A WALK IN THE PARK
After a desperately long April, May finally arrived with some much needed sunshine. And finally some good light. I took some website images of my work crew earlier in the week and I was still in a black and white kind of mood.
As soon as Alice arrived home we headed out to the ravine by St. Clair. Funny how this is just a few minutes from our house but I don’t think we’ve walked through the underpass in many years. It felt just a little bit like a wilderness adventure. I’d forgotten how much I miss the feeling of dirt under my feet.
Once out of the ravine we headed further south to Dupont to head back west and home. it was just after 7:00 pm and the LCBO on Dupont was already closed as were all of the restaurants. I noticed the Krispy Kreme on Dupont was no longer opening during Covid-19. And there was no line-up at the Shoppers Drug Mart.
It’s funny the things you notice now, the small subtle changes to our everyday life. It’s like someone pushed the “slow” button. I realize for many people, the feeling is more like the “pause” button”, but that’s still got to be better than the fast forward button right?
The universe no longer feels like it’s being pulled in a billion different ways. It’s still being pulled, but it doesn’t feel like it’s being pulled apart. I hate to admit it but there’s an awful lot to like.
SHOT WITH FUJI X-PR02, XF35MM F2
SHOOTING SQUARE
I’ve no idea how many times I’ve walked along Geary Ave. west of Ossington as well as Dupont St, between our house and Spadina Ave. Certainly dozens of times in the twenty five years we’ve lived in Hillcrest Village.
You know you can walk by the same darn buildings over and over again and never really see them. Having quite a bit of extra time on my hands, last week I set up a photography training session with Pat @laroquephotogram for this morning and his last text to me after I sheepishly admitted to being a stranger to my camera for the last couple of weeks was… “Anyhoo… pick up your camera a little ;)
Now Pat is the not a member of the tribe, but that was the best impersonation of a Jewish mother I could have imagined. The only thing he didn’t add was “would it kill you”? Hey it worked! I finally got off my duff and ventured out the door with camera in hand and Alice at my side.
It was a lovely, not quite spring day. There were line-ups at the Shoppers Drug Mart so Alice could buy emergency bandage supplies (we stopped off at two Shoppers to get the appropriate emergency bandage sizes), a glazed donut and coffee at a very empty Krispy Kreme (cause if the world is ending, what the heck, might as well eat empty carbs), all while I desperately looked for something worth shooting so I wouldn’t be completely empty handed for today’s session.
Well there’s nothing like desperation for energizing your creativity. Building’s that I’ve walked by plenty of times were new again. I changed things up by shooting square, and I was pleasantly surprised at how different the experience of shooting is when you’re not battling a 3:2 ratio.
So here they are. A few desperate images for our desperate times. And hey, if you need any bandages you know who to call.
Stay safe everyone.
SHOT WITH FUJI X-PR02, XF35MM F/2
SIGNS OF THE TIME
Our regular Saturday routine involves a couple of hours spent in Kensington Market doing our weekly shopping. I’ve likely posted about some of those excursions here. All of our supplies from toothpaste, to bread, meat, fish and fruit and veggies are all done in the market. In the various eateries you can sit down for lunch, stand up for lunch or take-out. So many options.
This is our routine, it’s part of the pulse of our weekend schedule. There’s not many surprises even with the occasional rant from the drug addicts or the buskers belting it out, trying to earn a little cash.
The signs were the canary in the coal mine. Each store front sported its own warning. Don’t come in, come in but don’t sit down. Don’t come in if there’s more than 5 of you. You get the idea.
The signs are up. I hope one day very soon they will all be taken down and we can sit or stand as we like.
Stay safe everyone.
SHOT WITH FUJI X100F
