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!

Walking around with the Nikon D850

I continue to be impressed with my Nikon D810. It's like my Nikon D750 on steroids. Don't get me wrong, my 750 is still a fantastic camera, but there is just something about the files that come out of the 850, that I just can't put my finger on. One of a recent shoots I had was downtown, so after I was done it I decided to walk around downtown for about 20 minutes. These are the resulting photos. 

The lenses I used for these photos were mostly the nifty fifty and I think the one with the flag was with my 85mm. All the processing was done in Lightroom using my usual recipe but always tweaked for each and every photo. I don't just bulk edit, I like to individually process each final photo. The black and white photos are processed in Silver Efex Pro 2, which I'm so thankful still works in Lightroom. I just love that program.

Anyways, that's all I have to say. I'm not sure if anyone even looks at these posts so I'm probably just talking to myself as usual, but if there is anyone out there, enjoy!