Tag Archives: sunset
Toronto’s Christmas night
Before being pre-empted by my Christmas eve wanderings, the plan had been to wander the downtown core on Christmas evening (Dec 25th, to avoid confusion).
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- Perhaps a tenth of the sparrows peeping in a neighbour’s shrub
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- Candy floss skies paint the horizon downtown
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- The Peace Tower of Old City Hall shines orange in the sunset
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- The illuminated TORONTO sign went through a blue period
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- Skaters have fun at Nathan Phillips Square under the gaze of Old City Hall
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- Multicoloured lights illuminate the way for evening skaters
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- Shedding a little light on the chocolate moose
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- Toronto’s had a warm spell, but this is ridiculous
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- Several banks reflected in the windows of another
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- Lights descend like so many stars at BCE Place
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- Old world class fronts the Royal York hotel near Union Station
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- Looking north into the Entertainment District from the CN Tower
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- A Christmas full moon shines over the Beaches boardwalk
Flowers
So much symbolism wrapped up in something so temporal
I didn’t bring you flowers today.
I know I usually do on Thursdays,
But that’s just it, the problem,
I usually do on Thursdays.
Flowers have become rote;
Like the sunrise and sunset.
Assumed, ignored, a fact,
Something we take as a given.
And not just by you, you see,
But by me, the florist, the neighbour.
If you don’t get flowers today,
It’s not that I love you any less,
That you have become less important,
But that you are too important for trivia.
Flowers should be special—are special—
Like each and every sunrise and sunset.
They should be adored and admired
Like I adore and admire you every day.
Flowers should make people stop
And smile, and breathe, and think.
Every flower should be a memory
Burned into our brains, triggering
Love, joy, serenity, excitement, bliss.
I didn’t bring you flowers today.
I know I usually do on Thursdays,
But not today.
Today, I brought you feathers.
Traveller
Cloud shadows slink among verdant hills
As winged scorpions speckle the air.
The modest murmur of breeze and wave
Is punctuated by staccato calls
Of feathered sentries, alarumed
By movements both broad and subtle.
A sudden stillness hijacks all,
Water rent astride by bow and oar.
A lone traveller, immune to life,
Slices the water in a multihued dugout;
Eye set on the horizon, oblivious
To anguished muscles and sinews,
Passing through the natural world
And yet so much a part of it.
Eddies left behind are enveloped
Quickly by unseen currents;
And all that was before
Is as it was again; peaceful, silent.
Playing with light – Hawaii (big island)
As I play with my camera, empirically learning its ins and outs, I find pleasure in capturing different moments of natural light.
On my trip to Hawaii last year, I managed to capture some nice shots that really highlight, I think, the wonders of the sun (or other suns) at the extremes of the day.
Morning light in Kailua-Kona has almost an ethereal quality, especially when combined with waves.
As sunset approaches, it was fun to play with silhouettes that just barely capture the colours of the leaves.
With dozens of other hotel patrons, this girl sat patiently waiting for that perfect sunset moment. Her face had some quality that just made me want to keep taking photos of her.
And so I did, until I started feeling stalker-ish. This is my favourite of the group for the way the reddening light plays with the colour of her hair.
Photography mentor and friend Sam was a great target as the sun sets on his balding pate.
Another favourite, sunset on Mauna Kea. The colour strata were amazing and being above the clouds means not having to worry about poor photo conditions.
Go to paradise and freeze your buttocks off. Astral photography from near the top of Mauna Kea. This was a 30-minute exposure. I wish I could say I planned to get an almost perfect wedge of rotating space (okay, rotating Earth) but I got lucky.
