Hingeworthy

Listen for the squeak
London, ON
April 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Everything always seems to hinge on one thing.

What that one thing is, however, is entirely up to us.

#ldnont #monochrome #abstract #architecture #growingchefs

Fenced in

Field of play
London, ON
April 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We all grew up on some kind of playground.

Behind fences that either kept us in or kept others out.

Where we either made friends for life or learned harder lessons.

That not everyone looked out for us.

That the rules only applied to some.

That play was an analog for the life that awaited us.

So as I stare through the chain link fence at the dusty asphalt, I imagine not all of us have the same memories of what it was like to grow up in places like this.

And not all of us choose to return.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #chainlink #fence #maitland #downtown #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone

What rain leaves behind

Soaked
London, ON
April 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: our driveway.

I’ve been running errands, the usual everyday stuff that needs to get done but is just as quickly forgotten. It’s been pouring heavily for days, the rainfall and flood warnings growing more ominous by the hour.

I should probably head into the house because more everyday stuff awaits, but in between unplugging my phone and scooping up my keys, the deluge intensifies, wrapping the car in a cocoon of sound and fury that, frankly, I rather enjoy.

So I sit for a few minutes, doing nothing more than listening to the thrum against the sheetmetal and watching the ever-shifting puddles on the sunroof. It’s hypnotic.

I make a mental note to fish the good camera out of the house sometime soon so I can shoot the droplets overhead, but then I realize now is preferable to later, and I’d rather not have to sprint through the rain. So I lift the smartphone up and play with the angles.

It doesn’t take long to get what I envisioned, a textured scene that literally has the colour sucked out of it. Almost on cue, the skies relent and the pooled water slithers off of the glass. The moment is over.

I’ll never know if this photo may or may not have been technically better had I captured it with a more appropriate tool. But I do know I did the best that I could with what I had in the moment.

And in doing so, I realize the lesson applies to far more than simple photography.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #onstorm #weatherphotography #droplet #abstract #bokeh #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone

Lost in London

Sign from above
London, ON
April 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Not all those who wander are lost.

Not all those who are lost necessarily want to be found.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sign #tolkien #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone

The leaves that autumn forgot

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

The thing that attracts our attention isn’t always spectacular or obvious.

It can be the unassuming branch swaying in the wind, the easily ignored wisp of nothingness with the thin layer of dew clinging underneath.

Most of us will miss it entirely.

Assuming we were never looking for it in the first place.

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

Staring into reflective waters

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

Stare into reflective water long enough and one thing eventually becomes apparent: it will never look precisely like this again.

Perhaps we’ll return here at some future point in time, and perhaps when we do the weather and the lighting conditions and even our moods might be similar. But the image in front of us will never be repeated.

We should consider ourselves lucky, then.

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

Shmear culture

The before picture
London, ON
April 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Bagels aren’t just glorified rolls with holes in the middle. They’re culinary religion.

Anyone who’s indulged in bagel culture for long enough appreciates the simple joy of picking up a dozen from a local shop built around its own wood-fired oven. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of warmth radiating through the paper bag, followed by the inevitable debate we have with ourselves over taking just one bite before getting home.

The shmear is a critical part of the experience. I could simply call it “cream cheese”, but that would be doing it a disservice, because we’re not just talking about the confection itself. Rather, it’s what we do with it when we drop everything on the kitchen table and get ready for the most memorable shared meal of the day.

Our local bagel store is located within walking distance of our house, a simple reminder of the power of communities still served by people we know and admire. Who are always happy to banter over the different kinds of shmears they have prepared themselves and displayed under glass, and will ask on the next visit if we liked what we brought home.

On this morning, the recommendation was herb and garlic cream cheese. And when I got home and opened it up, I was struck by the texture, made not by a machine, but by someone I know. Who took the time to walk me through their various offerings before recommending the herb and garlic.

Sure, the shmeared bagel was fabulous. But I’ll remember the conversation, the texture, the moment, far longer than anything else.

#ldnont #oldbagelhouse #shoplocal #monochrome #stilllife

Where waves go to die

Washed up
Sunny Isles Beach, FL
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

In the dying seconds of an ocean wave’s life, it swells up just enough to catch the rising sun’s rays and throw jagged shadows across the flattened sand.

Milliseconds later, it’s all over, streams of foamy water returning to the sea as another wave rises up right behind it.

The beach is otherwise empty in these sacred few minutes after sunrise, the drama playing out with no one around to witness it.

Yet the waves don’t seem to mind, as the forces shaping these micromoments get their start in countless unseen corners of the planet.

And they don’t much care who’s around when they finally converge on a deserted beach before disappearing forever.

#sunnyislesbeach #florida #sunrise #landscapephotography #throwback

Reading a tree stump

Read this...
London, ON
April 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This is all that’s left of a tree that took around 40 years to grow, and could very well take another 40 years to be absorbed back into the earth.

The circle of life, literally and figuratively, painted in rich textures, quietly telling a timeless story in the shadows of others that now protect it.

#ldnont #medway #canada #naturephotography #texture

Leave nothing behind but a shadow

At the turnaround point
Lucan, ON
April 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I point the bike north, toward a picture perfect town called Lucan, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows as I battle the winds sweeping across the freshly plowed farmers’ fields.

It feels good to be out there, hands cold soaking on the brake hoods, legs powering up hills carved eons ago by retreating glaciers.

Nothing in this moment matters beyond keeping the wheels tracking along the white line - or carefully drifting offline when the crumbling asphalt threatens to swallow a tire. I listen for traffic and scan my rear-view mirror, pushing everything else aside as the pedals settle into a gentle rhythm, the frame rocking ever so slightly side to side.

It’s taken me a few kilometres to find the right cadence, the right gear, the right mindset. Fast enough to be efficient. Consistent enough to not burn out before the turnaround point.

But there’s no burnout today, and soon enough I roll into the achingly quaint main drag and look for a spot to park and snack on some stale granola.

I stop just long enough to send my wife this proof-of-life photo, then plot the way home. I have just enough time before sundown to take the longer route, to race the sun with the wind, finally, at my back. Logic dictates the shorter path, but I decide logic doesn’t get to make this call.

Soon enough I’m back up to speed, passing pastures filled with cows, horses, and even a seemingly lost donkey. The shadows grow longer, the air colder, the wind stronger. As if an unseen hand now pushes me toward home, without which none of this would be possible.

#lucan #ontario #canada #cycling #orange #TangerineDream #bicycle #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Liftoff toward the unknown

Transition
Sunny Isles Beach, FL
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It takes courage to fling yourself into the unknown, to trust your wings to carry you through the turbulence toward what may or may not be a better place.

I wonder if this bird is trying to teach us something.

#sunnyislesbeach #florida #wildlifephotography #throwback

Integrity returns

Splashdown
Source: NASA
April 2026
Image also shared on Instagram

Welcome home, Integrity. What a time to be alive.

#artemisii #nasa #splashdown

One tree against an endless sky

Touch the sky, sort of
London, ON
April 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Every photographer keeps a mental list of themes they’d like to shoot, scenes that they’ll return to again and again for reasons that aren’t always explainable.

I’m no exception. And one of my go-to themes is somewhat simple: single trees in the middle of nowhere.

It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m up to, but I’ll happily stop what I’m doing if I come across a particularly fetching example.

Which explains how the dog and I found ourselves in the middle of a park last night staring at this one.

Strangers gave us weird looks as I crouched down at the bottom of a gentle hill and composed against the twilight sky.

The end result was far from perfect, as a pesky stand of trees on the distant horizon insinuated itself into the frame. But I decided to share this one as a reminder to myself to keep looking for scenes just like this.

I’d like to imagine that we return to the things that bring us quiet comfort, that offer familiarity amid lives that often seem devoid of it. I’d like to imagine there’s a certain kind of grace to be had by immersing ourselves, even temporarily, in scenes and places that ask nothing more from us than a little attention.

So we meander through the wet grass in search of them, not because we especially needed another picture of another tree, but because we couldn’t miss an opportunity to feel something.

It’s why the stories of the everyday, simple as they may seem at first glance, matter as much as they do.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #tree #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone

Sailing before dawn

All alone out there
Sunny Isles Beach, FL
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The sun won’t rise for another 20 minutes, but already the sky is coming alive, pointing the way for the single sailboat making its way along the shore.

For now, the planet is providing all the forces necessary for the unseen sailor to make headway, basic physics keeping it afloat. And safe.

It feels elemental to stand on-shore in the warm, salty air and wordlessly watch the scene play out quietly so far away, the planet serving notice that we’re just guests here. Humbling, even.

Eventually this boat will disappear from view, another story of another stranger unfolding in plain view, but without any additional details beyond what we can see from afar. Temporarily.

We all leave ephemeral traces behind. Some in the waters, some in other ways.

#sunnyislesbeach #florida #sunrise #landscapephotography #throwback

Fog giveth. Fog taketh away.

Murky intersection
London, ON
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Just as some of us disappear into the fog, others emerge from it.

A sign, perhaps, that the fog doesn’t always just take away.

It can give back, as well.

Come to think of it, maybe none of this is limited to meteorology.

#ldnont #canada #weather #nikon #monochrome