Exploring the Streets of Toronto

Admittedly the title of this blog post is a bit misleading. It probably sounds like I made my way all around Toronto when in fact it was really about a 5 block radius. The reason being I was in Toronto on ‘business’ which meant I didn’t really have much time at all to actually get out and do any personal photography. When I did though, I made the most of it. All in all, I would estimate I spent about 2 hours total. In Toronto, that’s not a lot of time, but luckily my creative juices were flowing in that timeframe because and I think I came away with at least a few keepers.

I have said it in a couple previous posts but Toronto is just a completely different universe regarding photography compared to Thunder Bay. It’s night and day. Not just the amount of people either, even the buildings and architecture and of course the energy. I could have easily set up shot on one street corner and spent an entire day.

I used to live in Toronto for quite a number of years but at that time, I wasn’t really into photography as I am now. That didn’t happen until about 10 years ago when I moved back to Thunder Bay. Go figure! In any case, it’s always nice to get back to Toronto and capture a completely different city.

For these photos I used my Sony A6300 paired with the 35mm 1.8 and then eventually my Nikon D750 with a couple different primes. What I tried to do a lot with Sony was shoot from the hip and use face detection. There weren’t too many keepers but I did get a few that really turned out great. Most of them however, I took the time to set up and compose or frame properly.

I was tempted to just process all of the min black and white but I figured I would leave some in colour. There is just something about black and white that gives photos I different feel and mood. Maybe it’s just me though.

I really wish I had a full day of just walking around but time just didn’t allow it. Perhaps the next trip I will try and do so. For now, these photos will have tide me over. Thanks for stopping by!

Thunder Bay Marina in the Evening with the Fuji X100F

I have a few cameras, probably more then I really need but that is normal for a lot of photographers I think. It doesn't help that I constantly look at new cameras online and dream and contemplate. This means that certain cameras might not get used as much as others. Up until a few days ago, this was the case with my Fuji X100F. It kind of got pushed to the side for a while because of my Sony A6300 which I have been doing a lot of video with and also because I have been working full time which has eaten into my personal photography time. 

I had the original X100, then the X100S and now the X100F which is such an amazing little camera. Actually, looking back at some of my favourite photos over the years, and a lot of them have come from one of those cameras. So, over the past week I have been carrying it with me more and I soon remembered why I love this camera so much. It's fun to use. Oh, and it still has the best colours and tones, even on par with my pro Nikons. 

This evening, after I dropped my wife Anne off at her friends house, I decided to burn off those dinner calories with a walk around part of the marina and downtown. The sun was on it's way down so the lighting was perfect. As I do with most of my personal photography, I simply captured anything that caught my eye. There is no real theme to these photos, I save that for my professional work. Instead, these are simply little moments in time that I saw and captured during my random walk. 

They were all taken with the X100F and processed in Lightroom. The black and white images were edited further in Silver Effex Pro 2, which is my favourite program for converting black and white. It's hard not to just do every photo in black and white.... 

If anyone actually reads these posts, thanks for stopping by!

A Long Time Coming

I say in the title it has been a long time coming because it feels like ages since I just got outside and walked around to take personal photos, not something I'm paid to do. Don't get me wrong, I love paid work and I hope it only gets busier, but everyone now and again I need to get out and shoot for myself. That is exactly what I did this evening. 

Originally, I wanted my wife Anne to join me but she just wasn't feel up for it. So because it was just me, I decided to make it into a photo walk. I grabbed my trusty X-Pro2 which I have been neglecting for quite some time. I usually use my Nikon gear for all my paid work. I had the X-Pro2 paired with the 35mm 1.4, which is probably my favourite lens out of any I own. I just love the character and tones it creates.

As with most of my photo walks, I don't really plan a route. I did want to end up at Calico for a cappuccino, so that was my destination. The good thing about this time of year is that the sun is low around 5:00pm which makes for soft(er) light. So I was able to play with some shadows that weren't too harsh. I didn't really focus on people like I have done in the past, but my favourite shot of the walk was actually of a person. Go figure. The header image of the man on his phone against the wall, was literally shot from the hip as I was walking. I didn't want to stop and compose because I liked how he was looking down.

The rest of the photos in this series were just things that caught my eye, whether it was based on colour, pattern or sometimes shadows. Everything here was processed in Lightroom and the black and white images were done through Silver Efex Pro which I really hope doesn't fade away anytime soon as a program.

Thanks for viewing!

Early Morning Marina Walk

So I decided to grab my X100s for a change and brave the brisk morning air down at the Marina. For anyone who reads these posts, you will know I have been using the XT1 and 35mm combo almost every time. I decided I would switch it up this time around with the X100s. It's a slightly different perspective so it forced me to frame my shots a bit differently. I also made sure to get in really close for a lot of the photos as well.

As for processing, I used the out of the camera JPG files for almost all of them. I can't remember what setting it was but it goes to show you, the files coming out of Fuji cameras are so nice to look at. I did included some colour photos as well, simply because they worked better in colour. 

I actually came away with more keepers then I thought I would but then again, I was quite picky with what I shot. Most of the photos were taken in and around the Marina as well as part of downtown. Thanks for viewing.