Sweet!

Handling it
Laval, QC, November 2007 [Click to embiggen]

I'm fascinated by industrial design. We use countless objects to get ourselves through any given day, but we rarely take a moment to look at them and wonder how they came to be as they are. Well-implemented industrial design concepts ensure they perform their intended role as intended, often not drawing attention to themselves in the process.

But I'll pay attention anyway because I'm weird. The syrup holder at the restaurant we went to before getting on the road for the long drive back to London had a neat shape to it. It seemed simple and purposeful, and I thought it would make a fun quick study in shape and surface texture.

It didn't hurt that my shooting the image made fellow diners furrow their brows, wondering why the strange guy with the Ontario accent was playing with his camera and not eating his breakfast.

Your turn: Pick an everyday object near you right now. Please describe it in a comment.

Cranked

Give me strength
London, ON, October 2007 [Click to embiggen]

The scene: The construction site of our new elementary school that's scheduled to open next September. It's a big deal for our little community and a big deal for our kids, who ooh and aah over "their" school every time we drive by the construction site.

It's a quiet Sunday and I happen to be in the neighborhood with our two youngest. Because we have a bit of time to kill, I park the car nearby and we wander around the edge of the fenced in area. They've parked the big machines just outside, so we can walk right up to them and gape at their filthy gigantism.

It takes a lot of disparate elements to build a school. But some are more critical than others. As I stare at this large crank-like thing on a big digging machine (can't you tell I'm an expert in these things?) I decide that this is where the story is focused. So much potential, so much future growth, all revolving around a pivotal part of a pivotal machine that routinely flexes its mechanical muscles without so much as a second glance from those who will ultimately benefit.

I guess I just wanted our kids to get that chance to look, wonder and dream about what will be.

Your turn: Pivotal things. Pivotal people. Please discuss.

Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant - and stupid

My wife and I had an interesting discussion with our 10-year-old daughter last night. We had to explain to her that Jamie Lynn Spears, younger sister of that paragon of virtue Britney and star of the kid-fave show Zoey 101, was pregnant at the tender age of 16. It's a discussion we didn't really didn't want to have, but the big bad world was once again threatening our little one's mythical bubble of childhood. So we figured it made more sense for her to hear it from us than from a schoolyard friend.

As odious as I find the whole genre of celebrity "news" coverage, I had to laugh at a quote attributed to this newly-minted anti-role model: “It was a shock for both of us, so unexpected…”

Here's a news flash for Ms. Spears the Younger: It’s basic biology. If you’re going to go drilling, you have to expect to strike oil at some point. If you don’t want to be “surprised”, then don’t go drilling in the first place.

I think someone needs to get a new PR director. And parents with a clue.

Your turn: Thoughts?

Wordless Wednesday - Antisocial

Teatime? Not today
London, ON, November 2007 [Click to embiggen]

Your turn: Quick, what's your first thought upon seeing this scene? Don't overthink it...just respond in a comment.

One more thing: Robyn Hertz is still missing - and I'm hoping you can help find her. Please click here if you're just joining us.

Facebook porn

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The house at 80 Oxford Street

Sad entrance
London, ON, November 2007
[Click to enlarge]

Some porches wear their age with grace (click here and here for earlier examples) while others, such as this one, seem to wither away without so much as a second thought from anyone who passes by.

Well, except for me. I happened to be driving past on this gray, blustery day. The light happened to be red and I happened to have my camera nearby. I happened to have caught this out of the corner of my eye. And of all the run-down snippets of life that I saw that morning, this one prompted me to lift the camera and snag a quick shot through the passenger-side window.

Only as I reviewed it in greater detail later on did I realize this house had more of a story to tell than I originally thought.

Your turn: Please share a piece of the story of this place. Feel free to use your imagination, as there's so much to tell.

One more thing: Robyn Hertz is still missing. There have been a number of sitings of her in Montreal, but she's still not home and her family and friends are extremely worried. Click here for my original blog entry and here for the Facebook page. I have also posted it to Digg. If you live in Montreal or Ottawa, I hope you'll be able to help. If you don't, please pray for her safe return.

Caption This 49

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
London, ON, November 2007 [Click to embiggen]

The candle's soft light is one of my earliest memories. My mom lit them every Friday night for Shabbat, and I remember watching the dancing yellow glow long after everyone had finished supper and gone off to do their own thing. To me, the light was the thing. I found it comforting, something to look forward to every week as we transitioned into the weekend.

My mother still lights the candles in her home, as does my wife in ours. I still stare at them and think back to the four-year-old me. I wonder what goes through others' minds as they look into a candle's light.

Your turn: I guess now's your chance to share just that. Please leave a suggested caption - or ten - in a comment and I'll post the winner next week.

About last week's photo of a fly: This was a fun one for me. I debated whether I should post it or not. But since I had recently broken the ice with the dead rodent pic, I figured everyone who visits was already used to seeing my twisted side. In the end, I had a hard time choosing because there were so many submissions that made me laugh out loud.

But I had to choose one, and Bubblehead's stood out as particularly unique: "The original frequent flyer." Please drop by his blog, Hu-Flung-Poo, and congratulate him.

Honorable mentions go to these very creative folks:

• Gautami Tripathy: "Would you like to land on my soup?"
• Moi: "What's all this buzz about!"
• Robin: ""Secret Ingredient" and "No shoes, no shirt, no service"
• Dara: "What Jeff Goldblum has been up to lately..."
• D. Sinclair: "Time flies"
• SPWriter: "Wings and a prayer"
• Bob-kat: "I may be small but my plan for world domination is right on schedule"
• Joan: "Don't you wish YOU could be the fly on the wall?"
• Paige: "Now I lay me down to sleep...Cause a big ol' fly swatter is coming"
• Blond Girl: "This is the way we wash our hands, wash our hands, wash our hands...."
• Jilly Bean: "Too close for comfort"
• Awareness: "Straighten up and fly right..."
• John: "I said I wanted a large FRY with that..."
• Sara: "Ain't no flies on me"
• Kerri: "Times Fun when You're Having Flies"
• Snaggle Tooth: "Waiting to be served"

Hope you enjoy this week's caption. Can't wait to see what you all come up with!

Water, frozen in time

Spray on
London, ON, October 2006 [Click to embiggen]

One of my recurring themes is water in motion (see here and here for past examples.) In so many ways, water is the perfect medium to shoot. Unlike people, it doesn't talk back, it doesn't have bad days and it doesn't hide itself when you lift the camera.

My only risk in shooting this was the shopping mall rent-a-cop who doubtless would have relished taking me to task for pulling out my camera in violation of The Rules of Masonville Place.

These rules stipulate that photographic violators shall be dealt with in a most severe manner by mall authorities. I smiled as I warily eyed the crowd, looking for the telltale white-shirted uniform and imagining the kanipshen fit he'd have if he saw me taking pictures of his employer's precious and top-secret fountain.

I got lucky that day, as the guard never showed (eating donuts, perhaps? Or flirting with the KFC fry lady?) As you can see, I took the shot. And I'll do it again, rent-a-cop and risk of a mall jail term notwithstanding.

Your turn: Taking pictures at risk of getting caught. Please discuss.

Photographic mystery

Ornate
Laval, QC, August 2007 [Click to embiggen]

Children often find comfort in the weird and wonderful things their parents bring into the home. Decor is hugely subjective, of course. Your parents' taste rarely matches your own. And as hideous as you might think some of their long-ago interior design decisions might have been (olive green and gold wallpaper, anyone? Modern art interpretations of belly dancers, perhaps?) you can't help but remember them with fondness because they made your world unique. They made your house a home.

When my parents moved out of the home where I was raised (see here for background), much of that rich texture went with it. I tried to capture the old house in pictures before moving day, but in the end photos aren't the same. Still, some of the icons of the old house made their way down the hill to their new place. When we visit them now, we walk into a lovely unit that, as nice as it is, isn't the place where I grew up. The few items that made it there remind me that home isn't always the walls around you, but how you fill the space.

Your space: What is this? What were my parents thinking when they first brought it home? Have fun with it...they occasionally read my blog.

Moonscape?

Desolate
London, ON, October 2007

Photography is as much about what isn't in the frame as what is. When I was a child, I'd make a rectangle with my fingers and thumbs, then look around through the hastily created aperture. I was too young for a camera, but I remember feeling gleeful when I realized I could block out things I didn't want to see.

Fast forward to today and, despite the relative sophistication of my adult's tools - a dSLR instead of chubby fingers - I'm doing pretty much the same thing. I remove extraneous details through selective composition, placing scenes in whatever context I wish.

Some days, I'd like to be able to control the real world as completely as I do the two-dimensional one I first began defining with my fingers so many years ago.

Your turn: So what's this scene saying to you? (I'll share full background on the image this time next week. In the meantime, feel free to ruminate.)

Wordless Wednesday - Push the envelope

99 red balloons...minus 98
London, ON, August 2007 [Click to embiggen]

I've been fascinated by flight for as long as I can remember. The fact that something can leave the planet's surface for a while is, despite our understanding of the physics involved, nothing short of magic. Click here, here, here and here for other flight-related photography.

Your turn: How flight inspires us in all sorts of surprising ways. Please discuss.

Putting on my tech guru hat

Over the past few weeks, I've had some interesting bits of media exposure. I like to drop them onto the blog periodically to ensure I don't forget what I've been up to. Here's a quick sampling:

• Inc.com, byline Marc Saltzman: MS Office 2007: Worth the Investment?
• BetaNews, byline Scott Fulton: Analysis: Is Black Friday truly good for an ailing US economy?
• ITBusiness.ca, byline Lynn Greiner: Technology's Future is Green
• InformationWeek, byline Richard Martin:

Wall Street Gets Sour BlackBerry Taste
Verizon Opens Its Network
Verizon's Open Move Hastens Wireless Market Transformation

I'm also scheduled to be included in Outlook 2008, a year-end special that's airing repeatedly on Business News Network through the holiday season. It's scheduled to air a bunch of times over the holiday period, first one set for tomorrow (December 12 at 8:00 p.m. ET.) I'll post a link to it once it's available online. I'll be discussing RIM and the future of the BlackBerry.

Your turn: Why does technology interest us? Or not?

One more thing: 47 years ago tonight, a young man married a young woman in a ceremony that I always thought had been held in black and white. It's been a journey and and then some for them, touched with healthy doses of adversity and happiness. Because of this one event, I exist. Happy anniversary, Mom & Dad. I wish I had the power to give you 47 more.

Reflection on the right side of the tracks

Journey to...?
Lancaster, Ontario
August 2007

The scene: A small town far enough away from the nearest big city that complete strangers spontaneously walk up to you on the main drag and start chatting with you about anything and everything. Just north of the main business district, the road is bisected by the main rail line that carries passenger and freight traffic.

In the few hours that we spent in this picture perfect place, countless trains roared through the intersection, cutting the town in two and stopping residents in their tracks. What struck me was how they responded to the interruption. Motorists didn't honk each other or otherwise fume at the wheel. Pedestrians didn't tune out to iPods or tap their feet impatiently as the trains rumbled past.

Instead, in a scene that just wouldn't happen in my adopted hometown of London, people spoke with each other. Parents played with their stroller-bound kids. Kids counted the passing cars. They accepted the interruption, made the best of it.

They weren't rushed. Their destination wasn't going anywhere. I couldn't help but think that they were subtly teaching outside observers like me an important life lesson.

Your turn: Avoiding the rush. Please discuss.

One more thing: Here's another perspective on our unanticipated afternoon in this very special place. I think I need to spend more time observing life in places where folks still know how to appreciate the simpler things.

Caption This 48

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
Laval, QC, August 2007 [Click to embiggen]

For the record, no living beings were harmed while photographing this scene. My wife, on the other hand, thought I was a little silly for doing so.

Your turn: Name or caption this image in a comment. I promise you it'll be fun. Entries are free, so submit as many as you wish.

About last week's image of the dandelion: I got lots of great responses to this one. Many honorables this time out:

• Melanie, Anne and Heidi: "Make a wish"
• Jan Scholl: Geodesic
• Robin: "Blow job" (I laughed for a while when I first read this one!)
• Tabor: "Missed one!"
• Slim: "Sometimes it's okay to give into temptation..."
• Awareness: "Wishful thinking......."
• Dak-ind: "Not on MY lawn!"
  
• Pastormac's Ann: "Awaiting the sacred breath of freedom..."
• Moi: "Here today, gone tomorrow!"

So who's the winner, then? Kudos go to Steve for the inspired "queued tip". As with past winners, it spoke to me the loudest.

Have fun with this week's Jeff Goldblum-inspired image!

One more thing: This will either inspire or sicken you, but this image was captured in a restaurant. The little sucker was buzzing around the window, and I zoomed in on him when he took a break from annoying everyone around him (her? Who knows...)

Either way, I'll keep the name of the restaurant quiet to protect the guilty.

Restaurant tabletop memory

Scene from a diner
Laval, QC
August 2007
[Click to embiggen]

I use my camera to record not just scenes, but feelings. I've often written how I take pictures to remember what I was feeling at a particular moment. I'm not especially focused on remembering monumental milestones in my life - those are easy enough to recall, I suppose. Rather, it's the everyday moments that are usually forgotten by the passage of time.

To wit, we forget this morning's breakfast, and yesterday's. We forget not only what we had, but what it felt like to sit at the table and make the transition from sleeping at home to working in the real world.

I'm not saying that we could or should remember each and every breakfast throughout our lifetime. That would get pretty old pretty quickly. But every once in a while it might be nice to stop for a second and take the time to seal the memory. Maybe a little bit of quiet introspection would do some people on this planet some good.

The texture of this moment was too much to resist. A dimly lit pizzeria in the town where I grew up. A formica tabletop, a frayed menu and a backdrop of fake wood veneer. As I watched our kids eat their pizza and banter among themselves, I slipped away from the table and recorded this quiet, never-changing scene.

Your turn: A small moment that you're going to remember after reading this. Please discuss how you'll remember it.

One more thing: I have a thing for close-in photos in quiet, old eateries....click here, here, here and here for more.

A plethora of latkes

Call my cardiologist
London, ON, December 2007 [Click to clog another artery]

They're not really all that healthy. OK, they're downright deadly, as anything fried in oil is likely to be in this age of health-labelled foods and exploding rates of obesity (ironic? Me? No.)

But they're incredibly tasty with just the right amount of sour cream or apple sauce. And Chanukah (or Hannukah, or however you choose to spell it) just wouldn't be the same without them. It's as if the house needs to have the telltale aroma of fried potatoes for it to really feel like it's a holiday.

So for an eight-day span in December, we'll eat stuff we really shouldn't eat because it's good for our soul, it makes it real for our kids, and it gives us all a chance to appreciate our unique place in a world that rarely gives minorities a chance to put a stamp on their uniqueness. As we try to raise our kids to value who they are and keep our traditions alive for yet another generation, we look to simple holiday traditions like cholesterol-laden potato pancakes to help reinforce the process.

It isn't easy. No one ever said it would be. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Your turn: Touchstones of your season. Please discuss.

One more thing: I wrote a column about the holiday a couple of years back. It's entitled The puzzle of passing down faith, and it was published in our city's daily paper, the London Free Press. Click here for the link to the blog entry. Enjoy the read.

Wordless Wednesday - Juiced

Glowing glass of golden nutrition
London, ON, November 2007 [Click to embiggen]

Your turn: Does this make you thirsty?

One more thing: Juice is a recurring photographic theme for me. Click here, here, here and here for past examples of liquified fruity goodness. Odd, I know. I offer no explanations or excuses. I am what I am.

Caption This 47

Please caption this image
[Click here for instructions on how Caption This works]
London, ON, October 2007 [Click to embiggen]

Some days, it pays to look down. While attending the groundbreaking ceremonies for our children's new school (big, exciting news in our community - more entries on that in the months to come) I found myself taking pictures (huge surprise, I know) of the usual scenes: shovels, speeches, audience, site. It was an exciting, memorable day for everyone who attended.

Yet, for reasons I still don't fully understand, I realized toward the end of the event that I hadn't taken any artsy photos that day. I haven't fulfilled my photographic destiny unless I've pointed the lens at something strange, something that would prompt ridicule from passersby.

So I took a picture of a flower - some would say weed, but I choose not to - that no longer exists, blown into oblivion by the winds of autumn, with a little help from the backhoe that turned the site into a mud flat in the days after this photo was taken.

But this moment will persist for as long as I can remember it, thanks to my little addiction.

Your turn: Please name this photo. Submit as many creative captions as you wish: I get excited when I see multiple submissions from folks. I'll announce the winner next week.

About last week's image of planes at the airport in Toronto: This was a very quiet, personal moment for me. I don't just walk aimlessly through airports. Rather, I traverse them slowly and deliberately, trying to remember how it felt to be there. Travel is a privilege, and the airport is a critical waypoint on any long journey: I want my photos from these places to capture those feelings.

Many of you captured these feelings with great precision in your entries. Anne's closely reflected what I felt at that moment: "They just waltzed around with their tails in the air like they owned the place."

Honorable mentions go to these great folks:

• Vickiev: "Grounded"
• John: "Coming and going."
• Rashbre: "Turn this crazy bird around."
• Omykiss: "Caption: No parking spaces left."
• Sara: "Even when we're up in the air - we are still at home."
• Thumper: "Fly the friendly skies, eh?"
• Joan, Bubblehead: "Leavin' on a jet plane."
• JC: "One way ticket to paradise, please."
• Wordnerd: "Home is in plane view."
• Awareness: "Precious cargo coming and going."
• Robin: "You can take the man out of his country, but you can't take the country out of the man."

Have fun with it this week. More to come...

Hazy alley in Shanghai

Every window has a story
Shanghai, China
May 2007
[Click to enlarge]

I've got a thing for alleys (see here, here and here), those quiet, dim places where so much seems to happen out of sight of the mainstream.

As I walked past this imposing sight on a smog-choked day, I wondered about the stories that go on behind each of these windows, the lives that play out in the shadows of a city whose size almost defies the imagination. Small and invisible in the midst of overwhelming and large.

I suspect many of these stories would be of no interest to the strangers who walk by and peer down this alley as they rush to wherever it is they're headed. But somewhere in the giant pile of existence, I'm sure there's a needle of a compelling story.

Imagine taking the time to dig in.

Your turn: Pick a window. What story does it tell?

One more thing: Caption This will be posted tomorrow. I'm not feeling particularly captionish today. Thanks for your patience.

The clock strikes...

Timeless
London, ON, August 2007
[Click to enlarge]

This clock tower in the middle of London's University of Western Ontario campus sits up on a hill, standing guard like some kind of ancient sentinel. I see it often because it's not far from the television studio where I often do interviews.

On this August evening, I had just finished one such interview and was feeling pretty good about the outcome. The last bits of sunlight were fading into memory as I walked back to my car, slowly running the just-completed interview through my head. No one else was around as I looked around and tried to remember visuals that would cement this particular day in my mind.

The clock tower struck me as particularly appropriate to photograph. Not only was it perfectly bathed in the very soft light of late evening. It also reflected the importance of time to some folks, and the fact that my last deadline of the day had been met, and now I could take a few quiet moments to reflect and record.

I took a few pictures from the parking lot, lingering for a bit because I didn't want to forget what it felt like to have had a really successful, fulfilling day. Then it was time to head home and add to my memories of the day by sharing it with the folks who mattered most.

Your turn: How do you use your camera to capture how you feel?

One more thing: Speaking of TV, I was at it again yesterday. I did a live interview with BNN's Kim Parlee about the departure of Motorola CEO Ed Zander. Click here to see it. I'd love to hear what you think.