Saturday, October 19, 2024

Autumn colour in the sky

Contrail photobomb
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Colour is never far away.

Just look up.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #trees #gameoftones #autumn #colour #leaves #blue #sky #contrail #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Friday, October 18, 2024

Once every 80,000 years...

A visitor from the Oort Cloud
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


It isn’t often that a comet appears in our skies, so I told myself I needed to see it for myself.

Not because the resulting photo would be somehow epic. With everyone else on Planet Earth pointing their lenses toward the darkened sky, it’s not as if my pic would somehow stand out.

But that wasn’t the goal at all.

The only thing that mattered was taking time out from life to go looking for it. To turn to the heavens in wonder and ponder the life cycle of something that won’t return this way for 80,000 years - assuming it doesn’t get kicked out of the solar system for good after it turns away from the Sun.

Ultimately it’s a ball of dirty ice flying through deep space. We walk right on past dirty ice discarded out the back of local arenas, so maybe it’s a context thing. Indeed, the rarity of these celestial visitors makes them the stuff of dreams for those of us stuck on Earth.

We all need things to wonder about, moments of joy, inflection points we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.

Lying in the wet grass under a darkened sky, it was easy to understand why I was out there.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #comet #tsuchinshan #atlas #optimistpark #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Comet hunting with Po, October 2024

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Comet hunting with Po

Stargazer
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I went comet hunting in the park tonight. Po the Teletubby tagged along, as she often does, and helped prop up the camera for the long exposures.

Did we find anything?

More than we imagined.

To be continued…

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #comet #tsuchinshan #atlas #optimistpark #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:

My spidey sense is tingling

Home, for some
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I pull the car into the darkened parking lot of our son’s building, ostensibly to drop him off. But soon enough we notice a rather fascinating sight.

Brilliant LED lamps cast intense pools of light here and there, beacons amid the murk. We notice the spiders have been busy customizing these otherwise mundane fixtures into elaborate homes for themselves.

It’s a moment that seems to beg for an unplanned abstract photo session, and Noah is totally game for it before heading inside.

Now, how the spiders (apparently from Earth, not Mars) manage to sleep under the brilliant white light may be a story for another day, but for now we’re content to take in the spectacle without having all the answers.

It’s a tiny bit of spontaneous mystery, and I get to experience it with my no-longer-a-kid kid who as it turns out is just as curious about the odd corners of everyday life as I am.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #naturephotography #monochrome #stilllife #night #flare #photography #spider #web #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Random dog photo time

I could go for some coffee
London, ON
August 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I share this random pic of Calli the Wonderschnauzer for no reason other than the fact that days with dogs are better than days without.

And today needs more dog, so here’s ours.

Agree?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #actofdog #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Our dog the photo model, September 2024
Shotgun Schnauzer, September 2024
Helper dog, August 2024
Doggo sunset, August 2024
Bambi returns, July 2022
Happiness is... January 2021
Lick this, January 2005

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

PandaCam alert!

In a world filled with hurt, we look for things that bring us comfort. From where I sit, nothing says comfort more than pandas*.

And the blessed folks at the San Diego Zoo have a live PandaCam. Here:

https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/cams/giant-panda-cam

You're welcome.

*Maybe manatees. Dolphins, too.

Finding inspiration at our feet

Look down
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


No one goes looking for the leaves on the forest floor.

After they’ve fallen from the trees.

Lost their luminosity.

Shrivelled into a terminal brown.

And crumbled back into the ragged earth.

Soon enough, even the colour-seekers will be gone.

Soon enough, snow will descend over what’s left, an imperfect blanket above the decaying grey mess covering the valley floor.

Yet even amid the silence, there are stories deserving to be told.

Maybe they’re not brilliantly coloured.

Maybe they’re mere shadows of their former selves.

Maybe they’re not even recognizable.

Still, even the things not brilliantly coloured are worthy of a moment or a look or a thought.

So before autumn loses its grip to winter, we crouch down on the forest floor and shine the light where it deserves to be shone.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #trees #leaves #shadows #sun #flare #gameoftones #texture #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
When leaves end, October 2021

Monday, October 14, 2024

It only looks like a mid-air collision

Timing...
London, ON
September 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


This is what it looks like when all 9 members of the Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows aerobatics display team fly the 5/4 Cross maneuver.

There aren’t many things in this increasingly digital world that can stun you into a childlike wow moment.

This still can.

Seriously, the Brits got some insane flying game, and I was lucky enough to see them fly at this year’s #AirshowLondon as part of their Maple Hawk tour. Mad respect to them.

More to come…

@airshowlondon @rafredarrows #RedArrowsMapleHawk #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #skydrive #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #aviation #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #photography #planespotting #instaplane

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Saturday, October 12, 2024

Cocoa Beach wave

How the day begins here
Cocoa Beach, FL
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram


On the last day of the last decade, I sat in the sand at the edge of the continent not far from where astronauts leave the planet and watched the waves roll in under the rising sun.

I think the ocean was showing off a little.

#cocoabeach #florida #throwback #atlantic #ocean #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #sunrise #waves #water #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography @floridaspacecoast

Related:
A new day dawns... January 2021

Friday, October 11, 2024

The skies light up once more

Fireworks, sort of
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I’m not sharing this image of the Aurora Borealis above London because it’s somehow unique.

It isn’t. Not even close. The interwebs are filled with images tonight of folks all around the world who were lucky enough to witness another historic celestial event, and I’m not so arrogant as to believe that this iPhone-captured snap will rate.

Besides, I’m not a me-too kind of photographer, and when everyone points in one direction, I usually wander far far away in the other.

Actually, the significance of this particular photo has nothing to do with optics or photographic craft.

I share it simply to remind myself of another adventure with my lovely wife, who ever since I’ve known her has always been willing to leave the cozy confines of home with me in search of the unknown in the darkness.

We took a short walk to a nearby park and allowed our cameras to see more than our eyes initially could. We stood quietly amid the damp, cool grass and watched the glowing wisps high above shift ever so gently as they danced with our planet’s magnetic field. We walked home holding hands, excitedly debriefing on the wonder we had just seen.

Being entranced just wouldn’t be the same without her, and I couldn’t not remember what that felt like. So pixels will have to hold us over for now.

At least until the next celestial event. Or whatever other adventures we happen to find ourselves on before the sun decides to have another party in the heavens.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #aurora #borealis #solar #optimistpark #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone


Thursday, October 10, 2024

The green protects us. For now.

Look up
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Cathedrals weren’t only built by humans.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #trees #gameoftones #texture #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone


Wednesday, October 09, 2024

Casting leafy shadows late at night

In transition
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Walk through the neighbourhood at night and listen to the sound of the wind blowing through the trees as they gradually shed their leaves before winter.

Look for the shadows amid the pools of light that split the darkness between where you are and where you want to be.

Stand transfixed as they paint stark patterns on the rough concrete.

Thank you for attending my TEDtalk.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #street #streetphotography #night #nightphotography #shadow #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Shadows on brick, October 2022
Where shadow covers rock, September 2022
Smoke and light, July 2022
Ladders and shadows, September 2018

Tuesday, October 08, 2024

Godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinton wins the Nobel Prize in Physics

Huge news out of Sweden this morning as British-Canadian Godfather of AI Dr. Geoffrey Hinton wins the Nobel Prize in Physics. But what does all of this have to do with Canada, Canadians, and the future of AI? You’d be pleasantly surprised where this might lead us.

I’ll be joining CBC Radio stations across the country between 3 and 7:30 p.m. Eastern to walk through the 5Ws of this groundbreaking announcement.

#AnalystLife

Throwing long shadows in the woods

Those leading lines, though
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


It was a good day to go for a walk in the woods with my kid.

We looked for colour and found more green than anything else - but we concluded that green is also a colour, and it’s lovely in its own right.

We looked for light, and found it wrapped in shadows and textures.

We looked for quiet and found it in abundance. Though the longer we stood perfectly still, the more we heard.

We looked for scenes that triggered our imagination, and we weren’t disappointed.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #trees #shadows #gameoftones #texture #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Monday, October 07, 2024

October 7th + 1

Never again?
Laval, QC
June 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram


A year ago today, the Jewish people added another date, October 7th, to a history filled with dates we’d rather forget, but can’t.

The butchery of the Hamas attack is almost too heartbreaking to watch, but watch we must so that the world will understand the real story that’s been playing out in the Middle East and the world since long before there was a State of Israel.

Hamas issued an interesting statement in the wake of an attack so barbaric it makes animals look civilized in comparison. They said they’d keep repeating these attacks until the entire country was wiped off the face of the Earth.

This from an organization whose schools teach kids as soon as they can walk to fire a gun and kill Jews, from a terrorist group whose Jihadist goals include wiping out any non-believers, anywhere, who militarize civilian infrastructure as a matter of policy, whose entire raison-d’être is killing Jews, then celebrating their butchery.

I’m not naive. I’m well aware of how Jew-hatred works in the social media age. I’m also well aware of the lovely double-standards that anti-Semites conveniently use to shield themselves from accusations of Jew-hatred.

It’s a fight we’ll likely never win, because peace is not, and never has been, the goal of proxy terrorists like Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Houthis. Nor is it, and never has been, on Iran’s agenda, either. Instead, an evil regime that brutally suppresses its own people has become the world’s foremost sponsor of Islamist terrorism - and the western world happily buys into Iran’s game plan.

So it isn’t something we argue, because even once-moderate voices who preached a form of detente and tolerance now ride the wave of populist hate. This will never end.

So if I disappear into the woods every once in a while to escape from the insanity, now you’ll know why. Do remember, though: after they come for the Jews, they’ll be setting their targets on whoever’s left.

#ldnont #October7 #EndJewHatred #NeverAgain

Celebrating murder, March 2008

Bright light. Dark planet.

Shine on
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Be the light. Today. Every day.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #light #led #bulb #stilllife #macro #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Sunday, October 06, 2024

The big blurry bus

Journeys...
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


It’s 10:44 p.m., and the city bus cruises through the neighbourhood on one of its final trips of the night.

The dog’s nose is deeply buried in the overgrown grass beside the boulevard, and she can barely be bothered to look up as the diesel-powered engine briefly breaks the silence before fading away into the inky darkness.

I shoot a single frame as the people-mover floats past us, its fluorescent lights spilling out onto the cracked asphalt below.

There’s no way to know who’s on board or where they’re headed, but it still feels right to wish them all safe passage before I tug gently on the pup’s leash and turn for home.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #street #streetphotography #night #ltc #transit #nightphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone #photography

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Saturday, October 05, 2024

Hoping for light in the new year

Watercolours
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


According to the skies, 5785 began much like 5784 ended - with light from above casting hope to those below.

That word: hope. Sounds lovely in theory, but it doesn’t always translate into real change on the ground.

The hatred will be just as real in the coming year as it was in the last. Children will still be raised to vilify the so-called “others”. Ugliness will show up unchecked in our communities, forcing its targets to pull the covers on ever more tightly. And the cycle will continue anew.

It is for this reason that I don’t share generic happy new year messages on my feed.

Because nothing ever really changes. And it seems futile to cut-and-paste the same empty words year after year, only to realize nothing in return.

Instead I’ll continue to look to the skies and hope its light will eventually begin to shine on those who preach darkness.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #roshhashana #jewish #newyear #sunset #cloudspotting #weather #wx #optimistpark #naturephotography #landscapephotography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone #photography

Related:
Random straw poll, August 2023
Sunset test shot, July 2023

Wednesday, October 02, 2024

Wood, texture, and light

Shine on
London, ON
September 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


When a shaft of morning sunlight bounces off the gently aged wooden dresser, the only choice is to reach for a camera.

The light won’t be around for long, after all.

Makes me wonder if this might be an analogy of some sort.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #wood #stilllife #macro #light #sunlight #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone #photography

Related:
A kiss in the washroom, February 2018

Tuesday, October 01, 2024

Shadowy cyclist

Ride while we still can
London, ON
September 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


One ride: good.

Two rides: better.

So a shadowy selfie is called for. Because every journey, no matter how seemingly trivial it may seem, deserves an accompanying memory.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cycling #orange #bicycle #instabike #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone #photography