Saturday, September 30, 2023

Geometric photobomb

I'll just be a minute
Port Stanley, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: In the middle of a beachside photowalk, I crouch down in the wet sand beside the breakwater at the far end of the beach. Ostensibly I’m fascinated by the crisply drawn angles, the textures of the worn concrete, the deep green of the algae that grows at the waterline.

It’s a rich little ecosystem here, one that’s typically overlooked by most folks who wander on past. Even I’m guilty as charged, as we’ve been coming to this idyllic town for years, yet this is the first time I’ve ever really stopped in this particular spot to take it all in. Quiet corners, edges, fringes…I make a silent note to myself to pay more attention to them.

It’s an incredibly bright afternoon, the Sun beating down directly from the south, obliterating my view. So I’m barely able to see what I’m composing. But still, the process matters more than the final result, so I stick with it and hope I can snag something decent along the way.

I barely make out the shadows of someone walking into frame from the top-left, but I’m so focused on maintaining my tenuous balance in between the waves that I ignore the intrusion. I trip the shutter a few times before gravity and my awful sense of balance tell me it’s time to move on to something else - maybe involving less crouching.

Only later when I review the pics do I notice I’ve been photobombed - and I realize the photo I ultimately got wasn’t the one I set out to capture.

It feels like a broader lesson to me, where we can make all the plans we wish, but the planet around us will always throw a wrench or two - or a parasailer - into the works.

And when we stop and think about the spontaneous shift in direction, we realize it was where we were destined to go all along.

#portstanley #beach #ldnont #ontario #canada #great #lake #erie #water #pier #breakwater #parasail #silhouette #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
The grid, August 2021
Institutional green, February 2007
Look up, way up, April 2006

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Friday, September 29, 2023

Still dancing in the waves

Backlit
Port Stanley, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Every once in a while I have difficulty choosing my favourite photos from a given series.

Which explains why you’re seeing more wave pics than usual right about now.

I blame Lake Erie. She can be a bit of a show-off - perhaps to make up for the whole shallowest-Great-Lake thing.

Sorry.

#portstanley #beach #ldnont #ontario #canada #great #lake #erie #water #waves #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Shutter therapy 101, September 2023

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Party of birds

Shared freedom
Port Stanley, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Who wouldn’t want to dance joyfully in the sky with eight of their best friends?

#portstanley #beach #ldnont #ontario #canada #great #lake #erie #blue #sky #bird #gulls #flight #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded


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Thursday, September 28, 2023

Blown away

Wheee!
Port Stanley, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Come fly with me.

#portstanley #beach #ldnont #ontario #canada #great #lake #erie #water #waves #parasail #bird #flight #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Surf's up! May 2023
Surf's no longer up, February 2023
Baywatch North, July 2021

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Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Shutter therapy 101

Don't blink
Port Stanley, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I call it shutter therapy, and the process is fairly simple.

Grab a camera and get yourself to a spot that has some kind of meaning to you. Stand there for a few moments to soak it in, then start composing and shooting.

Magically, nothing else will matter in that moment, as it’s just you and whatever it is that sparks your imagination.

As you can see, my spot with meaning often involves water. On this day, some wind showed up, as did sunlight bright enough to make it almost impossible to see much of anything through the viewfinder.

But that’s the deal with shutter therapy. The photos themselves matter less than the fact that you’re here. So you gently push the rest of the world aside as you focus on the here and now. You let your mind work through whatever’s going on on the other side of the glass.

If you manage to bring something memorable home, then great.

And if not, mission still accomplished. You made it out to a place that mattered to you. You took the time. You probably felt something. That’s always more than enough.

#portstanley #beach #ldnont #ontario #canada #great #lake #erie #water #waves #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
End with a splash, March 2012
Water fingers, May 2010
Waved off, March 2009
Endless waves, January 2007

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Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Tanker? Art? Both.

Airfoils, explained
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Aircraft are filled with tiny details that grab the eye and speak to the soul.

Like this KC-135 Stratotanker. It was designed long before I was born, yet I still find myself staring intently at its wingtip as I slowly walk around it.

There’s just something so artful about things that are shaped by the laws of aerodynamics. Simple at first glance. Less so the longer we linger.

Back then, engineers penned planes by hand, on paper. I imagine what it must have looked like when the original designer sat down at a drafting table and got to work. If only they knew their work would span continents and decades.

Maybe those small details aren’t so small after all.

#ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #usaf #boeing #kc135 #stratotanker #flight #aircraft #static #aviationphotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Winging it, August 2023
Airport at rest, March 2023
One blue plane, December 2019

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Monday, September 25, 2023

Stand your ground amid the turbulence

Feel it
Port Stanley, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Turbulence isn’t something to be feared. As much as this wave will be gone in a blink, it will inevitably be followed by countless others.

So we stand amid the angry foam, head-on, because we really don’t have much choice. If we want to enjoy the beach, we’ll have to put up with the chaotic scene playing out where water meets land.

Rules for large bodies of water. Rules for life. Same thing.

#port #stanley #portstanley #beach #ldnont #ontario #canada #great #lake #erie #water #waves #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Waterdance, January 2018
Post-crash wave, November 2017

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Sunday, September 24, 2023

An Eagle flies in anger

In a rush
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Power is a fascinatingly enigmatic thing.

You don’t want to have to use it in anger. But it’s nice to know you have it at your fingertips, just in case.

Because the world that surrounds this plane is a similarly enigmatic, often chaotic place.

Wouldn’t you rather we have the tools necessary to navigate it?

#ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #boeing #mcdonnelldouglas #boeing #usaf #f15 #eagle #fighter #flight #aircraft #aviationphotography #oregon #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
An Eagle makes jelly, September 2022
Screaming Eagle, September 2022
Shooting an Eagle, September 2017
Caption This 128, July 2009

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Saturday, September 23, 2023

Industrial Age brilliance

Let the light in
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We can find leading lines just about anywhere.

Like here, in this Industrial Age temple of glass and stone.

But only if we look for them, and position ourselves in just the right spot.

And only if we move quickly enough to capture them before they disappear for good.

Timing, positioning, effort, experience, gut, plus a little help from our celestial neighbour.

Maybe we’re talking about photography. Maybe we aren’t.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #100kellogg #100kellogglane #digoev #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #city #eoa #windows #sun #shadows #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Red velvet dreams, December 2022
Picture window, November 2022

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Friday, September 22, 2023

Subway shooting

Going somewhere
Toronto, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Scene from a subway platform on a Sunday afternoon.

This isn’t really a “big” picture kind of picture, but I’ve never been that kind of photographer, anyway. While everyone else crowds around the same scenes, I’m usually poking my nose and my lens somewhere else, taking the kinds of photos that wouldn’t have been on anyone’s shot list.

I guess I’m just weird that way. Assuming that “weird” aligns with wanting to see the ordinary things everyone else ignores, or the everyday folks going about their everyday lives, the things and places and people that - or who - normally wouldn’t have their stories told.

It’s just that some stories are smaller than others. Doesn’t make them any less worthy or compelling, though.

Whoever this person is, I hope he enjoyed the Tim’s coffee and the soundtrack that played as he drank it. I also hope he got where he was headed safely.

In the end, this moment mattered to him. Which I guess makes it more than big enough.

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #ttc #subway #urban #city #wilson #station #transit #street #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Life moves too fast, August 2012

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Thursday, September 21, 2023

From cereal factory to showpiece

Where yesterday meets tomorrow
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

My breakfast cereal once came from here, a century-old factory that produced its final box of Frosted Flakes 9 years ago.

After languishing in the shadows of a dusty industrial neighborhood for a few years, the place was repurposed as a showpiece multipurpose entertainment complex. As urban renewal projects go, this is the bar that all others now aim for.

So it felt somewhat right to quietly walk through the lovingly restored masterpiece as the setting sun cast all sorts of magic across the ancient concrete and brick.

A sign, perhaps, that dark chapters eventually end, and what comes next is often well beyond what could have been imagined at the time. If, that is, we choose to dream - and act - big.

Maybe that’s a broader metaphor, too. We’ll come back here soon to explore that further.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #100kellogg #100kellogglane #digoev #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #city #eoa #windows #sun #shadows #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded


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Wednesday, September 20, 2023

The perfect world of dog

Please just let me sleep
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Calli the Wonderschnauzer’s life is truly charmed: All she knows is that she’s surrounded by people who adore her. The cold realities of life on Planet Earth in 2023 mean nothing to her.

Which is as it should be.

Enjoy those sweet dreams, little one. We will always be here to play with you when you awake.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #actofdog #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #ınstagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Toe beans on pink, August 2023
Canine resolution, January 2023
Sleeping ball of fur, December 2022
When shaggy dogs sleep, February 2022
Dog meets snail, June 2022
Eight dog years, March 2015

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Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Would you pay for X/Twitter?

ICYMI: I joined Todd Vanderheyden on CTV News Channel earlier today to talk about Elon Musk plan to charge all users to access X (ex-@twitter).

I believe I used the phrase "final nail in the coffin."

Would YOU give him your credit card number?


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Tilt rotor, head-on

In perfect balance
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Face-to-face with a very special kind of Osprey.

Godspeed, brave warriors.

#ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #bell #boeing #usmc #mv22 #osprey #flight #aircraft #aviationphotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Osprey vape show, January 2023
Rescue me, January 2013
Save me, October 2011
Chopper, July 2007

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Monday, September 18, 2023

Tracing magic in the sky

The things we leave behind
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

They’re usually invisible or otherwise hard to spot, but wingtip vortices can easily flip other aircraft unlucky enough to fly through them.

But if the conditions are just right - the perfect plane, the perfect low-slow-heavy flight regime, and the perfect weather conditions - the sky ends up being painted something mesmerizing.

These particular examples were left behind by a Hawker Sea Fury, the last piston-engined fighter before the jet age, and a design known for leaving particularly strong vortices in its wake.

Dangerous things that are surprisingly beautiful. Hmm…

#ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #hawker #seafury #british #fighter #flight #aircraft #aviationphotography #vape #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Shadows in the sky, December 2012

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Sunday, September 17, 2023

A Growler makes its own weather

Powering through the humidity
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Turn. Burn. Get out of the way.

Feels like an appropriate sentiment right about now.

Everything should come with an afterburner, no?

#ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #boeing #mcdonnelldouglas #usn #gonavy #ea18g #growler #fighter #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #vape #abstract #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
No Rhinos for Canada, December 2021
Jet fighter photobomb, September 2021
Rhino takes to the skies, September 2021
Wheels up! September 2020

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Friday, September 15, 2023

Mash the throttles

I am speed
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I call this one, “When Vipers spit fire…”

I’m just getting into editing the kajillions of pics I took at @airshowlondon last week, and thought this scene would be a fun one to start with.

It’s just after the pilot has rotated off the runway and is climbing those first few critical feet into the sky. The afterburner is voraciously turning fossilized dinosaur remains into a furious combination of acceleration and noise. On the ground we feel its passage as much as we see it.

As is often the case, the not-so-simple act of getting an F-16 into the air serves as a fascinating parallel to life.

We all start on the ground, so to speak, and we all look to the sky for both inspiration and aspiration.

Nothing happens until we decide to muster our energy and go full bore toward whatever it is that we seek.

It can be a frightening, risk-filled place, that sky above. But still we charge into it.

A reminder, perhaps, that sometimes it takes a little sound and fury and violence to make it happen.

I’m strangely fine with that.

#ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #lockheedmartin #usaf #f16 #falcon #viper #fighter #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Vipers, canopy to canopy, September 2022
Light the burners, January 2022

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Thursday, September 14, 2023

Viper gets a primo parking spot

Waiting
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

As promised - or threatened - I went to an air show last Sunday.

Many, many photos were taken. So many, in fact, that it’ll be a while before I can sift through them and process them through my usual workflow (it’s a thing, I’m a bit obsessed, but I’ve been told it’s not contagious.)

I did manage to grab a few quick ones from the morning’s static display. It was drizzling a bit, and I was trying to keep my camera from getting soaked, so I stuck with the iPhone until things dried up.

Thankfully Mother Nature ultimately cooperated and allowed me to flail my Nikon with reckless abandon for the rest of the day. It was glorious.

I have a thing for the F-16 Fighting Falcon (aka Viper). This one’s a C model, and whatever the generation, there’s an aesthetic to this airframe that seems to tug at my soul every time I’m around one.

It seemed almost peaceful as it sat quietly on the flight line, biding its time until it could return to the skies.

Soon enough, Viper. Soon enough.

More to come…

@airshowlondon #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #lockheedmartin #usaf #f16 #falcon #viper #fighter #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #photography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #apple #iphone #shotoniphone

Related:
Viper over London, August 2021
The tip of the spear, December 2020
Viper trio, May 2020
Viper at rest, September 2017

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Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Deserving of celebration

Canadian beauty
Dryden, ON
June 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Our birthday week continues as we celebrate Debbie’s latest spin around our nearest star.

Which is appropriate, because she’s always been the very centre of all of us, the star around which we all orbit.

I hope today is a happy one. I hope every day is just as charmed, as she deserves all that and more. I often tell her that’s my job.

Of course, all this will be just as true tomorrow, because she’s the one who taught me that birthdays are special, as is every other day of the year.

#LiveLaughLevy #ldnont #london #dryden #ontario #canada #happy #birthday #birthdaygirl #happybirthday #parenthood #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything


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Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Another great year...

Looking to the future
Old Woman Bay, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario
June 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This is our daughter, Dahlia. She’s brilliant, driven, creative, and kind. And today she completes another trip around our nearest star.

Which is appropriate, because from the moment she was born she’s been a star in her own right, a source of light who casts her warmth on those lucky enough to be in her orbit.

She’s always up for a spontaneous photo walk to chase the sun or whatever else grabs our eye, a grand adventure to a strange new spot, or a spirited moment with a dog who adores her.

We all do, and our home is a brighter place because she’s in it.

Happiest of birthdays, Peanut Girl. 26 already looks wonderful on you, and we can’t wait to see what you manage to accomplish in the year to come.

#LiveLaughLevy #ldnont #london #oldwomanbay #algoma #lake #superior #ontario #canada #happy #birthday #birthdaygirl #happybirthday #parenthood #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:
No longer just a kid, September 2020
22 trips around the sun, September 2019
21 trips around the sun, September 2018
20 years of Peanut, September 2017
19 going on... September 2016
Sweet 16 and counting, September 2013
Peanut grows up, September 2011
Reflective birthday girl, September 2010
She grows up, September 2009
Eleventeen years old, September 2008
She hits double digits, September 2007
Peanut turns 8, September 2005


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Monday, September 11, 2023

Crystal cathedral

Where's the Windex?
Toronto, ON
August 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

People.

Glass houses.

Stones.

Etc.

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #perspective #skywalk #glass #ceiling #design #public #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #city #downtown #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Headed home by train, January 2019
Oasis of learning, April 2018

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Sunday, September 10, 2023

Underpass art

Grab on
Toronto, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We often find the most remarkable things in the shadows.

Like subtle - or maybe none-too-subtle - reminders to reach out, grab on, and hold on tight.

To what, you might ask? Or to whom?

That’s entirely up to you.

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #building #urban #city #wilson #allen #street #walkabout #mural #art #streetart #graffiti #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
A hometown hockey hero, November 2021


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Saturday, September 09, 2023

Notes from my wife

Lucky me
London, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On a day this week when I ventured away from home and made my way into the office, my lovely wife made me lunch. And as she often does, she wrote me a note.

What she doesn’t know is I take pictures of every note she sends me, and whenever I’m having a lousy day I’ll scroll through them in my photo archives.

It makes me smile.

And it reminds me that seemingly small things really aren’t that small at all.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #note #lovethatgirl #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything


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Thursday, September 07, 2023

4 years of family

Present and future
Dryden, ON
August 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A lot can happen in four years.

Make a welcoming home.

Pursue fulfilling careers.

Start a family.

Teach the mini-me how to extract joy from life right from the start.

These two have done it all, and then some, in that tiny blink of time, and we are so incredibly proud of them.

Happiest of anniversaries, Michaela and Zach. Keep making those days and years count. Keep filling them with moments you and Lilly and all of us will never forget.

#LiveLaughLevy #dryden #ontario #throwback #wedding #anniversary #parenthood #family #everything

Related:
A year of Lilly, June 2022
Lilly at 6 months, December 2022
Their third... September 2022
Their first... September 2020
Almost a teenager, October 2006

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Raptor or Millennium Falcon?

Warp speed
London, ON
September 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’ll be spending the day with a dear friend on Sunday sitting in lawn chairs beside a runway while state-of-the-art flying machines punch holes in the sky.

Perhaps we’ll see the F-22A Raptor do its best Millennium Falcon impression. Or not. Doesn’t really matter.

What does matter is that we have the time at all, to sit around, surrounded by wonder and countless other similarly enthralled folks, to laugh like kids and spend an afternoon together none of us will forget.

Wherever you’re sitting - near airplanes or not - please take the time. It’s all we’ve got.

@airshowlondon @f22demoteam #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #throwback #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #lockheedmartin #usaf #f22 #raptor #fighter #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photography

Related:
Raptor, landing, February 2023
The Raptor returns, November 2022
And now the bottom half, September 2020

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Wednesday, September 06, 2023

Even when the Sun hides...

Peekaboo
London, ON
July 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Even when largely hidden away, the Sun finds ways to make everything around her come alive.

That’s a lesson for the rest of us, too, isn’t it?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sun #sunset #sky #tree #trees #cloud #clouds #cloudspotting #weather #wx #jaycee #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded


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Tuesday, September 05, 2023

Parents never learn, do they?

#BackToSchool2023: Social media is overrun with pics of kids holding artsy signs, filled with juicy tidbits that identity thieves and predators will be harvesting before the first tooth is lost in the playground.

I’ll be over here shaking my d—ned head. We. Never. Learn.

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Sticking around for the final show

Splatters of paint
London, ON
August 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This shouldn’t be happening. The clouds have almost covered the sky, and the barely-visible Sun slipped below the barely-visible horizon a while ago.

But for reasons I don’t quite understand, I stick around. “Just in case,” I tell myself, hoping against hope that something - or anything - fun might happen if I just hang around long enough.

The spontaneous soccer game in the nearby park wraps up, and the parents in the playground gather their kids in the fading light and usher them home. Still, I stand alone and watch the darkening mess above me. Again, I think to myself, I’ve wasted my time.

Eventually, the sky cooperates with one last burst of color and light and fire, a defiant last blast for a day whose ending no one seemed inclined to remember. It’s there for barely a few seconds before the night swallows it for good.

As I tuck the camera away and slowly head for home, I think not only about what I’ve just seen, but the how of it all. How I stood in one place while everyone else drifted off. How I waited until long after logic would have - should have - called it a day.

Most of the time, moments like this end up in a deep grey mess of muddy light. Sometimes, though, we get lucky. Sometimes patience pays off. Sometimes we just have to stick it out and let the universe touch us one last time before we sleep.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sun #sunset #sky #tree #trees #cloud #clouds #cloudspotting #weather #wx #jaycee #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

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Monday, September 04, 2023

When a hometown is no longer home

Feeling reflective
Montreal, QC
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I grew up here, in Montreal, but no longer feel like this is home.

So I wander the downtown streets not far from where I studied and worked and pounded the pavement in search of stories to tell. I try to remember what it felt like when I was just starting out, barely able to tell my own stories let alone those of others.

It’ll take more than a fast photo walk through my old stomping grounds to recapture the foundational moments that allowed me to build everything that’s come along since.

It’ll take more than a blink-and-you-miss-it visit to feel what teenaged Carmi must have felt when he stood on a downtown sidewalk and looked up for the first time.

So I try to take a photo of what I might have seen then, a simple composition of glass, light, sky, and clouds.

It doesn’t bring me back. Nothing ever can.

But for a brief moment in time, it feels like these streets - and the steep and glass and sky above them - feel, if not like home, then at least slightly more familiar than they were when we first arrived.

Maybe we can’t go home again. But still we try.

#montreal #quebec #yul #canada #glass #reflection #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #downtown #city #blue #sky #cloud #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

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Sunday, September 03, 2023

Extra spicy schnu

I'm really trying
London, ON
August 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Grooming is always a fun time for Calli the Wonderschnauzer. And when we say, “fun”, we really mean a wildly unpredictable experience that may or may not end in tears.

Our groomer called her “extra spicy” this time out. She smiled as she said it, but I’m sure any grey hair she eventually begins to exhibit will be entirely attributable to our dog.

We live in an in-between state with Calli when it comes to her/our relationship with our groomer. On the one hand, they haven’t fired her yet, though I won’t pretend I don’t fear this every time I head in to pick her up. Every time they offer to re-book her for her next appointment, I heave a small sigh of relief.

On the other hand, we understand why she won’t be making their Facebook page anytime soon. That spot, after all, is reserved for the good dogs.

The ones who aren’t extra spicy. Or even mildly so.

Schnauzers are, how we say, not for everyone. They are super smart, super stubborn, and super loud. Like little springs constantly on the verge of letting their energy loose on whatever or whoever is within eye- or earshot.

Ours lives on the very edge of that spectrum, a ball of fire who doesn’t have an off switch, who’s always a squirrel sighting away from going ballistic. She hates being picked up, having her paws played with, or being told no. She barks at everything and everyone, but especially loudly for specific humans and canines who she doesn’t like. She’d eat the skunks in the neighborhood if given the chance.

Yet we love her limitlessly for a heart that defies her tiny size. She is never not “there” for us. Always following, booping us with her nose, curling up in a ball waiting for a tummy rub, shadowing us especially closely when she knows we need her, crying hysterically by the front door when we return from picking up groceries.

She may be crazy, but she’s our crazy, a Levy through and through, and a perfectly sweet soul who never fails to connect with ours by simply staring into our eyes.

We’re ok with some occasional grooming drama if it means we get to have moments like these. From the looks of it, she’s ok with it, too.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #actofdog #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #ınstagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Dog meets snail, June 2022
Eight dog years, March 2015

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Saturday, September 02, 2023

Be. The. Light.

Spotlight, on.
London, ON
August 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Today, let’s vow to be the light.

That banishes the darkness.

That gets us there safely.

That everyone looks to.

That protects us all.

That gives us life.

That inspires us.

That fuels us.

That is all.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #londonmusichall #downtown #night #abstract #shaft #blue #light #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Phasers on stun, August 2020
Blinded by the light, November 2010
Playing with light, October 2007

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Friday, September 01, 2023

Amateur concert videographers need not apply

Enjoy the fleeting moment
London, ON
August 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’ll never understand the appeal of standing up during a concert, hands high overhead, to record every last second of the experience on a smartphone.

No one ever says, “Gee, I’d love to watch two hours of grainy, jumpy video overlaid with distorted audio.” Much of that footage gets stuck in the darkest corners of some dusty drive or cloud service, never to be seen again.

And yet, perversely, I appreciate the why of the uber-amateur, uber-annoying-to-others concert photo shoot. You want a memory, a trigger, a keepsake of some sort that you can hold onto long after the last note fades to silence.

Which explains why I snuck away for a moment to steal this fast snap before rejoining our daughter.

The tiny people onstage are the members of the great Canadian band, Arkells, brought to London by game developer Digital Extremes to celebrate the close of the successful TennoCon conference.

Our daughter works at this wonderful firm, and I was lucky enough to tag along all weekend and watch her and her colleagues work their magic for thousands of fans who came in from all around the world to celebrate the Warframe platform.

It seemed appropriate to grab a picture to remember a moment no one would ever want to forget.

The video? It exists in our minds, where it belongs.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #londonmusichall #arkells #concert #digitalextremes #warframe #tennocon #downtown #night #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #family #everything

Related:
Be. The. Light. September 2023
Let there be light, February 2017

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