Archive for the ‘Other’ Category

Lady Sings The Blues

Posted on: December 7th, 2011

I saw Irene Torres & The Sugar Devils blues band at The Silver Dollar Room last night, where she performed her Billy Holiday tribute. Fabulous singer and band. I’ve never been to New Orleans, but I think that they would fit right in there. Rumor has it they’re playing at Roc’n Docs next month in Port Credit. I’ll be there.

Can you believe it? Irene drinks Jack Daniels straight up (like me). Right up on the stage — reminds me of Janis Joplin. Could Irene be a downhill skier? After all, there’s no better apres-ski drink.

I love the Silver Dollar room, which is on Spadina, just south of the mansion. It reminds me of Yorkville back in the 60′s, when the bands were showcased and not just the decor. Man, I’m really aging myself in this post, eh?

Well, enough plugs, now for the photos…
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Mississauga Camera Club – Toronto Alley Graffiti

Posted on: November 8th, 2011

This was my first outing with the Mississauga Camera Club, and the destination was the “Graffiti Alleys” close to Queen Street West. Because it’s so busy there, I thought the graffiti would be very dirty and painted over each other, compared to that in the abandoned places I’ve visited. But it was relatively clean and fresh and I saw some good stuff.

Even though this wasn’t particularly a “Contemplative Photography” outing, as I’ve been doing, that new approach is definitely influencing me. I could really feel this, and it’s good. I also limited my day to 36 shots with the instant playback turned off. Some of the others thought this was strange, as they were shooting hundreds of shots, and I only 22. I ended up deleting only 2, and spent very little time in post-processing (which is the whole idea).

The other thing about this post is that I’m now moving away from the Flash slideshow viewer, and will be using a jQuery slideshow from now on. I may convert all the 2011 albums. The advantage here is that you can view my photos with a non-Flash capable system, such as iPod or iPad, and earlier Android.

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I did taking them.

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St. Clement’s Church, Toronto, Oct 2011

Posted on: October 29th, 2011

This was the October adventure with the Metropolitan Investigators. The St. Clement’s parish in Leslieville formally dates back to 1895, when it became an independent parish with a church located on Queen St. E, near Leslie St. Starting in 1910, plans were made for the new church, the one that still stands on Jones Ave. This Anglican Church is a Victorian Gothic Revival building, which was closed in 2006.

This church was declared a heritage building in 2011 by the City of Toronto and now it awaits its conversion into condominiums. Good friends of mine who collect condos, especially former churches, and who live very close to this site, I suspect are eagerly waiting for this final event.

Barbie went to church today, but alas! she will be no longer with us :-(   She was assaulted by a bunch of east-end gang-bangers, and I think she liked it so much, she decided to stay with them.

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Contemplative Photography

Posted on: October 19th, 2011

The book “The Practice of Contemplative Photography”, by Andy Karr and Michael Wood, is one of the most inspiring books I’ve read about photography. Actually, I went through it quickly, and now I’m going through in detail, doing the exercises.

These are links to the project I’m working on, posted on jpgmag.com. Please leave comments, as I really appreciate your feedback.

Assignment 1 – colour – part 1
Assignment 1 – colour – part 2
Assignment 2 – texture
Assignment 3 – simplicity

Street Photography in Old Quebec City

Posted on: September 4th, 2011

Normally, I have trouble with street photography, because I’m so shy. But I’ve found that really busy tourist areas are good for this, because with everyone walking around with a camera, I can just blend in easier.

Anyway, on our last trip to Quebec, I found myself with quite a bit of time on my hands because Chantal was having lunches with her old friends. So I just grabbed the Pentax, and hung out in the old city. Hard to shoot from the hip with this DSLR, but man, I just love the results from my K-x.

Got some shots I’m very happy with, and met a few really nice people.

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Muskoka Meandering, July 2011

Posted on: August 1st, 2011 No Comments

We recently spent a few days with some friends at their cottage close to Gravenhurst, in Muskoka. Had a great time kayaking, playing with the dog and just sitting around their beautiful place.

We also had a chance to explore the Falkenburg ghost town. See Ontario ghost towns. We didn’t find any signs of the town, which pretty much dried up by the 1890′s, but we did find the old saw-mill, which lied just west of the town.

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Firestone Plant, July 2011

Posted on: July 30th, 2011 No Comments

This is my latest adventure with the Metropolitan Investigators. The plant that went up on a tract of bayfront farmland in 1919 is still there, off Burlington East, between Kenilworth and Strathearne. By the 1970s, 2,000 workers produced 10,000 tires a day at that plant. It was eventually shut down in 1988. Now it’s just an old empty hulk, but lots of things to photograph.

The City of Hamilton, which is aware of the many Urbex adventures at this location, is planning to demolish the building, but for now, the hulk remains for us explorers. It wasn’t easy finding a way in, but we found a door with a broken latch on the west side of the building. This was the first site I’ve explored with no graffiti, so it must be well guarded.

This is not far from where I grew up, and a good friend of mines’ father worked here for 30 years. So Brenda, I hope your dad enjoys the shots when you send him the link.

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Barber Mill, May 2011

Posted on: May 19th, 2011 No Comments

This is my latest adventure with the Metropolitan Investigators. The old Barber paper mill on the Credit River in Georgetown. This was originally established in 1823 by a United Empire Loyalist, and was operating right up to about 25 years ago.

Very beautiful, with the constant sounds of the river, it now lies in ruins, awaiting the jack-hammers of the condoists. This site is featured in the Ghost Towns of Canada website.

We had to get there before they knock it down, and it was really enjoyable. By the way, these photos were shot with my brand new Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens on my Pentax K-X.

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