Vertical Stripes

Another from the ravine, shot in IR.

I've always misidentified this plant, and can't ever remember the correct name. But if nothing else, now I know that it's really bright in infrared.

(930) Nordheimer Ravine

I started doing my 'weekly project' photo series as a way of keeping this blog up-to-date even if the photo wouldn't normally merit posting. After all, this is both a visual and written diary, and it's mostly friends and family that visit it. So I'll tell you all the story on this one.

I like typography, as some people may have noticed, so during Doors Open Toronto (2009) Penny and I visited Coach House Press. It's just a few streets from our home, and David mentioned it when he was visiting a few years back, so it's been on the check-it-out list for a while. While we were there, I bought the book "HTO," which is about water in Toronto, including the lost rivers of the region.

"Lost Rivers" are the creeks and ravines that have been replaced by sewers and landfill, and are something that I got interested in because of my photographing around Fort York, which is the site of the former mouth of Garrison Creek, and my project on Spadina Avenue from long before I lived on it.

I also have a reviews blog, and wanted to review HTO for it. That needs photos, so on my way to the local Loblaws, I walked through this ravine and visited the reservoir-within-a-park at Spadina Road and St. Clair Ave. (Not, thankfully, St. Clair St.) While I was on this stroll, the dirt path and scenery convinced me that it really was time to get a bike.

So the bike arrived on my birthday, thanks to UPS delivering it two days late, and on Saturday I took it through the ravine that convinced me to buy it. My internet friend Keith has recently returned to photographing in infra-red, and for various reasons that inspired me to bring out my IR-converted camera to bring along on my ride.

And while I was there, I took this picture.

Jib & Main

Another photo of Kajama, and another case of black and white not being infrared.

(929) Sails

Toronto-based tour boat Kajama, née Wilfried.

Shot from one of my favourite parking lots, which I last visited in November 2006.

Untitled #35

A smartie cake from Dufflet's, mixing the old and the new.

July 15

I like the store name "Best Buy". It sounds like an expiration date.

(928) Black Plastic

Another shot from Christie Pits park, home to one of the city's temporary garbage dumps. Like 'gnipmud on,' it was taken with the borrowed manual-focus Nikon 400/5.6, but this time it was mounted on my Olympus E-3.

The weird chain-link bokeh is actually from black chain-link fencing. It's in the background and I was also shooting through it, so I'm not sure which one's the culprit here.

And yes, it's a little soft. It was shot at 1/640, 800mm-e, but from a monopod. My vision's not the greatest, the E-3's viewfinder isn't either, and I never did check the diopter. There's a reason why autofocus lenses dominate the market.

GNIPMUD ON

Garbage cans being stored at Christie Pits park, on day 19 of the municipal workers strike.

(927) Sunset and Gull

You'd think that after almost two weeks with no municipal garbage collection, I would have been able to find a closer gull.

This was shot at about an equivalent 1600mm focal length - an early `70's vintage manual focus Nikon 400mm, on a F-mount sigma 1.4TC, on a F-4/3 converter, on an Olympus 1.4TC, on an E-3. Iso3200, 1/2000s. I actually added the vignetting.

Not quite the dumbest thing I've done with a camera this week, but close.