Eat your heart out, Cinnabon

How sweet it is
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I think we need to do our best to make the world a sweeter place.

We'll start with my lovely wife's homemade cinnamon buns.

Who's with me?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #kitchen #table #spontaneous #dessert #food #foodstagram #cinnabon #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Where Falcon sticks the landing

Where rockets return to the planet
Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
January 2022
This screen grab from the SpaceX feed was originally shared on Instagram

The bad news: the SpaceX video feed of the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket landing on one of its drone ships (A Shortfall of Gravitas, in this case) off the Florida coast often goes wonky as the booster approaches landing.

It's easy to see why: it's a freaking rocket. Stuff happens. And until the dust clears, it usually means a messy, pixelated mess for those of us watching from home.

The good news: it looks like impressionist art. And landing a rocket on a drone ship in the middle of the ocean is nothing short of an engineering miracle. That we get to witness it at all, on any device, anywhere, is quite the pinch-me-now moment.

The lesson, I think, is a simple one: what matters isn't what happens around us. It's how we choose to perceive it.

#spacex #falcon #falcon9 #rocket #starlink #group45 #asog #impressionism #art #screengrab #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Ice cubed

Frozen fingers
London, ON
January 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

An icy hand points in the darkness.

At what, though?

#PandemicPics #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #ice #icicle #works #winter #weather #wx #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

The ice person cometh, January 2022

The ice person returneth, January 2022

Icicles from way above, January 2021

Frozen solid to the ground, December 2019

The icicle works revisited, February 2019

Take me to church (and warm me up, please), February 2019

The icicle works, redux, January 2017

Icicles - and everything else - are temporary, December 2016

Thematic Photographic 110 - Blue, August 2010

Thematic Photographic 86 - Water in any form, January 2010

Icy spine, February 2007

Frozen lights in the sky, January 2007

The icicle works, February 2006

The ice person returneth

In a different light
London, ON
January 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Same icicle, now by day.

There's probably a lesson in there somewhere. Like always return to the things that bring us wonder.

Or something.

Let's ponder this one for a bit, shall we?

More to come.

#PandemicPics #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #ice #icicle #works #winter #weather #wx #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

The ice person cometh

Just hanging around above the porch
London, ON
January 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Nature's been putting on a show just under the overhang on the front of the house. So the least I could do was engage in a bit of shutter therapy from the porch.

Call it a tiny attempt to find joy in an unexpected place. Or a coping mechanism.

In my weird world of everyday photography, the humble icicle has become a bit of a recurring theme, a reliable source of optical inspiration that comes with some pretty sticky time constraints that essentially boil down to this: shoot now or forever hold your peace.

Because it likely won't be around later. Or maybe it will be, but the conflicting forces of heat and cold will have reshaped it into something else, another story begging to be told before it disappears for good.

I like the context of the icicle: we don't control them. Nature does. We're just observers who tell stories about the things that materialize in front of our very eyes.

Sometimes literally on our doorstep.

More to come.

#PandemicPics #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #ice #icicle #works #winter #weather #wx #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Mailboxes get another look

Geometric
London, ON
July 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Lines and angles are everywhere, even in an unassuming strip-mall delivery store.

This particular store quietly morphed from a Mailboxes Etc. outlet into a UPS Store years ago, yet still betrays its now-obsolete branding in the dusty corners where nobody pays too much attention.

But what fun is life if we aren't peering into dusty corners? Who would want to miss a chance at a random photo shoot in the middle of an otherwise yawn-inducing pandemic excursion to ship a package?

The answers to those questions should be fairly straightforward: not at all. And nobody. Life is simply too short to miss out on trivial moments like these.

Besides, look at that design! They don't make textures like that anymore. Perhaps a return trip is in order. Gotta find some way to entertain ourselves these days.

#PandemicPics #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #mbe #mailboxesetc #ups #store #shopping #retail #random #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Not quite never again

Always remember
Laval, QC
June 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, two words, "Never again", resonate in my mind, as they do every other day.

I was raised around these words. To me, they have always meant that the world had finally recognized the cancer that is anti-semitism when the full horror of the Holocaust was finally revealed.

I was also raised to believe that the experience of the Jews leading up to and during the Second World War shone a stark light on racism in all forms, that it illustrated the awful potential of human cruelty.

In my overarching naivete, I thought humanity learned its lesson from what had happened to us, and to too many others whose only crime was being part of the wrong, and targeted, group.

Silly me.

Jew hatred is not only alive and well in 2022, it is spreading. Worse, it is increasingly legitimized not only by individuals we might classify as irredeemable scum, but by institutions that are supposedly the bedrock of a just and fair society.

I see reports and direct evidence of Holocaust denial, delegitimization of Israel, anti-Israel tropes barely covering their Jew-hating origins, the same lies about Jews that fuelled the gas chambers and convinced millions more to either join in or stand silent.

I see digital platforms being cop-opted to spread misinformation. To perpetuate the same lies that allowed the Holocaust to happen in the first place.

In 2022.

It terrifies me. It should terrify us all. Because this isn't just a Jew-hatred thing.

Pick a minority and we've all lived the reality, that sick feeling when you feel those first flashes of barely concealed hatred the moment the person you’re interacting with realizes who you are. It's a frightening way to live.

Never again? It's a laughable notion in 2022, because it's happening. And too many among us have allowed it to happen by standing silent.

Why humanity continues to slide back into the abyss of cruelty is a question that should have been answered once and for all in 1945, yet it continues to fester today.

Why?

#NeverAgain

Almost-twins in the sky

Never leave your wingman
London, ON
August 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Wherever you lead, I will follow.

It's as true in the sky as it is anywhere else.

#nikonskydrive @airshowlondon @nikoncanada #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #rcaf #boeing #mcdonnelldouglas #fa18 #cf18 #hornet #fighter #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #photography #lifeinthemargins

Putting #BellLetsTalk in perspective

Talking is always a good thing
London, ON
January 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Today's a big day for #mentalhealth here in the Great White North, as our nation’s largest telecom company, Bell Canada, blankets the airwaves as part of #BellLetsTalk Day.

All you need to do is tweet, retweet, watch the video, use the Facebook frame or Snapchat filter, or if you’re a Bell customer, send a text or make a mobile or long distance call. For each one, Bell will donate 5 cents to Canadian mental health initiatives.

Awesome stuff all. But let’s not fool ourselves into thinking we can sling around a hashtag for a few hours and call the problem solved. Slacktivism hasn’t cured war, eliminated terrorism, ended racism, or rebalanced historic gender imbalance. And it won’t “fix” this, either.

Let’s also not subscribe to the notion that Bell, which regularly sends HR teams to offices across the country to fire people simply because the accountants need better margins this quarter, is somehow not qualified to do this because it’s a lousy place to work.

Disclosure: I worked for Bell Media for a few years before resigning. I remember well when the HR folks showed up and called folks, one-by-one, into the conference room. I remember what it felt like to work for a company where individual performance had zero correlation to your career path. The depressive shockwaves buffeted us year-round, as otherwise loyal employees wondered when their time would be up.

It feels disingenuous for a company that summarily abuses employees’ mental health to wrap itself in the kumbaya flag of mental health awareness. But life isn’t black-and-white. And if Bell doesn’t underpin this campaign, who will? Who else, at this scale, is out there pushing toward a better future where mental health is finally, justifiably viewed on the same plane as every other kind of health?

I grew up in a house where those who suffered were “cuckoo”, where mental health professionals were derisively called “shrinks”, and those who suffered were shunned. Bell may indeed suck as an employer, but it deserves our support in ensuring all of us can seek mental health care just as easily as we get treated for cancer or heart disease.

Until that happens, #BellLetsTalk is our best hope to #endthestigma.

Bombs bursting in air

Analog aviation magic
London, ON
August 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Where are my manners? January 13 was a very special day in Canadian aviation history, as it marked the 62nd anniversary of the first flight of the CT-114 Tutor.

If the name of the plane draws a blank, the team that flies it shouldn't: Canada's national aerobatics flight demo team has flown these jets since the unit - officially the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron - was given the Snowbirds name in 1971. The Royal Canadian Air Force flew them as trainers until 2000, and 21 years later time hasn't done these planes any favors.

I've often written about how other military flight demonstration teams fly frontline fighters - the USAF Thunderbirds fly F-16s and the US Navy Blue Angels recently transitioned to the F/A-18 Super Hornet - but Canadian pilots are stuck with the aviation equivalent of analog antiques.

And what they squeeze out of these planes is nothing short of breathtaking. No afterburners, glass cockpits, HUDs, or digital flight controls here: just good old fashioned stick-and-rudder flying, backed by some of the best ground crew on Planet Earth.

I believe this is the Downward Bomb Burst maneuver. Whatever they call it, I hold my breath every time I watch them perform it. Because we could all use the occasional excuse to be wowed. And Planet Earth needs a few more wows these days.

Maybe someday soon they'll get new planes. Until then, though, this will never get old.

#nikonskydrive @airshowlondon @nikoncanada #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #throwback #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #rcaf #snowbirds #canadair #ct114 #cl41 #tutor #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #photography #lifeinthemargins

Related:

The day the Snowbirds came to town, May 2020

Taking in the head-on pass, May 2020

Crashed dreams, May 2020

When Snowbirds fly, September 2019

Airshow! September 2017

In perfect diamond formation, September 2017

Snowbirds return to the skies, June 2007

Moonscapes not far from home

Textured fragility
London, ON
January 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It's been wintering for what seems like weeks. One storm after another. Arctic blasts of cold. Snow- and ice-covered everything. All under relentlessly steel-grey skies.

The other night was particularly miserable. As the dog and I walked past the neighborbood convenience store, the owner's SUV was the only vehicle in the snow-tracked parking lot. It was idling in that quintessentially Canadian pre-drive warm-up/clean-up ritual.

The headlights lit up the ground by the sidewalk, their low-angled shafts of light throwing off otherworldly-looking shadows that caught my eye.

While Calli stuck her nose deep into a snowbank and sniffed/snored loudly, I crouched down, took my phone out, composed quickly before my fingers froze, and snapped a single frame.

I'm not sure if this is a snowscape, a moonscape, or a winter-weary combination of the two. And I'm not sure definitions matter here. Point is, I liked what I saw, and this is the result.

It's kind of why I got into photography in the first place. And kind of why I rather enjoy this time of year despite the inconvenience of it all.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #random #street #night #snow #winter #weather #wx #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

Winter gets its first blanket, January 2022

Mapping the ice fields, January 2022

Chasing snow at night, November 2021

Found frozen on a sidewalk, March 2021

Winter sucks, but still... February 2020

Winter still sucks, February 2020

Zoomed in snowdrift, February 2020

The first time I ever saw Vegas

They paved paradise, put up a parking lot
Las Vegas, NV
November 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: It's November 5, 2018, and we're flying into Las Vegas on final approach to what was then known as McCarran International Airport (since renamed for the late U.S. Senator Harry Reid.)

I'm happily and wildly snapping photos of the landscape below, rather in awe of how virtually everything in view has been paved over.

Thanks to the magic of GPS and a little quality time with Google Maps, we know we're looking at the Galleria at Sunset mall toward the lower-right, and the Sunset Station Hotel and Casino looms toward the top-of-frame. The plane is right over highway 515 as I trip the shutter.

If I had kept on shooting, eventually I would have snagged an Olive Garden restaurant, which as you can imagine is quite the catch for a travel photographer in search of rare local cuisine.

This is my first time in Vegas, so my eyes are wide open and I'm absorbing the experience like a sponge. This first glance as we skim from east to west is both impressive and, not gonna lie, a little horrifying.

I get that this is a desert and all, but the near-total lack of anything green is jarring to someone who grew up in a leafy suburb and lives in a place that calls itself The Forest City. I can see why, with the possible exception of the touristy parts of town, virtually no one walks anywhere here.

Soon enough we land and I no longer have to shoot the city through scratched and pitted plane windows. But it's this first look that sticks with me, that reinforces just how different this place is from what I'm used to, and how lucky I am to have the opportunity to experience it first-hand.

Sooner or later we'll get back to window seats and first peeks at strange places. Until then, we archive-dive and remind ourselves why we have wanderlust in the first place.

#PandemicPics #las #vegas #lasvegas #throwback #roadtrip #air #flight #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #nevada #desert #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #aircanada @aircanada #flying #aviation #avgeek #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

Windows on the Vegas Strip, August 2021

A blinding light in the Nevada desert, November 2019

Staring at a shiny airport floor, November 2019

Retrotech in a hotel lobby, November 2019

Shooting glass in an empty hotel corridor, November 2018

Save Ferris, November 2019

Planespotting in the desert before sunrise, November 2018

Staring out the window at the airport, November 2018

Capturing her best side

Let me know when you're done
London, ON
November 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Our dog, Calli, is very particular about ensuring that we always photograph her from a flattering angle.

I’m not sure where she learned the ins and outs of composition and portrait photography. Must be a Schnauzer thing.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

John Wayne fades to into history

Local eats
Lively, ON
October 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We live in a world dominated by franchises, chains, corporate brands that paint the landscape in uniform shades of garishly colored, overly bright fluorescent light.

Travel from town to town and they all begin to look alike.

On the one hand, familiarity when you're far from home is always welcome. On the other, no place is unique anymore. Every town looks identical. Nothing is local. Nothing stands out. We could be anywhere else, and we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

So when we come across this snapshot-in-time resto in the shadows of a superstack on the outskirts of a northern Ontario town named Lively, I can't resist the urge to just stand in the parking lot and drink it in.

It's like an echo of an era that's slowly fading to black, never to be remembered by the legions of present-and-future consumers too busy getting the same generic fare in a drive-through.

Somewhere along the way, we lost the script. The least we can do is take a picture before it disappears for good.

#sudbury #lively #ontario #canada #throwback #roadtrip #travel #travelphotography #dukes #duke #johnwayne #spontaneous #restaurant #sign #signs #parking #lot #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #instagood #photooftheday #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Definitely not Larry the Lobster

Someone's future dinner?
London, ON
January 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The saddest lobster in the world is the grocery store lobster.

Sorry, sweet crustacean.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #metro #grocery #store #cheapside #adelaide #lobster #notlarry #aquarium #shopping #retail #random #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

Dead fish in a Costco, March 2019

One fish, two fish... July 2018

Thematic Photographic 44 - Edible, April 2009

Visiting the dead fish, October 2005

Saying goodbye to the classic Dash 8

The end of the line
London, ON
September 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I have a strange little habit: when I've got time to kill at an airport, I take note of the unique registration IDs of each aircraft, and I like to look them up online to learn more about their history.

Some are more fun than others.

For example, this one: C-FACT, a 31-year-old Dash 8 series 300 most recently operated by Air Canada Express, the feeder airline to our eponymous national airline.

I shot this in September 2020, as this twin-engjne turboprop commuter workhorse landed at London International Airport in the middle of an airshow. It was likely the least sexy piece of equipment to grace the tarmac that day, yet it stood out by virtue of its registration.

I just love when these sequential identifiers manage to form actual words, and I hope I'm not the only one who finds this strangely endearing.

I've always wondered what it would be like to fly into an airport on a day like that, with crowds beside the runway and high-performance jets waiting on taxiways.

At a point in history where flying anywhere can be an exercise in fear and frustration, I hope the folks on this plane on that day found a reason to smile. I waved after I shot this. Just because.

Sadly, C-FACT is in storage, and as of yesterday, all remaining Series 300 aircraft have been retired from service pending a possible sale or conversion to cargo use. Air Canada’s regional arm will continue to fly the newer Q400 series.

I do hope this sturdy old bird takes to the skies again sometime soon, perhaps for another airline, and that those who fly her find some reason to crack a smile.

We could all use more reasons to do so, even if they're as ridiculously trivial as this one.

#nikonskydrive @airshowlondon @nikoncanada #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #dehavilland #dash8 #dhc8 #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #photography #lifeinthemargins

Related:

Timmins played a part in Canadian aviation history recently, Sudbury.com, January 2022

Climbing out of Pearson, November 2019

Fly away home (again), February 2019

Touch the planet once more, May 2011

Mirror on a memorable day, July 2009

On a wing... April 2006

Miniature red frozen wonders

Blink and you'll miss it
London, ON
January 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Tiny frozen droplets hang off of a tiny red branch, and serve as proof that wonder is often found in the most unexpected places.

I’m sharing this as a reminder to myself to look harder into those unexpected places. Of course, you’re all welcome to come along with me, or to find your own wonders in your own unexpected places.

It’s a big planet, after all. I’m sure there’s more than enough wonder to go around.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #tree #trees #red #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #texture #gameoftones #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #picoftheday #pictureoftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

The things we see in public washrooms

The mysteries of strangers
Trenton, ON
June 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Every photo has a back-story. This one is no different.

It's June 2019. We’re driving to Montreal for my father-in-law's funeral. Highway 401 is a lousy drive on the best of days, and even worse on this one.

We stop in at an OnRoute location to refuel ourselves and our vehicle, and I come across this bizarro scene in the washroom. In my sleep-addled, grief-overwhelmed state, I stand there for what seems an eternity and wonder why on earth anyone would bring a bottle of water into the toilet stall and just...leave it there. I have so many questions.

Eventually I decide I don't have an answer, and probably never will. But I figure it's worth remembering with a photo. Because in my strange world, most things are worth remembering with a photo, even if they make no sense to me or anyone else.

The archives probably have some more weird scenes and stories buried within them, all just waiting for days when I look for inspiration in the places I've been, and the oddball stories that presented themselves to me at the time.

What's your oddball story? Whatever it is, I hope you also take some time to photo-archive-dive. I hear it's good for the soul.

#trenton #ontario #canada #throwback #onroute #random #monochrome #photography #public #shoot #shooting #washroom #highway #road #trip #travel #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

Finding purple amid the grey, June 2021

Getting lost in farm country, February 2021

Pools of light before we continue the journey, February 2019

Broken tree in a desolate place, January 2019

Abandoned farmhouse on an empty road, January 2019

Please wash your hands after peeing, December 2018

Finding inspiration beside a gas pump, November 2018

The case of the abandoned mountain bike

Rust in peace
London, ON
January 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It isn't often you come across an abandoned purple bicycle on a snowy pathway beside a still-under-construction home on the edge of suburbia.

There's probably a story here, and as I stand under the lightly falling snow, it isn't apparent to me what that story is.

But Calli the Wonderschnauzer is pulling on her leash, and it's time to head for home. So the details behind how this still-quite-lovely Huffy got here will have to remain a mystery for now.

However it eventually plays out, I hope it has a happy ending for whoever once called it theirs.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #purple #winter #weather #wx #random #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Seeing behind the leaves

Bare
London, ON
January 2022
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Most folks despise winter, and I get why: it's cold, wet, miserable, monotonous, dangerous.

You don't experience it as much as you fight it. Even taking a walk is a major production as you spend an inordinate amount of time collecting your cold weather gear, and carefully putting it on.

Once you're outside, you're either busting through deep snow, trying to stay upright on icy, unmaintained sidewalks and trails, or both. Then you get to reverse the entire process when you get home, with bonus points for anyone who wears eyeglasses. We'll leave the wet socks discussion for another day.

So we've established that it's a labor-intensive, annoying, sometimes-frightening time of year. But every dark side has its light.

Winter clears the leaves away, lets us see the underlying trees. The forest may be bare by the traditional definition, but that's only one way of looking at it.

Without leaves in the way, we can see the trunks and branches that form the structure of this impossibly diverse place. Normally it's all hidden, but winter exposes the skeleton, and lets us experience it in ways simply not possible the rest of the year.

The season may add challenge to the journey, but coming across scenes like this one makes me realize it's all worth it in the end. The leaves - and the warmth that feeds them - can wait.

#PandemicPics #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #walkabout #forest #tree #trees #winter #weather #wx #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins