Sunday, November 30, 2025

Date night cream cheese adventure

Chill in the abstract
London, ON
November 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: the cream cheese display case in our local Loblaws grocery store. My wife and I are here for date night*, and as I reach inside for some whipped shmear, I see something that begs for a little more attention.

Maybe it’s the lighting. Or the angles. Or the strangely mundane spectacle of Philadelphia brand products, which have been a breakfast staple since I was a kid. Maybe the what and the why shouldn’t even matter. The point is I’m strangely hooked.

So out comes the smartphone for a fast and chilly shoot. I get stares from strangers. My wife walks away in embarrassment.

Never mind. I’m committed to the vision. It takes a little bit of maneuvering to get the right composition - I believe cream cheeses are somewhat shy - but eventually I get what I want and extricate myself from the display so I can rejoin my lovely wife. I drop the container of plain whipped Philly into the cart before we point ourselves toward the cereal aisle. Tomorrow morning’s breakfast promises to be epic. I’ll remember the grocery run that made it possible long after the dishes are washed and put away.

—

* Date night happens any time we’re together. If we’re running errands - like fetching groceries - then it’s date night. Walking the dog? Date night. Sitting at an airport gate before the sun rises? Date night.

Because time spent together isn’t necessarily spectacular or planned. Sometimes the moments that matter most are the ones that happen when we’re just going through the ordinary paces of everyday life.

And if it involves a weird photo session that prompts my favourite human to walk away pretending she doesn’t know me, that’s just another piece of the never-quite-predictable - or even remotely normal - story of us. And yes, I realize just how insanely lucky I am.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #grocery #store #loblaws #refrigerated #dairy #shopping #retail #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Related:
Deli meat under glass, January 2024

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Saturday, November 29, 2025

Ancient industrial handrail

Grab on
Woodstock, ON
June 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Ancient factories don’t always give up their secrets without a bit of effort.

So before we step into the stairwell covered with decades of dust, under brick walls eroded by time, we grab on to industrial-looking railings polished smooth by generations of now-vanished workers and their bosses.

And we say a quiet thanks to whoever ensured this relic of a community now lost to time still stands, that we can still stand amid the dim light filtered through ancient glass and listen for the echoes from those who once brought these walls to life.

Not everything needs to become a new condo development, after all. Not all stories should be ended by the thing we call progress.

#woodstock #ontario #canada #throwback #building #factory #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Factory window, November 2025
Forged in history, April 2024
Sunny ruinporn, April 2022

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Friday, November 28, 2025

Red albatross under a blue sky

Land on this
London, ON
September 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The winds howled all night as squalls raked our region and painted it monochrome shades of white and grey.

So please don’t mind if I look for a shot of colour in my big old pile of photos. It’s my way of countering the deepening gloom of a season marked more by darkness than by light.

Today’s rather abstract offering was captured at an air show in September. While the crowds gathered around the needle-nosed fighter jets, I chose to stand under a plane that first took to the skies 78 years ago. The Grumman HU-16 Albatross is certainly not needle-nosed, isn’t remotely supersonic, and will never strike fear in the hearts of, well, anyone.

Originally designed as an amphibious search and rescue platform, this particular model has been transformed into a modern classroom of sorts for the next generation of test pilots and flight engineers. It belongs to the International Test Pilots School here in London, and its glass cockpit and advanced avionics are the stuff its original designers could only dream of. It’s a pretty cool ride, owned and operated by a pretty cool organization.

Yet it was the colour and the rivets against an azure sky that kept me stuck to the tarmac for longer than was probably advisable.

Sometimes we just have to slow things down and appreciate the history that led to this specific moment. Those needle-nosed jets owe more than a passing thank you to legends like this.

#airshowlondon #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #grummann #hu16 #albatross #aviation #flight #aircraft #planespotting #aviationphotography #abstract #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Galaxy quest, December 2024
An especially tall moose, September 2024
Viper at rest, September 2017

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Thursday, November 27, 2025

After the harvest

Rows upon rows...
Middlesex Centre, ON
November 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’m driving through the farmlands north of town when I see something fun in my peripheral vision.

It’s the first day of November, and the skies are having a bit of a hissy fit, with ominous clouds racing overhead, no doubt propelled by intense winds that I can feel through the steering wheel. They’re painting the freshly harvested fields below something fierce.

So I park the car and zero in on the treeline overlooking what’s left following the recent harvest. I’m not sure if it’s the leading lines, the subtle colours and tones, the textures, or all of them, but something about this scene makes me just want to stand there.

I get it: this is but one of countless fields on a very large planet. And who am I to call this any more special than any other?

But here’s the thing about farmers’ fields, photography, and I guess life, as well: not everything needs to be compared. Or ranked. This scene doesn’t have to win any more than any other needs to lose.

All that matters is right here, right now, I feel something. So I do my best to shoot it in a way that ensures I never forget that feeling.

Simple, really.

#ldnont #london #middlesex #ontario #canada #farm #autumn #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:

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Wednesday, November 26, 2025

Getting reflective in the driveway

Winter comes early
London, ON
November 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If you’re Canadian, you know the drill: clean the walk and the car after the snow stops falling.

It’s usually accompanied by a little grumbling and whining. Okay, maybe not a little.

But on occasion you’ll stop and see something that makes you pause. A tiny little moment of wonder that reminds you that there’s a bright side to the cold and the snow and the murk.

I found mine on the door handle, and just had to engage in a little bit of guerilla driveway photography before I got rid of it all with the snowbrush.

It’s just an icicle, really, but for a brief moment it was a silent antidote to an otherwise grey day, a tiny slice of perfection sitting in plain sight - but only if I slowed myself down and took the time to look for it.

I hope you find your icicle today, as well.

#ldnont #canada #icicleworks #reflective

Related:
Icy driveway surprise, February 2025
Henrietta on ice, February 2023
Brake for snow, January 2023
Scene from a driveway, December 2021

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Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Defiance before the fade

One last wisp of colour
London, ON
October 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A month ago, fire glowed in the tones at our feet, in the remaining leaves that still held onto their last wisps of colour despite the inevitability of all that surrounded them.

If we return to that quiet spot in the woods today, the colours will have shifted to browns and greys, mere shadows of what once was. It’s easy to assume it’s all over, that nature has hit pause, that nothing happens between now and spring, when life will return with a flourish.

This simple assumption, that everything stops as winter approaches, then magically restarts in a few months, ignores all that now happens out of our sight. The life we believe is reflected exclusively in bright colours can often be even more vibrant in their absence.

I wonder if there’s a broader message in these leaves. Maybe we’ve been looking at this autumn colour thing all wrong.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #fallen #leaves #red #autumn #colour #stilllife #naturephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography


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Monday, November 24, 2025

Three geese walk up to a sandbar...

Preflight
London, ON
September 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On an unseasonably warm September afternoon, I’m in the middle of a meandering bike ride through an unfamiliar neighbourhood when I come across this trio of Canadian Geese hanging out in a drainage pond.

The only camera I have on me is my smartphone, because stuffing an actual camera into a bike bag and then cycling the way I do - um, roughly - is probably not advisable for sensitive photographic equipment. I should have gotten the bike with suspension, I guess.

But they always say the best camera is always the one you have in your hand, so I park the bike and start composing with the iPhone.

To be charitable, “they” are spectacularly mistaken. The lens lacks reach, and I end up with this pixelated mess of a photo, and three angry birds who promptly swim away.

But I’m sharing it here, anyway, because I want it to serve as a memo of sorts to my future photographic self. I do that often, drop placeholder photos into the narrative to inspire myself for some future date when maybe the conditions will be better. Maybe I’ll have the right camera with me then. Or better lighting. Or I’ll be in a different frame of mind.

It’s a photographic game of Hansel and Gretel, except instead of finding my way home with a trail of food, I’ll be finding my way forward with a trail of really lousy pics.

But even a lousy photo tells a story - and keeps us on the path we were always meant to be on.

Now, there’s never a guarantee that we’ll even be gifted a tomorrow, so all of this is speculative at best. But it doesn’t hurt to leave little nuggets for the future, just in case.

Until then, the angry birds have time to figure out their next move.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #hydepark #bird #geese #reflective #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Related:
Geese aplenty, August 2023
Flight into the wind, September 2018
Your goose is cooked, October 2011
Wounded bird, December 2006

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Sunday, November 23, 2025

The colour-splattered sky

Before the switch is flipped
London, ON
November 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The sky was in a bit of a mood last night, splattering herself with random colours and textures long after sunset.

She wasn’t at it for very long: just as soon as the chaos reached its peak, it began its just-as-rapid fade into darkness.

So I just stood there on the damp, soft grass and stared toward the west, musing in my head about how many times I’ve stood in this very spot, and seen scenes very much like this one.

It’s probably a large number. Too large, even, because how many photos of the sky does one person need? Whatever that number is, I’ve likely exceeded it.

But as the yellows and oranges shifted to pinks and salmons, then blues and greys and finally blacks, I stopped counting. Because whatever that large number is, it isn’t infinite. Not for me, nor anyone else who might see these images, or perhaps happen across me as I shoot them.

We all get a certain number of sunsets. Of everything.

So I hope you don’t mind if I keep shooting and sharing the ones I happen to see. The sunsets. The everythings.

Maybe the numbers are ridiculous. The alternative - having no numbers at all - seems even more so.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #sunset #orange #cloudspotting #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

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Saturday, November 22, 2025

She waits by the bedroom door

Shades of RCA Victor
London, ON
November 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: last night. 11:44. It’s bedtime for all of us, and as Calli the Wonderschnauzer often does on her way upstairs, she sits herself down on the upper landing beside our room.

She’ll wait for us to get there before finally getting up and following us in. There’s no telling what she’s thinking, but I’d like to imagine the thoughts bouncing through her head are happy ones. Maybe scenes from the day she’s just had, or wishes for a comfy night’s sleep with her humans. Or squirrels.

Last night, she lingered just a bit longer, the shadows she cast feeling just a bit more grounded than they usually do. So I quietly grabbed this memory before we all tucked in for the night.

Every once in a while, I’m reminded that the moments we remember most seem to be the quietest ones.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callithethewonderschnauzer #dog #actofdog #schnauzersofinstagram #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

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She watches, June 2025
Nap like a dog, June 2025
No joke. Dog. April 2025
Our dog the photo model, September 2024
That Schnauzer stare, December 2023
Extra spicy schnu, September 2023

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Friday, November 21, 2025

Iced over

It's all about the texture
London, ON
November 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

When tiny frozen miracles are playing out at our feet, the least we can do is look down.

Soon enough, the morning sun will bathe this unassuming gutter in warmth, rendering this crystallized world little more than runoff.

So out comes the camera. Because we never know when the next miracle will occur.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #gutter #ice #frozen #winter #walkabout #weather #wx #onstorm #abstract #stilllife #naturephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone


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Thursday, November 20, 2025

Impressionism in still waters

Feeling reflective
London, ON
October 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Stand on a riverbank staring into the mirror-like waters long enough and one thing eventually becomes clear: everything is temporary.

This is just a reflection. The waters may or may not continue to flow here. The trees will eventually fall. The entire valley, carved out by these same waters over millennia, will eventually morph into something very different.

Maybe it’s all just an illusion. Or a hushed message to those of us who come here to hold onto the things we see and feel.

Because soon enough, we won’t be able to stand here at all.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #autumn #forest #trees #thames #river #reflective #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography


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Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Old parking spot

Follow the sign
London, ON
September 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The signs are everywhere. Even here, in the dusty corners of an elementary school parking lot, baking under the sun for as long as the place has been here.

No one leans in to catch the subtle streams of rust below the corroded screw, the hairline cracks in the paint, the berries growing defiantly through the twisted chain link fence.

It’s all invisible. In plain sight.

Which makes me fear the day when someone decides the cracks and the rust need to be painted over, and the berries need to go.

Because the scars we pick up along the way tell stories that don’t deserve to be erased.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #visitor #sign #stilllife #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
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Goose reads the sign, September 2024
Arrows everywhere, January 2022
Read the damn signs, February 2020
Where it all began, February 2019

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Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Walk the red carpet

Here for now
London, ON
October 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A lot can change in four weeks.

This patch of grass beneath a nearby maple tree was once covered with red leaves. Today it’s a snowy mess, and whatever leaves are left have long since shrivelled to brown.

But on that unseasonably warm October day, autumn’s colours flared brilliantly one last time, and the winds held off just long enough so we could enjoy the scene before winter repainted it.

I’m under no illusion that any of this is materially important to any of us. They’re just leaves on grass, after all, another milestone in a planetary cycle that never seems to end.

But for a brief moment on an otherwise ordinary day, an almost-bare tree painted a vibrant carpet of red on a perfectly shaded stretch of grass. I thought it was worth remembering.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #autumn #colours #red #tree #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Related:
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Red Roof Inn, October 2024

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Monday, November 17, 2025

Can you handle this pepper?

Red and green forever
London, ON
November 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We live on a decidedly noisy planet. So on occasion I’ll look for tiny blinkered moments where the noise gets shut out and is replaced by something much simpler.

In this case, it’s one red pepper among many in the produce section of the local Farm Boy store. It’s late on a grey Sunday afternoon, and as soon as I round the corner and see this perfectly lit display, I know it’s time for some spontaneous vegetable photography.

As my immensely patient and understanding wife heads to the bread section, I lean in and try to figure out the ideal way to capture the scene and the moment. The noise of the surrounding store seems to disappear as I figure out angles and composition. I’m only shooting with a smartphone, but the equipment seems to be beside the point, anyway.

It doesn’t take long to get what I want, and soon enough I’m back in the bread aisle figuring out sourdough options with a particularly lovely human. She gets why I need to hit pause every once in a while - and why a little quiet amid all the noise can be good for the soul.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #grocery #store #farmboy #shopping #retail #red #peppers #vegetables #stilllife #photography #fruitography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

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Sunday, November 16, 2025

Thunderbird and jelly

Dangerous physics
London, ON
September 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There are days when you just want to mash the throttles and join your friends in the skies for some death-defying moments.

Bonus points if you make a ton of noise and leave some reality-distorting jelly behind.

Because having a bit of fun with your besties is a lot more worthwhile if you change the landscape in the process.

#throwback #airshowlondon #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #usaf #thunderbirds #lockheedmartin #f16 #falcon #viper #fighter #aviationphotography #planespotting #instaplane #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography @airshowlondon @flyyxu

Related:
Mash the throttles, September 2023
Vipers, canopy to canopy, September 2022
The tip of the spear, December 2020
Thunderbirds are go, September 2020

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Saturday, November 15, 2025

All that's left...

The view below
London, ON
November 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The leaves have lost their brilliance and fallen to the floor, forgotten by all.

We’re way past autumn’s peak, long after everyone else has returned home and tucked their cameras back in until next year.

The remnants will soon be blown away. Or swept up. Or maybe they’ll just disappear on their own, wispy memories of a now-lost point in time.

Or maybe they won’t be memories at all. Because no one consciously remembers a leaf. Or a collection of them. Or the mess they leave after they’ve seemingly served their purpose.

Which gets me thinking: they’re still serving a purpose, even if we aren’t equipped to appreciate just what that purpose is.

And the trees that now stand bare over the chaotic forest floor will eventually be nourished once more.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #fallen #leaves #autumn #colour #stilllife #naturephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

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Friday, November 14, 2025

Before the fire in the sky is extinguished

Burning water
London, ON
July 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Fires in the sky never last as long as we wish they would.

Nothing beautiful ever does. The things that move us often disappear just as quickly as they appear in the first place.

Perhaps there’s a lesson in there. Or a message to our future selves.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #sunset #orange #cloudspotting #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography


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Thursday, November 13, 2025

Listen to the quiet waters

Quietly reflective
London, ON
October 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Some days don’t call for words.

Some days, nothing we can say or write will fix the ills of the world, or the people who live in it.

Some days the words need to be set aside.

Some days the only answer is to stand beside the slowly flowing waters.

Some days it makes more sense to say nothing and listen more.

Some days it feels right to wonder what was and what may still be.

In a place like this.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #autumn #forest #trees #thames #river #reflective #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography


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Wednesday, November 12, 2025

One red tree

All alone
London, ON
October 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Everything happens in cycles.

Leaves that just a few months ago burst from tiny buds in shades of fresh green now flash brilliant red before falling one last time to their inevitable shrivelled fate.

Some hold on a little longer than others, desperate for a few more hours or days. But nature’s script is a strict master, and time eventually runs out for them all, leaving only a bare framework to whisper in winter’s winds.

I tell myself it’s just a tree. That the seeds of renewal are already being planted. That life continues on beneath the surface. That what we can’t see is often more vibrant than the things we can.

But I’ll still miss the red. The quiet endings of leaves floating to the ground one last time, gathering in the grass, scattering in the wind. The long wait for vibrancy to return, nurtured by the remnants of the past. The defiance of a single young tree fighting to survive in a wide open plain.

We’re all touched by our own forms of cycles, playing out somewhat endlessly in ways both visible and not. If we’re watching the trees, who, then, watches us?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #autumn #forest #tree #gameoftones #red #leaf #texture #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Whole lotta red, November 2025
Two weeks later..., April 2022
One tree hill, June 2009

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Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Remembering why they fought

Frozen in time
London, ON
November 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Some gave all. They fought for this leaf - and all it represents. Too many died for it. Or came home, and lived with the fallout. Continue to live, even.

And as we sit north of the border and watch the systematic deconstruction of democracy by an autocratic wannabe, the need to understand why we fought, and why those ideals are never guaranteed, has never been more pronounced.

We aren’t owed freedom. It isn’t automatic. And it’s never immune from the forces that would extinguish it.

Saying thank you one day a year feels like the bare minimum. Even the bare minimum no longer seems sufficient.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #remembranceday #lestweforget #stilllife #photooftheday #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Related:
Back to the gutter, December 2024
When puddles freeze, January 2023
Leaf frozen in ice, March 2022
Branches in ice, January 2022

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