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Where to begin.

For the past, oh I dunno, 6 years or so, I’ve been on-again off-again documenting life and the people who live them in and around the downtown St. John’s area. More specifically, Water Street and it’s sister streets, like Duckworth and Prescott St.

Recently, I kind of decided it’s time to slap it all together as one single project. So for the past several months — in between paying the bills — I’ve been working on a project…

I call it, Water Street: Environs and Denizens and I’d love it if you’d take some time to view it.

About two months ago I was doing my regular browsing of r/photography over on reddit.com when I happened up on a post from a fellow redditor who’d just inherited his grandfathers cameras.

From the post on reddit…

My Grandpa is cleaning out his house and invited the whole family over to take what we wanted. I found these camera throughout the house. They’re all very common cameras, but they represent sequentially each camera my Grandpa has had throughout his life.

The models: Brownie Target SIX-20, Brownie Bull’s-Eye, Brownie Holiday Flash, Instamatic X-45, Polaroid OneStep, Canon AF35M

I know they’re nothing special, but it means the world to me that my passion for gadgets and photography came from somewhere. Thanks Grandpa!

They’ve got some serious sentimental value for me and the family, but I’m more interested in them getting actually used than I am in showing them off as “Grandpa’s relics”.

After some quick introductions to prove we were both normal individuals and I wasn’t going to get a bomb in the post, we struck a deal. Derek (aka hornflips) dropped them in the mail and about 10 days later they were in my hands. Admittedly, when they showed up I was so busy I’d just plopped the newly received vintage cameras on my shelf. A quick look over as I unboxed them showed a couple were just unusable without modification of some sort. Another is a Polaroid and each frame costs about $2.00 and the last one was a Canon AF35M Rangefinder.

Fast forward about two months to sometime last week. I’ve been doing research into older rangefinders, specifically for something silent and small that’s both easy to use but versatile. As well, a quick focusing and a quality lens was a must. As I researched for a Rangefinder to purchase, I spun around in my office chair and glanced up my shelf. There it was…

A Rangefinder.

There sat the Canon AF35M, nicknamed “Autoboy” by Canon Japan. Launched in November 1979 the Autoboy was Canon’s first auto focus 35mm lens shutter compact camera. With a f/2.8 38mm lens mounted on a small black body, it’s speed and size matched my demands. After a quick clean, I loaded it up with 400iso film and started snapping. It seemed to work. With no way of knowing if it truly was working, I did the only thing any sane photographer would do, I went out shooting the new to me camera.

And here are the results:

Girl reading in the park at the National War Memorial downtown St. John's

Playing chess on the sidewalk near Hava Java on Water Street

Click here to see more pics from this story.

If you’re looking for pictures from the day the storm hit go here: http://www.colinpeddle.com/featured/hurricane-igor/

I managed to get out the past couple days to snap a few of the aftermath that Igor left in it’s wake. A lot of the damage is being cleaned up fairly quickly so not much remains now.

The major damage is on Random Island and it’s probably going to be a little while before it gets open. I heard on CBC Radio today that the CO-OP in Clarenville got a load of fresh food together; bread, milk, water, snacks, vegetables, etc. and stogged a boat bound for Hickman’s Harbour.

That is what’s great about Newfoundland though — without batting an eye a local business owner used his position to help out not just one person, but several entire communities.

Several people now are suggesting that the military needs to be called in as the scale of the devastation is just too great for local services to clear up in a reasonable amount of time.

Damage to the Field House at MUN

Damage at Whiteway Street

Wood chipping on Whiteway St.

Damage at Whiteway Street

Corner of Queen's Road and Monkstown in St. John's

This section of Rawlin’s Cross is especially sad to see gone. It was a fantastic little spot to sit, relax and watch life go by.

Very sad.

Also, hats off to all our emergency services. More times on Tuesday I was passed by an ambulance, firetruck or police car racing to a call… they all did a fantastic job keeping everyone safe.

SJRFD Kent's Pond No. 6 on Portugal Cove Road

Two days on and roads in some sections of the North East Avalon were still closed.

Road closed in Pouch Cove

Pouch Cove

Don’t know about you, but I’m not used to seeing this many trees in the upper parking lot at Bowring Park unless it’s January. All of this is branches, trees, shrubs, etc. from the storm. Just as much, if not more then there would be post-Christmas.

Bowring Park parking lot full of branches and trees

Bowring Park parking lot

This next picture is from Portugal Cove. You can see where the waves which were crashing against the shore have significantly eroded the coastline there.

Atlantica in Portugal Cove two days later.

This is a picture of the waves riding up the shoreline against Atlantica.

Waves hitting Atlantica in Portugal Cove

To see pictures from the day the storm hit go here: http://www.colinpeddle.com/featured/hurricane-igor/

Thanks to all the people who have commented and compliments via the comments section at the bottom of this post, via twitter and also through e-mail. It’s great to know that the 8 hours or so I spent getting wet yesterday was worth it.

To see images from the day after the storm go here:http://www.colinpeddle.com/featured/hurricane-igor-lands-in-st-johns-part-ii-the-aftermath/

So today I got up and at around 11am decided it was time to pack up and head out for the day. Somebody has to take the pictures right?

I started off at Quidi Vidi, just to see what was up and I’ll tell you what was up: the water. It wasn’t really windy in St. John’s just yet, but it had been raining since sometime the evening before. Despite warnings from the RNC (our local police), there were a lot of sightseers every where I went. Thankfully, from what I could see, most were keeping a safe distance. From there I swung by St. Pat’s Ballpark to discover the entire outfield was now a swimming pool. Then I made my way downtown to see what people were doing to keep dry… then the wind hit.

A heavy rain falls on September 21st in St. John's

Two people take pictures of the flooding at Quidi Vidi Lake, St. John's

Rennies River well overflown

The outfield at St. Pat's Ballpark, St. John's

Downtown was quite wet, the wind began picking up and the rain got quite sideways at times. Most people were chilling under overhangs or making use of umbrellas. Others just didn’t care (like me!).

There were also quite a number of boats docked in the harbour, including: HMCS St. John’s, a Chilean P61 Navy boat, several large trawlers and others too. A lot of the crew members could be seen dodging the drops on the streets of St. John’s.

A sailor aboard the HMCS St. John's

This man was aboard the Coimbra, docked in St. John's harbour

Some people just stayed inside, like these two enjoying lunch at Atlantic Place, St. John's

Williams Lane was essentially a waterfall down over the steps

Most of the allies and lane ways downtown quickly turned into waterfalls after the 100mm mark was reached. Despite that, downtown was pretty boring at this point so I took off for the outskirts to see what the fuss was.

Waterford Road and Bowring Park:

Waterford Bridge Road near Corpus Christi Parish

I arrived at Bowring Park via Waterford Bridge Rd. It was 100% flooded, quite deep as well.

Waterford Bridge Road near Corpus Christi Parish

At Corpus Christi Parish

This poor guy had to wade through the water to get a pump for the church, which considering it’s proximity — in the middle of the newly laid out river — it was probably darn near floating away at this point.

And then there is this guy, who decided it a good idea to drive, nay float down the river.

He made it just fine and was welcomed to the other side with a rather astounding round of applause from the bystanders.

Then water poured out from his doors and he drove away, surely bragging to his friends when he got home.

The water was very rapid. I don’t know why this issue at this point hasn’t been solved already. Every year we get a rainstorm it floods. I think they need to dredge the river or something.

This person decided not to tempt fate the way the last guy did. Probably for the best.

After I left the Bowring Park area I made my way back through Kilbride — not much going on — through to Mount Pearl and down Topsail to Columbus, stopping at MUN and then back out to Torbay Rd. Traffic in Mount Pearl on Topsail was just nuts due to Blackmarsh being closed, the lights at Commonwealth – Topsail being out and general stupidity by 90% of the drivers out there. Between Mount Pearl and Torbay I saw 5 accidents narrowly avoided… all due to people not knowing how to operate when the lights are out and it’s a four way stop.

I snapped pictures of the damage along the way. This person stalled at the overpass for the Goulds bypass. People going all over the place.

Mount Pearl:

Two people push their car through the water after it stalls

The Waterford River was backed up at the bottom of Park Avenue in Mount Pearl as well. The council worker strongly advised me not to get to close because it looked like the bridge was about to go — though in the end I don’t think it did. (below) This persons house, next to the bridge, now featured a swimming pool in their front yard! Unfortunately, their car was in the pool so they’d need to get it cleaned first.

While I was shooting these pictures above in Mount Pearl the wind really picked up. This is when most of the big trees started breaking around town and when I genuinely felt concerned for my own safety. Debris began blowing from behind (branches, cones, general stuff that was large, rocks, etc.) and I had to take cover behind a light pole — praying it didn’t suddenly break. I jogged back up the hill towards Topsail, the wind was so strong it literally took my breathe away.

As I said, at this point the wind had really picked up. Random stuff was blowing and catching everywhere. Stopped at the lights to get on Columbus Drive, small rocks began pelting the side of my car.

I cringed every time I saw someone in a fancy BMW or Merc.

Memorial University:

When I got to Memorial University I discovered the construction site had been turned into a blender for the slightly weighty sheets of insulation which lay about. These are not leaning against this car above, they’re glued there by the strong winds. A few moments later they’d take flight too. That’s a 4×8 sheet of something flying a good 100~ feet in the sky. This wasn’t a one off, stuff was flying all over the place.

I decided not to hang around.

Despite the danger a few students were out teasing the wind and also tempting fate. I kept waiting for this guy to take off as the wind lifted him upon tipped toes.

Torbay Road:

A NL Power worker speaks to the homeowner who lost his tree

After a perilous drive up Torbay Road I decided to drive to Portugal Cove via Indian Meal Line. CBC 640AM was saying Indian Meal Line was blocked by a tree… it was not, but the remnants of downed timbre was very apparent.

A tree blocks a lane on Indian Meal Line as a NL Government truck passes

A man clears the remains of a fallen tree on Indian Meal Line

Thankfully most people on Indian Meal Line still have fireplaces so the downed trees was just an excuse to fire up the stove. Any trees which were felled by nature were chopped up by the locals right away.

Portugal Cove:

In my short time on this earth I’ve seen some swells of our coast but none compare to the water in the bottom of Conception Bay on September 21nd 2010. The waves, not spray, the waves were so high the tops were hitting Atlantica (that red building at the top of the picture above). A lot of onlookers here and the effort to get out was definitely worth it.

The crazy thing is that this is happening at the bottom of the bay — that’s amazing. It’s one thing to see this kind of action out at Cape Spear or up in Flatrock, but in a very sheltered bay such as Conception Bay?

St. Philips was just as dramatic. The waves were breaking against the two wharfs, coming right over top of them and back into the sheltered marina. The foam was being picked up by the wind and thrown inland 50 feet or more. You’d see little drop of goo just flying through the air, it was something else.

Being that I was soaking wet and hungry I doubled back to the house and got some soup, a change of clothes and left again for Bannerman Park where there was some devastating news about the ancient trees in the park.

Bannerman Park:

I remember when Hurricane Juan hit Halifax taking down a lot of trees in Point Pleasant Park and Public Gardens. My sister told me that people were walking around the Public Gardens in sorrow and disbelief that all of the old storied trees were gone. It takes a lot for these trees to get to the size they are — a lot of luck and a lot of time.

It was a very sad sight to see the amount of damage Igor caused in our beloved Bannerman Park.

I spoke to the man whose house this tree was threatening. He’d been without power since noon with no sign of it being restored any time soon. He’d lived there for some 40 years and had never witnessed anything like this.

Bill looks on as a fallen tree looms above his house on Military Road

I figured I’d better take a look around the area to see what else happened.

Debris covers Military Road near Bannerman Park

I don’t know if this pole was always leaning like this or not, but it looked pretty odd and probably is about to break.

Circular Road tree damage

Damage on Rennies Mill Road

Suddenly on the horizon was a thing we’d not seen all day in the sky: color! The sun made an appearance albeit a very brief one just long enough to show us that it’s still there.

The sun sets with a purple hue over the city of St. John's on Military Road

The sun sets with a purple hue over the city of St. John's on Bond Street

The power is out on Duckworth Street

There wasn’t much power in the city as I drove home. Most of downtown was dark, as was 90% of Torbay Road and surrounding area, including Torbay itself.

Lights out in Torbay, NL during Hurricane Igor

You’re probably sick of seeing Sean Power on my blog. In fact, I am too. I’ve pondered just buying www.seanpower.com and shilling for him day in/day out but I came to my senses thankfully.

Here he is, again, with a stupid big jump over a pretty steep edge. This is at Cape Spear (in case you don’t get out much) and frankly, it’s the coolest place east of St. John’s.

This place had two things going against it, the run up — which was slightly crooked and painfully short — and the landing, which was full of major water filled divots… oh, and the 14 foot drop which lingered beneath.

Sean, Power Ollie | Nikon D3 16mm fish

So what’s Labour Day weekend without a Saturday spent watching my friends break their bodies over all kinds of fun architectural finds.

Like the last skateboarding post, this post will feature Sean Power, Khris Stamp and Neil Blackwood.

Back Smith, Sean Power | Nikon D3 & 16mm Fisheye

Kickflip over the massive gap, Sean Power | Nikon D3 70-200

Khris Stamp with the bs lip while da by's watch

Flipping through the sky | Nikon D3, 16mm fish, sb800 l/r

One more angle of that.

There’s a couple more in here, check ‘em out!

This will not be an entirely biased review of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers. I did not grow up listening to every Buddy Wasisname album since Makin’ for the Harbour which came out not three years after my birth. I do not know all the words to Sarah, The Hillside in September or Shinny On The Ice, to name a few. I never go to any shows within a 200km radius. I did not meet Mr. Blackmore when I was a kid in Marble Mountain’s old chalet during one of their shows. I would not giggle like a little girl if I were to meet them again.

OK, Ok. I’ll admit it, they’re my heroes. All of them, not just Kevin a.k.a Buddy, but Rocky and Chaulky too. From the jigs-n-reels to comedic breaks, all brought together nicely with the timeless Newfoundland odes and songs… I’m a fan of it all.

And nothing says “Newfoundlandia” quite like a performance by Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers on George Street, opened by none other then Rex Goudie himself. If memory serves they opened with Make ‘n’ Break Hornpipe and the not oft performed Mr. McGuire Sit Down. Personally, I was absolutely thrilled to hear Mr. McGuire Sit Down as it’s my all-time favorite Buddy Wasisname song and haven’t seen it live in years. They played straight for almost an hour and a half, mixing upbeat jigs with songs that’ll bring a tear to the eye. As well, they did Chainsaw Earl which they wrote sometime in 1991. Almost 20 years on it still had everyone in stitches.

You want more? Click here to see even more snaps of Rex Goudie and Buddy Wasisname