The Universe (as I see it) » Friends

POW Camp 30

Don Komarechka — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:49:39 +0000

Canada played a very important part in WWII that few people realize – I had no idea myself until Brent and I traveled to POW Camp 30 during Doors Open Clarington a while back. They opened the doors – possibly for the last time – for visitors to have a tour of the camp. Why were Canadian POW camps important? Our distance from the battlefield meant that the highest-ranking Nazi POWs were send over to us, limiting their chances of ever rejoining their forces. The camp we visited was the last remaining WWII POW camp in Canada, and likely the world:

The camp was originally built in 1929 as a reform school for young boys, and when WWII broke out it was a turn-key prisoner of war camp. Add fences and guard towers and you’re set. Because of this, the Germans had access to one of the best-outfitted camps ever – including a gymnasium and a swimming pool:

POW Camp 30 was completely self-sustaining. The germans had access to a nearby farm and grew their own food, prepared it and served it. They handled everything on their own with as little involvement from the Canadian military as possible, and this meant very little cost to keep the camp running. There are so many stories we heard about the place, from escape attempts to small riots, German vs. Canadian hockey games and how things ran inside the camp. All of it was fascinating to learn.

Brent and I both agree that the entire grounds should be considered a historic landmark, restored, and turned into a local attraction. A local developer that owns the land has other plans, but hopefully they can meet a compromise. This place should be here forever, for future generations to learn the stories of the past. Lest we forget.

Beautiful Art

Don Komarechka — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:38:32 +0000

Even though she is extremely busy, that doesn’t stop her creativity one bit! Recently, Desi created a painting for one of her teachers and I had the opportunity to see it and photograph it before it was given away. This is definitely one of my favourites, and I thought I would share it with everyone here as well:

When people ask me where I get my inspiration, the answer is often from art like this.

Film from New Years Eve

Don Komarechka — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:07:12 +0000

Who says film is dead? Actually, its close. Film is sitting on shelves for so long that it expires. I don’t let it go to waste though! I decided to shoot a few roles of expired film through my Canon EOS 1N camera on New Years, a nice way to greet the new year. In an era where cameras with 60MP sensors have a commercial price tag, I’ll ring in the new year with black & white film:

The film didn’t turn out too bad, though the colour roll was a little discoloured and difficult to correct. We had a great evening, tons of games, jokes, laughs and wonderful memories. Brent, Steve and Lorraine came to visit, and joined with Desi and I, Karryna and Kevin, and Mom and Walter. Great company, and a great evening even into the new year (and seconds before):

Check through the gallery and let me know what you think! Film certainly has a different feel than digital. I used a special scanning technique that does multiple exposures of the negatives. How do you think it turned out?

I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! I hope everyone achieves the goals they have set for themselves this year.

Happy New Year!

Don Komarechka — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:27:36 +0000

2008 definitely had its ups and downs, and was very memorable in many ways. This past year had much sadness, happiness, personal growth and new experiences for me. Let’s hope 2009 is even better!

Heres a group photo of everyone that celebrated the new year at our place. It was great to have so many friends all together!

And of course, we took the obligatory goofy pose picture as well.

I hope everyone had a great 2008! I’m looking forward to a lot of exciting things in 2009, from trips to finishing college and more. It’ll be a good year.

First car shoot, thanks Brent!

Don Komarechka — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:11:10 +0000

I had both yesterday and today off work, and yesterday evening a family friend, Brent came over to get some nice photos of his Mustang. We took a few on my street and then a few down by the local school (nice scenery). It was my first time intentionally photographing a vehicle of any kind, and I enjoyed it a lot. I took many shots and here is my favourite:

I took some time today and edited them all to my liking and printed Brent off a nice collage and framed it for him with the pictures below. He was very much impressed with it, and that justified the time and effort I put into it. Its a great feeling when friends and family appreciate the things you can do for them, so Brent, thanks for not only giving me experience but enjoying the fruits of my labour.

Oh, we also took a few of his dog, Max. Heres a good shot of that too: