Two mornings and two evenings per year the stars align along Toronto’s east – west street grid. This year I joined a meet up group as they attempted to capture this on camera. Location is important as buildings can get in the way and you may have to shoot in the middle of the street to capture it. It also helps to find a more scenic street or even elements that enhance like a streetcar for example.
Torontohenge
We choose to situate ourselves on Wellington Street. Not a lot of traffic so we could shoot periodically in the street without being run over. It was a lot of fun albeit chilly. We did sprint up to Queen street to catch a different viewpoint but the street was busier and I didn’t come away with anything worthwhile.
The other great thing about being in the city is there is a lot of interesting architecture to photograph. The one I’ve been meaning to shoot for quite awhile is the flatiron building that sits between Front Street and Wellington Street.
Toronto Flatiron
It’s such a beautiful and photogenic piece of architecture you have to stop and appreciate especially when the sun starts to go down.
My friend Dave and I headed over to Smokey Hollow Falls this morning. Having been here numerous times before I wanted to work on more detail shots of the river rather than focusing on the waterfall itself. That said of course I had to get at least one shot of the waterfall.
Smokey Hollow Falls
With a great flow and all the rocks along the river the twists and turns of the water made it easy to find unique shots. On the photo below I used selective colour to allow the leaf to stand out from the rocks and water.
Grindstone Rapids
With many leaves to be found in the river I decided to focus on three yellow ones that had gotten stuck on some rocks in the middle of the flow.
Leaves of Three
We didn’t get too much time here as I had to head home early but we did a little more exploring in the hopes of finding a smaller waterfall that we were told existed further downstream. We found the spot but there was no water flowing so we will have to come back in spring once the melt occurred. We hiked back tot the car along the train tracks to make our trek back a little easier.
I took a bit of break from shooting since Thanksgiving but today was my day off from work and I wanted to get some last minute shots of the autumn colours before a predicted windstorm was to hit. I usually park at the southern entrance off Finch and Steeles and I did so again today. A very unique looking bridge stands here at the base of a hill.
The Old Bridge
It’s slowly crumbling away and I will be curious to see if the city does anything to save it. It’s a little damp along the trail today but the large puddles don’t stop me from exploring. Reaching a crossroads I hang a right along an old road until I see a trail entrance on the right side taking me down into some tall pines. As I exit the pines I find a small pond perfectly reflecting the trees around it.
Beyond the Reeds
Following the trail I’m taken through a field and back into the forest and finally back out onto the road. Here is what I was looking for. A winding road surrounded by red, orange and yellow leaves. I decided to try out my Redhancer filter that I had bought at a show the week before; it really made those red tones pop just a little more.
The Forest Road
I walked up and down this section of the road a couple of times to get a few different angles. I was sad that this windstorm was coming as I would have liked to visit a couple more times. I’ll just have to remember this spot for next year.
I went up to Beeton today to visit my new accountant and took my camera along for the ride. After my meeting I drove around the area to take some quick snaps.
Stormy Fields
Storm clouds were hanging low in the sky and things were not looking good for getting some beach shots as originally planned. Before heading home I spotted a lone farmhouse surrounded with lilac bushes and had to stop to get some shots.
Old Farmhouse
Before long the wind picked up and the rain threatened so I jumped in the car and headed out to do some shopping.
The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Temple is one of the most intricate and beautiful temples I have seen. Now that comes with a caveat since I haven’t done that much travelling around the world as I would have liked. I have been here before once the day before the official opening and once on a freezing cold afternoon. Today I had the opportunity to see more than I normally would and Dave ended up joining me this time around.
Marble Marvel
Standing here it feels like you are transported to another place. It certainly doesn’t feel like the west end of Toronto. As we shot the west side of the building we were approached by a security guard who suggested we go inside to ensure we were allowed to photograph. So we headed in and were told that it was no problem since we were shooting for ourselves and not commercially. Since we were inside we decided the check out the interior. Unfortunately there is no photography allowed at all inside which is such a shame as it is even better on the inside than the outside. I would have thought that was not possible but it was. It is much smaller on the inside than I would have guessed so soon we were back outside shooting again.
Temple Door
A beautiful hand carved marble building it still amazes me to stand up close and see what a human’s hand can do.
Galina picked me up from my home today in the middle of a snow squall to take us down to a special outing at the Toronto Orchid Show. We left a little earlier to allow us some time to get into the ravine for some landscape shots before heading indoors to photograph the orchids.
Bridge over River
While photographing Wilket Creek and the bridge I had to be patient and wait for some other photographers to move on as well as a large group of people who happened to walk right into my shot. Patience finally paid off because soon the area cleared out and I was able to get the above photograph.
Next up was the Orchid Show which was the main reason we were here. I attend this show every year that it is held and I’ve always found it difficult to get around the other photographers during the regular photography hours on Sunday morning. This time however was different as we had a special invite for only 40 photographers and boy did that make a difference.
Orchid Pair
I only had one issue – my tripod leg clip snapped off less than an hour into the shoot. No worries though I toughed it out and was able to get some amazing shots. I mostly shot with my bellows and am very happy with all the photos that I took.
Orchid
This is just a small sample of what I was able to get. The show is worthwhile to attend and it isn’t the only one close to the city in the coming months.
