Play with the dying light

Shadows at the corner of Southdale and Wonderland
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Some people take selfies. Others travel a somewhat different road.

Road trip dinner

Forgotten
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Somewhere, a litterbug goes to bed without dinner.

Stared down by an angry bird

Feeling reflective
Port Stanley, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Another day, another bird. If I didn't know better, I'd swear this one dared me to take the shot.

The best beach restaurant ever

Feeding generations of beachgoers
Port Stanley, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Institutions come in many shapes and sizes. This one, Mackie’s, has been on the Port Stanley beach for 106 years and counting.

When people talk about why local businesses matter, it's places like this that immediately come to mind. Because it's hard to imagine this town and this beach without this place as a timeless anchor to both.

4 birds. One direction.

Strength in numbers
Port Stanley, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I bumped into these tiny birds at the beach, and was inspired by the way they stuck together no matter what washed over them. Wind, water, errant beach-goers: They were there for each other regardless of the chaos that surrounded them.

Perhaps there's a lesson in that for the rest of us.

Thematic Photographic 422 - Lights On

Civic Nation, at rest
London, ON
August 2018

I've been staring at lights a lot lately. Like so many habits of mine, I'm not entirely certain why I do so, but the rapid shift in lighting technology - incandescents, halogens, and fluorescents are rapidly giving way to LEDs that are far more energy efficient, significantly more flexible, and way cooler-looking - is literally changing the way we see buildings, infrastructure, vehicles, and anything else that needs to be lit up. Maybe that's why.

Whatever the reason, I had one of these moments with my car a few weeks ago. As I drove home from dropping my lovely wife off at the train station on a quiet Saturday morning, I caught a glimpse of a cool building and thought I should shoot it. When I was done, I figured the car was as clean as it had been in ages, so more photos were called for. I have a thing for Hondas. The lights remind me of parentheses: Perfect for a writer-type like me.

Your turn: Thematic is all about taking a weekly theme - this week's is Lights On - and coming up with cool, creative ways to reflect it in your own photography. Take a light-themed photo and share it on your website, blog or social media account. Leave a comment here letting folks know where to find it. Visit other participants to spread the photographic joy. And don't be shy: If you know anyone who loves photography, drag 'em over here encourage them to participate. For more on how Thematic Photographic works, head here. Have fun, and thank you!

QWERTY madness

Touch me
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

At first glance, it's just a keyboard. Qwerty layout, Lenovo ThinkPad, backlit, with the little red nubbin. Like millions just like it.

To a writer, though, it's a tool, the channel through which you get to create. Just put your fingers there, close your eyes, and wait for the magic to happen. Before long, letters get shaped into words, sentences, paragraphs, whatever. Do your job right and people can be moved. Lives changed, even

Most of us take it for granted that we'll be able to use these mundane tools of digital life, but accessibility challenges mean some of us simply can't. I'm one of the lucky ones: I got that ability back. And not a day goes by that I'm not thankful.

Your turn: What are YOU thankful for?

How puppies make the ordinary extraordinary

May I please have my treat now?
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On an ordinary Sunday morning, an ordinary guy badly in need of coffee dons a pair of sandals, hooks up the leash and heads out into an ordinary neighborhood for an ordinary walk with an ordinary-looking puppy. The scene probably repeats itself countless times in countless neighborhoods near and far.

I do this walk with her every morning - and if we're being absolutely precise, every afternoon, evening and late-night, as well. As we approach each intersection, we've trained her to stop, sit, and stay until we clear her to cross. Again, a seemingly ordinary thing in the life of an ordinary guy and his ordinary dog.

But here's the thing: It isn't ordinary. Although countless other ordinary folks walk countless other ordinary dogs in countless other ordinary-looking neighborhoods, this one is special. To me and to her. And if I could hover over all the walking dogs and their owners in all those other places, I'm pretty sure those moments would be special to them, as well.

I don't know what Calli is thinking as she's looking up at me and waiting for the "cross" command. I hope she's as happy to have this seemingly ordinary moment as I am. I hope she appreciates the Zen of a quiet stroll through the hood, the blessing of alone time, the break from the chaos of the planet around us. I know she doesn't think about endings, but I do. That we only get so many of these walks together. That we've got to try a little harder to hold onto moments like these before we no longer have them. That the most ordinary moments can create the most extraordinary memories.

A few seconds after I took this, she got her treat and we crossed the street on our way back home. I needed a photo to remind me why I cherish the ordinary as much as I do. Because there really is no such thing as ordinary.

Golden hour from the 12th floor

The day ends
Laval, QC
July 2011
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The balcony of my father-in-law's condo is on the 12th floor, and it has an unobstructed view west of the town where both my wife and I grew up. It's perfect for sunsets, assuming we're there to capture them.

Years ago, I'd often jump up from dinner and grab my camera when the sky put on a compelling show. My now-late mother-in-law would wait patiently till I returned before asking to see the results on the camera's rear screen. I took this particular shot in 2011, and I can still remember the conversation with her when I got back inside. She called it a painting.

These days, we're there less often, and dinners don't happen here anymore. I'm not sure how much longer we'll have access to this specific spot in the sky, in the universe. Which makes photos like this so special to me. Because what at first glance presents as a lovely pic of a painted-sky sunset is actually, to me, a portrait of a now-vanished time in my family's history, and a reminder to us all to take the time to remember places and moments like these.

Because they disappear sooner than any of us would like to imagine.

Corvette summer

Reflectively at rest
Delray Beach, FL
December 2017
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Take one step to the left or the right and the view changes entirely.

Physics = awesome.

Thanks, universe!

Where nature takes your breath away

Nature's Majesty
Old Woman Bay, Lake Superior Provincial Park, ON
July 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Ever look at a piece of the planet and have absolutely no words to describe what it looks like or how it makes you feel?

Awestruck wonder is an amazing thing, isn't it?

#old #woman #bay #great #lake #superior #provincial #park #beach #blue #water #epic #road #trip #roadtrip #travel #travelphotography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #zoom #dryden #family #is #everything #ontario #canada

The day begins reflectively

Painting the sky with light
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

One London Place is the (for now, at least) the tallest tower in London. Torontonians probably laugh at the prospect of a 30-storey building being the tallest anything, but London's never had to align itself with anyone else's scale.

What matters to me isn't the number, anyway. It's the way this building endlessly captures and reflects the light around it. Whatever we're doing downtown, at any time, we always know to look toward this icon of the skyline, because it'll always be putting on some kind of show.

Which is why, as it silently did its thing on this quiet Saturday morning, I couldn't resist the urge to record the moment. This building will never get old for me.

Dirty Apple, lost to time

Get a Mac
New York, NY
November 2009
This photo originally shared on Instagram

They don't make Macs like this anymore. The iconic Apple logo on the back of the screen of MacBook computers has been slowly devolving over the past few years. Once upon a time, the logo was backlit, with a friendly-white-LED glow that clearly stood out in the sea of Dells, Lenovos and HPs at the local Starbucks.

One model line at a time, however, Apple has been replacing the lit-up logo with a silvery-looking thing. It's still an Apple apple, but it's lost its light. As computers have gotten thinner, it's understandable that Apple would ultimately want to get rid of this seemingly superfluous gimmick. But it's one of those icons of design that I'll somewhat miss when it's gone.

I shot this years ago, at a pre-wedding dinner in a New York City restaurant. Members of the wedding party were giving their speeches, and one of them had brought a MacBook Pro to run the various slide shows. I trained my long lens on the lid from clear across the room and shot it. The depth of the image has always captivated me, and takes me right back to the moment I captured it.

If the same scene repeated itself today, with a so-called "modern" Mac, sans lit-up logo, I'd probably keep my camera in its bag. Design isn't what it used to be.

#logo #mac #design #grey #lit #obsolete #missed #apple #computer #tech #technology

Thematic Photographic 421 - Many, many things

Hungry yet?
London, ON
August 2018
Photo originally shared on Instagram

There's a certain hypnotic quality to staring at large amounts of the same thing. Looking into the repetitive abyss can overwhelm the senses, play games with your mind, and generally make you a little bit woozy. Or, in this case, hungry.

Chocolate covered raisins - called Glosettes here in Canada - take me right back to my childhood, when my grandparents would bring us boxes of them whenever they visited. Here's an earlier view through my lens. Sure, any kid would love a sweet treat, but what really fused my brain to this particular confection is that fact that my grandparents knew we liked them, and took the time to pick them up for us. It was an early example of unfettered kindness, and it always made me feel warm and fuzzy.

In adulthood, I've found it cathartic to shoot them - quickly, of course - in the bulk barrel at the grocery store. It's the cheapest form of nostalgia imaginable, especially when I manage to avoid tipping off the in-store security team.

Your turn: Take a photo containing many examples of the same thing. Celebrate repetition in any form, and share it on your blog, website or social media account. Leave a comment here letting folks know where to find it, and feel free to visit other participants through the week. There's no right or wrong: The whole idea of #ThematicPhotographic is to expand our photographic horizons a bit and have some fun in the process. If you're new to Thematic, click here for more background. Enjoy!

Trainspotting

The view from here
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Life flies by in a blur. So sit by the window, look outside and drink it all in.

Because the journey always seems to end before we expect it to.

#ldnont #via #viarail #train #75 #rail #london #yxu #toronto #yyz #the6ix #travel #travelphotography #green #forest #trees #google #pixel2 #teampixel #dorchester #ontario #canada

Only in a Jeep

JK love
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I suspect we'd all be a little happier if everyone drove purple Jeeps with the tops down.

#ldnont #purple #paint #auto #automotive #automobile #car #cars #carsofinstagram #carporn #jeep #wrangler #unlimited #itsajeepthing #straight #lines #design #shape #texture #adelaide #street #walkabout #nikon #nikon_photography #dslr #photography #london #ontario #canada

Flash of red

Change is a constant
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Early seasonal defiance at the edge of a downtown parking lot.

#ldnont #red #green #leaf #leaves #color #colors #downtown #nature #everywhere #season #autumn #summer #google #pixel2 #teampixel #london #ontario #canada

Staring into a Huron Lake infinity

The view from here
Grand Bend, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Geometry is real, even at the end of a windswept pier.

#grand #bend #grandbend #beach #great #lake #huron #waves #water #wind #weather #wx #straight #lines #color #blue #green #summer #sky #random #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #zoom #ontario #canada

8-bit art in a downtown alley

You gotta eat here
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Someone found a primo parking spot.

In all seriousness, I love living in a city where spontaneous street art is a thing.

#ldnont #urban #wall #art #not #graffiti #random #street #photography #digital #8bit #flat #brick #truck #downtown #google #pixel2 #teampixel #london #ontario #canada

The clock ticks down

Never enough time
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You've got 8 seconds. What will you do with them?

#ldnont #Saturday #morning #walkabout #urban #city #street #photography #adelaide #north #huron #traffic #light #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #zoom #telephoto #bokeh #nofilter #nofilterneeded #photooftheday #instagood #london #ontario #canada

Thematic Photographic 420 - Floored

Industrial disease
London, ON
August 2018
Photo originally shared on Instagram

I've been sporadic with Thematic - hey, that has a ring to it! - because life's been a bit busy over the past few months. I quit my old job and started a (much better) new one. We went on an epic family road trip to a faraway place. I pulled waaaay back from my on-air work because I realized routinely getting 3 hours or sleep per night wasn't all that healthy.

As I've adjusted to this new, much more balanced life-reality, I've realized just how much I needed to change. I wasn't riding the bike as much as I should have been. I wasn't taking as many photos or writing as I would have liked. And most critically, I wasn't spending enough time with the fam. They deserved more of me.

Somewhere in that turbulent mess, Thematic got left aside. As I slowly realign my brain to this new routine, I'm finding myself carting my camera along more often. And I'm spending more time at the keyboard not only for work, but also for play. I'm once again letting those voices inside my head create stuff to both read and look at.

This photo reminds me of the need to look down every once in a while. Floors may not get the attention they deserve, but stopping to shoot the usually-ignored steel plate floor during a recent day at a local indoor activity centre was an important milestone in recapturing the spirit that not so long ago defined who I was and how I chose to interact with the world. What seems unimportant and routine is, in fact, the exact opposite, and I'm pleased to be back in the groove, proving that point with every word I write and every photo I take.

Your turn: This week's Thematic theme is floor. Take a picture of a floor - or the ground, or anything around where your feet would normally be - and share it on your blog, website, or social media account. Leave a comment here with a link letting folks know where to find it. Visit other participants throughout the week, and check back here next Monday for another exciting chapter in Thematic history. Because we're back on a weekly schedule, folks. Spread the word. And please accept my thanks for coming along on this journey.

If you're new to Thematic, head here and all will be explained.

A man waits by the water

Blue bench. Green water.
Grand Bend, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

He sits quietly on the pier, watching the waves roll in. I wonder what he was thinking.

#grand #bend #grandbend #beach #great #lake #huron #waves #water #wind #weather #wx #straight #lines #color #blue #green #summer #stranger #random #urban #street #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #zoom #ontario #canada

Big building on a grey day

Looking up, literally
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Ominous skies over a #ldnont icon. Looking up every once in a while has its advantages.

#one #london #place #519ldn #519london #office #building #architecture ##reflective #mirror #facade #buildingporn #google #pixel2 #teampixel #weather #wx #ontario #canada

Remembering an early-morning drive with my kid

The Grid
Lambeth, ON
June 2018
Photo originally posted on Instagram

The scene: 7:58 on a grey Sunday morning in June. Our daughter has a photo shoot at an arena/community centre in this quiet bedroom community nestled in the agricultural hinterlands that surround London. After I park the car, she heads in to set up with her team. Normally at this point, I'd point the car home and leave her to do her usual great stuff, but a ceramic wall feature on the outside wall has caught my eye.

As you can see from the photo above, it's just a bunch of tiles. But given my long-established propensity to view the world through a somewhat bizarro lens, I can't stop staring at it. I jump out of the car and wander over for a closer look. I like what I see, and out comes the camera for a quick and spontaneous photo shoot. I'm going for straight-on, straight lines, and when I get what I like, I wander back to the car and head back home. There's a puppy to walk and coffee to be made.

As far as photos go, this one isn't all that spectacular. No depth, no perspective, and fairly repetitive. So why shoot it in the first place? Good question, and the answer speaks directly to why I shoot in the first place.

Sometimes, like here, or here, or here, it's because the photo itself is unreal. Or it's fleeting. Or it's just plain thought-provoking. This one, to be frank, isn't. But it didn't need to be. That's because it's a placeholder, or a moment photo, a pic that I took not because it was spectacular in and of itself, but because it captured a moment I didn't want to forget.

And this particular moment was an important one, a reminder of what it felt like to be alone with our daughter in a car rolling quietly through the countryside as we both chatted about the craft of photography, about what lay ahead for her for the day, and why it was worth waking up too early on a Saturday morning.

We've had many of these mornings, the two of us, and as much as I relish my sleep, I enjoy these mornings more. Driving her to wherever she needs to go. Being a dad. It's what parents do, of course, part of the deal we make when we decide to become parents in the first place. But this kid makes them fun, moments to look forward to. To the outside observer, it's just a parent and child having a chat in a car. To me, these moments are everything, and fleeting, and I needed a picture, something, anything, to remember what this particular moment on a particular Sunday morning in a quiet parking lot in Lambeth felt like.

Mission accomplished. Now, when's our next early-morning drive?

Your turn: Do you take placeholder- or moment-type photos? Why?

The Rainbow Connection

Colors and trains
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Mother Nature served up a healthy dose of optical inspiration at the @viarailcanada station in #ldnont this morning.

My takeaway? Despite the glaring headlines, the universe is a pretty cool place. We simply have to look for the signs in those in-between places - or, quite literally, at our feet.

#via #viarail #train #84 #rail #london #yxu #toronto #yyz #the6ix #travel #travelphotography #photography #rainbow #color #colors #pride #google #pixel2 #teampixel #ontario #canada

Yawning puppy

Thrill me, please
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

She was ever so slightly bored. Suggestions welcome.

#ldnont #Calli #CalliTheSchnauzer #LittleMissCalli #519ldn #519london #puppy #pup #puppylove #puppiesofinstagram #instapuppy #dog #actofdog #miniatureschnauzer #schnauzer #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzer_planet #schnauzerlove #followforfollow #pet #doglover #petstagram #instadog #ilovemydog #doglovegram #london #Ontario #canada

When trains leave the station

Say goodbye, for now
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The journey begins, quietly.

@viarailcanada #via #viarail #train #82 #rail #ldnont #london #yxu #toronto #yyz #the6ix #travel #travelphotography #photography #urban #soho #google #pixel2 #teampixel #ontario #canada

Deep inside an old cereal factory

Industrial history
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Where we peer into the guts of an old #Kellogg cereal factory.

#ldnont #lovethisplace #architecture #architecturephotography #building #buildingporn #grey #monochrome #concrete #block #geometry #industrial #old #kellogg #cereal #factory #basement @factoryldnont #google #pixel2 #teampixel #london #ontario #canada

The telltale sidewalk heart

Forgotten? Not on my watch
London, ON
July 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

While walking the dog last week, I stepped on some gunk on the sidewalk beside our house and couldn't stop staring at it. The world needs love. Please share this.

#ldnont #spontaneous #sidewalk #art #dirt #heart #love #more #please #concrete #texture #random #street #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #london #ontario #canada

Five years on...

Today is a bit of a milestone for me, as it marks five years since my stroke. I generally don’t watch the calendar in search of significant dates, but this significant date is different because it isn’t every day that you doubt you’re going to get another one. And it isn’t every day that you somehow get a second chance.

I’ve had five years to ponder the events of that day (here’s what happened, here’s more background, and here's some more) and I keep coming back to the singular fact that I’m incredibly lucky for so any reasons. That I didn’t die. That I wasn’t left severely disabled. That I was able to crawl back out of the rather deep hole I was in and back toward the life I had previously known.

I know the experience has changed me, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. My sense of balance, never all that great to begin with, is even worse now. I won’t be pulling a Wallenda on a highwire anytime soon. Nor will I be jumping out of planes, or scuba diving through underwater caves. I'm good with that. I was never much of a daredevil to begin with.

But here’s the thing: That’s minor stuff. Because it pales in comparison to what could have been if I had bled out, alone on my bike, at the corner of Wonderland and 9 Mile Road, if the tiny clots that landed in a certain part of my brain had landed somewhere else. Or if I didn’t get world-class medical care a mere 10-minute drive from my house. If my wife hadn’t recognized the symptoms and immediately called for help. Or if our entire community hadn't rallied around our little family.

It also pales in comparison to what happens to other stroke victims, folks who aren’t so lucky. Over the past five years, I've heard from so many who have been touched by stroke, and too many of them tell sad tales of ignoring the symptoms, of shrugging off calls by friends and loved ones to get it looked at. Until it was too late. I can't fix them, but I can raise awareness. Heart and Stroke Foundation Canada has a wonderful page on stroke awareness here:

http://www.heartandstroke.ca/stroke/signs-of-stroke

If you do one thing today, please visit the page, read, learn, and share.

I've had five years to count my blessings, but as it turns out I had a lot of early-life preparation. I spent a lot of time in hospital as a child, and learned then that someone always has it worse than you. When I was in the children's ward, my bed was opposite that of Dimitri, a child (we were both about 5 years-old at the time) who broke his leg and was in traction. At night, after the lights were turned down and the ward went quiet, I would slip out of bed and wander the hospital in a wheelchair. I'd tell him about my adventures when I got back. He couldn't move, but I could. That sentiment continually rings through my head every time I’m tempted to buy into the “woe is me” line. I had nothing to complain about then, and that's just as true now.

I still push myself to get out there. I still ride the bike - despite the fact that a bike ride is what touched off this whole adventure. I still write. Still speak about geeky things on-air. Still have a sense of humour. Still shoot the world through a bizarrely skewed lens. Most importantly, I still get to enjoy life with my wife and kids - because, really, what else matters more?

I know I'm lucky to have been given these five years. Indeed, we all are, and you shouldn't have to experience critical illness to come to that realization. Every day is a gift, and there's no way of knowing whether we'll get another one. I'm just grateful to have been given the extra time, and grateful to be able to share the experience with others. Maybe I'll still get to write an update in another five years. That would be neat.

Your turn: How do you cherish every day?

No bugs allowed

Peek into the underbelly
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Read carefully for another glimpse into this amazing building's past.

#lovethisplace #ldnont #architecture #architecturephotography #building #buildingporn #grey #monochrome #concrete #block #geometry #industrial #pest #control #old #kellogg #cereal #factory @factoryldnont #google #pixel2 #teampixel #london #ontario #canada

Colored water as far as the eye can see

Nature puts on another show
Grand Bend, ON
July 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Color all the way to the horizon. Not bad for a substance that has none of its own.

Hmm, lesson, perhaps?

#grand #bend #grandbend #beach #great #lake #huron #waves #water #wind #weather #wx #straight #lines #color #blue #green #sky #summer #ontario #canada

Industrial vanishing point

No more cereal for you
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Never miss an opportunity to look down a long, empty hallway, especially an historic, lovingly preserved one.

#ldnont #architecture #architecturephotography #building #buildingporn #grey #monochrome #geometry #leading #lines #vanishing #point #perspective #old #kellogg #factory @factoryldnont #google #pixel2 #teampixel #london #ontario #canada

Weeds in an alley

Chaos on the ground
London, ON
August 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Nature reclaims a forgotten alleyway. Beauty, after all, comes in all forms.

#ldnont #dundas #street #519ldn #519london #urban #street #photography #ruins #ruinporn #google #pixel2 #teampixel #walkabout #london #ontario #canada