!

[Aggie]

..

 

[Ailsa]

Not only is he a world class photographer, he is a world class individual. His warmth, caring and sharing nature exude from the moment you meet him. I for one could not ask for a better friend and mentor.

I second that Aggie. He's been nothing but supportive to me and Black & White Photography since we very first spoke. The mono world is lucky to have him around.

 

[KenM]

Tonight was the last night Les will be here (for this trip). I will be handing this thread over to EricR to report on the further adventures. Life around Les is interesting. I have enjoyed every minute of it. Not only is he a world class photographer, he is a world class individual. His warmth, caring and sharing nature exude from the moment you meet him. I for one could not ask for a better friend and mentor.

I too am looking forward to meeting Les this week when he arrives in Calgary. I must say, he's in for a bit of a shock regarding the temperature, especially today.

The forecast high is -16C, which is roughy 4F.

Good thing scotch doesn't freeze until around -200C, or -130F :lol: It may be cold here right now, but I don't think we're going to reach -200C!

 

[Ole]

Scotch is frozen solid at -45°C. I know, because I've seen it - a tragic sight indeed

 

[Aggie]

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[KenM]

Scotch is frozen solid at -45°C. I know, because I've seen it - a tragic sight indeed

Only -45C? Wussy stuff indeed :lol:

Me, I'll stick to whiskey.....

 

[Bruce Osgood]

I met Les last year, just for dinner and good conversation. His parting words to me were "It's all 'bout giving..." I keep that thought with me all the time now. His life is all about giving, and those who have the opportunity to meet him will learn of life and photography, music and love of life. He has a lot to give, just listen and learn.

 

[bmac]

I just uploaded a quick snap from the daytrip on Monday (Car craching into the sea day) to the non gallery photos section.

 

[chrisl]

Nice updates Aggie.

And Les was indeed quite the gentlemen and scholar as he'd like to put it We really hit it off and I'm quite going to miss our discussions! hear that Les?? hehe

I had a fantastic time in the workshop,and shooting in Big Sur and in SF. It was great meeting new people as well. Thanks to all for making the week a success!

Chris

 

[ian_greant]

A quick, quick update before I pack my lunch and head down for todays workshop.

Saturday was a great success, lots of laughs, lots of learning. Les is certainly a great guy and it's been fun meeting some other locals.

I ran a roll through on my Rollei so unless the luck (bad) that was dogging me yesterday follows me to my own darkroom I should have some pics of Les while he's instructing to post..

Gotta run,
Ian

 

[ian_greant]

A couple quick pics from Sunday's workshop in the Non-Gallery. Enjoy.

My brain is so full it hurts.

g'night.
Ian

 

[Eric Rose]

The workshop is over and we now have 8 more people who will flash at any given moment. Of course that is just after they do the splits.

Les is a wonderful gentleman and I use the term gentleman specifically because he is so wonderful and kind,

We will keep Les amused for the balance of the week until his departure.

During his stay he is staying with myself and Erna (my SO) so will have a chance to chat and get to know each other better as time goes on.

Thanks to Ian for posting some pics of the workshop.

 

[Aggie]

..

 

[Eric Rose]

Well Aggie, we Canadian folk are kind of subdued. Suffice it to say Les is having a great time, busy everyday with different members of our Large Format Users Group and generally getting to know his Canuckdian brethren.

Les plans on posting his own thoughts when he gets home.

 

[FrankB]

Eric your shirking your duties! I know Les, this is too quiet of behavior for him. Either it is really really cold, or Canadian ale has him subdued.

"Subdued" hell! This counts as "sedated"!

There was nothing on the international news either... ...I'm getting worried!

 

[ian_greant]

Oh don't worry so..

I had Les under my wing all Monday and we toured the streets of Calgary. Sadly it's rather cold right now and we didn't get into nearly as much trouble as I anticipated. I think he still went through 4 or 5 rolls.

We ended the day off by getting Les outfitted with a great set of warm boots and when I left him with Eric and Erna he had a smile on his face, a scotch in one hand and a camera in the other.

Ian

 

[Aggie]

..

 

[KenM]

I had the pleasure of taking Les out yesterday. We had a great day in Kananaskis and down the Smith-Dorien trail (lots of unsettled weather, and not too cold; windy tho), and finished it up by making a quick visit to the Whyte Museum in Banff to view a couple of photography exhibits....

A good day was had by both of us.

BTW, if anyone is in Banff, I suggest checking out the exhibits at the Whyte - Chip Forelli and Dan Hudson have photographs hung as part of the current 'From Fire and Ice' show. Check out Dead Link Removed.

 

[Eric Rose]

Had Les out in the flat lands today. We went to a ghost town and an abandoned church and school. Les had never experienced quite the vast openess of our praire land and he found it quite exciting.

Today he is off with another member of our Large Format Users Group and back into the mountains.

I think the poor guy will be spending the next two weeks developing film!

 

[FrankB]

I think the poor guy will be spending the next two weeks developing film!

Just so long as he posts his results...

I, for one, am still in awe of what he achieved in 20 minutes in his garden on the anniversary shoot! Lord knows what he'll come back with from this marathon!

Send him back in one piece, though... I want to talk him into a workshop a bit closer to home!

 

[Eric Rose]

Dropped Les off at the airport yesterday at 5:45AM. All is well. I have never meet a finer and more generous man. His booming voice and infectious laugh will be greatly missed in the house.

Both Erna and I miss him a lot.

Take care Les, we love ya.

Eric and Erna

 

[Les McLean]

Well the saga is over and I'm home, I've developed 30 rolls of 120 film and still have 6 rolls to do as well as 20 rolls of 35mm, not to mention 200 d****l images. I've posted a few early efforts in the gallery. The whole event was well documented in a most entertaining way by Aggie, so I'm not going to bore you with my version, suffice to say that most of the facts were correct but with a few embelishments by the lady but let's just call it artists licence.

What I would like to say is a big thanks to Aggie and Eric who organised their respective workshops and also thanks to the local apuggers in both areas who made my stay so memorable. Aggie, I appreciated your kindness and help in all that we did while I was in San Francisco. Eric, I miss the laugh and the dry quiet Canadian humour.

There are also non apuggers to thank, mainly Jerry who provided the darkroom in San Francisco and Erna, Erics better half, who provided a level of friendship and caring that I appreciated at a time when I really needed it. I asked Eric not to mention this in his posts while I was there but I received the news that my sister had died on the second day of the workshop. Eric, Erna and all those who attended the Calgary workshop helped me through the next week until I could get home, in a way that I will never forget. Hopefully, we can do it all again in the future although I will not be falling into the Pacific Ocean again especially with expensive digital cameras in my hand.

I have also got to the bottom of why I could not access apug from my computer, it was the McAfee Internet Security software on my computer, sorry Sean for all the trouble I've put you to in the past 2 months.

Having just got back into apug I will be missing for the next 5 days for I am off to Ireland tomorrow to do some more workshops.

 

[Annemarieke]

Les, I am so sorry to hear about your sister.
My thoughts are with you.
Anne Marieke

 

[bmac]

Les, very sorry to hear about your sister. It was great meeting you in San Francisco. Please lock the door behind you... hehe

 

[Aggie]

..