Mike Grandmaison Fine Art Photography

Duckweed and fallen autumn leaves at the edge of White Lake from a session with friends a couple of weeks ago.

One of many water reflections I captured on that wonderful day in the Whiteshell with Dave Benson and Linda Sigurdson. This is a variation on a theme that Dave presented but, of course, I didn't see his compositions until later.

While I enjoy photographing the 'big landscape', I am most often drawn to what I term the 'intimate view'. Years ago, I came across a book by Elliot Porter called 'Intimate Landscapes' (1979) - a book I would take out frequently from the Edmonton Library during my formative years. How he approached his subject matter left an indelible impression on me.

A few photographs of larch trees (tamarack) around the Lily Pond in the Whiteshell from a very enjoyable day trip with Dave Benson and Linda Sigurdson

I am thankful for the opportunity to enjoy 'nature in our city'. The Seine River Forest is one of my favorite locations to visit and is only a couple of kilometers away so I can bike to it or quickly drive over to photograph. Autumn is particularly pleasant and enjoyable. Save Our Seine River Environment Inc.

Waves on Lake Rosseau. Autumn in Port Carling.

Bathed in warm evening light, young birch trees glow in splendid autumn color against ancient precambrian shield rock.

Autumn's last light on a birch tree.

Some fascinating cloud patterns yesterday due to very high winds. The high winds continue today. &W &white

Photography turned 200 Years on September 16, 1824. 'Fallen giant', created along the Seine River in Winnipeg (Manitoba) is my homage to this remarkable event. The image of a huge cottonwood tree was made on a camera converted to produce infra red images.
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Last evening I photographed one of the nicest and longest lasting rainbow I have ever seen! Typically rainbows are fleeting and often don't last a minute or two. Last night, I photographed this rainbow for over 30 minutes! And I didn't have to go far either, just in the park near the house where I have done a lot of photography in all seasons over the years, from wildlife to plants to northern lights, etc. While this is but an iphone capture, I photographed dozens of variations on my Fuji mirrorless camera, all handheld but now I need to process them all. The times they are a changing!

The Seine River Forest is one of Winnipeg's natural treasures. It is also the area I frequent the most for walking, biking and photography. Spring time is particularly exciting with all the lush new foliage and flowering shrubs and trees. The apple tree seen here is likely the result of an apple core left along the trail and whose seeds germinated in time to produce this fine specimen. While I was photographing the apple tree, I also spotted a couple of coyotes who remained at a distance. Life is bountiful in the forest.

This past winter - and up to a few days ago - I spent time photographing Great Horned Owls, visiting a couple of nests in the process. In one nest, two owlets hatched while in the second nest three owlets hatched. Hatching of owlets varied from each nest by at east 4-6 weeks - quite a variation. Most of the time was spent observing rather than photographing. Often I would watch them for hours, sometimes in bitterly cold temperatures around -30 degrees Celsius ( we did manage to get a few cold days this past winter). On rare occasions, I was able to capture a few decent images. Getting a clear view is often challenging as there is always a lot of branches behind and in front of the owls. This pair of owlets was photographed just a few minutes before the sun set below the horizon. They sure are cute though!

Trembling aspen trees in spring foliage. Love that delicate color of emerging leaves. The color varies form yellow to lime green and hues in between. Bois des Esprits. Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Spring has been slow coming this year and, beyond a few hot days, this spring has been rather cool, windy and a little wet. I like to explore the woods in spring and discover newly emerging foliage and flowers. This is a backlit cluster of willow flowers also known as catkins. Little Mountain Park, Winnipeg. Manitoba.

Update on the 'Sunflower Stamp' Released this past Monday.

I mentioned in my second post about the release of a new Canada Post Stamp that featured one of my sunflower images that some articles might result from a couple of interviews I gave earlier on Wednesday. I would like to acknowledge two media articles for those who might be interested in reading them.
Please note that META will not allow me to post the direct link but you should be able to search and find it online with the following information.

One article appeared on CTV Winnipeg News. It was written by Katherine Dow with the following title: 'A great, great honour': Manitoban's photograph selected for Canada Post Stamp.

The other article was written by Candace Derkson of Pembina Valley Online called: 'Sunflowers from Altona area will soon start popping up on your mail.'

I am always grateful for media acknowledgments. Thank you to both Katherine and Candace!

OK, now to move on to other things!

This morning I gave two ZOOM interviews to chat about the new 'Sunflower Stamp' featuring my image that was released on May 6. One of the interviews was with Katherine Dow at CTV Winnipeg and the other with Candace Derksen at CFAM/Country 88 / The Eagle / PembinaValleyOnline. Thank you both for your interest with this new stamp release! I believe these interviews will air sometime today, possibly this evening and may also be online from their web sites. An article may also result from these interviews.

While chatting about stamps this morning, I couldn't help but to think of our dear friend and colleague Robert L Peters. Rob passed away a year ago today. Rob was a mentor to me as well as to many others and he was instrumental in getting me started in my freelance photography career back in 1996. As principal owner and graphic designer at Circle Design, he gave me one of my very first assignments - to photograph the (then) new Health Canada Building also known as the Level 4 Virology Lab that studies infectious diseases around the world. Needless to say it was a daunting task to spend a week photographing this new architectural building in Winnipeg for a design firm that had already acquired quite a reputation for designing superior pieces. More importantly, Rob got me started working on Canada Post stamp projects. In all, I was involved in 10 of these projects which culminated with this latest stamp release.

Around the Xlll PanAM Games in Winnipeg, Rob was commissioned to produce a stamp commemorating those games. I was asked to create an aerial photo of Winnipeg and I obliged by getting permission to photograph on a high balcony of one of the Evergreen Towers in Osborn Village. The photograph was used both as a First Day Issue Cover and on a postcard. A year later, Rob asked a few individuals to submit stock photographs for a 'Christmas Light' Series which ended up being a collage of various images that were used to illustrate 3 separate stamps. The images used on those three stamps came from Dave Reede, Malak and myself. As I look at those three stamps from 2001, I can recognize some of the components like northern lights, a snow bank, a moon, some trees, etc. It was a thrill to finally see those first stamps released.

Rob then referred me to a graphic designer colleague of his from Halifax to work on the 125 Anniversary of the University of Manitoba where I contributed 3 separate photos that were all used on the stamp. Rob and I last collaborated on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights stamp. Over the years, I went on to work on four additional stamp projects. Through the years, Rob also became a very good friend with whom I also worked with teaching photography through Praxis Photographic Workshops with colleagues Paul Martens and Celes Davar. Rob and I also co-authored a coffee table book together called 'Natural Reflections', one of my very favorite books.

So...today is both bittersweet in celebrating a new 'Sunflower Stamp" and in remembering what a truly inspiring soul our friend Rob was. His legacy as designer, author, organizer, teacher, artist, pacifist, humanist and friend will be remembered for years to come.

I am honored to have yet another one of my images featured on a Canada Postage stamp!

Nine (9) new stamps were released today (May 9, 2024) by Canada Post as the fourth edition of a multi-year series called 'From Far and Wide' that promotes travel and exploration.

The 2024 'From Far and Wide' stamps showcase the following sites – each captured by a different photographer from across Canada:

Sunflowers – Altona, Manitoba (Mike Grandmaison)
Tongait KakKasuangita SilakKijapvinga – Torngat Mountains National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador (Michael Winsor)
Tehjeh Deé (South Nahanni River), Nááts'įhch'oh National Park Reserve – Northwest Territories (Colin Field)
Galiano Island, British Columbia (James Stevenson)
Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, Quebec (Ladislas Kadyszewski)
Point Prim Lighthouse – Belfast, Prince Edward Island (Sander Meurs)
Thousand Islands, Ontario (Ian Coristine)
Restigouche River, New Brunswick (Guylaine Bégin)
Qarlinngua sea arch – Arctic Bay, Nunavut (Clare Kines)

In addition, my image of a sunflower field from Altona, Manitoba was also used to produce one of a number of postcards.

These projects often take a few years from the time I submit images to having the actual stamp released. In the meantime, one must keep this confidential until the release date. Nice to finally have it released and let go of the secret!

I have been very fortunate in my career to have been involved in 10 Canada Post Stamp Projects. I feel both lucky and grateful. The requests typically come from researchers, graphic designers or employees of Canada Post. Once again, I am also very grateful to all who have considered me for these projects.