The Original Jurassic Park

Dino Buddies

Two dinosaur toys purchased on a visit to Drumheller in Grade Six. 

Drumheller Tractor

In May 1981, Miss Sklarenko took her class of Grade Six students from Leduc's East Elementary on a field trip to Drumheller. I fell down a hoodoo on this trip and rolled through a patch of cactus, but I still had a great time. I probably thought I was being clever when I took this photo: a parking lot in the badlands, with a lone tractor its sole patron. Maybe I thought it was some kind of metaphor? "The tractor was nothing but a pile of rusted bone and cracking rubber feet, its era long past..."

A Sign of Bad Composition

Just as I was finishing Grade 12, Leduc Composite High School sent a group of students to Drumheller for a biology field trip. When the trip was over, I asked someone - I don't remember who - to take a photo of the group. Can you see what's wrong with this picture? I didn't, not until I developed the film. (That's me on the right, in the purple jacket, by the way.)

The sign at the centre of the frame is blocking two kneeling students. Argh! I'm sure this was my reaction when I received the prints:

Strangely enough, I shot a group photo myself which wound up being used in the Leduc Representative. Of course I'm not in that shot; I was shooting. I don't have that one scanned, and now I'm almost afraid to look - did I make the same mistake? To be continued...

Pinnacle of Evolution

Earl J. Woods at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Drumheller; May 31, 1987. Photo by Jeff Crozier.

While looking through photo albums for another project, I found this gem. I'm not sure what I was doing...complaining about the heat, perhaps? This was taken on a school field trip to the Tyrell Museum in Drumheller. Timely, since Friday's Edmonton Journal noted that some creationists are building an alternative, anti-evolution museum in Big Valley. Come to think of it, this image would serve nicely as my reaction shot when I heard the news...