Monochrome is a colour, too

Reach for the sky
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

So often when I go looking for colour, I end up with monochrome.

The irony isn’t lost on me. The world, apparently, is an unpredictable place. And while we expend limitless resources, time, and energy making the most elaborate plans, the universe so often seems to beg to differ.

In the end, I rather like life on the greyscale. The stripped branches against a starkly lit sky seem to speak to me, and this is the image that most sticks with me even if it wasn’t part of my initial plan.

Because scripts can only take us so far, and something tells me this is yet another example of photography imitating real life.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #heritage #forest #trees #gameoftones #autumn #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photogtaphy #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

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Dogs get out the vote, too

Wake me when it's over
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You can practically feel the tension as the U.S. election plays out to its inevitable conclusion.

So please allow me to share this random photo of our dog, Calli the Wonderschnauzer.

Headlines don’t matter to her. As long as she’s fed and walked and played with and loved, she’s a happy girl.

I’ve been holding onto that notion for a while. Because dogs always seem to find perspective that evades the rest of us.

And a world with dogs remains better than a world without. Maybe find one and indulge in some canine therapy. It feels good. I promise you.

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

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America goes to the polls, so...

Refuge in photography
Kitchener, ON
November 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

PLEASE NOTE: It’s #ElectionDay in America, and today’s photo comes with a bit of a mission. Please give the full caption a read - and consider joining in. Thank you.

Here we go…

As millions of voters head to the polls in the U.S., you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just another election. It isn’t. It's an inflection point in history.

Now, I’m not American. I technically have no skin in this game. Yet given the outsized global role this singular nation plays - and the fact that we’re next-door neighbours and besties - it would be naive to assume that the outcome of the election won’t have a profound effect in the Great White North. It will.

Social media and the broader internet are always cesspools, of course, but they’ve become even more so in the runup to today. The digital space is ugly, and we can expect it to worsen in the weeks and months ahead.

So I hope you'll view my offering today as something of a minor effort to bring light to an otherwise dark place.

I don't want to talk politics. I want us to focus on what we need to do to make the world a better, kinder place. Lofty and naive? Of course. But that's how I'm built, and that's how I roll.

SO HERE'S YOUR MISSION: Find a photo or video that makes you smile - and post it as a response here.

That's it. If we throw goodness out there, we're part of the solution to whatever disease it is that got us to where we are today.

I’ve decided to start us off with a simple mug of coffee on the table of a beloved diner. Because who doesn’t like still-life images that make us smile? And of all the choices we'll make today, this will most certainly be the most comforting. And we could all use more comfort.

Are you in? Let's do this, shall we?

#kitchener #ontario #canada #tikkunolam #stacks #pancakes #stilllife #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Sky, scraped

Every window a story
Toronto, ON
November 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

When I was a child, I’d stand on sidewalks and stare up at tall buildings that scraped the sky and wonder who was inside them.

I’d imagine all sorts of only-in-a-kid’s-mind stories of wonder and whimsy and everything both in between and beyond.

Eventually it would be time to go. And the images and the stories and the whimsy would be tucked away in my memories.

Yesterday I stood on a sidewalk and stared up at this tall building scraping the sky and wondered pretty much the same thing.

Some things never change. Nor should they.

#toronto #ontario #canada #yyz #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #downtown #city #yonge #geometry #reflective #mirror #glass #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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A certain kind of mushroom

Fun fungus
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Deep in the shadows of the river valley, a fallen tree lies undisturbed, its trunk serving as a welcome host for vibrant, unexpected life.

If you close your eyes and listen within the overwhelming silence, you can almost hear this next chapter playing itself out in a place few choose to visit.

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

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If...

A life
Duvernay, QC
July 2012
This photo originally shared on Instagram

My father would have been 90 today. We lost him just before his 75th birthday, so I’ve had a few November 2nds since then to ponder a life that quite literally shaped my own.

I share this not to be morose or dark. Life eventually ends for all of us. It’s also a given that we’ll all lose people who matter, and we’ll have to figure out what life looks like afterward. To my eyes, it just doesn’t make sense to choose to live in perpetual shadow.

So I don’t. He led a full, eventful life. He was lucky to have found and married the love of his life, and to have spent 48 years with her raising a family and building a community that continues to beat. He made a difference.

Of course we’d have liked to have had more time. Or for him to have had better health those last few years.

But that’s the thing in life: we get what we get, and we do our best with what we’ve been given.

He did. So that’s what we celebrate.

Happy birthday, Dad. Know you’re remembered well. Know you were, and are, loved.

#family #everything

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Tornado in the sky

Painting the sky
London, ON
September 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Can airplanes create abstract art in the sky?

I’d like to think that they can.

I’d also like to think that childlike wonder can take many forms, and staring at pretty planes painting the heavens counts as one of those childlike wonder moments.

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

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Transit in monochrome

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

I’m slowly falling into the habit of shooting the city bus as it passes by.

I know what you’re thinking: again? Aren’t there other things to shoot?

Probably. But here’s the thing:

The dog needs to be walked. All. The. Time.

We live in a city that believes sidewalks aren’t really necessary on side streets. Car culture and all that. So after the sun goes down, the puppy and I stick to the large-ish feeder roads that have sidewalks.

As luck would have it, the bus passes by every 20 or so minutes. Like the dog walk, it happens All. The. Time.

And as it glides past, I often find myself wondering about who’s on-board and what their stories might be.

City life can be so disconnecting. So perhaps it’s meant to be that random photos of busses lighting up darkened streets can be tools of connection.

Or so I like to tell myself as I yet again watch strangers disappear into the dark night.

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

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Three birds in the distance

Follow me...maybe
London, ON
May 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Birds of a feather don’t always fly together.

Some of them stare from side to side while everyone else is staring ahead. Maybe they’ll strike off in their own direction. Or fly through their very own cloud.

Because we’re all some kind of journey, even if our paths occasionally diverge a bit.

#ldnont #ontario #canada #bird #gulls #flight #optimistpark #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

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Olives, not the oil

Part of a healthy Mediterranean diet
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I will always love olive you, my dear.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #grocery #store #loblaws #shopping #retail #random #stilllife #photography #fruitography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Rainbow in chalk

Feel the spectrum
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Rainbows don’t just form in the sky. They also take shape in the limitless imaginations of children.

So when the chalky results of some kids’ creativity show up on a neighbourhood sidewalk, the only choice is to pause for a fast photo before nature slowly erases the brilliance from view.

Beauty is only temporary. Inspiration from complete strangers is forever.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sidewalk #chalk #rainbow #signs #stilllife #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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The unexpected late night light show

Always wait it out
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The skies sometimes do interesting things after the sun has officially slipped beneath the horizon.

Like blazing with unexpected brilliance, even when thick clouds threaten to end the show before it has a chance to begin.

On reflection, it feels like an analogy, of sorts, where the things that happen high above echo the way we live down here.

Like having the patience to wait things out, to stay in the game long after the light was supposed to fade.

Because even in the darkness, light always seems to find a way to shine brightly. We just have to allow ourselves to stick around long enough to witness it.

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

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My shadowy sidekick

She patiently waits
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We all deserve to walk through life surrounded by people - and not-people - who will periodically stop dead in their tracks and just look at us.

A life well lived is a connected one, after all.

At least that’s what Calli the Wonderschnauzer seemed to be suggesting as we walked under the final rays of sun on an otherwise ordinary day.

Because nothing is ordinary when we’re blessed with connection. In any form.

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

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30 years as parents...

30 years ago today, this little guy fought his way into the world and into our hearts.

That it seems like yesterday only reinforces just how quickly time can pass, and how much Zach has crammed into a life now entering its fourth decade.

He made us parents, and taught us what it’s like to love someone more than life itself. He grew into the best big brother and protector of Dahlia and Noah - and their best friend above all. He married his own best friend, and has blossomed into an incredible husband to Michaela and father to Lilly.

He works relentlessly hard, laughs from his belly, and defines kindness for anyone lucky enough to know him. Indeed, whoever knows him loves him. He makes it easy.

He was a dream baby, and in adulthood he’s carved out his own dreams in his own inimitable style.

In the months to come, his family of 3 will become 4, and he’ll find new ways to add to his story. Happiest of birthdays, sweet boy. Never stop being you.

Love,

Dad

#family #everything

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Wet, fallen leaf

Circle of life on the forest floor
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Gone. Not forgotten.

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Red Roof Inn

It all depends how we frame it
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

They’ve protected us for months, shading the ground against the relentless sun, offering safe haven from the wind and the rain.

It was only right to say goodbye one last time before they drift away.

And maybe whisper a quiet thank you.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #trees #gameoftones #autumn #red #colour #leaves #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Before the colours fade

The big stretch
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We’re going to miss this when it’s gone.

Then again, white and grey are colours, too.

And reminders that every season has its virtues.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #trees #gameoftones #autumn #colour #leaves #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Protected by a yellow canopy

One last blast
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Sunset was approaching as I walked further into the woods, the only sound of consequence that of the wind whispering loudly in the trees.

A constant rain of leaves floated from the canopy to the forest floor, adding to the gentle cacophony as they landed on the thick carpet below. Squirrels preparing for the season ahead jumped from one tree to the next. I closed my eyes and listened to sounds more felt than heard.

The light was fading, but as I approached my turnaround point the very top of the canopy caught the fading sun and glowed an almost iridescent yellow. I stopped amid the surreal light and looked up, the skeletal branches high above seemingly holding up the brilliant canopy, protecting everything below.

I’ve been walking these woods a lot lately, partly to find colours before they fade, but in reality I keep returning here because it is a space of peace and reflection. I’ll often zero in on the sound my feet make as the leaves crunch softly under my soles, the soundtrack changing by the season - or even the day.

It may seem like the same walks in the same places mean the same experiences. But every moment out here has its own signature, and they all make me feel, if not whole, then somewhat better than I did when I first set out.

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

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Autumn light and texture
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

At the edge of a baseball diamond in a park not far from home, the chain link fence behind home plate casts long shadows on the time-worn wood that frames it.

It’s the light that brings me here - the golden hour light on the tired wood, broken up only by the shadows of twisted steel wire.

The games are all finished for the year, the only soundtrack the gentle swish of the wind through the fence.

Soon, the colours will fade. Then, winter, the shadowy backstop standing sentinel over the emptiness where children once played.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #stilllife #geometry #autumn #goldenhour #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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An extraordinarily ordinary sky

The things we see when we look up
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There was nothing special about this evening. At least there wasn’t supposed to be.

Auroras weren’t lighting up the atmosphere. Comets weren’t screaming past the sun. No meteors were falling from the heavens.

So I wasn’t carrying a camera bag. Or looking for anything out of the ordinary.

It was just me, the dog, and 3,700 steps until I met my daily goal. Just another night in suburbia. Nothing remotely special.

Yet as we rounded the corner, the skies seemed to be having other ideas. The dog stopped first, standing in the shaggy grass and staring at her shadow. I soon followed - it’s not a very long leash - and we both took in the scene.

In the end I snapped off a few quick images with my smartphone, largely because I was intrigued by the notion of our dog noticing a photo op before I did. And by the fact that what is or is not special or unique or worthy isn’t something that can or should be crowdsourced.

Tonight, we got to choose.

On further reflection, there was indeed something special about this evening.

And every other one, too.

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

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