmental.

And check out our website by clicking on the logo below:

Click on the logo to see our website and portfolio!

Culture Days 2011 in Sault Ste. Marie

We are very excited to hear any feedback on this screening, so if you have comments, feel free to call us with them.  We’d love to hear from you.

We L-O-V-E feedback!

The event is taking place at the downtown branch of the Sault Public Library, under a tent they’ve set up for the weekend.

Darren was invited to speak at the event about authoring video, and the video production that we’re working on now for the library in particular.  He would have loved to attend, but he’s so tired from the recent production schedule he’s had to keep up with that he’ll probably bow out gracefully and try to get some much needed rest!

Good luck with that, Darren…

Much needed sleep.

Within about 3 weeks we will be wrapping up production on a video for the combined forces of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Canadian Forestry Service.  What a wonderful project to be involved in.  Darren posted an earlier blog of pics from the overnight trip to Chapleau and back in which the bulk of the footage was shot for the video.

Pic from an earlier blog entry about the overnight trip to Chapleau and back.

You can find it by clicking on the link below:

http://wp.me/p12sV0-ib

During the trip, Darren rode alone with Steve Dominy from the Canadian Forestry Service.  Steve is an incredibly interesting man, with deep knowledge about the surrounding forests, the trees, the animals, the rocks, the landscape, the history of the region.  By the end of the trip, Darren had been fascinated with all that Steve had to teach him, and even more impressed with the genuine respect that Steve had for the forestry world around him.

Steve had an incredible amount of knowledge about the forests we were driving through.

We had just purchased our new Nikon D7000 dslr before the trip to Chapleau, and used it extensively during the two days of shooting.  The footage from the camera turned out stunning to look at, the colors so crisp and saturated, the skin tones so beautifully rendered, and the details so wonderfully present.  After getting some sleep that first night back, Darren was up at dawn, looking through the footage and ooohing and aaahing to beat the band!

The footage was stunning.

Footage that still needs to be produced for the MNR video includes several interviews with forestry experts both in the field and in the lab on Queen Street.  The schedule has us finishing up the project around the end of December, 2011.  We’ll have it up for you to see right around then.

The Sault Public Library video will be finished long before then.  Our production schedule has us shooting two more interviews for the piece, and crafting out some aesthetically pleasing text for plugging into the work.

After colour grading, rendering and exporting, this project will also be wrapped up.  Which is perfect timing, because we’re about to go into full swing production with another client, Stone’s Office Supply.

Shooting the Library video was a lot of fun.  We purchased our first jib for the production, and used it accordingly.

Not the exact jib we bought, but pretty close!

What wonderful camera movements!  Darren had a great time planning out shots for this one, envisioning movements in his mind while he was supposed to be drifting off to sleep at night.  The results have been beautiful to look at, and we’re very excited to bring our new jib to other productions in the future.

Planning movements in the pre-production stage of the video.

We spent two days this week filming a local conference set up through the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre that had both social and political leaders together in one room to brainstorm possible solutions to our failing downtown core.  Students from Sault College participated alongside these leaders for part of one day, and the resulting solutions proposed for our fair city were really exciting to listen to.

We shot video for two days during Pod Challenge this week at the Bushplane Museum.

The conference was called Pod Challenge, and brought experts from as far away as Louisville, Kentucky to the Sault’s Bushplane Museum to work together on these proposals.  Unfortunately for Darren, he was working and not participating in the discussions!

Fall arrived.  With a bang, too.  The trees out front of Darren’s living room are splendidly orange and yellow and red and green — a fresh palette for the coming season.  A few of the leaves have begun to fall but not too many yet.  Within days they will, though.  All in all, a wonderful time of year!

And click on our logo below to see our website and portfolio:

Click on the logo to see our website and portfolio!

Grasses in the yard on a darkened day.

We never did see this tree cutter in action, unfortunately.

We are working on a video production for the combined interests of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Canadian Forestry Service.

We took off from Heyden, about 30 km from Sault Ste. Marie.  Our first stop was along the Domtar road, not far from the Thessalon Highway.  We were looking for logging operations to shoot, but it was a Sunday in September – no go.

These newly cut trunks are waiting to be loaded onto truck when they head to the mill.

The day was sunny and warm, even though it’s the middle of September in Northern Ontario.  Darren was overdressed.  So was Dan.  Should’ve listened and layered better…

These trees were left behind to help wildlife habitat and as seed for the next forest which will grow here.

Darren learned a lot on this trip.  All about forest management and reforestation and sustainable forestry practices from experts.

Two of the experts in forest management on our trip.

There were five of us in all on the trip.  Darren and Dan from Molly Media Studios, and three experts in forest management and sustainable forest practices.

Piles of logs like these lend themselves to making beautiful images in both photography and video production.

There was lots of opportunity to shoot great video sequences.  We stopped numerous times along the roads that we travelled in order to get the right shots.  All the way to Chapleau and back again.

We stopped at these falls (a bit of a hike off the dirt road) to shoot some more video of the Boreal Forest, but to eat as well. Our production manager had packed us up a feast for the two days!

Lunch was had enroute to the highway, in from the road about 1/2 mile.  We ate well, but didn’t rest much.  Too much to be done!  But we got some great footage of the falls pictured above.

Dan, a fly-fisherman, spent part of his lunch performing for our new Nikon D7000 dslr, since we were looking for water leisure shots in addition to the other footage.

Beautiful scenes were seen all day.

The trees in this shot have died because the water table has risen, cutting off oxygen to their roots.

The lighting was perfect for shooting great video, and we got some excellent shots this trip.

This shot illustrates how new growth comes after fires have razed the previous forest.

An argument for leaving some trees standing after cutting is done: this tree evidences holes used for both food and new habitats in this dead tree.

We stayed our first night in a provincial park near Chapleau.  We hiked about 2 kilometres to get the video shots we needed, like image above, and then hiked out again and headed back to our cabin.

We ate lasagne for dinner (can you believe it took 1-1/2 hours to cook even though it was thawed?  Some hungry men wanted to eat!), then headed out to visit the fire pit out back.  We had already built a fire in the pit, so we sat around trying to get shots of the moon overhead.

Moon poking through the clouds and trees. Was a beautiful night, not too cool and no bugs to speak of. Great weather, great day behind us, and another to look forward to...

Beautiful September night.

"Morning's here! Morning's here! Morning's here!" -wonderfully strange lady walking down the street in Ottawa one morning long ago

We were shooting before the sun came up.

Our little campground that we used as a set for our video shots.

Firewood stacked along the way. The early morning's sun cast an orange glow on the woodcut ends.

Dan out fishing while the sun was just rising.

Doesn't every Canadian love to sit beside a campfire? Seriously, tell me if you don't -- I'd be shocked.

We had a gloomy start to our day, and thought the rain would come. It didn't.

These Indian Burial Grounds looked out upon a serene, quiet lake.

We saw bear, wolf and moose tracks all heading down the same road. Doesn't that give a funny image...

Blueberries, even this late in the season!

The mill in Chapleau. We got a lot of good video production work done here.

Piles of wood chips being loaded onto trucks to be sent off for processing into fuel.

The mill. Still. At will.

At the gas station in the big town of Chapleau.

Flame Lake in view. And yes, of course, we got video!

We really do have beautiful country in Northern Ontario, don’t we?  We’d love to hear comments about your own trips through Northern Ontario.  Where did you go?  Who did you meet?  Why did you go?  Do you have pics to share?  Video to share?  We’d love to see…

And click on our logo below to see our website and video portfolio:

Click on the logo to see our website and video portfolio!

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