On the outside, looking in

What once was. What could still be.
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Remember when we were kids, and we'd stand on the outside looking in through a window? We'd cup our hands around our eyes to block the light and hopefully get a glimpse of what was going on inside.

It was a pretty innocent, pure thing to do, a simple manifestation of a child's boundless curiosity.

I've got news for you: It isn't so cute when you're still doing it as an adult. But most of you know I never grew up. And I'm still insanely curious. Especially when so many empty storefronts now line our city's streets.

Every one of them has a story, but it isn't always so easy to tease out. So we can either walk on past and ignore the obvious. Or we can look closer at the here and now and try to imagine what was, and what might be.

I found this one on York Street, near my office. It was in pretty good shape compared to others in the area, and if I squeezed my eyes just so, I could imagine it coming back to life, to something an owner might be proud of, or a member of the local community might look forward to visiting and supporting.

The world has changed, though, and tired old buildings are no longer the engines of local commerce that they once were. The pool of wannabe-retailers is shrinking by the day, as are the customers who might have come here in another era. We shop on our phones now. Our local landscape is drying up, and that's painfully obvious through this window. And others nearby.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope there's another act in store for this place. But a look around this bleak streetscape reinforces the sad reality that renewal may not come here anytime soon. What we all lose in the process is harder to appreciate.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #urban #downtown #york #street #monochrome #still #life #stilllife #photography #building #community #crisis #hope #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Stopping by the river to take in the view

Feeling reflective
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I'm lucky enough to live in a town - #LdnONT - that has a river running through it. I'm also lucky that some wise souls years ago decided to build a bike path alongside said river. Gee, sounds like the premise for a good movie, doesn't it?

Cinematic pipe dreams notwithstanding, I get really good views on my bike commute every morning and afternoon - and fall's arrival means they're getting better by the day.

I was kind of rushing the other night. The light was fading, and I had to get home at a reasonable hour. I had already left the office later than I wanted - a common thing with me, apparently - and I was mashing the pedals a little harder than usual to make up the time.

But to my right, the river kept peeking through the line of trees between the path and the water, and I couldn't stop staring. I know: Recipe for disaster.

Eventually, a super-fast photo shoot at a convenient pull-off point was called for. Not because I had the right camera - I didn't - or the light was particularly good - it wasn't. But because we already don't get enough opportunities to stop and smell the proverbial roses. Or, in this case, stop and take in the fast-changing leaves by the quietly flowing river.

Because before long, they, too, will be gone. And I'd at least like to be left with some kind of memory, even if it means getting home a couple of minutes later than planned.

#london #ontario #canada #springbank #park #thames #river #forest #trees #autumn #fall #color #colors #reflection #reflective #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Sometimes...

Against an azure sky
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Sometimes you just have to stop and take in the view above your head.

Sometimes you need to get outside and get some air.

Sometimes you have to take a time-out from staring at screens and stare at something real for a change.

Sometimes you need to take off your blinders and appreciate the things in your neighborhood - even if they're a little distressed. Or maybe a lot.

Sometimes, you just wish for a little more time to wonder about it all.

#ldnont #ontario #canada #519ldn #519london #downtown #office #building #architecture #reflective #mirror #architecturephotography #design #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #photography #blue #sky #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Standing in a cathedral of green

Pondering what's possible
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You see things differently when you wander through the woods with your kid. And by differently, I mean better. More precisely. More vibrantly.

We went looking for fall colors, as we do every year. But as you can see here, Mother Nature still hadn’t broken out her brightest shades. Maybe next week. Never mind, though, because green is still a color, and it was never about the colors in the first place.

It was always about that all-too-rare commodity: Time. About leaving the homework (hers) and writing (mine) behind for an hour or so while we looked at an impossibly beautiful world through glass. About picking our way across muddy paths without losing our shoes or boots in the process. About letting our minds race as we read the landscape and looked for something, anything, that jumped out at us. About creating something from nothing. About telling the story of a place, a path through a valley carved by a deceptively tiny creek, that most folks who live nearby don’t even know exists.

We weren’t out there as long as we would have liked. The setting sun and unusually aggressive mosquitoes (in October!) decided our timeline for us. But quality matters more than quantity, and by that definition it was a successful expedition.

Her photos were, and are, stunning, and she’ll be sharing them in her own feeds before long. My memories of watching her come into her own didn’t make it into pixel form, but they’re just as powerful to me.

Maybe Mother Nature will cooperate on our next walk. But even if she doesn't, time with this creative, brilliant human being is the real prize.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #autumn #fall #color #colors #green #photography #daughter #parenthood #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Did someone say, "Fire"?

Heat, visualized
Dryden, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I'm not an arsonist. I don't play one on TV, nor do I ever aspire to the lifestyle.

Fire scares the bejeebers out of me. That is, assuming I have any bejeebers in me to begin with.

But if you can tuck the fear far enough away for a bit, it's fascinating to watch stuff burn through the disconnected safety of photographic glass. And to try to capture in some way. Kinda like rushing water or fountains, except this is a lot hotter.

So I keep a safe distance between myself and the dancing flames. But, still, I can't look away.

Human nature is a funny thing, isn't it? So is our innate curiosity.

#LiveLaughLevy #dryden #ontario #canada #fire #flame #Nikon #nikonphotography #photography #dslr #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Becoming a building-hugger

Temple of the Canadian Winter
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Architecture doesn't get any more forgettable than this: An early-80s-era city-run arena, covered in rough, raked concrete that could have been sourced from the Soviet construction mafia.

Yet here I am on a dull-ish afternoon practically hugging the outside wall as I stare almost straight up at the textured surface, wondering if perhaps the life choices that have led me to this moment may have been somewhat less than optimal.

Hockey parents in logo-covered jackets clutch their disposable coffee cups as they walk past and try to hide their curiosity. But their sidelong glances and furrowed brows give them away. I'm guessing guerilla photography isn't much of a thing here.

Pity that. Because even the overtly forgettable deserves to be remembered. Even the routine can be extraordinary.

If, that is, we choose to look at it in a different way, through a unique lens, without worrying what others might think.

I don't. And because of that, today I come home with something that ensures this particular moment will stick with me for a while. Added bonus? No one was injured in the process.

My question, then - because you didn't think I'd miss an opportunity to spread the joy - is this:

What's your next shot going to be?

And while we're at it, one more question:

How will you make the ordinary extraordinary?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #spontaneous #parking #lot #photography #concrete #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #design #lines #earlnichols #arena #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Not just any donut

A quintessentially Canadian breakfast
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Behold the humble donut.

It isn't just any donut (doughnut?), mind you. It's a Tim Hortons specialty donut. Take a Boston cream, replace the custard with caramel, top it with Kit Kat bits, put it on sale for a limited time, and voila: Instant stink-eye from every right-thinking cardiologist and diet-shamer on the planet.

But here's the thing: An occasional treat makes for a sweeter life. And it never hurts to remember little sweetnesses like this with some well-placed pixels.

This donut actually had a twin, which our daughter had already finished it off by the time I shot this still-life on Henrietta 2.0's dusty dashboard. I was dropping her off at an early-morning photo shoot across town, and some on-the-run breakfast seemed in order.

While I drove the quiet streets, she ate and we chatted as we willed the defroster to get rid of the last evidence of the morning chill. We used the seat heaters this morning, and bantered cheerfully about how lucky we are to have lots of ways to stay warm.

I'm lucky indeed, largely because I get to have time like this. With her. With everyone in our little family.

And if it takes a hastily captured arena parking lot donut photo to remember why otherwise routine mornings like this one deserve to be captured in some way, then consider me always willing to chow one - or maybe two - down for the team.

Because if I have to ride a few extra kilometres later on to burn this monstrosity off, I can't think of a better reason why.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #donut #doughnut #dessert #chocolate #coffee #shop #timhortons #spontaneous #parking #lot #photography #junkfood #daughter #parenthood #stilllife #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Watching architectural history rot

Demolition by neglect
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There’s a lovely, historic building in the middle of downtown #LdnONT. Well, it’s historic. But maybe not so lovely, as it’s been sitting, empty, for years, and recently had its dusty, broken windows replaced by plywood. Sadly, this building, the former home of the Wright Lithographing Co. Limited, isn’t alone.

Our downtown core is, to be charitable, a disgrace. Nevermind the boneheaded decision to summarily rip up three adjacent arteries at the same time - that’s a discussion for another day.

No, the rot goes back years, and it’s left us with parking lots where buildings used to be, and empty hulks of once-vibrant structures, abandoned in place by owners more focused on, well, I’m not entirely sure what their end-game is, actually.

Because I always thought property owners made their money by maintaining their buildings and then renting out the space. You know, like landlords have been doing forever. But a quick walk through the dusty streets of downlown London makes it clear how many of these places have been boarded up, with no sign of any effort to return them to life.

There is no investment. No interest in helping the community fill in its gap-toothed streetscape. No interest in generating revenue off of assets they own. That last one staggers me.

This particular building is owned by a company that proudly sticks its logo on every asset it owns. As if abandoned-in-place architecture is good for the brand. Or something to be proud of.

News flash: It isn't. It simply reinforces the long-simmering belief by those of us who care that our city's leadership is afraid to show some backbone. That no one wants to anger the big bear or upset the status quo.

I’ll give them points for the red paint on the plywood, but the fact that no one else asks why the same downward trajectory plays out for countless other properties in the core is, to me, disturbing.

This building deserves better. So does this city. So do we.

#london #ontario #canada #random #urban #downtown #wellington #road #street #photography #wright #building #community #crisis #hope #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Chased by the shadow of my Dreamliner

Magical light at altitude
Climbing out of Vancouver, BC
November 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Wherever you go, your shadow is always there. Just look for it.

#yvr #vancouver #international #airport #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #aircanada #flight #flying #aviation #avgeek #boeing #aircraft #airplanes #planes #planeporn #dreamliner #widebody #google #pixel2 #teampixel #life #lifeinthargins #family #everything

Stare into the dancing waters

Time, space, and a little water
Laval, QC
June 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Stare into the dancing waters of a fountain long enough and you might be convinced that everything you see is completely random.

That may very well be true, as every image is radically different from the next, and they all seem to be dancing to their own unique tune.

But the laws of physics are pretty well-understood, so I’m guessing there’s a reasonable explanation for why each molecule of water moves as it does, and is precisely where it is within the 3-dimensional space you see here - just as there will be a similarly reasonable, physics-based explanation for the next image. And the next…

As I stand on the grass and take all of this in through my lens, I realize that for the first time in days, I’m not seeing, or feeling, grey. It’s a strictly temporary respite, of course, but I’ll take it all the same.

As the dancing waters continue to dance, I take my last shot, put away my camera, and quietly resolve to escape through the glass - here, there, anywhere - more often. Because no matter how overwhelming life can become, it can always be put on hold while we spend a little quality time thinking about the things we cannot see or understand.

Even if it’s only a temporary thing, a little wonder can nevertheless heal the most battered soul. And there’s absolutely nothing random about that.

#laval #chomedey #montreal #yul #quebec #canada #water #fountain #high #speed #photography #monochrome #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #zoom #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

The perils of photographic plenty

No one's home
Laval, QC
June 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I have a funny habit.

I grab my camera by its well-worn strap, sling it over my shoulder, and head out for a walk. There's no plan. The mission: Wander. When something presents itself, I'll know if it's worth shooting.

Of course, the process is different now than it once was. The shift to digital means each photo is no longer as dear as it once was. Without worrying about film and development costs, I can keep shooting until I run out of battery or memory card space.

But sometimes I wonder if that freedom has affected my photography. Has abundance dulled my senses of composition and storytelling? Am I a worse photographer if I come home with hundreds of images on the card, and then figure it all out in post-production? Whatever happened to carefully working out the story in my head before carefully tripping the shutter only once?

I have no answers. But tossing these questions around, silently, as I walk along the empty streets that wind along the gently flowing river is good for my otherwise turbulent soul. Life has been a non-stop roller coaster ride of unpredictability, so allowing myself the luxury of worrying about something as trivial as shot counts and photographic process is a rare treat that I don't want to squander.

As I approach this highrise, I decide to go minimal. It gets two frames before I decide to move on. This leaves me more time to stare through the viewfinder and wonder about what I'm seeing - or not - on the balconies. No people at all. Not a lot of evidence that anyone ever uses them.

I imagine what I would have missed had I been so busy taking dozens of differently composed views of the same thing. Would I have seen it, really seen it, in the same way?

Probably not.

It's a photography lesson for me. And perhaps one about life, as well.

#laval #chomedey #montreal #quebec #canada #concrete #glass #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #design #lines #monochrome #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Artistic genius on a shadowy brick wall

Outdoor gallery
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Is this art or graffiti?

Like so many facets of life in #LdnONT, the answer is far from obvious.

The alleyways that form the backbone of our down-at-the-heels downtown area are covered with it, a constantly evolving kaleidoscope of image and color from invisible strangers trying to tell their respective stories.

It isn't easy to divine precisely what those stories are, or what happened to whoever left them behind. But it's hard not to be pulled in in some way, to want to linger a little longer and think about how all this came to be.

I see more walks through - and photos from - these confusing, often-hidden spaces. Because the backstory is often more compelling than the one that stares us in the face.

And even if it isn't, journeys are most satisfying when they're diverse, new, and filled with questions just begging to be answered. Or at least pondered.

(FWIW, I'm voting art.)

#london #ontario #canada #downtown #urban #city #richmond #dundas #street #photography #streetphotography #art #color #alley #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

New year. Old stories.

Wrap yourself up
London, ON
February 2012
This photo originally shared on this blog, and on Instagram

It's the Jewish New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, today. And I'll apologize now for not joining every other Jew in sending out mass Happy New Year messages via all of my social media channels.

I just don't feel like it.

Don't get me wrong: I want everyone to have a wonderful year. Whatever you are, wherever you come from, and whatever you celebrate, we all deserve happy, full, meaningful productive, healthy, and long lives. And as one of the High Holy Days - aka reeeeally important - on the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah is an awesome opportunity to reflect on the year that's been, and roadmap the year to come. We ask ourselves where we could have done better, and commit ourselves to being better people, to repairing the world. This is all both good and necessary, and it doesn't stop with my people: We should all strive for more.

But here's the thing: I hate all holidays. I can't stand the sanctimony and shallowness of them. Nor do I subscribe to the belief that sending a generic, one-size-fits-all message to your entire contact list somehow ticks the "I was a good person" box in the Great Spreadsheet of Life. We can show up on the correct dates, say the right prayers, adhere to the right rules, click the right boxes, and still fall short. We can still succeed by the letter, but miss the mark when it comes to spirit, soul, meaning.

And will we feel the same tomorrow? Or the next day? Will we fundamentally change ourselves throughout the remaining 364 days of the year? Or will we arrive at the next set of holidays only to send out the same generic messages via social media? Or will the same people still whisper behind everyone else's back when services are done?

Will we all have truly changed for the better? Or will we have simply gone through the motions...again?

Because if that's all there is, then our entire approach to holidays might need a bit of a rethink.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #roshhashana #roshhashanah #judaica #jewishnewyear #judaism #jewish #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Why I stare at changing leaves

Gone soon
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Because we all need a bit of color every once in a while.

Because color is, in many ways, life.

Because you see some pretty neat stuff when you look up and around.

Because you see things differently when you allow yourself the luxury of time, of slowing down long enough to appreciate all that surrounds us.

Because things change quickly, and every moment, every glance offers up a new opportunity to discover.

Because not every wonder needs to be iconic or headline-grabbing. Small and seemingly inconsequential can have its own grace, too.

Because nothing is every truly inconsequential. Even the ignored will matter to someone.

Because there's merit to following your own path, and pursuing your own vision.

Because everything eventually ends. But even after it's over, there's usually another chapter waiting on the horizon.

You just need a little patience.

And hope.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #urban #street #photography #red #green #yellow #orange #leaves #nature #naturephotography #fall #autumn #autumnleaves #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Dog meets rainbow. Indifference ensues.

So when do I get my treat?
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A rainbow smiled on #LdnONT this morning, and Calli and I were lucky enough to be there when it did.

There are lots of trees in our neighborhood, so I didn't notice it at first. Only after we walked around the first corner and headed west toward the open sky did it become apparent to me the morning was especially special.

The air was uncharacteristically still, and the low-angled sun bathed the trees in soft, yellow light. The ground was wet with the remnants of a pre-dawn shower, making it one of those perfect mornings you wish you could freeze in time and use sometime later on when the world wouldn't seem as pretty as it was then. If only the universe worked that way.

I'm not sure she appreciated it as much as I did, as she whined the entire time I tried to compose this shot. But soon enough I had my pixels, and once we got back to walking she returned to her usual bouncy self.

Maybe these seemingly small moments with a small animal on a quiet morning aren't so small after all. Maybe we don't need rainbows for moments like these to feel, and be, special. Maybe we just have to open our eyes a bit wider.

#london #ontario #canada #photography #Calli #CalliTheSchnauzer #dog #puppy #schnauzermini #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #actofdog #pets #rainbow #weather #wx #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Where I almost get banned from the local pharmacy

Baa cubed
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You may have heard of fruitography*, my long-running obsession with shooting pics of fruits and/or vegetables in grocery stores. Well, today we expand the genre somewhat.

Welcome to three sheep on a pharmacy floor. What shall we call it? Sheepography? Stuffieography? Idiocy?

Why do I shoot toward the strange end of the spectrum? Um, I can't really answer that. It's fun? I enjoy making strangers smile and think? It's an innocuous sliver of whimsical subversiveness that hurts no one? All of the above? None of the above, for there can be no logic to any of this?

I'd like to think that carefully arranging stuffed animals in the middle of the greeting card aisle, then shooting them from a fully prone position on the brilliantly polished floor, returns a little light into a world that often seems bathed in more darkness than it can bear.

I'd like to think that, during a week where I couldn't shake the heavy clouds that followed me wherever I went, it made sense to do something so completely frivolous that the mere memory of it later on would make me - and hopefully you - smile.

That's it. I don't need life to be any more complex and twisted than it already is. So three stuffed sheep on the Shoppers Drug Mart floor (say that 10 times fast) will have to be my weapon of choice in the never-ending battle to simplify, and, let's face it, survive.

Humor, after all, is life. The sheep would no doubt agree.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #abstract #photography #still #life #sheep #spontaneous #photo #shoot #fruitography #pharmacy #store #retail #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

* Earlier Fruitograhy examples:

• Bananas
• Banana (possibly obscene)
• Onions
• Radishes
• Potatoes (with faces)
• Ginger
• Eggs

Photographic mystery time!

Near-monochrome blobs of something
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

3 questions:

1 - What the heck is this?
2 - Where did I shoot this?
3 - Why on Earth did I take this picture?

Aaaaand....go!

#ldnont #ontario #canada #519ldn #519london #random #abstract #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Broken...

When the light goes out for good
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Remember: Some stranger is always having a worse day than you are.

#ldnont #ontario #canada #519ldn #519london #random #urban #suburban #street #photography #wonderland #road #cycling #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Staring at trees beside the Walmart parking lot

Nature all around us
Dryden, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You find memorable moments in places, and at times, where and when you least expect them.

Like here, at the edge of a Walmart parking lot. It’s 10:23 a.m. and I’m watching the clock closely as I work through my list of To Dos.

The day's schedule is packed. But something about the stand of trees beyond the pavement makes me stop and stare for a bit. Before long, I’m pulling my camera out of its bag and walking over.

Employees in the smoking area stare at me as if I’ve grown horns on my head, because I’m guessing they rarely see weirdos in cargo shorts and sandals wandering toward the forest to take a picture. I’m used to it.

I scan the area to ensure I don’t become someone’s hood ornament, then carefully compose a few frames before heading back to the car. The smokers are still out there. Still staring.

This is an admittedly derivative photo, like so many others I’ve shot over the years. But its worth extends beyond mere pixels, because it lets me remember a particular point in time, in a particular place, that otherwise would have been lost for good.

See, our son and his then-fiancee-now-wife were getting married later that day, and we were all running errands, each of us a part of a much larger puzzle. It’s a family thing, and I’m always trying to freeze moments like this.

So I’ve evolved something of a habit where I shoot pictures so I can look at them in future and be reminded what it felt like. The picture may be meh. The memory is anything but.

#LiveLaughLevy #dryden #ontario #canada #Nikon #nikonphotography #photography #dslr #monochrome #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Warthog meets stuffie

Even warfighters must smile
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We all have our favorites. Foods. People. TV shows. Movies. Songs. Hats. Secret hideaways. And planes.

This is mine. The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, more commonly, and lovingly, known as the Warthog.

This tankbusting, tough-as-nails, built-to-a-purpose airframe has famously protected troops in harm's way for over 40 years. And a re-winging program assures it of years of service ahead - because nothing else fulfills its mission remotely as well.

The A-10 Demo Team graced us with its presence at this year's Airshow London, and as ever these insanely brave souls were a treat to watch. The plane they fly isn't some needle-nosed fighter jet. By some standards, it's as ugly-as-sin. It gets dirty. It gets chewed up. It brings its pilots home no matter what they run into in battle. And it gets patched up before being sent out again. Wait: That's not ugly at all. That's the very definition of beauty.

At low level, it's surprisingly maneuverable. It was originally designed to take out Soviet tanks on the European battlefield. The Soviets called it the Devil's Cross. And for good reason, because you wouldn't want one of these things firing 30mm depleted uranium rounds toward you in anger.

Yet the thing I fixated on as its pilot pushed the envelope was what was stuck in the window at the front of the canopy. A large-ish stuffed animal. Which, on zooming in, became a number of stuffed animals. All either tightly jammed in, glued on, or both. Such coolness.

A warrior with a sense of humor. A warrior who understands the careful balance between displaying a machine capable of such utter destruction, and inspiring those who watch with the message of why these machines, and the militaries that fly them, are so necessary for our freedom to begin with.

The lesson? You never really know what you'll see when you look just a little closer. So look closer.

#ldnont #AirShow2019 #a10 #thunderbolt #warthog #USAF #airforce #aircraft #airplanes #aviation #avgeek #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #high #speed #photography #dslr #london #ontario #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Swooping in from a grey sky

Fat Albert can fly!
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I'd like to introduce you to C-GDMP, a Boeing 737-800 operated by the new low-cost carrier, Swoop, captured seconds before landing at the London International Airport in the middle of the annual airshow.

I find it amusing that, on a day when some of the highest-tech military aircraft are in town for their yearly demogasm, it's a relatively humble workhorse of the sky that attracts my attention and somehow becomes one of my favorite images of the day.

Even more amusing is how this image comes to be in the first place: I'm not even ready to shoot when it cruises toward the runway threshold. I'm in the lineup for lunch in the @NikonCanada tent, and in the middle of chatting with friends about the relative merits of hot dogs and brisket. For the record, both are awesome.

Mid-sentence, I pull my DSLR up from where it hangs from my shoulder and track the plane from deep within the tent. I get some stares, but I figure it's an airshow, so this shouldn't be too weird-looking to everyone around me.

I think about the passengers onboard, and how cool it would be to drop out of the sky into the middle of an airshow.

It's a simple moment, really, but life is made up of lots of simple moments like this one. The least I can do is to stop stuffing my face for a bit so I can remember what it feels like to experience it.

#ldnont #AirShow2019 @flyswoop #aircraft #airplanes #aviation #avgeek #sky #weather #wx #boeing #boeing737 #fatalbert #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #high #speed #photography #dslr #london #ontario #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

10 years on...

When he walked with his Zaydie
Laval, QC
Photo originally shared March 2007

My father died 10 years ago today.

I still remember what it felt like when the phone first rang at 2:23 a.m., my mother's voice sounding so endlessly hollow and sad. It was surreal then, and it still is today.

I’ve had a decade to think about it. To ponder what loss means, and how we move on from it in a way that allows us to continue to lead meaningful, productive, happy lives.

I miss him every day, but I won’t let the shadow darken my life. Because when you step back for a moment, you realize this entire life thing is fraught with tough realities: No one gets out alive. We all die at different times, which means we will all suffer - and be forced to live with - loss.

And when the inevitable occurs, you have choices. Either allow it to define who you are, use it as an indefinite excuse, brand yourself with it. Or wrap yourself around it, let the pain change who you are, and maybe grow your soul a little in the process.

I was lucky enough to have a father in the first place. He wasn’t remotely perfect, but he gave me enough advantage and taught me enough so that I could grow into a father, as well, and raise our kids at least as well as he raised me. It wasn’t pre-ordained that we’d have him forever, and Lord knows he didn’t do himself any favors in the way he cared for himself.

But counting days, or feeling ripped off for not getting more of them, is senseless. It’s done, and nothing we do now can change that. Instead, we must ask if we made the most out of the days we were given. If we were left with memories that, today, help us in our quest to be better people. That’s all that matters.

Losing him taught me how to navigate chaos and loss - lessons that helped me over the last year as we lost my brother, then my father-in-law.

My father will never know any of this, of course. But life isn’t about living forever. It’s about planting seeds, teaching lessons, leaving legacies so that others may reap the rewards in future.

I did. And I am. As are our kids, including the now-much-larger-Noah who got a chance to hold his Zaydie Arthur’s hand one summer’s day. And for that, I’m thankful.

#ldnont #laval #montreal #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

• Random observations from an unreal journey
• The journey home. The journey away from home.
• One year
• Two years
• Five years
• Seven years

Blue glass block on a busy beachside street

The shapes and colors of summer
Grand Bend, ON
July 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Disclosure: I find glass block intriguing. It makes any architecture better by turning what would otherwise be a dark wall or corner into a source of wonderfully soft light. Make it blue and I'll be your friend forever.

I spotted this particular example from far across Grand Bend's busy Main Street. It was a typically hot, humid southwestern Ontario summer's day, and not even the breezes coming off of the lake were enough to take the edge off.

The street bustled with non-stop activity. Kitschy stores selling beach umbrellas, rainbow-colored t-shirts covered with cheeky, cheesy graphics, and other throwaway nonsense strewn over racks haphazardly pushed well into the sidewalk. Stroller-pushing parents desperately trying to keep their kids happy. Knots of teenaged girls seeking the perfect summer selfie. Groups of shirtless teenaged boys talking just a bit too loudly, trying - and failing - to get the girls' attention.

And far, far away, I spot a patch of perfectly geometric blue. The teeming masses don't give it a second look, let alone a first one, as they stream on past.

But I can easily understand why they ignore it. In the rush to squeeze out as much joy from this all-too-brief season, there never seems to be enough time - or maybe it's interest - to appreciate what makes this town unique. The small details that anchor the place, that serve as gauzy summertime memories we'll need to make it through the coming winter months.

Frenetic seems to define this place. Too much to do, and not enough time to get it all done before the weather turns and the stores close for good.

Maybe if the fast-moving crowds on the baking-hot sidewalks slowed down just long enough to take in the faded signs, the bleached boardwalk, the hundred-year-old trees casting much-needed shade, and even the patch of blue-tinted glass block on the second-storey patio over there, summer might last a little longer.

If only.

#grand #bend #grandbend #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #blue #glass #block #architecture #summer #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #instagood #photooftheday #nofilter #nofilterneeded #photography #life #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Dogs who love cars

Ready for her road trip
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I'm not ashamed to admit that some days I struggle to find the good in the world.

Whether it's the political fecal matter show to the south, or the racism- and hatred-smeared election campaign to the north, or simply the doofus driver who drifted into my bike lane yesterday and almost broadsided me as he played with his smartphone, some days it seems easy to let the darkness win.

But then I spend some quality time with this little one and somehow none of that matters. Because as she wags her tail into a blur at the front door, it occurs to me that she's figured out the key to a happy life by keeping it simple.

Frightening headlines mean nothing to her. She doesn't worry about deadlines. Doesn't much care about haters, either. She loves everyone, and is just as happy sticking her nose into your pants pocket in her never-ending quest for treats.

She also loves a good road trip. Because being with her peeps is the only thing that matters to her.

From the outside looking in, it seems like a charmed life. And as she gleefully jumps into the car, licks my hand as I buckle her in, and curls up in a ball as we roll out of the driveway, I realize just how glad I am that we brought her home.

Because the world won't be cleaning up its act anytime soon. But as long as I hang out with a tiny being who's figured out an ideal way to navigate it, I'll have nothing to worry about.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #photography #Calli #CalliTheSchnauzer #dog #puppy #schnauzerlife #schnauzermini #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #actofdog #pets #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Under a brilliant blue sky

One London Place: #1 to me
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This building is a familiar sight to anyone who lives in London, and to anyone who follows my feed*. Which begs the inevitable question: Why do I keep returning to the same subjects?

The answer is simple: I know what I like. While multiple pics of the same building may seem repetitive to some, I see it differently.

Just because the subject is the same doesn't mean the experience is, as well. In fact, how I take in this scene changes every time I walk by. Or ride by. Or drive by and decide to park the car because I saw it in a certain way.

I like how it feels to stand on the ground just below it - or in a 5th floor government office a few blocks away, or wherever - and size it up in my mind. I like how the ever changing landscape around it can shift the tone, often within seconds, but only if someone stops to notice it. The very process of looking for the new within the familiar is, in many ways, both comforting and eye-opening.

Maybe it's boring to some, but not to me. And I'll keep coming back here, looking for different ways to tell the story of what, to those who see life differently, might seem to offer up only more of the same.

Thankfully, we know differently.

#ldnont #ontario #canada #onelondonplace #519ldn #519london #downtown #office #building #architecture #reflective #mirror #architecturephotography #design #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #photography #blue #sky #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

• Linear facadism, March 2007
• Reflecting the sunset, April 2009
• Big building on a grey day, August 2018
• London's icon turns blue, June 2019

When Snowbirds fly

Magic in the air
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

At first glance, this looks like a straightforward pic of an oh-so-Canadian scene: 9 jets from Canada’s aerobatic flight demonstration team, The Snowbirds, flying a tight formation high above London. This scene plays out in dozens of burgs across the country every year, and it never gets old.

The Snowbirds - @cfsnowbirds - are often compared to the US Air Force Thunderbirds, or the US Navy Blue Angels. While those latter two teams are incredible, it does a disservice to the Canadian team to do a one-to-one comparison.

First, the planes. The Thunderbirds fly F-16s, while the Blue Angels fly legacy F/A-18 Hornets and will soon transition to the Super Hornet. The Snowbirds fly the CT-114 Tutor, a jet-powered trainer that first flew in 1960. Apples, meet oranges.

Front-line fighters with digital flight controls and better-than-1-to-1 power-to-weight ratios allow the kind of displays that lesser aircraft can only dream of. Which makes a Snowbirds demo seem even more miraculous, because they have to manage energy far more carefully than the average spectator might realize.

Second, old planes, with completely analog systems, add another layer of challenge. Because the only computer keeping everything together is the squishy, red-suited one with two hands on the stick.

We’re justifiably proud of them, and I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve watched them do their thing. But for all their aerial wizardry, it’s what this team represents that makes them extra-special, that unique mixture of Canadian brilliance, humility, creativity, and grit for making do with what we’ve been given.

As I stand on the ground and watch them, awestruck, I ponder the meaning of this nationally treasured resource, and realize it has more to do with people than planes. Inspiration takes many forms, after all, and after the last plane has landed and shut down, I think about how I, too, can go further with what I’ve been given.

#ldnont #AirShow2019 #aircraft #airplanes #aviation #avgeek #sky #weather #wx #snowbirds #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #high #speed #photography #dslr #london #ontario #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Watching airplanes in the sky

Two tickets to avgeek paradise
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Had an interesting day today, as I got to attend #AirShowLondon as an invited guest. The good folks at #NikonCanada graciously sent me a couple of VIP passes because they heard I shoot Nikon, know I live in the area, and thought I'd like to attend.

Now, I've never before remotely qualified as a remotely important anything, let alone a person, but I was touched by the gesture all the same. Because #Nikon has always been my photographic weapon of choice, the tool I'm most comfortable with when I want to tell stories with light and pixels.

And it was nice to connect with the folks responsible for equipping not just me, but others like me, with the tools we all rely on to make photographic memories of the events and moments that matter the most to us. Because in the end, a camera's significance to the photographer is much greater than its basic hardware specs might suggest.

Getting to be a part of this specific day because the PR team at a company I've admired since I was a teenager wanted to be kind? Total bonus.

It was an epic day by the flight line, the kind of day I look forward to all year, and the kind of day that's become an annual tradition for me and a particularly good friend. Because whether we like planes or trains or automobiles or whatever, we all deserve to have special days like this in our lives.

More to come as I process the gigabytes of photos now overstuffing my memory card. For now, please consider me immensely thankful, and a little sunburned :)

#ldnont #AirShow2019 #aircraft #airplanes #aviation #avgeek #sky #weather #wx #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #high #speed #photography #dslr #london #ontario #lifeinthemargins #family #everythıng

Scene from a (wet) parking lot

Where I dance (and shoot) in the rain
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It rained yesterday, that apocalyptic kind of rain that makes you want to batten down the hatches and pull on your best pair of rubber boots just in case the roof springs a leak.

But meteorology doesn't change the realities of life on the ground. Work still needs to get done, kids need to be taken care of, and groceries need to be picked up.

Cue this scene from the Loblaws parking lot, after I noticed the water droplets on Henrietta's roof and decided a spontaneous macro shoot in the rain was a good idea.

News flash: It wasn't. But that doesn't mean it wasn't worthwhile, because it was beyond amusing to see, out of the corner of my eye, the looks I got from cart-pushing shoppers rushing to avoid getting soaked.

I'm sure they thought I was insane for leaning over my car's roof while the crying skies soaked me to my skin. And I'm not going to disagree.

But I think the shot was worth it. And sittiing in a miserable puddle all the way home served as a great reminder of why we sometimes do things that make no sense.

If they somehow feed our soul, they in fact make all the sense in the world.

#ldnont #richmond #fanshawe #loblaws #london #ontario #canada #rain #water #weather #wx #honda #civic #civicnation #car #carporn #cargram #automotive #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Another year. Another reason to celebrate.

Picture perfect
London, ON
April 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Shhhh, someone else in our family is having a birthday today. She is hands-down my favorite person in the universe, and my primary job is to make her either smile, laugh, or ideally both. So thanks for humoring me.

She’s the one who taught me that birthdays matter, that they’re special, and that everyone deserves to be smothered with goodness when the calendar says so. She’s also the one who taught me that celebrations need to happen in between birthdays, as well, that small moments can be big moments if we allow them.

Like holding hands in the grocery store, or catching up on the day around the kitchen table, or simply sitting quietly at opposite ends of the couch, reading, while the dog tucks herself into the crook behind my wife’s knee and whines for a treat.

I’m lucky in a lot of ways, most of which stem from the moment our paths first crossed.

This past year may have, in many ways, been the most challenging one we’ve ever had to face. But like I’ve told her so many times before, usually as we sped down an icy highway in the middle of the night, I can’t imagine being on this journey with anyone else. Navigating the darkness by her side reminded me that life somehow remains sweet, rich, and worth it, despite it all.

I hope this day is as happy for her as she makes every other day for me, our kids, and everyone blessed enough to be her friend. I hope we get a lot more official birthdays together, and even more non-official everydays that are just as worthy of celebration.

#LiveLaughLevy #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #happy #birthday #happybirthday #birthdaygirl #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

22 trips around the sun

All grown up
Dryden, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I often look at our kids and marvel at how lucky we are that they turned out as smart, driven, funny, kind, and empathetic as they have. They're infinitely fun to hang around with, and every conversation with them reminds me why this life thing is the greatest trip imaginable.

It’s Dahlia’s 22nd birthday today, and as I do every time she completes an orbit of the sun, I think back to that singular moment when I first held her. She was tinier than I expected, and she squirmed in my arms as my eyes took in her face for the first time.

She’ll be the first to tell you how physically small she still is, but I’ll be the first to disagree with her. She may not be the tallest person in the room, but she’s a giant all the same.

Whatever life chooses to throw at her - and she’s been on the receiving end of plenty, both over the past year and through various chapters of her young life - not once has she decided to fold her tent and go home. Quit isn’t part of her vocabulary. Instead, she doubles down, bears down, grits her way through to the other side.

She never stops working - I stopped counting how many part-time jobs she juggles as she pursues her university degree full-time - and she doggedly picks her coursework apart until she’s figured it out. No wonder she made honor roll. We weren’t surprised, but we were, and are, incredibly proud all the same.

She’s a gifted photographer and artist who never seems to tire of telling new stories through whatever tool - lens, pencil, pen, brush - she’s got in her hand. She’s inherited the best of her mom and has managed to become her own unforgettable self in the process. I can’t help but think the universe smiled on us when it first granted us this incredible gift, and it’s been smiling on us ever since as she’s grown into an accomplished young woman blessed with limitless potential.

Happiest of birthdays, Peanut Girl. Whatever your size, you cast a huge shadow, and we’re ridiculously lucky to live within it.

#LiveLaughLevy #dryden #ontario #canada #happy #birthday #happybirthday #birthdaygirl #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Suitcase on church steps

Lost
London, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: An impossibly beautiful old church on London's Talbot Street, a once-stately downtown thoroughfare that now serves as a shortcut for speeding commuters heading to and from work. The wonder from this street's glory years - including gorgeous mansions, lush lawns, ancient trees - remains visible, but the tattered edges are impossible to ignore.

The neighborhood is quiet as I wander through on a lunchtime walk, but the sight of an open suitcase on the front steps stops me in my tracks. What's the story here? Whose is it? Are they okay?

It's no secret that London has been ravaged more than most by the combined scourges of mental health challenges, addiction, and homelessness. Every downtown corner, alley, main artery, and side street now carries evidence of this growing, worsening story. Tent cities spread out beside the bike path beside the river. Discarded syringes and worse now litter shadowy alleys. And areas of the city once thought too far away from the downtown to be touched by this are adjusting to our new, tragic normal.

All of which leads me to believe this suitcase didn't just randomly find its way here.

I'll probably never know the full story, but I'm sure it isn't a happy one. I'm also sure I'll be seeing more just like it - and sure enough, two minutes after I continue my walk back to the office, I come across another pile of random effects strewn haphazardly across the steps of a local law office.

One wonders if we'll ever truly have the will or the ability to fix this. One wonders if this is even fixable at all.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #urban #downtown #talbot #street #photography #church #homelessness #addiction #poverty #community #crisis #hope #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

9/11 + 5 + 13

Light the darkness
New York, NY
September 2006
Photo originallyposted Sep 06, 2006

Thirteen years ago, as the 5th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approached, I wrote a thing as part of The 2,996 Project. Each participant was assigned the name of a victim, and our task was to write about that person's life.

Wait, task isn't the right word. Privilege. Better.

I wrote about Suzanne Calley, a Cisco employee who perished aboard American Airlines Flight 77 when it was flown into the Pentagon. I paired it with an admittedly lousy photo of the Tribute in Light at the WTC site that I captured from too far away as I attended a riverside event for a large tech company. Sometimes photos just don't do justice to the stories we're trying to tell. Sometimes we need words.

My words can be found on my blog here, and as we reflect today on the unmitigated hatred that ended the lives of so many who simply wanted to get to work, get across the country, or help others, I can't help but think that the lives lost deserve to be remembered for far more than the way they were brutally cut short.

Where were you on that day? What have we learned in the 18 years since?

#newyork #newyorkcity #nyc #September11 #NeverForget911 #911Anniversary #september #neverforget #memorial #wtc #twintowers #manhattan #worldtradecenter #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

The mesmerizing blue pattern

Street level wonder
Toronto, ON
August 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It only looks like a cartoon.

But look more closely. Hover over it. Zoom in a bit. Let your eyes linger.

Maybe you'll see something more. Maybe you won't. Again, like the photo of docked boats that I shared yesterday, it doesn't matter. There are no rights or wrongs here. No winners or losers, either.

What does matter is that something, an architectural flourish over a university building entryway - that would normally be ignored by the thousands of people who walk through or past it on any given day - can rise above the mundane and somehow grab our attention. That it can make us pause for a bit, maybe even think some, or even wonder.

That we have wonder at all.

Which is why I post this today of all days. Today is #WorldSuicidePreventionDay. And it seems like as appropriate a time as any to think about wonder, and why we need to fight like hell to ensure our lives - and those of folks around us - are filled with it.

So I hope you use this photo as a springboard to find the wonder - whatever it might look like to you - and share it.

Feel free to tag me - @carmilevy in Insta & Twitter - if you wish. Share this with people you know. Or complete strangers. Because even complete strangers need more wonder in their lives.

Let's start something, shall we?

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #urban #yonge #street #ryerson #university #streetphotography #photography #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #design #lines #colors #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Ghost boats

Dockside, from above
Toronto, ON
July 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There's a mystery here that I can't explain. Either my camera is seeing ghosts beneath the water, or this particular marina on the downtown Toronto waterfront has a rather pronounced issue with less-than-optimally-buoyant watercraft.

Whatever the root cause is - and let's be clear that part of me would be perfectly content to allow this question to remain unanswered - as I stand high above and look down, I'm reminded that sometimes we need to change our perspective a bit.

Because we can only see so much when we're standing right next to something. We may not see every detail. Or maybe we do, but we miss the broader context within which the details came to be. Standing back a little, or a lot, can be a handy thing.

It's like watching a video and thinking we now know the entire story. Not necessarily. And if we want to learn more, it's on us to do a little more digging. Or a lot. Or none. It's entirely up to us whether the mysteries we come across remain unanswered.

I'm claiming nothing here. Just wondering about how this particular scene, in this particular moment, came to be. And then leaving it at that.

Indeed, clinging to a little wonder and mystery in a world that too often has none might be something we all may want to try a bit more often.

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #photography #city #hall #blue #green #water #boats #boating #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Where I paws in a hotel room

Happy feet
Dryden, ON
September 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This seemed like the right sock choice for a wedding.

Anything for a smile, after all. Anything.

#LiveLaughLevy #dryden #ontario #family #everything