Welcome!

•June 1, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Thanks for popping by to view my photos. I’m just an amateur photographer, but I’m having fun figuring it out, and that’s what really matters, right? Hope you enjoy some of my favourite pics of whatever. And if you have a moment, feel free to drop me a line. All photos taken with a Panasonic LZ2 point & shoot 5 meg digital camera.

Please respect my copyright notice, thanks. CLICK PHOTOS FOR FULL SIZE

Front Street Illuminated

•November 11, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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Here’s a photo of the south side of Front Street, facing west from Jarvis. Basically, I was standing next to the flatiron building, which is to the right, out of frame. We’re in the St Lawrence Market district of Toronto, which is actually one of the oldest areas in the city. Many of these buildings date back to the 1800s.

Reason to Keep Shutter Closed

•November 11, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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This is another photo from the Distillery District. I got a bit of a chuckle when I noticed the only unshuttered window on the wall had a broken pane. And no, I didn’t break it for the sake of my photo. Don’t get me wrong, I would have if it had not already been broken (kidding). Anyway, hope you like it. I plan to revisit the Distillery District after dark for some night shots. It’s really nicely lit at night. Maybe this weekend, if the weather holds.

On an unrelated note, I’m quickly running out of space on my blog. I might have to move to a new format that allows unlimited space, or create a site of my own hosted by a friend in the business. I’m thinking of something like smugmug.com or zenfolio.com. With the upgraded version these sites allow you to actually sell prints and they look after the entire transaction. I still have plenty of time to consider options, but it’s best to begin now than wait until I’m out of storage space. My plan was to hold off until I get a decent camera and maybe some courses under my belt, but I might have to place the cart before the horse, so to speak. I’d still run a wordpress blog, but I’d resize my photos for the blog and then link them back to my smugmug or zenfolio site where one could view the full size version.

Hidden Photographic Gems

•November 11, 2009 • 3 Comments

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I live for scenes like this one. I saw this spot on another trip downtown without my camera and knew I’d be back. I took this photo in the late afternoon Saturday before the Heritage Lighting Event began. As y9ou can probably tell, I’ve doctored it up some, adding contrast, stripping colour (although not all the way to black & white), and applying a mild vignetting effect. Hope you like it.

Lets Get High!

•November 10, 2009 • 10 Comments

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Here’s another photo from my night out Saturday. I can’t say it’s all that original. I’m sure this sort of shot’s been done to death, but I wanted to try it anyway. Hope you like it.

Golden Creek

•November 10, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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Here’s another fall photo from my Taylor Creek outing in October. I’m sure by now the leaves are all gone. Speaking of which, I just finished the last of my annual yard cleanup, with the obligatory cleaning of the eaves. I’d planned to do it on the weekend, but the person who was going to hold the ladder for me let me down. Wouldn’t even answer his phone. Nice. Frankly, I’ve had a few people let me down lately, but life goes on, right? In the end good ol’ dad came to the rescue.

Expressway

•November 10, 2009 • 6 Comments

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This is a photo of the Gardiner Expressway, well at least one of its large concrete supports. The Gardiner runs east/west through the south end of downtown Toronto.

Gooderham Flatiron Bldg. Toronto – My World Tuesday

•November 9, 2009 • 14 Comments

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I think the building everyone was most looking forward to seeing illuminated for the Heritage Lighting Event on the weekend was the Gooderham Flatiron Building, at the corner of Front St. & Church St. here in Toronto. This is the same Gooderham of Gooderham & Worts fame, whose 1830s bakery and mill was restored just years ago and transformed into the beautiful Distillery District. The Gooderham Building was built by George Gooderham in 1891, predating New York’s more famous Flatiron building by 10 years.This gem, located in the St. Lawrence Market district (downtown Toronto) is probably one of the top ten architectural landmarks in the city. It’s a truly wonderful building and a historical site. I thought it would make a nice photo for My World Tuesday. Hope you like it.

Gritty City at Dusk

•November 9, 2009 • 4 Comments

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What really attracted me to this scene was the sliver of light in the far horizon and how it reflected off the pavement and streetcar tracks just so. I played with this photo, upping the contrast and dialling back the saturation. I was trying for an old, gritty sort of industrial look. Like something you’d see in one of those ’70s cop movies set in New York City, you know, with that grainy weird coloured film. Anyway, I seem to be attracted to that type of “feel.” Not sure why. This photo was taken on King St., I think, facing west from Church St., in Toronto (of course). Hope you like it. I will be posting shots of the illuminated buildings from the Heritage Lighting Event, maybe one tonight. I’m still editing. All in all I took almost 900 photos.

Church Doors at Night

•November 9, 2009 • 4 Comments

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This photo is of the main doors of the Cathedral Church of St. James located at King St. & Church St. The St. James Church was one of the buildings illuminated for the Heritage Lighting Event over the weekend. It dates back to the early 18oos. If you’re interested in its history, click here. I’ll be posting a few other photos of this church, so if you like church photos, please come back.

November Beach

•November 9, 2009 • Leave a Comment

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On my way to Heritage Lights Saturday I snapped this photo from my car window while stopped at the lights along the lake shore near Ashbridge’s Bay. As you can see, our trees here in Toronto have pretty much given up their leaves for the season. I thought this shot might be a nice way to start a new week.