Friday, November 15, 2024

Red leaves on a string

Slash of colour
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


We can see red and get upset, or we can see red and be inspired.

Choices. Entirely ours.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #trees #red #leaves #gameoftones #texture #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography


Thursday, November 14, 2024

The squirrel who followed me

Let's play
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


The scene: I’m walking through London’s Springbank Park on a late autumn afternoon. I hear skittering behind me, and look back to see a black squirrel following along.

I stop to appreciate the strange spectacle of a human meeting a rodent. We stare at each other for a bit before I turn around and continue along the path.

A few hundred metres further on, it occurs to me that I’m still hearing some skittering. I look back once again and see my new squirrelly friend still following me at a respectful distance. I smile at her before I get back to my walk.

You know what happens next. More skittering. More stopping. More staring. This goes on for 15 minutes, and by now I’ve walked well over a kilometre with this little furball in tow.

Of course the moment calls for some photography, and of course she poses like a pro.

I know she would probably rip my face off if given the opportunity. But for an abnormal stretch of time on a sunny afternoon in the park, I want to imagine that we’re somehow connected.

If only any of this applied to more than a single squirrel.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #springbank #squirrel #squirrelsofinstagram #squirrelphotography #squirrelwhisperer #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Feelin' squirrelly, September 2008
Another squirrel, July 2007
Gecko adventure, February 2007
A critter visits, October 2006

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Where we follow a man who shops

Mission accomplished
Toronto, ON
November 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


It’s been a while since I did the street photography thing.

Never mind the fact that this is in a mall and not a street.

This particular mall, Toronto’s Eaton Centre, has always been a bit of a Mecca for a little visual fun. And even after renovations that cut into the grandeur of the atrium, there are still places here where the old magic of a carefully crafted public space manages to be seen and felt.

In all likelihood the stranger ahead of me on the escalator will never be known. It’s another facet of street photography that adds to its poignancy.

#toronto #ontario #canada #yyz #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #downtown #city #yonge #eatoncentre #mall #retail #glass #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Crystal cathedral,  September 2023
Oasis of learning, April 2018
Eaton Centre, way up, February 2018

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

The necessity of colour

Painted, for now
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


If anything, we need colour now more than ever.

At least that’s what I tell myself as I wander the valley in search of something - anything, really - that makes me smile.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #trees #gameoftones #autumn #colour #trees #leaves #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Canopy in chaos, October 2023
Let's start colorfully, November 2020

Monday, November 11, 2024

The canopy turns red

Opposites attract
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


[NOTE: I’m working my way through processing the autumn photos off of my camera-camera - not the smartphone - so please accept my oh-so-Canadian apologies for posting these weeks after they were taken. Better late than never, right?]


Just before the leaves fell for good, they flared into a supernaturally bright shade of red. The arboreal colourfest lasted for all of a day before the winds moved in and finished the job.

We always seem to save the best for last, don’t we? I think the trees feel the same way.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #trees #gameoftones #autumn #colour #red #leaves #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Red Roof Inn, October 2024
Temporary red blanket, October 2019

Sunday, November 10, 2024

All the leaves are brown...

Down
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


All the leaves have fallen, their once brilliant colours now reduced to a near-monochrome brown.

No one heads out anymore to shoot autumn-brown photos. Which leaves me all alone to shuffle through the deep layers left behind, my feet crunching through the endless mess.

It sounds and feels like nothing else, a blink-and-you-miss-it moment between autumn and winter when what at first blush seems like an ending instead turns out to be a glorious opening to a vibrant next chapter.

So we crouch down as far as we dare and get a close look at this ephemeral scene before the snows rewrite the script yet again.

Because there’s always a new story being written, always a new chapter to be added to what’s already been told.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #forest #floor #fallen #leaf #leaves #stilllife #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography


Saturday, November 09, 2024

Yet more reflection...

Blink and you miss it
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I’m still in a reflective mood. Something tells me I’m not alone.

What are you reflecting on, over, or about?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #heritage #forest #trees #autumn #color #colour #gameoftones #thames #river #reflection #water #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography


Friday, November 08, 2024

ICYMI: TikTok gets (sort of) shut down in Canada

ICYMI: I joined the Vassy Kapelos Show yesterday to break down the federal government's decision to order the shutdown of #TikTok's Canadian offices.


Ephemeral reflections

They're really just photons
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Peer into the reflective waters long enough and one thing soon becomes clear: everything is an illusion.

From the light of the trees that bounces off the silvery surface to the flowing waters themselves, none of it is real or permanent.

And yet, still we stand on the riverbank, and still we stare.

Because even something that struggles to exist in our imagination retains the power to inspire us to act.

It’s something I toss around in my mind as I exit the forest, the scene behind me already forever changed, yet again.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #heritage #forest #trees #autumn #color #colour #gameoftones #thames #river #reflection #water #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography


Thursday, November 07, 2024

Monochrome is a colour, too

Reach for the sky
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


So often when I go looking for colour, I end up with monochrome.

The irony isn’t lost on me. The world, apparently, is an unpredictable place. And while we expend limitless resources, time, and energy making the most elaborate plans, the universe so often seems to beg to differ.

In the end, I rather like life on the greyscale. The stripped branches against a starkly lit sky seem to speak to me, and this is the image that most sticks with me even if it wasn’t part of my initial plan.

Because scripts can only take us so far, and something tells me this is yet another example of photography imitating real life.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #heritage #forest #trees #gameoftones #autumn #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photogtaphy #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Instagram 2K, February 2020

Wednesday, November 06, 2024

Dogs get out the vote, too

Wake me when it's over
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


You can practically feel the tension as the U.S. election plays out to its inevitable conclusion.

So please allow me to share this random photo of our dog, Calli the Wonderschnauzer.

Headlines don’t matter to her. As long as she’s fed and walked and played with and loved, she’s a happy girl.

I’ve been holding onto that notion for a while. Because dogs always seem to find perspective that evades the rest of us.

And a world with dogs remains better than a world without. Maybe find one and indulge in some canine therapy. It feels good. I promise you.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #actofdog #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #shadow #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Our dog the photo model, September 2024
That Schnauzer stare, December 2023
Boop the snoot, October 2023
Sleepy puppy stare, November 2022
The king at rest, December 2014

Tuesday, November 05, 2024

America goes to the polls, so...

Refuge in photography
Kitchener, ON
November 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


PLEASE NOTE: It’s #ElectionDay in America, and today’s photo comes with a bit of a mission. Please give the full caption a read - and consider joining in. Thank you.


Here we go…

As millions of voters head to the polls in the U.S., you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just another election. It isn’t. It's an inflection point in history.

Now, I’m not American. I technically have no skin in this game. Yet given the outsized global role this singular nation plays - and the fact that we’re next-door neighbours and besties - it would be naive to assume that the outcome of the election won’t have a profound effect in the Great White North. It will.

Social media and the broader internet are always cesspools, of course, but they’ve become even more so in the runup to today. The digital space is ugly, and we can expect it to worsen in the weeks and months ahead.

So I hope you'll view my offering today as something of a minor effort to bring light to an otherwise dark place.

I don't want to talk politics. I want us to focus on what we need to do to make the world a better, kinder place. Lofty and naive? Of course. But that's how I'm built, and that's how I roll.

SO HERE'S YOUR MISSION: Find a photo or video that makes you smile - and post it as a response here.

That's it. If we throw goodness out there, we're part of the solution to whatever disease it is that got us to where we are today.

I’ve decided to start us off with a simple mug of coffee on the table of a beloved diner. Because who doesn’t like still-life images that make us smile? And of all the choices we'll make today, this will most certainly be the most comforting. And we could all use more comfort.

Are you in? Let's do this, shall we?

#kitchener #ontario #canada #tikkunolam #stacks #pancakes #stilllife #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Dog under the radar, November 2020

Monday, November 04, 2024

Sky, scraped

Every window a story
Toronto, ON
November 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


When I was a child, I’d stand on sidewalks and stare up at tall buildings that scraped the sky and wonder who was inside them.

I’d imagine all sorts of only-in-a-kid’s-mind stories of wonder and whimsy and everything both in between and beyond.

Eventually it would be time to go. And the images and the stories and the whimsy would be tucked away in my memories.

Yesterday I stood on a sidewalk and stared up at this tall building scraping the sky and wondered pretty much the same thing.

Some things never change. Nor should they.

#toronto #ontario #canada #yyz #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #downtown #city #yonge #geometry #reflective #mirror #glass #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:

Sunday, November 03, 2024

A certain kind of mushroom

Fun fungus
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Deep in the shadows of the river valley, a fallen tree lies undisturbed, its trunk serving as a welcome host for vibrant, unexpected life.

If you close your eyes and listen within the overwhelming silence, you can almost hear this next chapter playing itself out in a place few choose to visit.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #trees #mushrooms #gameoftones #texture #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Mushroom mania, March 2024
Rooted to the ground, December 2019

Saturday, November 02, 2024

If...

A life
Duvernay, QC
July 2012
This photo originally shared on Instagram


My father would have been 90 today. We lost him just before his 75th birthday, so I’ve had a few November 2nds since then to ponder a life that quite literally shaped my own.

I share this not to be morose or dark. Life eventually ends for all of us. It’s also a given that we’ll all lose people who matter, and we’ll have to figure out what life looks like afterward. To my eyes, it just doesn’t make sense to choose to live in perpetual shadow.

So I don’t. He led a full, eventful life. He was lucky to have found and married the love of his life, and to have spent 48 years with her raising a family and building a community that continues to beat. He made a difference.

Of course we’d have liked to have had more time. Or for him to have had better health those last few years.

But that’s the thing in life: we get what we get, and we do our best with what we’ve been given.

He did. So that’s what we celebrate.

Happy birthday, Dad. Know you’re remembered well. Know you were, and are, loved.

#family #everything

Related:
15 years... September 2024
A milestone no one wants, September 2022
13 years... September 2022
12 years without dad, September 2021
When life ends, September 2020
10 years on... September 2019
7 years on... September 2016
5 years on... September 2014
2 years on... September 2011
A year, September 2010
2:23 a.m., September 23, 2009

Tornado in the sky

Painting the sky
London, ON
September 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Can airplanes create abstract art in the sky?

I’d like to think that they can.

I’d also like to think that childlike wonder can take many forms, and staring at pretty planes painting the heavens counts as one of those childlike wonder moments.

#airshowlondon @airshowlondon @rafredarrows #raf #RedArrowsMapleHawk #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #skydrive #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #aviation #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #photography #planespotting #instaplane

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