Forced perspective (noun): the use of any of various techniques (as in photography…) to create the optical illusion that objects or people are smaller, larger, closer, or farther away than they really are. Credit: Merriam-Webster Dictionary. It’s often done for humorous effect – maybe you’ve seen those pictures where some...
Few Words: The Cutest Little Farm House (ever). It’s charming, cozy and so tiny you might think it’s a doll house. On the main floor there’s a bit of room to move, barely, but upstairs anyone over average height will have to stoop. Claustrophobic types will feel the walls closing...
This urban hike has a definite gritty edge and that’s not necessarily a bad thing in our world, but certain sections had us questioning our own sanity. Still, this Bow River Loop is not without its charms, and the trek thoroughly enjoyable on the return leg, but less so at...
This will be a variation on the theme and the fun happens in Three Hills Alberta, on a wickedly frigid winter’s day, early 2022. Let me tell you, we did this one in record time! Rather than the usual comparison Then & Now type shot everyone’s all used to, which...
The quaint little town of Stavely Alberta is found just over one hundred kilometres south of Calgary and to those travelling the #2, most noteworthy for its huge grain elevator there beside the highway. It can’t be missed and the tall blue/green structure looms over “downtown”, passing motorists and the...
Dateline Torrington Alberta and it’s early in 2022. Someone, and we can’t shake the feeling that it’s a person with far too much time on their hands (wink, wink) has built a mini-Stonehenge out of random blocks of concrete. Why? Wait, the big question is why not? It’s one of...
There we were returning from a little hike out in Kananaskis Country (here: Eagle Hill) and out of nowhere it’s a chance discovery. It’s a highway Surf Side, caught along the Trans-Canada and a fitting end to a great road-trip adventure. It’s like the cherry on top – a good...
A chance encounter earns us a couple wonderful minutes getting to know the locomotives of 40 Mile Rail down in Southern Alberta. Trains are something we’re more into than our readers so normally not many pics like this are shared. Emphasis on normally. With such a spectacular setting we just...
We’re in downtown Castor Alberta and armed with an old image to be used in another BIGDoer.com Then & Now comparison. Standing roughly on the same spot where the original photographer did about a 110 years ago, we’ll look into what’s the same (a little) and what’s changed (a lot)...
There were once thousands of wood grain elevators across the Canadian plains, but the numbers have thinned considerably over the years. Almost every town in the grain belt had one, or more, and long before you arrived, you’d see them off in the distance. In this post we’ll take a...
We’re taking you back to when coal was king and use of the fuel wide spread. It heated homes and powered industry, among others. The rather insignificant building seen here is hidden away in a coulee and functioned as a mine substation. Right here and on this very spot was...
There we were driving about the provincial capitol and minding our own business, when out of nowhere something catches our eye. A couple blocks ahead, a familiar form is spotted, on the move, and soon a chase ensues. Always at posted speeds that is. If it times right, we just...
Today it happens down on the waterfront in Slocan British Columbia and for your enjoyment we present two comparison photos taken eighty one years apart. The first, captured in 1940, shows a railway barge setup and the other, how the location looks in 2021. The “then” photo comes thanks to...
The Trout Lake BC Cemetery is well hidden by the forest and all but a few burials date back to the early days. It’s a lost corner in this former mining boom town and the most frequent visitors the local bear population. Peace and tranquility reign supreme, deep in this...
As long time city residents, we’ve noticed there seems be a proliferation of back alley rhubarb growing in certain 1950s-1960s era neighbourhoods throughout the city. Our community fits that time frame, and yes, we need only go a block or two to find some. They usually appear deliberately and strategically...
There’s some interesting sidewalk tiles underfoot in this British Columbia community. If you know where to look that is. They pay homage to various classes of Canadian Pacific Railway locomotives and are located on 10th Ave S Cranbrook, in downtown. From what we know they were placed fairly recently and...
We’re spending a quiet evening with Tuxedo Park School (North Calgary) simply wandering about and snapping a few photos. The faculty was built in two stages, 1920 and then expanded upon greatly in the 1956-7 before closing some years back. With the property currently in limbo, there’s uncertainty at every...
Here’s a pleasant urban-hike in the charming community of Didsbury Alberta. It’s more a relaxed stroll about town, than anything serious, but not everything needs to be an expedition. There will be many historic homes seen and here’s a spoiler: they’re simply gorgeous! Then there’s lots of century(+) old buildings...
We’re getting two for the price of one and here’s a pair of Bolers that when not in use are stored out back of a home in an alley. These ones are well known to us and we’ve passed them by many times before (see:Bolers, After Dark). They’re in a...
This is a reworked Then & Now originally posted ten years ago and takes inspiration from by Mike Dunham-Wilkie’s well known train photographs of Wayne Alberta. His shots are from 1978. We’re reusing our original now photos, but have revised and updated the info. Ugly and somewhat outdated, the piece...
Here’s a comparison look at one little corner of downtown Viking Alberta thirty four years apart. The expression “some things change and some stay the same” truly applies here. Certainly many things have vanished since the original image was captured in 1988, but the scene still feels the same. This...
Here’s a look at second oldest Calgary Stampede Dream Home (from 1959 – at the time called the Stampede Give-Away Home) and in outward appearances it looks much as it did when new. This lottery has been going on so long it’s become essential to the Stampede experience and tickets...
These concrete piers, seen off in the distance, are all that remains of the Canadian Pacific’s Lorraine railway bridge. The line it supported dates back to the mid-1910s, but didn’t last long and everything removed roughly four decades later. In the railway business that’s the blink of an eye and...
Today we’re visiting Nativity of the Virgin Mary Romanian Orthodox Church (or simply St Mary’s), built in the 1910s and last used many years ago. The Parish kept it intact even after the last services were held, but since our visit a couple years back, we’re told its been emptied...
It Continues: Elk River Inn Hosmer British Columbia. Here we’re paying a visit to a small town hotel for the Beer Parlour Project series with vintage film camera photographer Rob Pohl. Maybe you’ve seen him before on this website and while our techniques and equipment are worlds apart, we share...
It’s the last one in Willingdon Alberta and one of the very last wood grain elevators built in the entire province. While adapted for the era, it’s not all that different in form and construction from prairie sentinels dating back to the early 1900s. It’s old school tech and came...
Mewata Armoury is located at the west end of Calgary’s downtown core and a well known landmark that’s stood here for over a century. Architecturally stunning, this brick and sandstone edifice is a ceremonial and training base for a number of Canadian Forces regiments/groups. Built during World War One, it...
Almost seventy five years separates the two images shown here and outside one obvious change, the scene has an otherwise timeless quality. Emerald Lake & Crowsnest Mountain, in the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta, feature prominently in both and are a sight to behold. The then image is from a postcard...
The Bear Stare: here’s a random pick photo from the collection showing a brief but memorable face to face encounter that happened out near Trout Lake British Columbia. That place is simply crawling with those furry beasts and encounters quite common. There we were burning down some logging road, at...
The fun this fine day happens in Red Deer Alberta and here’s a nice little pathways loop that starts close to the downtown core. It all takes place in the middle of the city, but sometimes you may not know it. The parks, natural green spaces and wooded groves you’ll...
Posted
Sharon Wingenbach: You Are Here: Corral 4 Drive-in Calgary
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola: Alexandra Bridge Fraser Canyon BC
Bob Fortin: CPR Illecillewaet Bridge Revelstoke BC
Rory Brown: Downtown Calgary & CPR Tracks 1977-2014
Dale: The Forgotten Cemetery of Morrissey BC
Sharon Wingenbach: MacDonald Bridge Calgary ~70 Years Apart
Gary Small: Polish Hall Coleman Alberta (1927)
Twold7: Calgary Inglewood Haskins/Victory Block
Gary Small: CPR Bow River Bridge (Abandoned)
Ken Newel: Grain Elevators of Turin Alberta
Gary Small: Silver Creek Coal Mine Skunk Hollow
Bonita Hudson: Coleman Miners’ Hospital 100 Years Apart
Gary Small: Dunshalt Alberta 1974 and 2013
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola: The Giants of Cathedral Grove (BC)
Gary Small: Highway History (BC): the Garbage Gobbler
Posting soon!
Byron Robb - Zeke - Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola - Don Wilson - Johanna (Connie) Biggart - Dale
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