Chilling with Glenn Gould

Under the watchful eye of a virtuoso
Toronto, ON
June 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I spent the day in the big city yesterday.

The mission was an interesting one: attend a major industry conference and lead a panel of folks way smarter than me in front of a large audience - who I’m certain were also way smarter than me. We explored the changing cybersecurity landscape in the gaming industry.

I was honoured to be invited, and it went exceptionally well, with random conversations spilling out onto the conference venue floor long after we signed off from the stage.

Needless to say, my head was brimming with ideas as I walked the downtown streets afterward back to the train station. Now I know how athletes feel after a major event: it’s intense.

Somehow I found myself engaging in a little spontaneous street photography, with a little help from Canadian musical icon Glenn Gould and a stranger who had no idea I was even there.

It was good for my soul to wield the mic from the stage, then come down from the experience by wielding my camera on a downtown Toronto street. We’ll call it a good day, one that’s already been tucked into my overflowing pile of similarly memorable days.

Do you have certain days you’ve tucked away, as well?

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #torontolife #gta #thesix #urban #downtown #street #photography #cbc #glenngould #walkabout #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Doggo perspective

Yes, I'm smiling
London, ON
June 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Yesterday was a hard day for so many. So I thought I’d hang out a bit more with our dog.

See, Calli the Wonderschnauzer knows not of mass layoffs, wildfires, inflation, climate change, or the social media trolls who revel anonymously in the misfortunes of others.

She’s as pure as it gets. She plays, does tricks in exchange for treats, bops her favorite people with her nose, and curls up in our lap when she gets tired. She is our ball of crazy happiness, 16 pounds of furry light, an antidote to an often dark, unkind planet.

Today is shaping up to be another rough day, and I’ll be far from home for much of it. But returning to an unconditional welcome - and maybe a puppy hug or two - makes it all just a little easier to handle.

Not bad for a tiny dog.

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

CJBK goes silent. Another national death-blow from Bell Media.

Incredibly saddened to hear that Newstalk 1290 CJBK here in London went silent this morning for the final time.

My time working there - including coveted shifts in the big chair - was made magical by some of the kindest folks I’ve ever encountered in the radio biz.

I get that the inevitable march of technological progress has decimated the business prospects for AM radio in recent years, but that doesn't mean this loss hurts any less. Some truly remarkable humans were cast aside less than an hour ago without so much as a thank you because a massively profitable conglomerate failed to roll with the punches.

#LdnONT has lost a treasure.

UPDATE - 12:03 p.m. ET

Newstalk 1290's shutdown is part of Bell Media's latest nationwide cutback announcement. 1,300 jobs lost across all platforms. 6% of their remaining workforce. 6 stations being shuttered:

• London’s NewsTalk 1290
• Winnipeg - Funny 1290
• Calgary - Funny 1060(br> Edmonton - TSN 1260 Radio
• Vancouver - BNN Bloomberg Radio 1410
• Funny 1040

AM Radio 1150 and AM 820 in Hamilton and AM 580 in Windsor are also being sold to an unnamed buyer, pending CRTC approval.

More here:

Bell cutting 1,300 positions, closing radio stations with plans to ‘significantly adapt’ how it delivers news

The company says the job cuts are in response to unfavourable public policy and regulatory conditions it can no longer outwait.

The Canadian Press

UPDATE - 2:30 p.m. ET

CTV National News also affected:

• Bureaus in LA and London closed, all employees laid off, including Tom Walters, Daniele Hamamdjian, and Paul Workman.
• Ottawa Bureau Chief Joyce Napier and Sr. Reporter Glen McGregor gone.
• Exec Producer Rosa Hwang gone.
• Washington bureau being scaled back.
• W5 correspondent Molly Thomas gone.

For the record, Bell Media recorded profits of $771 million in its most recent quarter. They say they “lose” $40 million on news, conveniently forgetting that these are legitimate news gathering expenses.

Meanwhile more voices are silenced, more communities and stories remain uncovered. Democracy indeed dies in darkness.

When the skies threaten...

Take cover
London, ON
June 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Had us some wild weather in Pitkinville last night.

Just as the frightening-looking storm moved over us, I jumped out of the car and shot a few random images from the parking lot. Soon enough, the skies opened up with thunder so loud it shook the car.

The drive home was wild, with enough water down that I half-expected Noah and his magical ark to float by. Somewhere entirely too close to our location, photos of funnel clouds were frantically being posted to social media.

As we pulled into the driveway and heaved a sigh of relief, I realized how lucky we were to have a home in the first place, and a means to get us there. I wondered about those who lacked shelter of their own, and how they were faring amid all this.

London is no different than other cities: the homeless crisis has exploded, with encampments spilling into plain view and businesses everywhere wrestling with constant street and property crime. The solution - assuming it can ever be considered solved - will be neither easy nor timely.

Indeed, I had no solutions as we headed inside and said quiet thanks for safe haven. I just wish this life thing could be a little more fair to us all.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sky #cloud #clouds #storm #onstorm #weather #wx #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Apple Vision Pro takes a bow

Apple’s just-announced Vision Pro mixed reality headset won’t break sales records when it goes on sale early next year. But that isn’t the point.

The next major computing revolution is now underway. My latest article for STEP Software cuts through the hype.

Apple Vision Pro won’t break sales records – but it will still change computing

#syntheticcomputing #ar #vr #mr

A puzzling find

Life in pieces
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The dog and I came across this puzzling sight in the middle of a sun-baked road.

Who left it here? Why? Where are they now? What image would these pieces have made had we been able to reassemble this jumbled mess? Why are London streets in such rough shape?

So many questions. So few answers. Just like real life.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #puzzle #road #street #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Hotel room faucet fun

Stilllife in transit
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
June 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I have a rather long history of shooting hotel faucet still-life photos.

I’m not entirely sure why, but I think it springs from my general discomfort with being in a strange place. As much as I enjoy new experiences, travel and I don’t always get along.

Maybe it’s an introvert thing, but I often have to work a little harder at grounding myself whenever I’m far from home. So when I first get into a new hotel room, I’ll let my eyes and my mind wander a bit. Then I’ll fetch my camera and try to find something unique about a place that most folks would dismiss outright.

Bathroom faucets seem to work particularly well. The lighting is usually spot-on, and the stark, sharply defined surfaces offer up all sorts of composition potential.

In the end, the photos that I capture aren’t as important as the moments spent capturing them. For a tiny blink of time in a strange place far from home, I find familiar comfort behind the lens.

Because we should all have oases of creativity to fall back into whenever the world feels a little too big. Even if they don’t look like oases at all.

#saultstemarie #ontario #canada #throwback #roadtrip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #hotel #faucet #stilllife #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #instagood #photooftheday #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Tower on the water

Paper mill reflection
39 minutes before sunset
Wabigoon River, Dryden, ON
June 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

#dryden #ontario #canada #throwback #river #water #waves #reflective #reflection #abstract #mirror #texture #tower #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Brutalism at the ballgame

Windows, not the operating system
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Part of our ongoing series of photos we shoot when we’re AT the ballgame but aren’t actually WATCHING the ballgame.

This often involves looking around at anything BUT the actual playing field. Like nearby - or not-so-nearby - buildings.

Exhibit A: the courthouse across the river, which is a fine example of brutalist architecture. The design philosophy gets a bit of a bad rap because of its association with mid-to-late-20th-century repressive regimes and it’s generous use of massive, often repetitive concrete forms.

But I kinda like it. It fits the purpose, stands out within the skyline, is of its time, and gets people talking. Even if they aren’t fans, they’re somehow moved.

And since architecture is at least one part art, and since art is supposed to make us think and feel and engage, then I think it’s safe to assume mission accomplished.

I’ve got to get out to ballgames more often. So much to see.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #city #downtown #labatt #memorial #stadium #baseball #sports #sportsing #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Of bottles and light

Drink up
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Amazing things happen when we shine our light on others.

Otherwise, there is only darkness.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #moxies #restaurant #downtown #glass #bottles #colors #stilllife #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Checking in on the old woman, again

Drift
Old Woman Bay, Lake Superior Provincial Park, ON
June 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

As the Sun slowly set behind a smoke-choked sky, we paused in the middle of our long journey to stop in at Old Woman Bay and pay quiet homage in a place that’s come to mean so much to our little family.

Indeed, something felt amiss as we stood on this windswept corner of Lake Superior and felt the sleeping giant’s winds on our faces.

Wildfires across Ontario and Quebec have painted the skies with a murky haze as they’ve touched off air pollution warnings across much of the eastern continent. New York City is a smogged in hellscape, and Toronto isn’t far behind.

We dodged road closures along the way as new fires added to the intensifying crisis and put communities across the country at risk.

It was heartbreaking to see the headlines - and even more so to see and taste it in a place so pristine.

This revered lake - and the lady who watches over her from her perfectly carved corner of nature - needs some richly deserved relief. So do the heroes fighting the fires. So does the rest of the planet.

#oldwomanbay #algoma #lake #superior #ontario #canada #roadtrip #travel #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #sunset #beach #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Confusing netting in the sky

Tenuous protection
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Let’s play a guessing game, shall we?

1. Either someone ran a particularly depressing economic projection.
2. Or I’ve revived my childhood tradition of staring at anything but the field during baseball games.

Hint: 8-year-old me picked buttercups in left field.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #labatt #memorial #stadium #baseball #sports #sportsing #net #netting #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Birds in the water

Great day for a swim
Port Stanley, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Three birds walk into the pounding surf.

There’s danger here, but their survival depends on their willingness to put themselves in harm’s way.

It’s a worthwhile tradeoff - and one they have no option to ignore.

Come to think of it, neither do we.

#portstanley #ontario #canada #throwback #beach #lake #erie #birds #seagulls #flight #wildlifephotography #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #photooftheday #picoftheday #pictureoftheday #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Spotty Sun in a muddy sky

Storm's coming
Port Stanley, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

They say we shouldn’t stare at the Sun.

They’re absolutely right, as it’s terribly dangerous for our eyes, and can easily cause permanent damage to our vision.

But if you know what you’re doing - like you have protective lenses or you’re a photographer or an astronomer with similarly appropriate filters - you might be able to safely see the literal source of planetary energy do its tning.

A couple of weeks ago, I shot through smoke-filled skies and grabbed this image from 150 million kilometres away. Those smudges? Sun spots. The one on the left is easily the size of Earth.

Made me feel rather small.

As it should.

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

You say carafe. I say giraffe.

Sweaty curves
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

As I was squeezing this shot off in the middle of a restaurant, it occurred to me for the first time in my life that carafe rhymes with giraffe.

Weird how that works, isn’t it?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #moxies #restaurant #downtown #glass #stilllife #monochrome #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Where countless days go to sleep

Dayglow
London, ON
April 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’m still staring at sunsets.

Because like snowflakes, no two are ever the same. Or so we’ve been told.

And even if they are, that feeling of having our breath taken away by an ever-changing sky never gets old.

And don’t we all need more reasons to have our breath taken away?

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

A year of Lilly

When she was 8 (days)
Dryden, ON
June 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A year ago today, Lilly came into the world.

A year ago today everything changed.

For the better.

A year ago she opened her eyes and saw Michaela and Zach for the first time.

A year ago today she first made her voice heard.

A year ago today she got her first hugs and kisses.

A year ago today she started the lifelong process of learning what family is.

A year ago today the story of her got its start. Where it goes next is entirely up to her, but this bright, happy, funny, sweet-hearted little lady has already begun leaving her mark on everyone lucky enough to be part of her life.

That’s a lot of accomplishment for a first year.

Doubtless she’s got lots in store for us for her second.

We can’t wait.

#family #everything

Related:

Lilly at 6 months, December 2022

Welcome to the world, Lilly! June 2022

Parks and recreation and you

Paying respect
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Whenever anyone questions the wisdom of governments spending limited funds on public infrastructure like parks, I want to start sharing pictures of these places with them.

Because life without parks would, frankly, suck.

In fact, if I could offer up any useful guidance to our elected officials insofar as parks are concerned, it would be this: build more of them. Make them bigger, more elaborate, more inspiring. Craft spaces that make living in a place a joy instead of mere survival. Make strangers smile.

Some of my happiest and earliest memories originated in a park somewhere, and I know I’m not alone.

This one is London’s Victoria Park, but it could just as easily be any park. If it brings you joy, I hope you find some way to commit your own park-ish scenes to memory.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #urban #city #downtown #wellington #victoria #park #cenotaph #street #streetphotography #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Shoeless Joe's vantage point

Long way from home
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Sometimes I wonder what Shoeless Joe was thinking as he hung out amid the corn stalks beyond left field.

Maybe it felt a little like this.

As I stood on the outside looking in, I thought about what a privilege it is to live near a ballyard steeped in such history. It’s called Labatt Memorial Park, but it’s easy to understand if Londoners see it as our own Field of Dreams.

I think more random wanderings beyond the outfield fence are called for. Shoeless Joe would doubtless approve.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #labatt #memorial #stadium #fieldofdreams #baseball #sports #sportsing #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

#IfYouReadOneThingToday - Who is in space?

#IfYouReadOneThingToday, please make it this website:

    https://whoisinspace.com/

Why this? Why today?

Because with the launch of China's Shenzhou 16 mission to the Tiangong space station, there are now 17 people in Earth orbit - the most ever.

We live in an amazing universe, no?

DeSantis melts down on Twitter

Think twice before laughing at Ron DeSantis after Twitter Spaces melted down during his presidential campaign launch. It could happen to anyone if we ignore the lessons of #scalability. My latest article for STEP Software Inc. explains why this matters:

DeSantis campaign launch livestream meltdown reaffirms Twitter’s tech decline

Po plays ball, sort of

Hanging around
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It’s been a while since Po made an appearance here. She wasn’t kidnapped or anything. She’s just been quietly hanging off of my camera bag, waiting for her next grand adventure.

As it turns out, our beloved - and somewhat tattered - Teletubby is a bit of a sports fan, so she tagged along this past weekend when we went to the oldest baseball stadium in the world to take in a game.

The London Majors have been around in various forms since 1925. They’ve won the Intercounty Baseball League championship for the past two two years running, and we got to sit in the stands just behind their dugout.

It’s baseball in its most beautifully pure and local form, as if Field of Dreams came to life in our own backyard. As much as we love the Toronto Blue Jays, there’s something magical about a team that’s woven into the fabric of the community, where the players wander around the parking lot just behind the stands and chat amiably with fans as they chill out on well worn picnic tables and chow down on footlong hot dogs.

Po didn’t get a hot dog because in the real world stuffed Teletubbies don’t eat. But she was glad she went all the same. So were we.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #po #red #teletubby #labatt #memorial #stadium #baseball #sportsing #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Blue bottles high on a wall

Drinking problem
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’m not much of a drinker, but having grown up in a house where my also-not-much-of-a-drinker dad collected bottles and displayed them on shelves that encircled our basement, I appreciate the industry’s sense of design and artistry.

Here’s another view from last week’s spontaneous restaurant shoot. I’m still amazed they didn’t eject me from the place.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #moxies #restaurant #downtown #blue #glass #bottles #stilllife #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Surf's up!

The best wall art is real
Deerfield Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The golden age of wireless…surfboards.

#deerfield #beach #florida #vacation #throwback #travel #thomasdolby #random #lunchtime #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Spotted glasses in a crowded restaurant

Bottoms up, for some
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I learned something new the other night: that you can hold your own still-life photography session pretty much anywhere.

Like in the middle of a downtown restaurant when you’re breaking bread with colleagues and the glasses on the shelves behind the bar manage to catch your attention.

Most rational folks would continue with the meal and leave the glasses be. But I’m far from rational, and I’m thankful to work with a group of kind, understanding, and brilliant folks who just smile when I get a glint in my eye and reach for a camera.

The bar was a busy place, and I was hoping to avoid being kicked out of the joint. So I stood beside our table in the middle of the room and zoomed in on the backlit glasses.

The result isn’t earth-shattering or of the ages. It isn’t even remotely ideal. Just some damp and spotted glasses arranged asymmetrically on a shelf.

But to me it checkpoints a quiet moment spent with some really inspiring people. I’m lucky to do what I do. And I’m equally lucky to have discovered that weird pictures make for powerful memories.

Not getting kicked out of the resto? I’m thankful for that, too.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #moxies #restaurant #downtown #glass #stilllife #sepia #photography #canon #canonphotography #canin_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

#IfYouReadOneThingToday - scrambled brain

#IfYouReadOneThingToday, please make it this stunningly written piece about coming back from a TBI. Anyone who’s ever had their brain scrambled, and who lives with the fallout, knows profoundly how this feels.

How to Survive a Car Crash in 10 Easy Steps

A journalist navigates a world forever changed by her traumatic brain injury.

By Anne Lagamayo

Longreads

May 2023

Related:

Other #IfYouReadOneThingToday recommendations

Spiderman would be jealous

Don't look down
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Superheroes don’t always wear capes. Sometimes they hang from buildings on ropes so the rest of us can have uninterrupted views.

They’d probably just shrug it off if we brought it up - just doing their job, they’d likely say.

But here’s the thing; every job has some kind of meaning, some kind of impact on others. We all leave our mark.

Some more spectacularly than others.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #building #window #washers #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #city #downtown #wellington #street #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Sharing a rare selfie

So serious
London, ON
April 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Disclosure: I hate looking at myself.

I rarely watch videos of interviews I’ve done on TV. Even listening to my voice after the fact is difficult. I don’t take many selfies, and when I do, they remain unedited and ignored within my archives.

In fact, as I was first learning the craft of photography, one of my favourite benefits of being the photographer was that I got to hide behind the camera. I often called it my preferred side of the lens.

I still feel that way. My camera is my protector.

As public as my work has become, I’ve come to appreciate just how much of an introvert I really am. I love being on camera, on-air, out there; just don’t make me sit through it afterward.

But every once in a very long while, I’ll take a picture of myself that I kinda like. This is one of them.

I was out running errands, and as I often do when I have a few minutes to kill before my next deadline, I’ll wander around with my camera-camera in search of inspiration.

I’ll often shoot a random photo or two with my smartphone. The time stamp and geolocation information come in handy when I offload the pics from the so-called real camera, and it often gives me a quick image to share with the folks back home.

The evening sunlight was really harsh, so I shot a barely composed backlit image. It wasn’t supposed to be anything more than a throwaway image.

I still hate looking at myself, but I’m strangely glad I held onto this one.

#ldnont #london #ontario #hydepark #canada #random #walkabout #selfie #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Surprise color at our feet

Bursting
London, ON
April 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On a relentlessly grey Sunday afternoon when the cold drizzle seems to drain everything in this valley of its color, a tiny sprout fights its way out of the damp earth and begs to differ.

That something this stunningly green can emerge from something so monochromatic will never not be a wonder to me.

Or to you.

I hope you take the time to look down. I hope you like what you see.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #green #leaf #leaves #nature #naturephotography #landscape #stilllife #landscapephotography #waterphptography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Montana bans TikTok

A new #Montana law that bans #TikTok within the state’s borders sets a dangerous precedent for governments and opens the door to further restrictions on freedom of expression.

App bans = book bans, full stop.

I break it all down in my latest blog article for STEP Software:

Montana’s TikTok ban is an appalling line in the sand for freedom of speech

The grasses that anchor us

Hold fast against the wind
Port Stanley, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

In a forgotten corner of a beach just coming back to life after a long winter’s sleep, wild grasses grow from a dune, protecting it from whatever the lake can throw at it.

Someone built a fence here, so long ago now that nature has almost consumed the original structure.

Still, it stands its ground.

Still, there’s beauty in the desolation, a whisper, even, of small gestures designed to make the planet a better place for those who come next.

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

Related:

Long grasses blowing in the wind, December 2022

Oil tanks in our midst, November 2022

Listening to the grasses in the wind, March 2022

Bokeh Beach, far away in time... December 2021

Returning to the sun-drenched grasses, August 2021

Lake Huron peeks through the grass, September 2017

Someone didn't read the sign, September 2016

The shifting sands of time, September 2008

Return to a shrouded beach

Forces of nature
Port Stanley, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The Sun struggles to be seen through choking particulates from the Alberta wildfires.

The land is burning thousands of kilometres away from here, yet the strange combination of physics and meteorology means we can smell the faraway forest being consumed.

Indeed, nothing is far away anymore. Videos and headlines of disasters in places we’ve never been will soon enough give way to tangible evidence of them much closer to home. At the tip of our tongue, even.

And on the edge of a Great Lake, the sky is painted a fuzzy shade of tightly tinted off-yellow, the Sun becomes a muted orange smudge, and countless visitors to this place ask each other why. That none of them looks it up on the supercomputers in their pockets is the tragic irony of how Planet Earth looks like this in the first place.

Climate change touches us in all sorts of ways. The surreal beauty of this particular moment is apparently lost on the majority of those walking the sand beneath the beautiful, eerie, tragic spectacle. It shouldn’t be.

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

Neptune's final orbit

Strictly temporary
London, ON
March 2023
Originally shared on Instagram

A couple of months ago, I shared a photo and a story from the Neptune Diner, a lovely local restaurant.

Today it closes forever.

The lesson, then, is simple: don’t let me write about your businesses, as I am apparently the kiss of death for them.

Kidding aside, The Neptune will be missed. The owners decided it was time to move on, to sell the still-popular place and clear the decks for new entrepreneurs to follow their dream at a downtown corner that’s been feeding souls for 70-plus years. And soon enough, an innovative Mexican resto will open its doors in this storied location.

Why hello, Green Power Ranger
London, ON
March 2023

Doubtless the new spot will find fans of its own as it spawns new flavours, stories, and memories.

Doubtless the winds of change will continue to sweep over all the spots that endear themselves to us.

Doubtless we’ll want to experience them before they become memories, reminders that nothing lasts forever, even if we wished they would.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #richmond #food #foodporn #diner #burger #random #restaurant #stilllife #street #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

A memorable evening at the Neptune Diner, March 2023

The friendly yellow diner, March 2021

Scene from a diner, March 2018

Scene from outside a diner, October 2017

Scene from a diner, March 2013

Restaurant tabletop memory, December 2007

Scenes from a diner, February 2007

Green Coke, January 2007

Diner memories, August 2006

Escape from a dying wave

Splash squared
Deerfield Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Waves spend most of their lives alone and ignored - barely visible as they cross immense stretches of open ocean.

Only in their dying moments do they attract our attention as they roll into view and rise spectacularly above the surface before crashing out into nothingness.

All that time and energy and effort turned into a blink-in-time moment that, even then, may or may not be noticed. All that investment, gone in less time than it takes to read this sentence.

I’m pretty sure there’s some kind of analogy here, a lesson we can take with us as we leave the waves behind and walk off the beach, the sand clinging stubbornly between our toes. But it isn’t immediately clear to me.

We’ll just have to return another day, perhaps, so we can greet another set of waves as they complete their journey and turn into memories.

#deerfield #beach #florida #vacation #throwback #travel #atlantic #ocean #green #blue #gameoftones #waves #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Memories of icy mornings

Before the melt
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The nights here have been unseasonably cold all week, to the point that we’ve been digging out our hoodies and woollies to stay warm. It’s a Canadian thing.

Also a Canadian thing: complaining about the weather. So understandably Socialmediastan has been filled with all manner of commentary about how unfair it all is.

Forgive me for being contrarian, but there’s nothing unfair about a little frosty weather. Unfair is kids going to school and never coming home. Or not having a school at all.

I’m sorry, but having to pull on a pair of gloves to ward off the chill doesn’t strike me as remotely unfair or worthy of a public-facing entitled screed. Privilege, health, fairness, whatever are never guaranteed to any of us.

Besides, chilly weather makes for seriously pretty scenes. Frost warnings notwithstanding, it didn’t get cold enough to freeze the gutters this week. But it did motivate me to revisit the photo series I shot a couple of months ago when the temps were even chillier and the woollies weren’t yet tucked away.

Perspective is an amazing thing. I wonder if this planet would be a better place if we practiced it a little more often.

Cold or warm, we owe it to ourselves to try.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #trowback #water #ice #frozen #winter #walkabout #weather #wx #nature #naturephotography #abstract #xray #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Painting patterns in the pool

Stitched
Boca Raton, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Nature isn’t always as random as we might have thought.

#bocaraton #florida #vacation #throwback #travel #swim #swimming #hotel #pool #water #waves #pattern #geometry #abstract #blue #water #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

#IfYouReadOneThingToday - Collaboration grows up

We’re way beyond Zoom Bombing. Collaboration tools like #zoom and #MicrosoftTeams are much more mature now than they were when COVID first hit. But are we using them properly?

In my latest STEP Software Inc. #STEPthoughts blog article, I take a closer look:

Collaboration tools hit their stride in the post-COVID age

Branched life

Stand strong
London, ON
April 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Life is a tenuous, precious thing, isn’t it?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Empty jam jar on a kitchen table

Sugary, transparent geometry
London, ON
April 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We continue to play with our food, even after we’ve scraped the very last bits of overpriced kosher for Passover jam from the bottom of the jar.

Lousy jam. Cool-looking piece of glass. A quiet round of shutter therapy at the kitchen table.

Not a bad combo, after all.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cherry #jam #jelly #food #foodporn #random #kitchen #stilllife #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Theatre in concrete and grass

Low-angled, edge-on
London, ON
May 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: It’s 9:21 at night, and I’m following Calli the Wonderschnauzer around the neighborhood. As often happens, she’s taking her sweet time because her snack time is still 39 minutes away and there’s probably still a bunny or two to bark at.

We come across an interesting scene on a sidewalk not far from home, where a Jeep with no one inside is idling in a driveway across the road.

[tangent] London has had a no-idling bylaw for years that’s supposed to prevent this kind of planet-unfriendly stupidity. Alas, no one has ever received a ticket for violating the bylaw, and Londoners will often sit for hours in their still-running cars. Silly, selfish Londoners. [/tangent]

The truck is casting brilliant while light clear across the street. The overgrown grass in the boulevard catches some of it and throws wonderful shadows across the pockmarked concrete.

I may be saddened by the needless addition of carbon emissions into our atmosphere, but I’m not too annoyed to ignore the photo opp playing out at my feet. So while the dog grazes nearby, I compose and shoot the surreal scene just before the owner returns and kills the lights.

As the dog and I make our way back home, I have some quiet time to ponder the meaning of this moment.

I conclude that despite the fact that we live in a highly imperfect world, filled with highly imperfect people, all that imperfection can still have its own surreal beauty.

We just have to be willing to root around in the overgrown grass and crumbling concrete to find it.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #walkabout #nature #naturephotography #shadow #grass #concrete #texture #sidewalk #abstract #stilllife #monochrome #street #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Bricks crumble in the sun

Forgotten history
London, ON
April 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Battered and bruised, it stands despite whatever the world has thrown at it.

Someday it will crumble into a memory.

But not today.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #hydepark #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #city #brick #texture #perspective #street #streetphotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Roadside flush

Crappiness
London, ON
April 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Some days feel like this.

That’s ok, though, because if we’re lucky we’ll get to try again tomorrow.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #519ldn #519london #random #urban #roadside #stilllife #traffic #streetphotography #night #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Water droplets on green leaves

The things we find on a walk in the woods
London, ON
April 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This life thing always begins with water.

Probably not a bad reminder to ourselves on occasion.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #heritage #forest #tree #trees #green #leaf #leaves #water #droplet #nature #naturephotography #landscape #stilllife #landscapephotography #waterphptography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Icy paintings return to the neighborhood

Cold brushstrokes
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It’s a perfectly sunny spring day here in Pitkinville (okay, #LdnONT), so of course I have to be the contrarian who reaches back a couple of months and shares a frozen wasteland pic.

It was the morning of March 3rd, and Mother Nature had been busy overnight crafting some icy perfection in the road beside our house.

The dog consented to a quick photo sesh as we headed out for our walk. And good thing she did, because it was all gone when we returned home barely 20 minutes later.

This life thing again. It flies by in a blink, leaving memories and pixels and stories in its wake.

As long as we take the time to collect them.

#london #ontario #canada #throwback #water #ice #frozen #winter #walkabout #nature #naturephotography #abstract #map #stilllife #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

#IfYouReadOneThingToday - AI's godfather sounds the alarm

The Godfather of AI, Geoffrey Hinton, abruptly quits his job at Google amid fears for the future of humanity.

Hyperbole? Or the reasoned perspective of a revered scientist?

I've been talking about this extensively in media, and my latest piece on the STEP Software Inc. blog puts this critical issue in greater perspective:

Geoffrey Hinton’s resignation from Google is AI’s canary in a coal mine

#ai #future

Saying goodbye to The Main

Still-life, frozen in time
Delray Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Montreal lost an institution this week after The Main Deli Steak House (or just The Main) abruptly closed its doors.

I haven’t lived there in decades, but the loss of anchors like this one reaffirms the stark truth that living history doesn’t live forever. The Main’s disappearance is only the latest blow to a place that was once the epicentre of the community where my parents grew up. Increasingly, it’s just a street.

St. Laurent - or more properly St. Lawrence - divides this island city into east and west. Decades ago, it was ground zero for Montreal’s Jewish community, the place where Holocaust survivors set down their first roots in a new land and despite it all built lives out of the ashes of Eastern Europe.

Even as St. Laurent has been a similarly pivotal backdrop for so many other cultural communities, its Jewish community institutions - grocery stores, restaurants, even gravestone makers - persisted. But that’s changed in recent years, as a growing drumbeat of endings - Warshaw, Moishes, Bersons - altered the landscape. The connection between our generation and that of our parents and grandparents is slowly fading to black.

I took this still-life in another deli far away from The Main. Ruven’s was the epicentre of my in-laws’ stomping ground after they retired, the place where they clucked over their grandchildren and made indelible memories of time spent doing the simple things that mattered.

If we’re being truthful with ourselves, deli food is hardly the stuff of nutritional legend. But that’s not the point. More than any other, places like The Main and Schwartz’s and Ruven’s serve as uniquely nuanced oases of familiarity in a world that’s slowly losing them. We remember being here, together, in ways that no modern franchised chain eatery can match. We look back at moments, and we smile because we were lucky enough to have had them in the first place.

As my wife and I sat quietly here a couple of months ago, we could feel the echoes of family and moments and milestones. Long after my in-laws left us, we hold onto these intangibles as reminders of how lucky we were. We never know how much time we’ll have until even these now-quieter places leave us, too.

#delray #beach #florida #throwback #vacation #travel #deli #diner #restaurant #food #foodporn #eat #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Calli at 6

I'll share my ball if you ask nicely
London, ON
April 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Why hello there. Would you know that dogs have birthdays, too? And that today is my sixth one?

No cake for me, though. Sugar and Schnauzers are a bad mix. And let’s not talk about me and lit candles. Bad, bad idea.

This is my favourite ball. I have a number of them, in different sizes and colours. They are, to be blunt, the only toys on Planet Earth that I do not destroy within seconds.

I have been called feisty, sassy, bonkers, insane, and rude. I am uncontrollably loud. I do not sleep well. I can’t walk a straight line to save my life. I bark madly at other dogs, and I fiercely guard my home against squirrels, bunnies, birds, and even the occasional chipmunk. I am not allowed into the local Tim Hortons. Or any Tim Hortons, for that matter.

Yet my people love me. And I love them back even more. I tap the back of their legs with my nose as we walk through the house, and I blur my tail when they come back from an adventure. I like to stare at them a lot. My dad says I look into his soul. I don’t know what a soul is, but he smiles when he says it, so it must be good.

I know how lucky I am, because my humans tell me this all the time. I’m not so good with the word thing, but they tell me I often communicate better than other humans do. It’s not that hard when you lead with your heart.

I’d best get back to playing with the big blue ball, because soon it’ll be time for my snack and our walk. This life thing is quite the trip, and I’m glad mine has been such a charmed one so far.

Woof!

Love,

Calli the Wonderschnauzer

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

Related:

Calli at 5, May 2022

Schnu to the power of 4, May 2021

Calli at 3, May 2020

Calli turns 1, May 2018

The family grows by one, again, June 2017