Misty morning in Durham

So off we go at 5:15 am Saturday July 23rd but where to go? How about Enniskillen? So we headed along Taunton to Scugog Rd in Hampton and wouldn't you know it, the mist was hovering over the hay roles and the sun was just coming up. Hallelujah!

And we had clouds too! I was amazed at how hard this type of photography is. You don't know if the focus is correct due to the haze. (your live view won't help here).

I think these worked out OK. I don't really have the depth that my eye saw but I think the above are acceptable.

Now the sun is getting pretty strong and you had to look out for lens flare.

The old adage, "look behind you" comes into play for the next shot. Well, look beside you anyway. I really like the barn in sepia.

Now for a real surprise for us. We scooted down 57 and actually passed by this ranch. We turned it around and the back lighting was magnificent.

The below picture is giving me some real angst. It is a bit soft but I think it works. I will be flipping it and cropping it later. Do you think it works? Please click on it and see the larger picture.

Nothing like a posing horse to make my day.

That's it. Not a lot of pictures but I think they were nice.

A day at the brickworks

Quite often we will head down to the brickworks which is located at the bottom of Pottery Rd. in Toronto. I grew up in this neck of the woods so lots of nastalga for me.

Upon the renovations of the brick works to a market and nature awareness campus the designers left enough of the old building mechanic's to help you get a feeling of what the original building was like. One of my favorite shots is what I call the "Wheels". No clue what this huge mechanical marvel was used for.

I call this the "Blue Monster" It is part of the same structure as "Wheels"

Outside the old manufacturing building is a giant metal (rusting) art metal work. I have found out since that it is a depiction of the Don River.

In the summer the market moves outside. This craftsman is using an old school Lathe to create different wood art products.

Under the open roof market, many different foods and vegetables are available. Noticed a lot of organic products.

Back outside, this fellow had converted old wine boxes into unique box containers

I just took this shot cause I liked the symmetry of the 3 hats

This little guy is 14 years old and is blind as a bat. My wife calls him the teddy bear and everyone was coming up to check him out.

Here are some shots that I took during the winter months. They convert the green house to a skating rink.

I think these tracks were used to transport the bricks from the ovens to the storage place.

And lastly, this is what Rob Ford wants to get rid of. To me it's art and not graffiti

Port Perry Morning

Have been getting up early most weekend mornings to try and get the morning sun. On July 16th we took a trip up to Port Perry to try and get a good sunrise pic over the lake. The chance you always take getting up early even though you listen to the weather is that the clouds may not accommodate you. That was the case this morning, great weather but perfectly clear. Still a day taking mediocre pictures is still better than your best day at work!

As you can see the lake was calm and the sun was great but that damn sky!

So I started looking for actors to jazz up the composition. The dock worked for this purpose, but if there were only clouds!

A few more moments for the sun to impress us with colour

I always like to go to the main street in Port Perry to get some Pano shots. This is a very weak attempt.

So after the sun had put on it's show we carted off down Hwy. 7 to Hwy. 57. There were quite a few nice fields to capture.

The canola was really hitting it's peak. Again, some clouds please.

Is the Post an actor? 

Lastly we hit the hamlet of Hampton. Not too much going on so all I have to show for it is the old Texaco station.

Visions on Front St.

I come to work each day from Union Station to Wellington and Yonge. This provides me unique opportunities each day for a wide variety of street scene photography.

Lets start by going past the BCE place. As most of you know this is an impressive building but I have photographed it so many times, I was looking for something different. I spotted this fellow a couple of days ago and as we are all creatures of habit, he was back having a coffee and a read of his paper.

One of the unique things that happens every spring throughout the summer is the arrival of the motorbike. Lots of different colours and styles.

So every few weeks, the galleria has something to display such as the world press photos or Luminato. This display was part of the Luminato event. Generally the events consists of dozens of displays around downtown Toronto that you have a hard time figuring out. This display looked like snow with icicles. What do you see?

See, even this couple can't figure it out!

As I walked out of the building I noticed the step up of the glasses at the new restaurant beside the Spirt of Hockey store.

A must is the sculpture outside the Hockey Hall of Fame

Outside BCE I noticed these folks that were waiting for a tour bus.

Moving along, I can't resist a great bike shot.

Lunch time is a great time to get out and just observe people. People texting...

People reading.....or at least noticing the photographer

..... Having lunch at one of the many patios.....

Or just having a coffee

Or how about a beverage?

I have been thinking about abstract shots lately and I have found that reflections in cars are an excellent source of design

There are so many nooks and crannies in the downtown core. This is a shot of a water feature that was down a lane way patio. 

 All of these pictures were taken with a Cannon G12 that I carry all the time with me. I find that I can get 80% of what my D90 with my zoom gets me so its been a very worthwhile purchase.