Technology Tools
Here are some of the technology hardware and software tools that we currently use to record and produce our videos, photographs, interactive tours, and this website.
Drones
1. DJI Mavic 2s: This is our main drone for shooting aerial photos and videos. Its camera has a one-inch sensor that we use to capture images in JPG and RAW (NEF 5472 x 3648px, 20 MP High Dynamic Range). It shoots up to 5.4K video (5472 x 3078px) at 30 fps video resolution. Regulations require this drone to be registered with Transport Canada and be flown only by a licensed pilot.
2. DJI Mini 3 Pro: Because of its light weight (249 gm), this drone is not regulated. It has a 1/1.3 inch CMOS sensor with 12 MP effective pixels. The maximum image size is 4032 x 3024 pixels. The maximum video resolution is 4K (3840 x 2160px) at 24/25/30/48/50/60 fps.
Cameras
3. Nikon D850 DSLR (AF 24 – 120 mm lens): This is the newest addition to our photography tool chest. This camera enables us to capture very high-resolution images (45.5 MP, NEF 8256 x 5504 px in RAW format). The files will be suitable for creating larger museum-quality prints for displays. This camera has excellent low-light capabilities and very good color rendering.
4. Nikon D7200 DSLR (AF 18 – 140 mm lens): Our secondary photographic camera. It captures great images, including those shot in low light. This is useful when shooting the interiors of churches since no flash or other lighting is needed. Also, the zoom lens allows us to select the best field of view. We now shoot all images in JPG and RAW (NEF 6016 x 4016 px, 24.16MP, High Dynamic Range).
5. Canon XA50 4K video cameras: These are our main video cameras. We use them for livestreaming and recording weddings, baptisms, funerals, liturgies, interviews, etc. Their videos complement those produced by our drone cameras.
6. Video transmitters: We have two sets of Hollyland video transmitters that allow us to send video/audio signals from our Canon XA50 cameras to the Atem Mini Pro switcher (see below) for livestreaming or recording purposes.
Media Tools
7. Black Magic Atem Mini Pro ISO: This is a versatile video switcher capable to handling and recording up to 4 video cameras. We use it for livestreaming events, and recording video for post-production of funerals, weddings and baptisms.
8. RODECaster Pro Podcast Production Studio: An audio interface and mixer that can capture and record up to 4 different microphones. Can be fed directly into the Atem Mini pro to record quality audio for the video production.
9. Microphones: We have an assortment of wired and wireless microphones and stands to to capture and record professional-quality audio.
10. Lighting: Our inventory includes a variety of adjustable lighting equipment (battery and wired) along with stands to provide optimum lighting as required.
Software Tools
11. Joomla CMS: This is an open-source content management system (CMS), much like WordPress. We have developed dozens of websites using Joomla over the past 20 years. We are very comfortable and experienced in working with it. The Joomla community also has thousands of specialized plug-in components to address our specialized needs (e.g., Ignite Gallery).
12. Ignite Gallery: This is a Joomla plug-in photo/video gallery that we have installed to display the images on this website. It was selected because it has features such as: ease-of-use, expanded views, zoom in/out, and downloads of the images.
13. Davinci Resolve Studio 18: A professional video editing program from Black Magic Design. It has features that include basic video editing; color grading; audio editing, and publishing to many different video formats. This is a complex program that requires much learning to make full use of its capabilities. It also requires significant computer processing power to work efficiently.
14. Affinity Photo 2: An Adobe Photoshop clone, but much cheaper, and just as good. It does an excellent job in editing and processing RAW images and publishing them in all major formats. It has all the features to make our photos look better, but we particularly like the INPAINT component. This allows us to very easily remove items such as power poles and lines from our pictures.
15. Acoustica 7: This is our primary audio editing / processing program. It is easy to use and has all the necessary features to fix and/or enhance the audio we use in our videos. We use it mostly to prepare the various audio clips prior to importing them into Davinci Resolve.
16. Auphonic Leveler: This software, designed for radio broadcasting, is an excellent tool that makes it possible to have a consistent volume on your audio files. It also has some clean up functionality including a high-pass filter, and noise and hum reduction. It is especially useful when digitizing audio from other formats such as cassette tapes, LPs and CDs.
17. Amazon Polly: A neural speech-to-text program we use to create the narrations used in our videos. Computer generated voices have come a long way, and now are sounding much more natural. We have tried various other services (e.g., Talkia), but so far Polly has worked the best for us.
Hosting Services
18. Vimeo.com: We have a paid Vimeo Pro Plan where we upload and host our videos. We then link to our Vimeo account to access and play the videos on our website. Unlike YouTube, there are NO ads or other disruptions with Vimeo. The fees are affordable, and the storage limits are generous. Videos require a lot of storage disc space which would quickly overwhelm our dedicated server. Vimeo offers a cost-effective alternative, especially as we begin hosting 4K videos. Another benefit is that our videos can also be viewed on and downloaded directly from our Vimeo Channel.
19. YouTube.com: Yes, we also have set up a YouTube channel too. However, we expect to use it sparingly. YouTube recently changed their Terms of Use to allow them to place ads on any of your videos, anytime and anywhere they want. Embedding videos hosted on YouTube brings along all the ads and other distractions.
However, we did discover one benefit of YouTube. YT will let you know if any of your content infringes on someone else’s copyright. We were notified that several of the hymns we were using did infringe copyright. Fortunately, in all instances we were told that we could continue to use this music, BUT that any ad revenues would go to the copyright holder! We’re fine with that arrangement.
20. Web Hosting Canada (WHC): We lease a high-end, dedicated and fully managed server located in Quebec, Canada. Currently we host 12 websites for ourselves and various clients. All websites are backed up off-site daily.
Video Production
The videos were created from photographs shot by our DJI Mavic 2s drone and our Nikon D850 camera. The RAW photographs were processed using Affinity Photo to make color corrections; remove power poles and lines; and make other enhancements. The images were exported to a JPG format at 300 dpi and at a height of 1080 px. These photos were then imported into Davinci Resolve to make the videos. Dynamic zooming was implemented to give the motion effect. The audio tracks were added and synchronized to the photo images. The final videos were published in a MP4 1920 x 1080(HD) format and uploaded to Vimeo.
Technology Expertise and Experience
Some of the other websites that we have developed and/or host include the following.
- St. Anthony Ukrainian Orthodox Parish in Edmonton, Alberta
- St. Anthony's Store in Edmonton, Alberta
- St. Stephen Cemetery in Edmonton, Alberta
- Learning Nurse Resource Network – a nursing education site used by 250,000 nurses and students from around the world.
- Steppingstones Partnership, Inc. – our corporate website describing who we are and what we do.
Terms of Use
The photographs, videos and other materials that we have created for this Pioneer Churches on the Prairies website are copyrighted and remain the property of Steppingstones Partnership Inc. and Russell Sawchuk. However, in the interests of sharing this content, and ensuring it is preserved for future generations to enjoy, we are making our content freely available with minimum restrictions.
Permitted Uses
1. You are permitted to download, copy, edit, reproduce and use any and all of our images, photographs and videos for your personal use and enjoyment.
2. Parishes, dioceses, religious organizations, museums, archives, universities, media and other non-profit organizations are permitted download, copy, edit, reproduce, republish and use any and all of our materials in any manner they wish.
3. Our images and content may be used in websites, social media, books and publications, newsletters, newspapers, magazines, presentations and other information distribution and sharing channels. We would appreciate if you would provide appropriate acknowledgements and attributions.
Prohibited Uses
1. You are NOT permitted to charge a fee or make money from our images or content posted on the Pioneer Churches on the Prairies website.
2. You are NOT permitted to make copies of our images and content for the purpose of redistribution, sale, rental or lease to other organizations or groups.
These Terms of Use apply ONLY to the photographs, videos and other content that we have produced for this website. We have links to, and have used resources from, other sources. Please respect their copyrights and request permission for their use.
We have made it easy to download the photographs and videos. This includes edited and unedited RAW image files. Download links are provided as appropriate.
Limitation of Liability
This website and the information, images and videos are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind, whether expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement.
Any material downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of this website is done at your own risk and discretion. You expressly understand and agree that in no event shall Steppingstones / Pioneer Churches on the Prairies, its affiliates, contractors or their respective employees or agents, be liable for any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence (tort) or any other cause of action or theory of recovery whatsoever, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of this website, including without limitation, liability for any special, indirect or consequential damages resulting from loss of use, data or profits or otherwise, even if Steppingstones has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
If you have any questions or require clarification regarding the use of this website or our images and content, please Contact Us.
Our Purpose
We have several reasons for the preparation of the materials, development and hosting of this Pioneer Churches on the Prairies website.
Virtual tour: We want to provide a convenient way for people to take an enhanced media tour of these historic parishes and their cemeteries. Interested parties may include persons who grew up and were part of these parishes many years ago, but due to constraints are no longer able to visit them.
Other interested people would include the thousands of descendants of the families that originally settled in these regions and were the foundational success of what Alberta and Canada has become. The virtual tours can provide a convenient way to visit the graves of their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, siblings and other relatives to reminisce and pay their respects.
And finally, the virtual tours can provide information about the people that settled the region, and the hardships they endured to give us the quality of life and traditions that we still can enjoy today.
Historical record: It is no secret that these historic churches face many challenges to survive. Thousands of small rural parishes have already closed due to the lack of members and financial support. Given the technological tools we have today, we wanted to make high-quality media records of these churches so that people in the future will be able to appreciate their ancestors of the past.
To ensure that these records are preserved, we are making all of our photographs, videos and other content freely available to the parishes, museums, archives and any other interested institutions and organizations. (See Terms of Use).
Learning Centre: Technology and the pandemic are drastically changing how we interact with the world. Therefore, one purpose for this website is to explore, experiment, assess, test and evaluate different approaches to the application of technology to virtual tours and media-rich preservation of our memories of the past. We will gladly share our knowledge, lessons learned, and technology expertise with others interested in similar endeavors. Throughout this website, we have added notes about our experiences and lessons learned.
Our initial project is focused on about 100 parishes, mostly located northeast of Edmonton, where much of the early settlement took place in the late 1890's and early 1900's. We also selected churches that were still operational, and where some easily accessible historical information is available. We may eventually expand to other churches, as time and resources permit.
Potential Outcomes and Deliverables
In discussions and consultations with the parishes, dioceses and potential users of the photographs, videos and related materials, here are some of the potential activities and deliverables that may result from this initiative.
1. High-resolution drone and camera digital photographs and videos of the historic church buildings and property.
2. High-resolution drone and camera digital photographs and videos of the cemeteries associated with these historic churches.
3. High-resolution digital photographs and videos of the interiors of the historic churches and associated halls.
4. Compilation of historical information about each of the parishes. This could include the information on the website, and/or links to other websites.
5. Identification of, and access to, appropriate audio and musical (divine liturgy) resources that can be used in the videos and media productions.
6. A separate video / photo documentary featuring the bell towers found in these historic churches. One possible extension would be to record audio of the actual sounds made by each of the bells.
7. Professional quality video interviews with selected people to record their memories and recollections of the various parishes.
8. If appropriate, add several photographs to Google Maps for those churches already identified therein.
We invite, and will consider, other ideas and suggestions from parishes and stakeholders. We want to work jointly to ensure that as many of our and your objectives as possible are achieved.
About Us
My grandparents – Sam and Theodora Sawchuk – came to Canada in 1908. They settled on their 160-acre homestead located approximately 5 km south of the Village of Arran in northeastern Saskatchewan, near the Manitoba boundary. Fortunately for them, Theodora’s sister and her husband (Joseph and Julianna Pasieka) had arrived a couple of years earlier and had already built a house. Sam and Theodora had a place to stay as they built their own house and farm buildings.
Earlier in 1898, the Doukhobors had established the village of Kaminka (Stony) nearby. This village made survival much easier. They were able to loan equipment and offered help to the newly immigrated Ukrainians. Kaminka was eventually abandoned after Saskatchewan became a province in 1905. Many Doukhobors moved to new colonies in British Columbia. Some took advantage of the government’s offer and took title to their own farms and became part of the community.
Sam and Theodora raised 10 children. My father (Prokop) took over the homestead in the early 1950’s, after his parents moved to Arran to retire. Born shortly after WWII ended, I had the privilege of growing up on the original homestead. I attended a one-room school (Pasieka) for the first few years before it was closed, and we were bused to Arran.
The 1950’s were the golden age for rural parishes. They were vibrant and with unending religious and social events. There seemed to be a wedding almost every weekend in the summer. The two church halls in town (Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic) were constantly busy with events such as after-church dinners, dances, concerts, fall suppers, card nights, bingos, meetings and even an occasional movie night. My grandfather was one of the founding members of the Arran Ukrainian Orthodox parish in the 1930’s. (See attached photograph).
By the time I left home in the mid 1960’s, the decline in the rural communities was well underway. Local stores and services in town were closing. Church membership and activities declined as well. This trend has continued with many of the smaller parishes now closed, or about to close, because all of the remaining members have passed on.
My purpose in setting up this website is to record, preserve and display as many of these vanishing churches as I can. I know that many others have taken photographs of these churches. However, these images are not always easily available or accessible to the general public.
Also, because of my expertise with advanced digital technologies, I am planning to capture memories of these churches using regular photographs, HD videos and aerial drone videos. I am willing to freely share my church images with other collectors and institutions.
All of the photographs / videos displayed on this website were taken by me, unless otherwise noted. This is a private website and has no affiliation with any religious or academic institution. All opinions expressed herein are strictly my own.
Please contact me if you want copies of the images or wish to contribute content to this website. Thank you.
Russell Sawchuk
Edmonton Canada
February 2023
E-mail: russ [at] steppingstones.ca
Telephone: 1.800.267.9997 (Toll-free CA & USA)
Financial support generously provided by: 