The rivers turns crystal

Wonderland
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Deep in the valley in the deepest winter, the creek flows almost silently under multilayered ice seemingly laid down by a jeweller.

So we crouch down and take in the scene, intricately painted by invisible forces while everyone else is busy being busy.

No one is busy here. And if we lean in just so, we can make out the gentle sounds of the water flowing below, life playing out in shades of black, white, and grey.

It’ll all disappear as the temperature inevitably rises. But it’s here, now. Which is all that matters.

#ldnont #medway #abstract #monochrome #stilllife

Stores in the neighbourhood

Shop local
Toronto, ON
March 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Toronto is filled with commercial streetscapes just like this one, businesses that have been there seemingly forever, owned by real people with real names, that form the epicentre of the neighbourhoods that surround and nurture them.

They look so plain with their weathered brick and decades-old signage, but there’s nothing plain about them, each block telling unique stories to anyone lucky enough to live nearby.

Today the winds outside are blowing ominously, foreshadowing a storm moving into the region. These icons of the community stand ready as safe havens for all. Maybe a bagel or a quick snack. Or the dream of getting away to somewhere warm. Or a meal from home and a gentle chat over tea.

Whatever’s on offer, it’s difficult to imagine this or any city without anchors like these. That turn out to be the very opposite of plain for those who step inside.

#toronto #ontario #canada #eglinton #architecturephotography #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Where we visit dead fish

School is out
London, ON
March 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

At the back of a crowded T&T grocery store, the frozen fish section is a beehive of activity, crowds of rushing customers jostling for position in front of the artfully laid-out glass display cases.

I spot this particular section and think it would make for a fun spontaneous moment of photography, but one uncharacteristically patient customer has staked out his spot directly where I’d need to be to snag the optimal shot.

He says nothing, interacts with no one, and seems willing to wait as long as it takes before one of the countless fishmongers notices him among the crowd.

Since his nutritional needs rightfully take priority over my silly photography, I’m obviously not getting the shot anytime soon. I turn to rejoin my family. We came here to get groceries, not shoot stupid pictures of dead fish through glass.

Yet as we make our way through the rest of the bustling store, the fish stubbornly stick in my mind. I’m weird like that, like a dog refusing to let go of a bone.

So before long, I scoot back to the fishies and, to my delight, the place is uncharacteristically deserted. As I approach, I preset the camera, my composition plan playing out in my head so as to attract as little attention as possible once I reach the glass.

I rack off three frames in seconds, then disappear before anyone notices I was even there.

This isn’t the first time I’ve shot fish in a store, and it likely won’t be the last. I’ll furtively shoot scenes like this for as long as I’m able.

Because weird is where we go when we’re navigating crowded stores and worlds and chapters, where blink-or-you-miss-it moments of photographic whimsy become places of temporary refuge from the often serious, sad, scary realness that soaks into the everyday.

So we visit the dead fish and smile in the brief moments before we have to get back to whatever it is that’s screaming for our attention.

The real world will always be waiting for us. Sometimes we need a bit of a fishy break from it all.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #grocery #frozen #fish #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Donut from our daughter

Sweet memory
London, ON
March 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Our daughter ordered an extra donut for me, a “just because” surprise because she inherited the “just because” gene from her lovely mom.

So of course it had to be recorded somehow before it was consumed. Because in my world, tiny moments like this need to be frozen in time.

And with the muted light of a snowy late-winter afternoon filtering just so through the dining room window, I knew we had the perfect spot for a spontaneous photo session.

I wasn’t remembering a donut as much as I was remembering the story behind it. That it’s a Boston cream, my absolute favourite. That cherished snacks have always been a go-to in our family. That this one arrived in our home via kindness.

The donut didn’t last too much longer after this photo was taken. The memory will linger indefinitely.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #dessert #donut #foodporn #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Goodbye, mall

Glass overhead
London, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We don’t go to the mall like we used to.

The rise of e-commerce has changed the rules of the retail game, and brick-and-mortar sellers who still think it’s enough to open a storefront and wait for legions of passersby to walk in won’t exist for much longer.

Mix in a healthy dose of economic uncertainty and it’s easy to see why even the established players are vanishing from view.

These sleek, once-crowded spaces have been slowly, sadly hollowed out, with many surviving by converting to office space, their public corridors now dominated by mall walkers and the occasional stroller.

Still, sometimes the architecture beckons, a silent reminder of what once was and will likely never be again.

I get why we lost what we had, yet part of me will always miss what it felt like when it was at its peak.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #shopping #westmountmall #retail #glass #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

The forest city kills its forests

Hmm, looks like the City of London, Ontario - Municipal Government is quietly trying to carve out some lands from the Meadowlily Woods Environmentally Sensitive Area.

Under the proposal, the subject lands would be removed from the ESA, and would be subject to an amendment that would change their designation from Green Space Place Type to Neighbourhoods Place Type. In other words, protected lands are about to be opened up for low-density residential development.

Maybe I'm naive, but aren't ESAs supposed to be protected from this kind of thing? Hoping Steve Hillier, the city councillor for the ward where this is all happening, might be able shed some light on why the change, who's behind it, and why ESAs seem to be so vulnerable to this type of activity.

I raise my voice because if we keep snipping off pieces of our ESAs - absolute jewels of our shared urban environment - then it won’t be long before we have no ESAs at all. Either we say something now or we eventually regret not having said anything at all.

CC:
CBC London
CTV London
The London Free Press
980 CFPL News

Giant pile of tomatoes

Ready to make the sauce
London, ON
March 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There are days when the only answer is a jumbled pile of roma tomatoes.

I believe today is such a day.

There doesn’t need to be a reason.

All we need to do is revel in the weirdly random joy of chaotically arranged vegetables.

This moment of agricultural peace has been brought to us by our local Sobeys grocery store and the kind lady who chose not to report me to the food police for taking this photo.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #grocery #stilllife #photography #fruitography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Pandemic + 6

An indelible day
London, ON
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Six years ago today, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, and in an instant, COVID went from a once-obscure virus that had been fuelling increasingly alarming headlines to a generation-defining event whose impact continues to be felt today.

I recall being at the office when the news broke, surrounded by confused colleagues rushing around and wondering what might happen next. Before long, a company-wide email went out and we were being sent home - officially for the next two weeks until this would all hopefully be over.

Well, we know what happened next. And as I loaded my bike down with everything I could and pointed for home, I thought about how quickly the world had just changed. I pedalled under cold grey skies along the flooded, angry river, and decided I didn’t want to forget what this day felt like. So I hit pause on a nearby bridge and took in the scene.

I remember how I felt as I took this photo, that for a fleeting moment I was able to withdraw into composition, shutter speeds, and f-stops and ignore the chaos spiralling around us. Photography had always been something of an escape, but on a cold morning on an empty bridge, it became starkly obvious just how much this medium now meant to me.

I spent much of the subsequent months of lockdown taking silly pictures like this one, and ended up with a wildly diverse record of an extraordinary moment in history that defied - and still defies - explanation.

I guess we all revert to the things that bring us comfort. I guess we all need anchors in the inevitable storm. #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #gutter #ice #abstract #stilllife #photography #google #pixel

Frozen in (curved) time

Icily yours
London, ON
December 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If you follow weather to any degree - and I think we all should, if only to know what we should be wearing on any given day - you may get all tingly when the weather warnings are first posted.

Today’s weather fun revolves around a possible ice storm that may or may not move into the region. We know we’re getting some kind of significant weather event, mind you, but it remains to be seen whether the tiny temperature shifts one way or another will result in a major freezup or just a lot of rain. Such mystery from on high, and frankly it’s one of the things that makes weather so enjoyable to track. Even with all the technology in the world, there’s still a bit of uncertainty in the skies.

So I find myself looking back at photos from an ice storm earlier this winter, when the branches were weighed down with thick layers of frozen delight. As much as I appreciate the danger of this kind of meteorological event, I similarly appreciate its stark beauty, and the quiet comfort of observing it from behind a window, preferably with a mug of something in hand.

Alas, we have a dog, so I had to venture out for a bit. I found this encrusted tree not far from home, its curved branches seemingly speaking with each other as they gracefully endured the weight from above. It seemed like something worth remembering before the inevitable next meteorological twist melted the ice and spawned the next round of breathless weather-related speculation.

Because there’s always a new story waiting to be written in the skies, ready to reshape the otherwise ordinary places below. We’d hate to miss the show, wouldn’t we?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #onstorm #icestorm #winter #night #bokeh #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

The not so simple simple tree

Surviving...
London, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It may look simple at first glance, but it really isn’t.

Maybe it’s a tiny tree stuck in winter’s grip, or perhaps it’s a person we encounter along the way.

Because we’re all reaching higher.

Trying to survive the storm.

Or just hoping to stay warm until the seasons change.

#ldnont #canada #medway #winter #monochrome

Filthy window in a quiet airport

Focus on this
Mississauga, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: Pearson International Airport, 6:00 a.m. The terminal wears the early-morning quiet like a soft blanket, the few passengers nearby speaking in hushed tones as they make their way to destinations both known and unknown.

On the other side of the glass, ground crew members crowd around aircraft at the gate in a coordinated ballet of non-stop motion, readying them to return to the darkened skies.

Kaleidoscopic lights flicker in the distance, interrupted occasionally by the ghostlike silhouettes of heavy jets being towed back to the hangar.

The thick windows keep most of the noise from seeping inside, save for the deep thrum of the occasional departing wide-body. The massive panes are filthy, the textured layers of dirt from relentless flight ops making it impossible for the autofocus to do its job.

At first it’s frustrating, the camera unable to zero in on the early-morning scene, the messy foreground stealing the focus from the tarmac behind it, turning it into a blurry mess of smudged lights and lost details.

But I keep shooting, anyway, the chaotic mess slowly grabbing my attention, refusing to be rejected as a failure.

Eventually I settle on this particular one as my absolute favourite of the entire morning, filled with tones and shapes that capture the very spirit of this very unique space at this equally unique time of day.

Perhaps there’s a lesson in this imperfect image of an otherwise perfect moment. That an airport can be a sacred space before the sun comes up, where countless unseen heroes move heaven and earth to get strangers safely on their way.

It only looks chaotic.

#toronto #yyz #pearson #airport #ontario #canada #night #abstract #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Shadowy trees on a shadowy planet

Deep in the snowy valley
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Not so long ago, the ground was frozen, covered in white, the bare tree branches whistling as the winter wind blew through them unimpeded.

The setting sun cast long shadows through the empty valley, painting stark lines in the deep snow under the brilliant blue sky.

Weeks of rising temperatures have since redrawn the landscape, so I’m sharing this now because I never want to forget what it felt like to stand above it all and breathe it in.

Stories get told in milliseconds, then vanish. Photos keep them alive in our memories for just a little while longer.

#ldnont #canada #medway #winter #landscape

Where trees wear their scars

Imperfectly perfect
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Trees wear their scars out in the open, sharing stories of past trauma for anyone who bothers to slow down for a closer look.

Humans, not so much. Our scars often remain unseen, holding stories known only to us.

Something to ponder, perhaps, when we encounter others. Assume they have scars. Assume their stories remain untold. Have some empathy.

#ldnont #canada #medway #monochrome #stilllife

Let's get canned

Overlooked spaces
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Nobody enjoys grocery shopping these days. It’s expensive and frustrating, and complete strangers still think it’s acceptable to spontaneously invade my personal space so they can beat me to the pickle display.

My coping mechanism is a familiar one: random acts of photography in weird corners of the store. Because in my world, pretty pictures - or even less-than-pretty ones - bring joy. Since I don’t ever want to be accused of being a self-absorbed pickle-picker, I work quickly and quietly in otherwise empty aisles. Or as empty as they can possibly be.

I scan the place for strange scenes and wait for my brain to decide on what’s worth shooting.

And on this particular afternoon, I find inspiration in the geometrically shadowy spaces behind the canned beet display. I figure it’s a part of the store most of us have never seen - likely because our heads are too big to fit between the shelves - so before long I’m wiggling my smartphone behind the randomly arranged cans in search of a workable angle.

Like so many photographic adventures of mine, this one doesn’t follow a logical roadmap. The universe doesn’t need a photo like this, and I’m reasonably sure you don’t either.

But the universe is a big, sometimes frightening place. So we seek solace in hidden oases where no one else would think to look.

The beets are a bit of a bonus.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #grocery #shelf #sobeys #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Where I talk about Iranian cyberattacks on CBC Radio

As our national digital intelligence agency warns Canadians of potential Iranian cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, I’ll be joining CBC Radio stations across the country on Thursday morning.

We’ll discuss why this particular threat is so concerning, and what we need to do in our everyday lives to reduce our risk profile.

#technology #cybersecurity #radio #analystlife

UPDATE:

Here's the link to the one of the interviews I did this morning.

This one's with CBC Winnipeg's Marjorie Dowhos.

Lost in the fog, for now

Enjoy it while it lasts
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

When the day dawns foggy, the only option is to head outside and revel in it for a while.

The rest of the world can wait a bit.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #trees #fog #weather #wx #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Of selfies and noses made for radio

Rarely seen
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There are countless reasons why I don’t share many pictures of myself.

I figure the world has enough photos of me. And video. And audio. Too much, really.

I also have quite the face for radio. Complete with an asymmetric nose, baggy eyes, and a strangely shaped forehead.

Despite spending large amounts of my adult life staring down the barrel of a lens, I never know what to do with myself when someone is taking my picture. Smile? Smirk? Frown? Look serious? It feels, just, odd. Like a pony in a petting zoo.

And lord knows how irritated I get when I happen upon social media accounts that are, quite literally, all selfies all the time. I’m not one to judge, but I’ll never understand how anyone thinks that isn’t all kinds of weird. As if there isn’t anything better to focus on than…yourself.

Wait, maybe I’m judgy after all. Sorry.

But I also do this thing with my wife that I like to call the proof-of-life photo. Whenever I’m out and about, at some point I’ll take a selfie and send it home so she’ll know I’m safe and sound and happy.

The photos almost never go anywhere, because they’re an us thing, a tiny moment of connection that started the day I almost bled out on a bike ride far from home. So we share photos now, just because.

But sometimes I take a picture that I sorta like, that reminds me it’s okay to turn the lens inward on occasion.

Because I’m still here, and I still get to be out and about. And that’s something worth recording in some way. Celebrating, even.

Even if my nose is still all kinds of wonky.

#ldnont #canada #winter #photowalk #selfie

A dog in a coat in the snow

Only love
London, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

While the planet burns and everyone else rage-posts about it, I’m just going to leave this right here.

Because the notion of a dog whose only goal in the moment is to frolic in the snow and make sure she isn’t alone is something I think we can all appreciate.

This is all she cares about. She has no concept of the things that weigh the rest of us down. She doesn’t watch the news, and even when she does, the headlines just wash over her. She gives kisses without being asked. No one hates her because she’s an 8-year-old girl who happens to have a beard. There is no such thing as Anti-Schnauzerism.

I’m under no illusion that the charmed life of a dog doesn’t somehow exist in some broader context. It absolutely does. And a single photo of a frozen-faced pup doesn’t magically repair the world.

But maybe it starts simply. Maybe everyone needs a moment with a dog to get back in touch with what makes us human. Maybe it’s how we begin to heal the planet and each other.

Woof.

#ldnont #canada #callithewonderschnauzer #actofdog

Iran through my friend's eyes

I have wonderful friends. Sometimes they say really nice things:

At this critical moment in Iran’s contemporary history, when the world is finally beginning to confront the brutality of the regime, I want to publicly thank my former colleague, neighbor, and dear friend, Carmi Levy.

From the very first days of the digital blackout in Iran — when information was being suffocated and tens of thousands of innocent lives were being lost — there was almost complete silence in media. As a Persian Canadian, watching in anguish, I reached out to Carmi and shared what was unfolding.

He didn’t hesitate. He did his own research. He connected the story to the technology sector he covers. And he used his voice to raise awareness when it mattered most.

In moments like these, silence is easy. Speaking up is not.

Carmi, you are a true human being and a loyal friend. I will never forget that.

Mahmoud Ramin

(Originally published on Facebook)

One surviving leaf

Singular
London, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Months after this forlorn leaf should have been swept off the branch and into oblivion, it still holds on.

It’s a bit of a stretch to say a humble leaf can be so defiant, but how else can we explain why it continues to flutter in the winter winds while just about all of the others have long since disappeared?

I stand in the bitter cold and wonder about the why of this particular leaf, about the story it could tell if it had the ability to tell stories at all.

And then it hits me: everything has a story, even if we’ll never know what that story is. Because some things are destined to remain mysteries to those on the outside looking in.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #leaf #texture #stilllife #bokeh #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Balconies and angles

Meet your neighbours
Toronto, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

In my ideal world, neighbours on opposite sides of this delightfully shaped building would sit on their balconies and befriend each other.

In the actual, real world, no one sits on a high-rise balcony during a Canadian winter. So the architectural dance in the sky plays out without an audience.

Still, major chops to whoever decided to build something more inspired than a basic box. Who wanted to create a space where strangers could somehow connect in a space that demands second and even third looks.

Where when the weather warms up, neighbours gather in opposite corners high in the sky and share moments worth remembering.

They say design creates community. Whoever they are, they’re right.

#toronto #ontario #canada #architecturephotography #architectureporn #downtown #geometry #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

The curvy tree

Oops
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I have good news for all those who march to the beat of their own drummer, or as seems to be the case here, look just a little different than everyone else.

I’ve found your tree.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #trees #fog #weather #wx #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Snowglobe in the woods

Stormy
London, ON
April 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I often feel the need to remind myself to look up in the middle of the storm.

Because just as the snow is falling most rapidly and the winds are howling at peak intensity, they’re reminding us that moments of unmitigated darkness and fear can also represent stunning beauty, unexpected wonder, and maybe just a bit of spontaneous hope.

So hold on. Storms don’t last forever.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #winter #snow #forest #trees #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Returning to The Suburban

A long, long time ago, I wrote for a local weekly newspaper while pursuing my journalism degree.

The paper was - and still is - known as The Suburban, and its original founders managed to craft a feisty little paper that made a difference in the communities it served.

Decades later, it's a very different place, but it's still kicking. Their longtime columnist, Mike Cohen, was gracious enough to interview me for his podcast, and we had a lovely time catching up. Enjoy!

Cohen in the City Episode 198 : Chomedey‘s Carmi Levy has become one of Canada’s premier tech experts

Fragile ice syndrome

No step
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

In the dead of winter, the river flows gently beneath impossibly thin, near-iridescent layers of ice. I don’t dare step off of the snow-covered shore, and instead crouch gingerly over the scene, careful to avoid falling in.

It’s a surreal scene, shaped by temperature and wind and current and probably more than a smidgen of magic. If I return tomorrow, it will either be changed, or gone entirely. Come to think of it, it’ll probably morph within the hour.

So I gently squeeze the shutter to freeze this single moment, knowing it’ll never again look or feel like this.

Maybe that’s a metaphor for life. Always changing. Always slipping into the past. Sometimes remembered by those who happen to pass by. But not always.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #winter #forest #trees #thamesriver #stilllife #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Life in Hockeyville

Game on
London, ON
February 2017
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The day dawns electric in the Great White North as Canada’s men’s Olympic hockey team prepares to take on the Americans in the gold medal game.

Canadians from coast to coast to coast will be waking up before dawn to catch the game live. Here in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford has allowed bars and restaurants to start selling alcohol at 6 a.m., because nothing says Great Canadian Breakfast quite as effectively as a tall cold one.

This is much more than a mere game. In the context of the past year of increasingly erratic politics leaking over our southern border, it’s not much of an exaggeration to call this a moment of national significance.

Canadians hold hockey more closely to our national, community, and individual psyches than perhaps anyone else. Countless parents in countless towns drive their kids to countless arenas in the early morning darkness. Many of them cling to dreams of this brutal, beautiful game holding some kind of ticket out of this place. Or maybe it’s a senior’s league, playing less for glory than the simple refusal to submit to the ravages of time.

Or maybe it’s the average Canadian fan, sitting on splintered wood bleachers in a frigid arena, or watching the game on TV, or otherwise hitting the pause button on the everyday to watch magic play out between the boards. We all have a role to play.

However this one incandescent game plays out, our hockey culture will be just as integral to our national identity long after the medals are awarded.

Tomorrow morning, a single unsung hero will walk into an empty arena, flip the lights on and take the Zamboni out onto the silent ice. Soon enough those countless kids will tumble in. And new dreams, Olympic ones perhaps, will scrape themselves into the brilliantly cold ice.

Maybe they play hockey elsewhere. But they don’t live it like we do.

Go Canada.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #hockey #sports #sportsing #photography #throwback

Pizza mythology

Delicious angles
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Pizza isn’t necessarily the optimal dietary choice, but I’d hate to go through life without the occasional slice. Or in this case, four slices.

It can be a comfort food, the meal choice that takes us back to moments we remember with the warm texture of nostalgia.

Many years ago, my first date with a really cute girl was at a local pizza restaurant. I fretted mightily over where we should go, and eventually settled on pizza as the least risky choice. No exploding raviolis or dangling spaghetti. No bits of salad stuck in my teeth.

It must have worked, because she married me. To this day we laugh about her never agreeing to a second date after a particularly messy meal choice, but she always gently corrects me, saying I’d get the millionth date no matter what’s on the menu.

Which explains why it’s pizza that grabs at my heartstrings whenever it comes up in the meal roster. It’s one culinary choice that reminds me how it all started, how it’s going now, and why sweet moments in life don’t always come with a dietician’s seal of approval.

I’d choose it again for any date with her, thankful as I’ve always been that I got the second date.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #pizza #abstract #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Front door icicle

Not here for long
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It takes days for the icicle to painstakingly take form just outside our front door.

And only hours for the forces that created it to change their minds and melt it forever.

So before the inevitable arrives, we step outside and spend a little time admiring a seemingly simple sliver of ice.

Because the more we see, the less simple it seems. And the more profound its eventual loss will be.

Why does it feel like this isn’t just a story about an icicle?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #onstorm #icestorm #icicleworks #winter #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Seeking refuge amid trees and water

Fallen...
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Sorry for the tree theme these days. The planet is a harsh place to be for too many of us, so I find myself seeking refuge in places like this.

Where the world can be put on pause for a bit while we wrap ourselves in the quiet majesty of a fog-wrapped valley.

It won’t be long before the sun burns through the murk, but for now, at least, there’s peace to be found away from the pressures imposed by others too distracted to listen to the hushed voices deep in the woods.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #trees #fog #weather #wx #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Peering through the fog

Looking for clarity
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We get fog around here. Thick, soupy fog, especially when warmish weather rolls in and turns the delightfully heavy snow pack (thanks, Canadian winter) into a sublimating mess. It is at once dangerous and captivating.

Yesterday morning dawned with a thick blanket over the region, so the rules of life* dictated a quick, spontaneous walkabout.

I figured the woods would offer up the most optical potential, so down into the valley I went. It didn’t take long for the giant trees to telegraph their story, and before long I was seeking near-parallel trunks either emerging from the fog, or being devoured by it.

There’s no script to any of this. Just get out there and see what grabs the soul. The point is to get out there at all. On this morning, the scene was painted with fog. Next time it’ll be another palette. Maybe another way of seeing the familiar. I’ll know it when I see it.

--
* The rules of life, at least how I choose to see them, are fairly simple. If we’ve been lucky enough to get another day, then it’s on us to remember it somehow. My weapons of choice are cameras and pens (or maybe keyboards), and a good day is always the one where I get to use both.

Your mileage may vary, of course, but the point is to seek scenes and moments out and somehow make them yours. Not a bad way to live, I reckon.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #trees #fog #weather #wx #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Did you know I had a stroke? I know: I don’t look like the typical stroke victim.

February is Heart Month here in Canada, and I was privileged to join Mutsumi Takahashi on CTV Montreal to talk about it.

Because awareness saves lives. Maybe even yours.

When our tech analyst had a stroke

Of course you are loved

Messages that matter
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Behold my wife’s mug. We’re mug people, and of all the mugs in our kitchen cupboard, it is my absolute favourite.

I made her coffee the other day. Technically, it was on February 14th. Valentine’s Day. When Hallmarkian convention dictates a well choreographed sequence of socially acceptable gestures.

I didn’t choose this mug because of the date, but I did hover over it as I finished prepping the coffee machine, then listened to its gentle burbling as the kitchen filled with the delightful scent of percolation. The graphic stopped me in my tracks, as it always does when I choose this mug for the particular morning’s festivities.

Because we all deserve to be loved. We all deserve to know we are surrounded by those who feel this way. We all deserve to not be alone in this life.

Not everyone can be so lucky. I’m one of the lucky ones, because I very much am. And as much as I don’t need a mug as a reminder, in that moment it felt, I don’t know, comforting to pick up the camera for some kitchen table reflective photography.

I hear the coffee was pretty good, too.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #mug #kitchen #shadow #reflective #stilllife #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Water comes in many forms

Reflective...
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Water has no colour of its own, and will happily reflect its immediate surroundings.

Which likely explains why I find myself standing in a deeply chilled valley late in the afternoon looking for inspiration in the nearly frozen creek that runs through it.

Not everything is frozen over. And if I stand just so and look into the fast-setting sun, the gentle waves rolling off the ice clinging to the shallow rocky shoreline seem to form the loveliest reflections this side of a glass factory.

I’ve been here on so many other days that seemed much like this one, yet never have I seen a mercury-like surface quite like this. Weird how that works, no? The familiar serving up something entirely new. As if it was waiting for this single moment.

I explore the scene with my camera, playing with the settings to balance the brilliant reflections against the darker shadows - a dynamic range challenge if ever there was one. When I’m done, I shift just a couple of steps to my left and the scene disappears entirely. I try to move back into position, but the moment is gone for good, now remembered only in pixels on my memory card.

It dawns on me just how narrow these windows of time can be. And we only get to experience them if we’re precisely where the universe wants us.

Something to ponder, I guess, as I slowly walk back to the life that awaits outside the valley. I’ll have to come back here another day. Hopefully the universe has another plan for me - and my lens - when I return.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #winter #river #reflective #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

What thankfulness looks like

Where every day is Family Day
Dryden, ON
December 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We’re thankful for many things today.

That we still have them.

That we get to hear Lilly tell the story of how she woke Mommy and Daddy up to tell them about the fire.

Then grabbed the bag of Royal Gala apples from the kitchen counter and saved them, too.

Thankful for the community of friends, family, and even complete strangers who have opened their homes, sent donations, brought meals, and surrounded them with help and support and love. It is humbling to realize just how kind people can be.

Thankful for all that lies ahead as they rebuild, and rewrite all those next chapters every young family deserves.

Just, thankful.

#family #everything

When fire touches your family

Our son, Zach, and daughter-in-law, Michaela, were woken up early yesterday morning by 3-year-old Lilly: Claira’s room was on fire.

The good news, if there is any, is everyone is OK. Zach ran through the flames, and snatched her from her crib. They were out of the house by the time the fire trucks and EMS rolled up.

They were taken by ambulance to the hospital, and despite some smoke inhalation, seem to be fine.

The bad news: the damage is extensive and the house is uninhabitable. Rebuilding will be a long road of dealing with insurance companies and contractors. It is a nightmare come to life.

We often say it’s just stuff, that it can be replaced, while life cannot be. And that is indeed true here. But, still, that’s our family. We’d wish this on no one.

The word, hero, keeps bouncing through my head. A three-year-old who had the fortitude to alert her parents before the smoke alarm even went off. A dad who didn’t even think about himself as he ran straight into a burning room and grabbed an almost-14-month-old from her crib. A mom who keeps it together for her traumatized family after the unthinkable has happened. The universe is testing them all.

Whenever anyone asks us about them, we tell them what great kids they are. What incredible parents they have become. We talk about the remarkably sweet and insightful kids they’re raising. The home they’ve built around them.

It hurts to imagine the what-ifs, to think about the heartbreak of everything you’ve worked for being put in such peril. But we’re thankful they have the support of family, friends, and community to rebuild. We’re thankful we have them, period.

Off with her coat!

Believe it or not, this is her happy look
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

For close to a month, the temperature here stayed well below freezing. Most days, it was so cold that Calli the Wonderschnauzer ran under the dining room table when it was time to go outside.

We insisted on putting on her coat, which only added to her misery. It’s hard to explain to a dog that we’re doing all of this to keep her safe and warm.

Well, the temperature finally climbed above freezing, so the coat stayed on the hook as we prepared to head out. She didn’t run under the dining table, instead planting herself at the door when she realized the hated purple coat was staying in the vestibule.

She had an extra bounce in her step as we closed the door behind us, almost as if she knew something had changed. I don’t profess to speak dog, but she seemed happier than she had been in a while.

I can’t control the weather, and her much despised coat might yet be needed before this ridiculous winter finally gives way to spring. So we’ll use extra treats to coax her out from under the dining room table, and we’ll offer extra pets and hugs for a girl who deserves happy moments as much as anyone.

It’s a dog thing, I think.

Good girl.

#ldnont #canada #callithewonderschnauzer #actofdog

Remembering a single red leaf

 

Textured
London, ON
October 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Not so long ago, vivid colours and textures seemed to be everywhere.

They’re gone now, replaced by a stark landscape devoid of colour and warmth.

But it’s only a matter of time before it all changes again.

I don’t think we’re talking about just leaves.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #medwayvalley #fallen #leaf #red #autumn #colour #stilllife #naturephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Don't cry over spilled pasta

Geometry on the floor
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Don’t be sad that it fell on the floor and made a mess.

Be glad that we were there to witness it at all.

That we had the freedom and the time to capture it in all its mundane glory.

That this qualified as the most challenging obstacle we had to face on this - or any - given day.

Pasta as perspective. Who knew?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #grocery #store #nofrills #shopping #pasta #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Salt, pepper, and life in general

Give them a shake
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On a bitterly cold winter’s morning, the sun reaches through the window and floods the table with enough light to banish the season - for at least as long as breakfast lasts.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #morningbites #salt #pepper #stilllife #shadow #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Not quite the Himalayas

Craggy peaks
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Winter is cold, uncomfortable, and even dangerous.

But it can also be stunningly beautiful, particularly in the corners of everyday life where we rarely venture.

This chilly dichotomy dawned on me the other night as the dog and I set out on a walk. It had been snowing for days, leaving everything in sight covered in a thick layer of white.

At the end of our block, a plow had left a massive pile of jumbled snow behind, jagged blocks casting sharp shadows under the brilliant streetlights, the colour naturally drained from the icy facets.

It reminded me of those drone overflights of majestic peaks, a mundane suburban snow mountain masquerading as something much more substantial. And if you squinted just so, you might be tricked into believing this was indeed something more.

But that’s the thing about the theatre of the mind. What we see within it is substantial if we believe it to be so. Imagination is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #winter #snow #weather #wx #onstorm #texture #streetphotography #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Lola Granola would be proud

Packaged
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Life is filled with what I like to call in-between moments, scenes of utter ordinariness that would otherwise fade into nothingness if we allowed them.

Yet sometimes we get a nudge from the universe to remember them, anyway, to snapshot them as a way of journaling the simple moments of what many might deem simple lives.

This latest example is the box of granola bars we brought home from the Costco in the midst of a blizzard, the winds blowing so strongly at one point that the box almost launched itself out of the cart and across the parking lot.

We probably shouldn’t have been out, but with the weather warnings suggesting things would get even worse, we made the very Canadian decision to dig out the car and forage for enough groceries to see us through the storm. It’s one of the ways we batten down the hatches when things get rough.

After getting home and thawing ourselves out, I stopped in my tracks after opening the box and noticing the weird spectacle that lay inside. The patterns and colours strangely spoke to me. So I played dining room table photographer for a few minutes to freeze that particularly dark Friday evening in time.

Because lives are complex things. And some of us are lucky enough to live them out alongside partners who understand the secret language of blizzards and granola bars, and will carefully watch over you as you try to keep boxes from flying away into apocalyptic snow storms.

Because ordinary isn’t really ordinary, nor is simple really simple. And in the end, the stories of the everyday turn out to be the stories of us.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #granola #foodporn #random #kitchen #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

As day gives way to night

One last blast
London, ON
March 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

At the end of the day, the skies come alive with reflected fire that burns brilliantly for just a few fleeting moments before darkness wins the daily, epic battle.

A message from the universe, perhaps, to look up while we still can.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sunset #cloudspotting #optimistpark #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Leaving land behind

Destination unknown
Port Stanley, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I like to do this thing in winter: pull up pics from the summer to remind myself that the cold and the darkness won’t last forever.

Which explains today’s photo taken from a beach, as a single sea gull headed out into the limitless skies over Lake Erie.

I remember what it felt like to stand in one place, my feet sinking slowly into the warm sand, watching this solitary bird disappear from view. While I logically knew she was a masterful flyer, I still found myself wishing her safe flight and an equally safe return.

I’ll never know if my wish was fulfilled, or where she ended up. But I’d like to think she, too, found light and warmth, and she’s safely weathering the current winter weather.

Part of me also wonders if I’ll see her again on my next visit to the shore. I’ll never know that, either, but life well lived doesn’t always involve getting every last answer to every last question. It’s perfectly acceptable for birds like this one to leave a little mystery in their wake.

#portstanley #beach #ldnont #ontario #canada #lakeerie #bird #seagull #flight #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

The two sides of a foggy morning

Focus harder
London, ON
December 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

What the fog takes away in visibility it returns to us in sheer clarity.

It removes extraneous detail from the scene so that we can instead focus on the things that truly matter.

It even silences the overwhelming noise that pollutes our senses so the quiet voices have a chance to finally be heard.

What originally started out as a simple photo of a tree at the edge of a foggy park seems to have turned into something else entirely.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #tree #fog #winter #weather #wx #optimistpark #naturephotography #landscapephotography #silhouette #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Praying in a different kind of cathedral

Reverent
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Not all cathedrals were built by humans.

Some of them were carved, drop by drop, out of the very ground at our feet.

Or planted by unseen forces long before we arrived.

Or shaped by the winds that carried life in from distant lands.

Or maybe it’s all of the above.

However this place was formed, it’s a place worthy of worship.

Because belief takes many forms.

And standing in silence in this reverent place feels like the right way to connect with the things that matter.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #winter #cathedral #forest #trees #thames #river #reflective #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Deep in an all-too-quiet valley

Hushed season
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Weeks of significant snowfall and historic cold have transformed the river valley, thick layers of snow covering every tree, an equally thick layer of ice now hiding the flowing waters.

It’s eerily quiet here, as if winter has switched off the mic and shushed all who visit this place.

The late afternoon sun is quickly sinking into the western sky, the last remaining light fading from the surface of the snow, lengthening shadows turning ever deeper shades of blue.

A tiny stretch of remaining open water reflects an equally tiny sliver of residual light, one last act of defiance against the forces that continue to dominate this ever changing landscape.

Spring will come soon enough, but for now it is the cold that owns the narrative, that pushes all others aside. Power may only be temporary, but in the moment, it’s the only thing most of us see and hear.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #winter #forest #trees #thames #river #reflective #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Toothy frozen fish

Please shoot my good side
London, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The local grocery store has a fully stocked fish section tucked way in the back, usually staffed by a fishmonger who knows more about things that swim than just about anyone.

And as much mad respect as I have for the fish experts among us, I don’t want to have to explain to them why I would like to shoot still-life photographs of their frozen, departed friends.

I don’t eat things that are remotely recognizable, after all, and fish heads on ice very much qualify as things I’ll never add to my cart. So I’d hate to waste the staff’s time in conversation, knowing full well I wouldn’t be buying their wares.

So when the counter was unstaffed during yesterday’s grocery run, I seized the moment and quickly composed a few images through the dirty glass.

Every photo has a back story, a narrative unique to the person who takes it, a chain of logic that’s been taking shape in the shooter’s head for years, or even decades.

So we shoot the fish and tell the stories. Even if we have to bend the rules a little.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #grocery #store #sobeys #shopping #frozen #fish #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone