OCTOBER SHADOWS
Having a peak at the forecast the last few days reminds me that we’re living in Toronto and not Miami. The crazy hot fall weather that we’ve been enjoying the last week or so is soon to come to an end. 28°C yesterday followed by 12°C on Sunday. Welcome to Canada!
This being October, the light is hitting familiar spots in our backyard in a way that makes me want to run for my camera. And that’s exactly what I did this morning. At 11:00 am or so, the sun was creating that hard light that reminds me of summer days during our stay in Lisbon a few years ago pre-covid. We just don’t get that kind of light; beautiful deep, contrasty shadows, a sun hanging low in the sky.
We still have a few hours to go with 20°C + weather and I’m feeling grateful that we’ve had a beautiful summer and early fall. My health hasn’t been the greatest lately but I’m slowly starting to feel like my old self again. Being engaged in making photos is a bit of a canary in a coal mine for me. When I’m feeling good I want to get the camera to see what I can make. It’s still early October… hopefully there’s lot’s more shadows to come.
SHOT WITH THE FUJIFILM X-PRO3 AND XF 35MM, F2
94
This is a salute to my amazing and loving mother Ann
My mother turned 94 this summer and continues to astonish her family with her spirit and determination. She’s not in the best of health (she is 94), but when we arrive every Sunday for our weekly visit she’s full of excitement at seeing us again. She makes it clear that at that moment, we are the only thing that’s important to her… okay, that and the food we bring her ;-)
We see her almost every week, but I’ve gotten lazy with bringing my camera which is something I know I need to fix. And a better subject I couldn’t find. She’s remarkably unselfconscious and happily sits while I snap away.
I just turned 64 recently and I realize how lucky I am to have my mother still with us. The rhythm of our weekends very much revolves around these visits… this ritual. Here’s a few photos from our visit this past weekend. Hopefully, lots more to come.
SHOT WITH THE FUJIFILM X-PRO3 AND XF 35MM, F2
SQUARE
Square (and black and white) is an attempt to kick-start my feeble attempt at photography these last months. I’m not sure how long I’ll keep at it, but for now I’m going to stick with it at least until something in my brain decides to come up for air.
In the mean time, here’s a triptych from a short time ago, lazying about in the house and the deck.
SOMETIMES, IT'S JUST A FEELING
It’s always about a “feeling”. Sometimes you just know that something that feels right… is right. It’s been a guiding light for me for as long as I can remember.
I’m not sure when I started to get so emotionally attached to the things in my life. I almost cried when our old Saab station wagon was sold off, if any car threaded itself into our lives and into my heart that car did. I imagine I’ll feel the same way when our trusty 14 year old Audi station wagon is ready for the knackered yard.
Why is this? They are just things, objects. I’ve no idea why, all I know is that when it came time to ship off my beautiful preamplifier, I knew I had to get the camera out and document it. It’s so irrational, but the preamplifier, maybe as much as any audio component save for the turntable, is the one you are touching and interacting with the most. Turning the volume control up and down, moving the source dial , the sound of the clicks as the dial turns left to right, right to left. Preamplifier’s have their unique sound signature, that’s why we spend gobs of money on them. But they also have their own personality. Okay, that does sound pretty weird.
So while I expected my preamplifier “fidelity” to last forever, the urge was just too strong. This shiny new gal from Switzerland stole my heart. It didn’t happen at first site, in fact it was more than five years before I knew, before I had that feeling. But when it felt right, there was nothing to do but kick back and enjoy the experience.
So a little homage to the black beauty who made lots of beautiful music for me. It’s been a fun ride.
SHOT WITH FUJI XPRO-3 - XF35 F2, 7ARTISANS 60MM MACRO
HOCKEY VS. BIRTHDAY DINNER
SHOT WITH FUJI XPRO-3 - XF23MM F2.0
C’mon, there was no way I was not going to watch the Gold medal game between Canada and Czechia last night… birthday dinner be damned. Brilliant hockey.
Congratulations @teamcanadawjc 🥇🏆🏒
JUST SHOOT DAMMIT
SHOT WITH FUJI XPRO-3 - XF35 F1.4 & X100V
My apathy is undeniable. So is it’s sibling, atrophy. I can’t deny it, both have taken hold of me in a big way in 2022. I’m surprised I can still remember how to make a Squarespace post there’s been so few of them this year.
There’s no excuses for it and if I believe my friend and mentor Patrick La Roque, it’s 100% normal and I shouldn’t beat myself up over it. As much as I’d like to self indulge in my apparent laziness, it is good to know I may not be the only one going through this at the moment.
I realized as I started writing this post that December 2022 marks exactly 10 years since my first serious dive into photography. My first modern day camera was the original Fujifilm X100. I had already been shooting with whatever version of the iPhone I had at the time, but after attending an Eric Kim photo workshop, I set my sites on Fuji’s small APS-C camera. It had the right look, felt good in my hand and while I had no idea how to use the damn thing, it did make me feel like a photographer.
My first images with my new and nifty X100 were taken in Paris while on holiday with Alice and the boys. It’s fair to say that I had absolutely no idea how to use my camera. None. Zero. I’m embarrassed to admit that I spent that first trip taking images without a single thought to what the settings meant. I thought I knew, but in all honesty it was a disaster.
Fast forward 10 years and I’m happy to look back on my blog and I’m very proud of some of the images and stories I’ve posted. This blog was always going to be a vanity project for me. I have no aspirations for social media greatness. I love taking images and, clearly from the array of stories I’ve posted, I used to love writing my thoughts down and trying to create a cohesive story. Sometimes people, most often friends, would go to my blog and tell me they liked what they saw. But in truth it’s not been many and while it hurts to know that fame and fortune will not be knocking at my door, it has forced me to look inside and remind myself of why I do this in the first place.
To mark 10 years I had a look at some of my older posts. They are exactly what I intended them to be, a formal reminder for what those moments meant to me. Not necessarily great art, but meaningful to me nevertheless.
I would be remiss at this juncture to not say a big thank you to Patrick La Roque for his mentorship and friendship these last 7 years. His work continues to be an inspiration to me and his persistence in believing in my ability to take a few decent photos has helped me enormously.
So my advise to my future self, 10 years from now is to do what I was always told to do, but would often forget…. Just Shoot Dammit.
PASS THE SUFGANIYOT
SHOT WITH FUJI XPRO-3 - XF35 F1.4
Every year that goes by, it becomes a little more special to get together and celebrate Chanukah (the festival of lights) with my family, my two sisters, their families and my 93 year old mother.
If there’s a greater religious context to Chanukah, it most certainly passes me over. Don’t get me wrong, the miracle of lights is a great story. I’m happy to believe that something like this did in fact happen, but let’s face it, it was a very long time ago. And in truth, I have no affinity for the food either… In fact latke’s with or without sour creme or apple sauce did not pass through these lips. Sufganiyot… forget about it!
What makes it special is that the whole family is together. It wasn’t all that long ago when it was my boys playing on the floor, eagerly opening up their gifts and cuddling the newest plush toy. Now it’s my grand niece and nephew’s turn for this. One day soon it may be my grandchildren.
So the Chanukah party is a marker of sorts. Next year I’ll take more pictures and marvel at how the kids have grown and of course how the grown ups have gotten older.
In spite of taking less pictures in 2022 than any other year in the last decade, I feel a greater importance of capturing the passing of time, registering in some way who we were at this moment in our lives. And just like those latkes, when they’re gone, they’re gone.
THE SUMMER OF MUSCLE
No pain, no gain
It started simple enough. Two times a week my son’s Maximilian and Solomon would have their friend Sebastian come by for a workout session. In a matter of weeks you would know what day of the week it was when Sebastian would arrive.
It was obvious pretty quickly that they were taking this seriously. Over the summer, as the workout level climbed, they would include a session at a local gym. Clearly our limited kettlebells and other gym gear was no match for the young lads intensity.
The workouts usually would end with a protein shake. Because “ya gotta get your protein’s in”. And if there was no time for a pre-meal shake, astonishingly it would often follow our hearty meal. Nothing was going to get in the way of those “gains”.
The meals proceeding the workout became something to look forward to. Alice and the boys would always make sure there was something special being served. I’ve never eaten so well in my life ;-)
And as fast as it started, this past Thursday was the last session for the summer. Sebastian was heading back east for 2nd year Law. And just like that, the summer of workouts are over.
I’m not sure what the workout schedule will be this fall. With both my son’s now working in the family business, there may be less time for muscle building. The days are already getting shorter. Here’s a few images from their last session. Three young men in their prime.
WHISTLER 2022, THE NEW ROUTINE
SHOT WITH FUJI X100V
I wouldn’t exactly call us a “skiing family”, but on and off since 2009 we’ve tried to get to Whistler for at least a week’s skiing. Both Maximilian and Solomon have come and gone during those years, with high school and university often getting in the way of them joining us. It didn’t hurt that between 2016 - 2019 Maximilian’s university was a 45 minute drive south of Whistler.
So here we all are in 2022. University days are now over. Covid has released its vice like grip on our vacation dreams and our bodies were willing and for the most part able.
The early years at Whistler were filled with routine. Wake up, eat, drop the kids off at ski camp and make our way over to our own adult version of camp. Our time together was dinner and the short time before bed when the blissful exhaustion of the day caught up to all of us.
So now we’re all grown ups. I’ve been known to want to get to the mountain early and beat the rush. While there was no fresh snow to rush out for, there also wasn’t the crazy line-ups at the base of the mountain that we faced last year. So our routine was get up, have a good stretch, maybe check out the news, have a fine breakfast in our room, lounge a bit more and at some point by late morning we would be ready to ski.
I think we were all comfortable with the pace of this new routine. I think Maximilian and Solomon enjoyed lounging in the room as much as we did. The mountain wasn’t going anywhere and after years and years of deadlines (school, work, etc) it’s just nice to chill.
This seems like a fine template for future ski holidays. I noticed my ski days have hovered between 5 and 6 days during our 7 day holiday’s. I think I’m about ready for a 4 day ski week. Plenty of time to rest and plenty of time to ski. I need to get working on my après ski skills, I think I have some catching up to do.
HIS NAME IS PAUL
SHOT WITH FUJI XPRO-3 - XF35 F2
This is my cousin Paul. He is most certainly my closest cousin, in fact he’s also one of my closest friends. And as these images show, he’s a bit of a character.
We can convey character in images, but maybe what I was aiming for is that he is a character. Paul is a unique breed of humanoid that lives and breathes schtick… his is an unabashed, unapologetic form of Henny Youngman meets Jackie Mason type of borscht belt humour. It’s adorable. It’s agonizing. It’s uniquely Paul.
I had a blast taking these images mostly because I was almost certain he was going to tell me to go fuck myself when I asked him. Much to my delight he agreed and I think in all honesty he was just warming up as I was winding down. This guy was made to have his picture taken. I hope he’ll sit for me again and I really hope he’ll bring more of those fine smoked meat Rueben’s again (hint hint).
And for this post I am breaking one of the golden rules and I’m posting in both black and white and in color. I think the black and white photos stand well on their own but for this series I processed the colors (for the first time) using Fujifilm’s Eterna (Cinema) preset and since my cousin Paul is an enormous cinephile (with a sub specialty in Italian mafia films and tv shows), it seemed like a good fit.
Please don’t ask about the banana. It’s a long story.
WEEKEND AT THE DRAKE
SHOT WITH FUJI XPRO-3 - XF35 F2
As we prepare to settle into what feels like an inevitable 3rd lockdown (or is it the 4th?) here are some images from a trip to the Drake Devonshire Inn a couple of weekends ago when our thoughts were on decompressing from the city, what are we doing for the next meal and shall we order up more tea?
Even though we were less than 200km from Toronto, it felt like we were away. The acts of eating in new restaurants, enjoying the spectacular view looking out into Lake Ontario, doing a little winery hopping and visiting the local alpaca farm was the respite that we were looking for. The quintessential recharging of the batteries.
So here we are on December 17th, a mere two weeks from that weekend, with the announcement today from the Ontario Government on further restrictions. Discussions now are on can we get the rapid test kits in time for returning to work on January 3rd and how can we ensure that we’re all safe.
If nothing else, this pandemic should be teaching us to be in the moment. Yes, it’s a cliche, but this very small part of the world that we call home can seemingly change on a dime. So for now, I’ll look at these images (yes, Alice’s foot is swollen due to a torn ligament) and remember a weekend with no care in the world.
Happy Holidays!