Posts
HUMP DAY
2 days ago
Saturday, July 31, 2021
The orange machine heads west
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| Ironically, there was no water to be had Komoka, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Which is as it should be.
#ldnont #london #komoka #middlesex #centre #ontario #canada #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #orange #devinci #hatchet #gravelbike #random #roadside #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded
Little Man is now legal. Everywhere.
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| Too fast London, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Time flies for him because he packs so much into what he’s been given. Up early and out the door before the sun is up, he fills every day with hard work and stories of who he’s touched along the way.
The coming year will surely bring new opportunities and adventures, and all because he’s never been content to sit around and wait for the world to come to him.
Happy birthday to our no-longer-so-little man. We love you limitlessly and can’t wait to see what you do next.
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #parenthood #birthday #boy #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Friday, July 30, 2021
Same building, again, painted by the sun
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| That friendly glow Stratford, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
But you have to stand just so to see it. Otherwise, it’s just another relic nearly lost to time, another forgettable piece of barely qualified architecture, easily ignored by all who pass by.
There’s a lesson here. That how a thing - a building, an anything, an anyone - looks depends almost entirely on where we stand, on what lens we choose to look through, on how we feel at that particular moment.
There are no absolutes here. Two people can stand next to each other and absorb whatever is in front of them in radically different ways. Or the same person can come back another day, and tell an entirely different story. Or maybe just blink and feel the same scene in a new manner.
The universe paints us all in different ways - just as it paints this old structure in countless tones that can’t be predicted before we open our eyes to take in the show.
Which is why I resolve to return here another time. To tell another story, perhaps. Or to remind myself, again, that we owe it to ourselves - and to each other - to look at inanimate objects and people alike from more than one perspective.
#stratford #ontario #canada #landscape #concrete #glass #building #architecture #architecturephotography #design #buildingporn #architectureporn #ruinporn #streetphotography #urban #street #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Related:
Old building in the fading sun, July 2021
Stratford test shot, July 2021
Same building, now in monochrome, July 2021
Reflecting on life by the still water, May 2020
Staring across the still water, May 2020
Almost vanished history, November 2012
Thematic Photographic 209 - From behind, August 2012
Same building, now in monochrome
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| Weathered corner Stratford, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Funny how that works, no?
(Keep your eye on this feed. I've got more on the way.)
#stratford #ontario #canada #landscape #concrete #glass #building #architecture #architecturephotography #design #buildingporn #architectureporn #ruinporn #streetphotography #urban #street #monochrome #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Related:
Stratford test shot, July 2021
Old building in the fading sun, July 2021
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Stratford test shot
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| Angles and reflections Stratford, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Some background: whenever I take pictures with the camera-camera - aka the real camera, my Nikon, the one I shlep around in a giant bag over my shoulder that annoys the daylights out of strangers I bump into at the supermarket - I also tote along my smartphone.
Clarification: my smartphone goes everywhere with me regardless, but when I'm shooting for reals, I like to use its built-in camera as a bit of a backup.
Not that my tiny iPhone with the tiny lens and tiny sensor will outshoot the Nikon. But it's 2021, and any smartphone camera is now generally good enough to capture good enough results that hold their own in a feed.
Good enough. Let's remember those two words.
Having the phone in my pocket has changed my photography. It helps me think through a scene differently, as it lets me take a quick shot or three just to feel out the composition and get my head in the game before I pull out the bigger piece of glass.
I often scan the results to further refine how I'll shoot it with the bigger machine, maybe tweak the settings or otherwise try something different.
Shooting on the phone also gives me more options if I decide to share something directly to social media - because a bizarro roadside photo sesh needs to be shared.
Sometimes, a test shot jumps right out. And it pulls you even more profoundly into the moment where you want to use every photographic tool at your disposal - in your pocket, in your hand, over your shoulder, wherever - to paint the most thorough picture possible of what it feels like to be there.
Which brings me to this one, a hastily composed angled shot of that lovely old concrete building on the edge of Stratford. The one that helped me discover how this building needed to have its story told. At least this time.
Sometimes all it takes is having the right tool in your hand.
#stratford #ontario #canada #landscape #concrete #glass #building #architecture #architecturephotography #design #buildingporn #architectureporn #ruinporn #streetphotography #urban #street #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Related:
Old building in the fading sun, July 2021
Reflecting on life by the still water, May 2020
Staring across the still water, May 2020
Almost vanished history, November 2012
Thematic Photographic 209 - From behind, August 2012
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
#IfYouReadOneThingToday - On mothers and daughters
This piece qualifies in spades. It initially presents itself as a single mother's ode to her daughter's graduation experience amid the pandemic, but it's so much more than just that.
Anyone who's parented a child will feel this piece. And even if you haven't, there should be more than enough here to move you.
By Jill Talbot
Longreads
June 2021
Numbers, farms, and perspectives
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| Now don't get lost... Ilderton, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
I thought the farm with the pretty little red outbuilding deserved more than a single photo. So I wandered around the ditch and tried to shoot it from a few different perspectives.
These address numbers on the hydro pole beside the road intrigued me, for some reason. You don’t see them much within the city limits, but they seem to be everywhere in farm country.
They feel like a relic from another age, a signature of a time that no longer exists, but they offer up tantalizing glimpses here and there for anyone who bothers to take a closer look. They also make a perfect frame for this quietly reverent place in the shadows of the still-growing corn stalks.
I wonder what other fresh perspectives I’ll find on my next ride into the countryside.
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #middlesex #county #farm #red #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #health #everything
Related:
The things we see in farm country, July 2021
Bright lights among the stalks, July 2021
Riding my bike to see the corn, July 2021
Different cows in a different place, July 2021
Follow the tracks home, June 2021
Follow the tracks home - part 2, June 2021
When cows become cyclists. Next Geraldo. June 2021
Today was a day... June 2021
Golden hour by the side of the road, June 2021
Hanging out with the cows, June 2021
Early morning rides through the countryside, June 2021
Cycling from pink to orange, June 2021
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
The things we see in farm country
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| Someone likes red Ilderton, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
You can see some lovely scenes out in farm country. This particular one spoke to me as I pedalled past on a humid afternoon, so I just had to pull over.
And while stopping here and there to take in places like this - and maybe snap a photo or eight - doesn't do much to boost the workout data, it sure does wonders for the soul.
Which is my way of saying I probably won't be bringing home any Strava, Garmin, or Apple Fitness virtual trophies anytime soon. Somehow, I'll deal.
Besides, some rewards may be less tangible than others, but are no less worthy. I'm not much for trophies, anyway.
So if you see some guy parking an orange machine in the grass so he can take strange photos along the way, that would be me.
Maybe I'll see you out there.
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #middlesex #county #farm #red #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #health #everything
Related:
Standing in the very middle of the country, July 2022
Monday, July 26, 2021
They abandon horses here, too
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| Ride on forever London, ON April 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Exhibit A: a wooden rocking horse that may or may not have taken its last ride. The dog and I recently came across this sad sight on our final walk of the night. Its positioning was odd: on a shadowy corner nowhere near anyone’s home, as if it was dropped off by someone who didn’t want anyone to know it was there.
There’s an entire sub-economy in London of folks who scour the streets before garbage/recycling day in search of anything remotely sellable. If you’re up late - or early - enough, you’ll hear their pickups, or bikes, or shopping carts, all rattling through the night.
I hope one of them picked up this forgotten piece of history. It wasn’t there the next morning, and I’d like to think it somehow escaped a one-way trip to the landfill.
Come to think of it, I seem to hope a lot of things as I wander through the night with my trusty little friend. Hope, for a beloved-but-forgotten old toy, or for anything else, really, seems like the right thing to hold onto these days.
Neigh.
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #walkabout #streetphotography #horse #stilllife #night #photography #apple #iPhone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Sunday, July 25, 2021
Ominous sign at the garden centre
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| This way London, ON July 2020 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
This may sound like a silly question, but should I be kneeling before this sign?
Sorry...couldn't help myself.
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #random #urban #store #retail #building #lowes #sod #kneelbeforesod #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Once upon a time at Pearson
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| Parked on a rainy morning Toronto, ON November 2018 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Once upon a time, we flew places.
Once upon a time, I’d leave extra time in airports so I could snag some photos along the way.
Once upon a time, the journey was almost as important as the destination. If not more so.
Once upon a time, flying somewhere felt more like an adventure than a chore.
Once upon a time, we relished togetherness, and didn’t fear it.
Once upon a time, planes like these spent their lives in the sky, not parked in deserts.
Once upon a time, words like COVID, delta variant, and positivity rate meant nothing to most of us.
Once upon a time, we had no idea what lay ahead.
Then again, do we ever really know what lies ahead?
#toronto #yyz #pearson #international #airport #ontario #canada #throwback #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #aircanada #flight #flying #aviation #reflection #avgeek #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #instagood #photooftheday #nofilter #nofilterneeded
Saturday, July 24, 2021
Baywatch North
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| A great day for a swim Grand Bend, ON July 2019 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Make that two someones, trusted guardians of the beach whose sole responsibility is to keep us safe, often despite ourselves.
We owe them our gratitude. Or at least a wave, a nod, a smile as we walk past.
Because of them, today remains an uneventful day at the beach.
Because of them, today will turn into tomorrow.
#grand #bend #grandbend #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #throwback #lifeguards #summer #nature #waves #water #weather #wx #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins
Big old rail bridge over my head
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| Heavy metal and sky London, ON April 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Some nights, you can hear the long freight trains rolling along the track way out in the countryside, the winds carrying the mournful sounds of steel rolling on steel further than you might imagine.
And while many Londoners may bristle at the occasional unscheduled traffic jam while a train makes its way through a level crossing, the rest of us are happy with the spontaneous break from reality, the opportunity to turn the car off for a bit and take in the spectacle.
Alternatively, the landscape is dotted with countless bridges and related rail infrastructure. And they all have a story to tell, if only we take the time to listen.
So on a brilliantly sunny afternoon, I took the time to listen. And to watch.
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #oxford #street #rail #railroad #train #bridge #steel #engineering #history #tvp #thames #river #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Related:
Thematic Photographic 359 - Parallel, December 2015
Railroaded, December 2012
Thematic Photographic 42 - Drab, March 2009
Wrong side of the tracks, November 2006
Friday, July 23, 2021
Bright lights among the stalks
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| Colors in the late afternoon sun London, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
I’m under no illusions that bright flashing LED lights front and rear will magically protect me from cars passing so closely at triple-digit speeds that I can feel the air pressure as they approach.
But in a world where even little things could make just enough of a difference between a near-miss and a really bad day, I figure it’s worth a shot.
So whenever I hit the road, I’m lit up like a Christmas tree, I use a mirror, I dingle my bell, and I wear a helmet and bright-coloured clothes.
Again, no guarantee, but it makes me feel better. Which is why I pedal to places like this in the first place.
#london #ontario #canada #farm #corn #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #orange #devinci #hatchet #gravelbike #wonderland #road #abstract #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded
One last flash of light
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| Reaching across the waves Grand Bend, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
But not to worry, as she'll return tomorrow to cast her light upon the waters - and on us.
#grand #bend #grandbend #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #sun #sunset #summer #nature #waves #water #landscape #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Thursday, July 22, 2021
#IfYouReadOneThingToday - OnThatEricAlper
He's figured out the Twitter thing, using the platform to create engagement around his beloved industry and the artists who create the magic both in and between our ears.
I was tickled when I saw this piece in Billboard, and I suspect you will be, as well, when you read it.
Enjoy.
By Zach Schonfeld
Billboard
June 28, 2021
Smoky sun redux
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| Smudged London, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
But that's only because a cold front moved through the region. The fires themselves still burn far away. The planet isn't any better off than it was the moment I took this photo.
For the record, London's city council declared a climate emergency 23 months ago. As far as I can tell, plans to widen one of the city's main north-south arterial corridors - Wonderland Road - from four lanes to six remain on the books. It will likely be the most expensive roadworks project in the city's history. Some emergency.
Anyway, I offloaded the photos off my Nikon, and this is what the sun looked like before thunderstorms cleared the air. So the sun no longer looks like this. From here, anyway. It's a different story elsewhere.
But the traffic engineers say we'll be able to get home 90 seconds faster once the road is widened.
In our cars.
Some emergency.
I'll keep the camera close by, because I suspect smokey skies - and far worse - will be a normal thing going forward.
These are photos I wish I never had to take. Yet I feel I have to.
#london #ontario #canada #sunset #blood #red #sky #fire #clouds #light #pollution #climatechange #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Wednesday, July 21, 2021
10 years after Shuttle
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| What once was Merritt Island, FL December 2019 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Her flight marked the end of the 30-year shuttle program, and the beginning of a nine-year drought before American astronauts would once again reach orbit aboard an American vehicle.
We caught up with her 18 months ago at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and I came [this] close to never wanting to leave the place.
There were so many reasons why the shuttle program had to end - its glaring safety issues and enormous cost prime among them - but standing in the hushed hall where she now rests, it was easy to see why these vehicles were such wonders of their time, and why so many of the technologies we take for granted today can trace their roots to this miraculous-yet-star-crossed program.
We'll never again witness the sheer spectacle of a shuttle launch, or the bonkers experience of a dead stick return to the Shuttle Landing Facility.
But just a few miles away from where I took this shot, next-generation rockets now launch people to the heavens. And some of them return safely to landing pads nearby, putting on their own kind of bonkers display in the process. Eventually, new winged craft will glide to landings on the SLF. Meanwhile, entirely new megarockets like NASA's Space Launch System and SpaceX's Super Heavy/Starship take their first tentative steps toward destinations Atlantis could have only dreamed of.
I remember the words of launch commentator George Diller when Atlantis launched for the final time: "...on the shoulders of the space shuttle, America will continue the dream."
It's taken a few years of dreaming, but we now reap the rewards of everything the shuttles and the thousands of dedicated people who flew and cared for them planted all those years ago.
Because some dreams take longer to come true than others. But the wait is always worth it.
#kennedy #space #center #ksc #kennedyspacecenter #florida #fla #throwback #spaceshuttle #shuttle #atlantis #ov104 #sts135 #sts #rocket #science #aviation #avgeek #spaceflight #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #zoom #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Space Math: Gagarin+60+Columbia+40, April 12, 2021
Gear down and locked, March 26, 2021
Remembering Columbia - 21 years later, February 1, 2021
Staring at the belly of the beast, January 2, 2021
Atlantis in the abstract, October 31, 2020
Crew-1 takes flight, November 15, 2020
Staring Atlantis in the nose, August 23, 2020
Watching rockets fly from afar, May 26, 2020
Looking at rockets across the water, March 1, 2020
Where Atlantis feels the heat, February 27, 2020
Old orbiter. New code. February 16, 2020
Looking through Columbia's windows, February 1, 2020
Saying thanks to the Challenger crew, January 29, 2020
Rocket science, up close, January 27, 2020
Face-to-face with Space Shuttle Atlantis, January 10, 2020
The Shuttle Era ends, July 21, 2011
Atlantis comes down for good, July 20, 2020
Shuttle era + 25, April 2006
NASA Resources:
10 Years Ago: STS-135, the Space Shuttle’s Grand Finale, July 8. 2021
STS-135: The Final Voyage, July 27. 2011
The final waves of the day
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| The softest water of all Grand Bend, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
I just like saying the word.
Say it with me: frothy.
And they say language isn't magical.
#grand #bend #grandbend #ldnont #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #sun #sunset #summer #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
Napping Schnu
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| And dream of sheep London, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
I'd like to imagine it's a happy place, free of the kinds of everyday worries that seem to dog (sorry) the humans around her.
I'd like to imagine she dreams as happily about us as we dream about her.
Such is life when you're a sleeping dog in the middle of a family who loves you to the moon and back.
Such is the kind of life we wish everyone - animal, human, or other - could claim as their own.
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #sleeping #dog #dogs #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Related:
When puppies sleep, June 2021
Every day is National Puppy Day, March 2021
Dogs > bean counters, February 2021
Dog under the radar, November 2020
The joy of sleep, July 2020
One tired puppy, March 2020
10 years to the dog-day, March 2017
Monday, July 19, 2021
A picture of a picture of a smoky sun
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| Those aren't clouds London, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
I'm so shaken by what I'm seeing - amid an Environment Canada special air quality statement that warns of dangerous levels of soot and gasses in the atmosphere - that I'm not even bothering to process my images off of my camera-camera before sharing it here, So you'll have to content yourself with a fast-grab of the photo on the Nikon's screen, taken from my smartphone.
I may as well be looking at Venus, which seems fitting given the otherworldliness of the spectacle that now hangs, literally, over our heads.
They say climate change is a myth.
Whoever "they" are, they're wrong.
They should stand here in my backyard and watch our nearest star get blotted out by smoke from fires burning upward of 2,000 km away from here.
They should stand amid ruined villages in Europe, decimated by so-called hundred-year floods that now occur at far shorter intervals.
They should stand on a beach near Vancouver, B.C. and smell the shellfish spontaneously cooking on the burning sand.
Those who deny the science, who pretend it's all hype, who ignore the on-the-ground impact, deserve no audience.
The thing is, in denial or not, we all did this. And no one, planetary defender or climate change denier alike, can afford to stand idly by and allow it to continue to happen.
Which begs the question: at what point do we stand up and say, "Enough"?
#london #ontario #canada #sunset #blood #red #sky #fire #clouds #light #pollution #climatechange #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Playing in the fresh water surf
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| Reflecting the last of the day's sun Grand Bend, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
And by “playing in the water,” I mean standing in some lake or ocean or river, where the waves lap up against the shore, feeling the water wash over my ankles as I take random pictures of the action. The hope is at least one photo will be good enough to have made the entire silly exercise worthwhile.
As you might imagine, there isn’t a whole lot of planning. Which, I think, is why I enjoy it so much.
Because as the chaotic water world froths around me, I’m not thinking about anything else. It’s just me, water, wind, and a camera. I can feel the sand and stones on my feet, hear the screaming birds somewhere behind me, see the fleeting, shifting reflections of the sun off the roiled surface of the water.
It’s as close to a meditative state as a photographer can get.
Out here, I’m connected to nothing except my imagination. If anyone’s pinging me in email or SMS or Messenger or Teams, it’ll wait. Whatever thoughts and worries I may have carried into the water are long since forgotten as I focus in on the seemingly simple - but really not - world of collapsing waves and rogue reflections.
Because when you’re trying to paint pictures of forces that would rather remain intangible, there isn’t a whole lot of room for distraction.
On reflection, maybe my problem isn’t that I’m spending too much time playing in the water. Maybe I’m not spending enough.
I’ll have to work on that.
#grand #bend #grandbend #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #sun #sunset #summer #nature #waves #water #landscape #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Sunday, July 18, 2021
Riding my bike to see the corn
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| Everything looks better through spokes Middlesex Centre, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Come to think of it, they grow corn everywhere in the rich agricultural hinterlands that surround this town.
And watching the stalks grow from nothing to Field of Dreams-tall has become an almost subconscious pastime for us, a comforting reminder that real food comes from the ground, not the frozen foods aisle at the grocery store.
I often point the bike past the edge of the city because cycling through the countryside has become something of an escape from the real world, a temporary form of catharsis where it's just you, the bike, and the basic physics of riding the white painted line while cars whip past your left shoulder at triple-digit speeds.
It's less frightening than it sounds. And for a little while, anyway, the rest of the world can wait while you take in the spectacle of something being created from nothing.
In the end all I did on this glorious afternoon was park my bike so I could stare at corn for a few minutes. Yet something keeps telling me simple moments like this are a lot more important to our souls than we might have thought.
Which is my way of saying there’s more corn and bikes and weird roadside musings in my - and by extension your - future.
#london #ontario #canada #farm #corn #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #orange #devinci #hatchet #gravelbike #wonderland #road #abstract #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded
Still-life in a Montreal hotel room
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| Everything in its place Montreal, QC June 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
It keeps me out of trouble when I’m away from home - at least that’s the excuse I like to use.
So here’s another one from a hotel that had opened a week before we got here, and was as pristine as it was ever going to be. We’re reasonably sure we were the first guests to have ever stayed in this particular room, so of course some still life photos were called for.
This particular photo may be a simple capture of an unremarkable bed in a generic hotel. But it’s part of a storyline that’s been playing out in my decidedly non-linear life for years.
And if I have anything to do with it, it’ll continue to unravel for years to come.
#montreal #quebec #canada #hilton #hotel #design #furniture #bed #stilllife #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Saturday, July 17, 2021
Sailing to the horizon
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| Wind power Grand Bend, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Perspective is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
Safe journey, whoever you may be, and wherever you may be headed.
#grand #bend #grandbend #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #sun #sunset #summer #nature #waves #water #sail #sailing #boat #sailboat #landscape #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins
Old building in the fading sun
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| Never lose the light Stratford, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
It's a single storey of concrete block, weather-worn white paint, cracked windows, splintered wood, and weeds growing out of the foundation. Most folks would ignore it as a decaying example of architecture that was never worth a second look in the first place.
But I'm not most folks, and I think it's beyond glorious.
We've driven by here any number of times over the years, and a little switch in the back of my mind trips itself every time we do. I've made countless mental notes to pull over and shoot some pics, but over the years I just haven't.
There's always a reason that seems valid in the moment: a car full of tired kids, weather, a ticking clock, or I'm just not feeling it.
Wednesday evening was different. I was alone. There was no deadline at the other end of the drive. And I had remembered to bring my camera-camera along for the ride. So I circled the block, parked the car, and wandered on over for a closer look.
The EXIF data says I was there for 9 minutes, and I fought the fading light for every one of them. But that old building seemed to make the most of that fading light - almost as if it was encouraging me to work fast to uncover its secrets.
In the end, I think I brought some workable images home. But most importantly, I had finally taken the time to take a closer look.
And as I got back on the road and headed into the countryside toward home, I wondered why I had waited so long to do so.
#stratford #ontario #canada #landscape #concrete #glass #building #architecture #architecturephotography #design #buildingporn #architectureporn #ruinporn #streetphotography #urban #street #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Friday, July 16, 2021
Please don't drink this beer
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| Glass one-third full Toronto, ON August 2019 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
But there's always a flip side to the darkness, and at the back of a bustling all-you-can-play arcade long before anyone even knew what COVID was, this forlorn and fingerprint-covered glass of likely-warm beer offered up a quick photographic still-life session. Who was I to say no?
Unlike an actual photographic still-life session, however, there were no tripods, lighting tricks, or hours-long debates with myself over composition and tone. Just me, a smartphone, and a half-baked idea that this moment deserved to have its story told somehow.
They never taught me this kind of storytelling in photojournalism class at j-school. Maybe I was absent that day.
#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #throwback #pinball #game #gaming #arcade #glass #drink #reflective #stilllife #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Unicorns are totally real
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| Signs in the waves Grand Bend, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
On the plus side, you prove once and for all that unicorns exist. Go ahead, take a closer look. There are also other fun little surprises in there, because every mistake should spawn a little bit of magic.
There is no down side. Any memory from the edge of the planet, where land gives way to water, is worth holding onto. Even if it’s a slightly blurry one.
#grand #bend #grandbend #ldnont #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #sun #sunset #summer #nature #bird #birds #gull #flight #landscape #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
An inaccessible alley
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| The chains that bind us Toronto, ON August 2019 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #throwback #urban #street #streetphotography #metal #metallica #monochrome #photography #dundas #west #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Waiting for the train to cross
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| Patience London, ON July 2019 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
May it still be a thing long after cars cease to be a thing.
But not at this particular crossing*, because they're building an underpass here now.
Because cars gotta dominate.
* The project to eliminate the Adelaide and Central crossing by digging Adelaide under the tracks will cost $58.3 million. That would buy a lot of mental health services and protected bike paths, but I suspect no one in this burg wants to hear it.
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #walkabout #urban #central #adelaide #street #photography #road #traffic #zoom #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Related:
Standing on the corner, April 2021
Where I almost get beaten up for the shot, July 2019
The silver bullet pulls out, July 2018
1154 Adelaide Street North, January 2018
Wrong side of the tracks, November 2006
Monday, July 12, 2021
#IfYouReadOneThingToday - On Sailing
So I've been deliberately seeking out long-reads that shine a decidedly different kind of light - namely on people who have decided to not take things as seriously as others.
Of course, when it involves personal safety in the middle of large bodies of water, perhaps a little more seriousness might be called for. But this is a great read, anyway, and I hope it makes you smile - and think - as it did me.
Of anniversaries, beaches, and memories
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| Where the waves never stop Grand Bend, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
There's no rhyme or reason to it. The beach has always been a resonant place for us, what my wife likes to call her happy place, where we can sit with our feet in the sand and feel the winds blow in off the water.
This year's beach destination was Grand Bend, and our daughter joined us for the ride. Cameras were, of course, slung over shoulders, and Dahlia and I spent some quality time beside the water trying to make some memories in pixels as the sun slowly settled into the water.
For the record, she's a freakishly gifted photographer, and her pixels are way better than mine. Which delights me to no end.
As I watched her pick her compositions and work through the process, I thought about why we were here, how the day we got married we were still years away from becoming parents.
It struck me as neat that all these years later, we celebrated a day that happened years before our kids came along. Yet given how history works, it was another step toward our family (eventually) becoming whole.
The connection to that singular day was hard to ignore as the wind-whipped waves crashed over our ankles.
Eventually we finished shooting and tucked the cameras away, images of waves now lost to the depths of Lake Huron tucked safely on their memory cards.
If only life itself could be so neatly captured, stored, and remembered.
If only pixels were just a little more tangible.
If only we had more nights like this, with the people who appreciate it most, to make memories as vivid as the ones we now hold not only in our photo albums, but in our hearts and minds.
#grand #bend #grandbend #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #sun #sunset #summer #nature #waves #water #landscape #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Related:
After the last train..., July 2020
Water frozen in time, July 2018
Rainbows in the sky, July 2014
Multiple exposure? July 2006
Geometry at the beach, July 2005
Sunday, July 11, 2021
#Unity22 touches space
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| Homeward bound Truth or Consequences, NM July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
I wonder how many dreams were planted in kids watching the #Unity22 mission today, how many future wonders got their first spark of inspiration from what Sir @richardbranson and his #VirginGalactic team pulled off in the skies over New Mexico.
Probably more than we can count.
Which is why this humanity thing, despite it all, remains such a remarkable ride.
Per aspera ad astra.
Grocery checkout still-life
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| Nothing to scan London, ON May 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #loblaws #supermarket #grocery #store #checkout #aisle #conveyor #shopping #retail #random #stilllife #everyday #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Saturday, July 10, 2021
Sailing boat. Sailing bird.
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| Modes of transportation Grand Bend, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
#grand #bend #grandbend #ldnont #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #sun #sunset #summer #nature #bird #birds #gull #flight #landscape #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Where clouds (hopefully) bring better days
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| Someone painted the sky London, ON July 2020 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Nothing some rest, hydration, fam time, and dog time won't eventually resolve.
Until then, I'm thumbing through some of my fave photos, like this one where the sky magically painted itself just as we were out with the dog. Coincidence?
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #sunset #blue #sky #clouds #light #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Friday, July 09, 2021
Flattened by Moderna
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| Too tired to care London, ON June 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
But if I were given another go-around of this vaccine process, I'd step forward again in a heartbeat for both doses. It's what folks do to look out for others.
Since I'm not much up for anything - even, gasp, proper hashtags - you'll have to settle for this utterly boring photo of Calli doing what she does best.
Because dogs make everyone feel better, right?
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #covid #covid19 #vaccine #doubledosed #calli #schnauzer #dog
Zero bandwidth at the beach
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| As far as the eye can see Grand Bend, ON July 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Things could be worse, right?
#grand #bend #grandbend #ldnont #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #sun #sunset #summer #nature #bird #birds #gull #flight #landscape #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Thursday, July 08, 2021
Perspective in a hockey still-life
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| Let's play Toronto, ON August 2019 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
This may sound like heresy coming from someone born in Montreal, but I'm not much of a hockey fan. Come to think of it, most professional sports leave me somewhat cold.
Perhaps I should clarify: I grew up as a hard core Habs fan. I love the spectacle of the game. Any game, really. And I'll happily spend the day with my fam rooting for whatever team happens to be playing. Some of our best memories have played out in ballyards, stadiums, and arenas, and I can't wait to get back to the stands.
What I can't wrap myself around is the sports-as-religion mantra adopted by some. Life doesn't stop for me because my favorite team loses. I don't cry if we're eliminated. I don't believe any of this can be remotely tragic. The world has enough real tragedy as it is.
Likewise, winning is always awesome, but it doesn't define me. I don't feel validated when "my" team wins, nor do I feel betrayed when they don't. It's a game where success is determined by whoever gets the most round pieces of rubber in a net. With that simple construct in mind, the numbers at the end of it matter far less than some folks would like to believe.
Sport is a business, not an exercise in unfettered fan loyalty, and I cringe when some particularly bonkers fan comments show up in my feed.
Still, it's hellishly fun to watch. There's an artistry, a lore, a spirit, a community to the game of hockey, and to all games, that can only be appreciated by watching gifted players play.
And if you're not gifted enough to have made the big leagues, there's always a home-brewed game of tabletop hockey to scratch your itch.
As long as you lose the match against your best friend with a smile on your face.
#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #throwback #hhof #hockey #hockeyhalloffame #sports #stilllife #photography #history #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Related:
Hockey Night in Canada, Again, January 2021
No fans here, January 2021
Hockey night in London, February 2020
Watching big boys play games, July 2014
Talk radio silenced: Remembering Ted Tevan, August 2011
Please take your seats, August 2007
Where Carmi gets told off by a mascot, April 2007
In the shadow of champions, February 2007
Ballfield geometry, June 2006
Play ball, thirstily, June 2006
The stupidity of sport, September 2004
Wednesday, July 07, 2021
On deserving respect
"Show respect even to people that don’t deserve it; not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours.”
Just green leaves
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| The original sawtooth London, ON May 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Green like everything else around them.
Boring in their commonness.
Not worth a second look.
But here's the thing: who gets to decide when something is "just" anything?
Who's to say a different angle or slightly more or less light or shadow wouldn't somehow render these "just" leaves somehow more worthy of our attention?
Why wouldn't we make the effort to find that different angle, or light, or shadow?
Maybe these aren't remotely "just" at all.
And maybe this isn't just about a bunch of leaves floating softly in the sun.
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #forest #tree #trees #green #leaf #leaves #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Tuesday, July 06, 2021
Tiny plane in a big sky
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| The view above London, ON June 2021 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Somewhat uncharacteristically, I resisted the urge to open up the flight finder app on my smartphone to figure out where this (tiny) plane was headed.
Because while we may live in an information-drenched era, sometimes a little timeless mystery is called for.
#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #stjosephs #hospital #lhsc #architecture #design #architecturephotography #building #street #streetphotography #aviation #photobomb #photography #blue #sky #weather #wx #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything
Related:
Return to St. Joe's, June 2021
Out way past my bedtime, March 2021
Middle-of-the-night MRI run, February 2021
Staring into the telescreen, October 2020
Busted finger. Same old perspective. October 2020
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