When clouds look like fish

Staring down, looking forward
Orlando, FL
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I tend to get reflective when returning home from far away, and yesterday’s flight was no different.

We’re lucky to have the opportunity to do stuff like this, to fly to interesting places on the planet and spend an intense few days learning from - and being inspired by - some really smart, dedicated people. More than once this week I pinched myself to ensure that it was all real, and to remind myself that not everyone is able to walk through the doors that I do.

So I stared at clouds through the filthy window of an ancient Air Canada Rouge 767 with wonky air conditioning. The plane was packed, the guy beside me watched multiple episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger without headphones and apparently had no arm boundaries, and the person behind me gave me many lower back massages throughout the flight as she searched through the backseat pocket for, I’m guessing, buried treasure. Or lint.

The magic of weeks like the one our team just had lies in how experiences like these ultimately change us all. We learn. We get to know new people. We get to know familiar people even better. We take little pieces of the experience home with us. Hopefully we become better people in the process.

Or, maybe we just get to see clouds shaped like fish float past our window, and hope the future offers up more experiences just like the one we’ve just had.

#air #canada #aircanada #flight #orlando #toronto #itrg #infotechlive #mco #yyz #clouds #cloudspotting #weather #wx #photography #travel #travelphotography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Mountain of glass(es)

Circles and light
Orlando, FL
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The stack of glasses at the breakfast juice bar looked particularly interesting, so I took a moment to take them in before I jetted off to where I needed to be.

The lesson, if juice glasses are capable of teaching us a lesson at all, is a simple one: There's wonder taking place under our noses, all the time. We can either ignore it as we speed through life, or we can slow ourselves down just enough to appreciate it.

There's nothing overtly magical about this scene. They're just glasses, after all. But when I get to the end of the day and reflect on why it was especially memorable, it'll be snippets like this that stick in my mind.

Strange how that works. But no one ever said this life thing had to make sense. The secret, I think, is to drink it in consciously, no matter how trivial that may seem to everyone else.

#orlando #florida #fla #itrg #infotechlive #infotech #conference #glass #glasses #stilllife #hilton #hotel #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #monochrome #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Before hitting the stage...

The right equipment for the job
Orlando, FL
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Presenting at a conference is a soul-stirring experience, and the few minutes before you step onstage are very special.

The area backstage is dark, packed with equipment, and strangely quiet. You can hear what's going on on-stage through the thick drapes, but it's somewhat muddled, and the space otherwise feels strangely comforting, as if any other time it would be a great spot to duck away from the rush of a typical day.

But this isn't any other time, and if you're back here, you're not hanging out. In just a few seconds, you'll be staring into blinding lights. It can be daunting, but it's also one of the coolest things you can ever do.

Walking slow circles around this hushed space reminds me of the rituals I evolved during my years in media. I would deliberately take my time as I arrived at a TV studio. my eyes, ears and other senses in high-def-record mode, afraid to miss even the tiniest detail. I tried to slow the moment down in my mind as a way of preparing for what came next.

Initially it was to calm my nerves, and while it eventually got easier as I became more experienced, I still always had a moment along the way when I'd pause and catch my breath. The magic of being in front of people - sharing what you know, what you've created, who you are - never goes away.

I still try to ground myself before I step into the lights, and sometimes I even break out a camera and steal a fast picture. It isn't about the photography. It's about telling the story, and freezing an amazing moment in time, so you can come back to it later on.

This one speaks of the often-unseen, near-Herculean effort by countless people to make a conference like this feel seamless to everyone who attends. I can't take my family with me to this place, but I can at least give them a sense of what it felt like when I was here, and how privileged I feel to get to do this.

#orlando #florida #fla #itrg #infotechlive #infotech #conference #hilton #hotel #technology #learning #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #monochrome #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Welcome to the foggy hotel

Looking up into a murky sky
Orlando, FL
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Mother Nature decided to shroud paradise in fog this morning, so the little voice inside my head told me to head out into the darkness and drink it in for a bit.

The fog should be gone by the time we're back in session for the second day of our conference. But I'm thinking I may need to walk around a bit more during the few quiet moments we get when we're not running flat-out.

That balance thing and all. I'm still trying to figure it out.

#orlando #florida #fla #itrg #infotechlive #infotech #conference #fog #weather #wx #hilton #hotel #building #architecture #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Don't play with fire, except...

Not my smartest moment
Orlando, FL
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I wasn't directly playing with fire, but I was close enough to feel the heat.

These are, apparently, the things we must do when the little photographic-storytelling voices inside our heads start to talk to us.

I can't imagine being any other way.

#orlando #florida #fla #itrg #infotechlive #infotech #conference #fire #flames #poolside #hilton #hotel #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Screen scene from a conference

And we're off...
Orlando, FL
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This is where I'm hanging out this week. We call it #InfoTechLIVE, and I'm surrounded by so many brilliant people that sometimes my head hurts just trying to keep up.

It's a good kind of pain, though, because there's nothing like being with folks at the top of their game to make you feel alive.

We kicked things off just a couple of hours ago, and my first presentation from the main stage went well. If you remember my last conference, there were no faceplants in front of the audience this time (yay!)

I’m sure I’ll have a few more scenes from Orlando in my feed over the next few days.

If you’re away from home for whatever reason, I hope you’ll share a view, as well. Because we all need inspiration when we’re away from those who matter most.

#orlando #florida #fla #itrg #infotech #conference #screenshot #hilton #hotel #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Busted elevator at the Hilton

Where should I go now?
Orlando, FL
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Fun elevator fact: My hotel room is on the 15th floor. So the gaping hole in the spot where a working button should have been was a bit of a surprise.

Thankfully there was a duplicate bank of buttons - including a working one for 15 - on the other side of the elevator. But this scene made for a fun few seconds while travel-fatigued Carmi tried to figure out what to do next.

For the record, sticking my finger into the possibly electrified hole where the button should have been was never an option.

The moment made me smile, because it wouldn't have been worth remembering if every button had been in place.

Sometimes, a little lack of perfection is actually the preferable state of being.

#orlando #florida #fla #hilton #hotel #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

A Teletubby flies again

Where should we go next?
Toronto, ON
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Po is by far my favorite Teletubby, and anyone who knows me knows she has quite the back story.

Well, she's off on another adventure, which means I'm off on another adventure, too. The next few days promise to be action-packed, and both of us will be surrounded by lots of intense brilliance and inspiration. I miss my fam already, but meaningful work and shared success will ensure a bright future for my little brood.

Which begs the question: Why do I shlep a tattered old stuffie halfway across the continent when I'm supposed to be focused on the serious business of business?

Good question. I think it's because we all need to find better ways to connect. And if this Happy Meal castoff manages to bring one smile to one person - on the road, back home, online, or all three - then having her with me will have been worthwhile.

For now, though, it's wheels-up time. See you on the other side.

#toronto #ontario #canada #itrg #infotechlive #pearson #international #airport #yyz #photography #city #travel #travelphotography #po #teletubby #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Looking at rockets across the water

Where we leave the planet
Cocoa Beach, FL
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If you stand on Florida's Cocoa Beach and turn to your left, way across the water you'll see Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. They build and fly rockets there, and if you look just closely enough, you can see all sorts of fascinating pieces of infrastructure. This is where rocket science comes to life.

It's so far away that even the longest lens can't do enough to pull it in. Add atmospheric distortion into the mix and you're probably not bringing home museum-worthy photography.

But that's not the point. The very place where I stand as I take this photo is also a popular viewing spot for major launches. On this morning just after sunrise, the beach may very well be nearly deserted as the cool sand slowly works its way between my toes, but it's easy to imagine what it would feel like if thousands of people converged here, all looking to their left, all waiting for something to happen.

And as I peer through the lens at the otherworldly sight way across the water, I tell myself I need to return here when this place is crowded, hot, and electric.

Because even if the event involves little more than watching a blurry dot rise from the horizon, there's nothing quite like feeling it with the wind in your face, surrounded by thousands of others who feel the same need to watch our hopes and dreams leave the planet and head for the heavens.

Sometimes you just have to be right there to witness it.

#cocoa #beach #cocoabeach #cape #canaveral #florida #fla #atlantic #ocean #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #photography #rocket #science #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #zoom #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Winter still sucks

Snowy meteors from space
London, ON
February 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Another day, another scene from the snowy wasteland we call home.

Just like the last snowy photo I shot (here), what you see here was probably gone soon after I left it behind, reshaped by the relentlessly cold winds blowing in off the lake.

I don't know why some scenes merit being remembered, while others aren't worth even a first glance, let alone a second.

I know it's impossible to remember everything we see, or capture every moment. There's only so much time, energy, and bandwidth. So we take with us what matters most - and leave the rest in the shadows of history.

But this rectangular frame of snow, on the edge of a neighbor's lawn, somehow ended up committed to pixels. For some reason, that's where I stopped while walking the dog, and that's what I chose to look at while she buried her snout in an adjacent snowbank.

Because that's where the two of us were destined to linger on a cold, stormy Saturday night.

Sounds like as good a reason as any to explain why this particular memory got carried forward, while so many others were not. And as is so often the case when I get to reflect back, I'm glad this was the one that did.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #urban #suburban #street #photography #snow #white #frozen #winter #monochrome #stilllife #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Winter sucks, but still...

Strictly temporary
London, ON
February 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Wherever we live, we're almost genetically programmed to complain endlessly about the weather. Canadians, especially, love to gripe about winter.

I get it. The snow gets into our boots and soaks our socks. The wind cuts through our coats and seeps through our front doors and windows. Icy roads and sidewalks make it difficult - or even impossible - to get around. Long nights connected by short days and grey skies don't do our souls any favors.

I was silently whining to myself as I walked the few blocks from my office to the train station the other morning. I had been outside less than 2 minutes, and already I couldn't feel my face. The sky was dark and ominous, and I wondered why I was the only one walking the desolate downtown streets while the rest of the world slept comfortably inside.

Then I saw it, a perfect windswept landscape at my feet, a temporary sliver of snowy perfection that reminded me miracles of weather and physics are all around us.

So despite the time and the cold, I stopped and took the picture.

Because I knew it would probably be gone in seconds.

Because we can find wonder in everything. At any moment. In the most unexpected places.

If only we take the time to look down and drink it in. Before it's too late.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #urban #ridout #street #photography #snow #white #frozen #winter #monochrome #stilllife #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Hockey night in London

All I need
London, ON
February 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram and Facebook

I clearly married well above my station. Love this girl.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #datenight #londonknights #hockey #live #laugh #love #levy #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Just before checkout

So many stories...
Las Vegas, NV
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I have a number of strange rituals whenever I travel. Don't worry, they're all properly legal and moral, but they do tend to attract the occasional raised eyebrow.

For example, as I leave any hotel room for the last time, I take photos - of the room itself, the number outside, and down the hall. Because as unremarkable as these things may seem, they represent an anchor of sorts for an experience that was absolutely unique to me.

I figure a placeholder like this will always serve as a reminder if what it felt like to close the door on one chapter of an adventure and head into the next.

I shot this corridor at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas just before I left for the airport - and home. It had been a successful, non-stop trip, and I was looking forward to being back with my family. I paused over this photo after I took it, because every door you see here probably represents a similar story: Folks leading their lives, and eventually turning for home.

We all have our own stories to tell, and our own adventures to lead. But sometimes, our paths intersect in places like this. And sometimes it feels right to try to sketch out what that looks and feels like.

Wherever you're headed, I hope what awaits you at the other end is just as welcoming. Because we all deserve to eventually go home.

#lasvegas #nevada #cosmopolitan #hotel #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #stilllife #throwback #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Where Atlantis feels the heat

Not that kind of tile
Merritt Island, FL
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You're looking at the underside of Space Shuttle Atlantis to the right, and to the left her port-side outboard elevon. And as you can imagine, there's a story here.

The tiles you see are really special - each one is unique, computer-designed and custom-cut. They're bonded to the orbiter's skin such that they stay on through the massive range of conditions a spacecraft can endure, from turbulent supersonic airflows after launch to extreme heat and cold in the near-vacuum of space. Then they have to survive the plasma-blasted hell that is re-entry. Oh, and like the rest of this vehicle, they're reusable.

It's a wonder this heat shield works at all. Yet it does, and an updated version of the technology is already in testing for the upcoming Orion deep space capsule.

Standing beneath this triumph of human ingenuity and engineering, I'm struck by the number of unique elements that combine to make a cohesive whole. If you've ever wanted to know what collaboration looks like, this is it. Not one piece of this can fail.

We learned the hard way with Columbia, when another part of her thermal protection system, a reinforced carbon-carbon panel on the leading edge of the port wing, was damaged by foam debris from the external tank during the initial ascent. Hot gas penetrated the wing on re-entry and led to the orbiter's loss of control and subsequent disintegration. This is a business with almost zero margin for error.

Thankfully Atlantis came home safely 33 times, and we get to admire her here, plasma trail remnants and all. Her lessons of working together - and what happens when we don't - are as relevant now as they were when she was still the master of the skies.

#kennedy #space #center #ksc #kennedyspacecenter #florida #fla #spaceshuttle #shuttle #atlantis #ov104 #rocket #science #tps #monochrome #aviation #avgeek #spaceflight #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Pall Malls on York

Forgotten along the way
London, ON
February 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Looks like someone's going smokeless.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #519london #519ldn #519shooters #random #urban #downtown #york #street #stilllife #walkabout #photography #building #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Read the damn signs

Such negativity
London, ON
February 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I'm beginning to suspect they really, really mean it.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #519london #519ldn #519shooters #random #urban #downtown #york #street #photography #building #alley #signs #architecture #brick #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Tim is still dead

After the last double-double* is served
London, ON
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A few days back, I shared a photo of an abandoned Tim Hortons coffee shop here in #LdnONT. It touched off a vibrant discussion about the good, the bad, and the ugly of places like this, and their impact on the community while they're operating, and when they get left behind.

I wanted to share a view of the interior because as I pressed my camera to the glass and composed, I could almost feel what it had been like when it was full of customers, all going through the paces of their day.

I was one of them on occasion, and this particular location always stood out for the way it felt less like a store and more like a community centre of sorts. It was homey and warm in a way few places in the modern city are.

Looking at the perfectly aligned, now-empty seats and tables, I wonder where everyone went, and whether they've managed to find the kinds of connections they once had here.

I hope so.

* Double-double: shorthand for a Tim Hortons coffee with two cream, two sugar. Usage: "May I please have a medium double-double?" It's how Canadians roll.

#london #ontario #canada #519london #519ldn #519shooters #random #urban #street #photography #restaurant #resto #building #architecture #ruinporn #retail #apocalypse #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Zoomed in snowdrift

A frozen world
London, ON
February 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: A parking lot in mid-winter. The brilliant sun hanging in the perfectly blue late morning sky is reflecting so brightly off of the dirty snowbank at my feet that I can barely see even through my sunglasses.

But still, I want to remember this little mini-vignette, because soon enough it’ll be gone, either melted by the relentless sun, or covered yet again by the next storm gathering over the horizon.

In this parking lot as in life, you act now or risk missing out.

As I take my smartphone out and blindly compose the shot, I think about the snowbanks I played on as a child. It seemed a lot more fun then. I’d deliberately bundle up and head out at the first inkling of snow, and only came in after I was long past exhausted, my woolies reduced to soggy messes. It was glorious.

Something happened to me between then and now, because I no longer embrace the snow and the cold as I once did. Heavy winter weather has become something to be fought, not embraced, and I’m not entirely certain why that happened.

Adulthood so often seems to want to beat the magic out of us, and I wish we could somehow reconnect to the magical innocence that governed the children we used to be. Time travel may not indeed be possible using present-day technology, but there’s no reason the adult me can’t pause in a snowy parking lot and try to remember what it once felt like to play in the snow with reckless abandon.

Indeed, I think this life thing would be a little sweeter if more of us allowed just a sliver of ourselves to not grow up at all.

And as I finish taking the picture and slowly walk back to the responsibilities of my adult life, I smile at the fact that I’ve found a new way to play in, and with, the snow. Bring it, Mother Nature.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #urban #street #photography #snow #white #frozen #winter #monochrome #parking #lot #stilllife #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Hot dogs aren't made of dog

Good things come in threes
London, ON
February 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I have a weird habit. Wait, I have MANY weird habits. This particular one involves taking a quick photo of whatever it is that I'm about to eat.

Food is so fundamental to who we are that we'd be missing much of the fun if we didn't try to remember meals and dishes in some way. Every day, we gather around the table - rushing through breakfast, or more deliberately for dinner - and find ways to connect over food. So it makes sense - well, to me, anyway - that the camera should come out for some fast foodporn photography.

I'm conscious of the Instagram-fuelled dad involving elaborate still-life dinner-table photography, and how well (or not) it would play in my house if I broke out the DSLR and tripod over a just-set table. So this is more of a guerilla-photography thing. Shoot quickly, with whatever camera you happen to have in your pocket. Then put said camera - probably a smartphone - firmly away, and eat.

Hot dogs may not be haute cuisine. Or terribly healthy. But as an occasional treat, they do a wonderful job of making our kids smile. Which makes for a cool vibe around the kitchen table while we dissect the day that was and look ahead to the next.

Whatever we eat, and whoever we're with, that feeling should always be one of warmth and togetherness, where the rest of the world can take a break while we catch up and break bread with the people who matter most.

Because when we eat well, I'm guessing we live well, too.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #stilllife #food #foodie #foodporn #hotdog #hotdogs #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

When little pups cast huge shadows

When we were giants
London, ON
February 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Spend enough one-on-one time with a dog and you eventually learn to read each other's minds.

I know precisely where she's going to start whimpering because she hates the house with the big, scary-looking dog who always barks madly at her from behind the flimsy screen door.

She, on the other hand, knows to stand in one spot when I pull out the phone for a spontaneous photo shoot. Patient girl, she is.

I don't know if she appreciates optical phenomena like golden hour or shadows, but I'm thankful we found ourselves in this particular spot just as the sun was about to slip below the horizon.

Because even a simple moment with a puppy deserves to be held onto.

#london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheachnauzer #dog #dogs #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #actofdog #pets #sunset #shadow #street #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything