Crosswalker

Someone to watch over me
Toronto, ON
September 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I guess I’ve always been a bit of a people watcher, making simple observations of random folks when I’ve otherwise got time to kill.

I believe it all started when I was a hospitalized kid. And since I had lots of time to kill, I’d often find my way down to the lobby where I’d just watch strangers come and go. I paid attention to what they wore, how they walked - or didn’t walk - as well as the looks on their faces and the sounds in their voices. Some seemed happy, but most did not.

I was still too young to appreciate that hospitals aren’t always happy places. Or maybe I suspected as much, but I refused to believe that life and death played out there.

I learned that everyone had a story, and while sometimes I could figure that story out by observing, not everyone was so easily read. Trippy stuff for a kid with messed up legs.

So fast forward to a busy downtown Toronto intersection on a warm September afternoon, and there I was staring at strangers again. Except the hospital was a thankfully distant memory, and everyone now walked around with screens in their hands.

This guy looked pretty pleased with life, doubtless because whatever was on that screen must have appealed to him. And the drivers of the cars waiting at the red light were graciously looking out for him.

Humanity works better, apparently, when we look out for each other. Anywhere, anytime, no matter how old or young we might be.

#toronto #ontario #canada #throwback #streetphotography #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography

Brutalism in the sky

Where's my ruler?
Toronto, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

As a child, I stared up at tall buildings reaching for the sky more than was likely healthy.

I don’t think much has changed now that I’m an adult.

Probably just as well.

#toronto #ontario #canada #architecturephotography #architectureporn #downtown #geometry #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Finding inspiration in a frozen valley

When detours go right
London, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It was supposed to be a short walk. Our dog had other plans.

As we approached the river valley, Calli the Wonderschnauzer followed her nose down the hill and didn’t stop until we were deep into the woods.

The flowing water burbled gently to our right as she continued to pull her leash, the thick blanket of snow swallowing any other sounds in this deserted place.

Eventually she stopped at a clearing by the water, as if this was where she wanted us to be all along. She dug into the snow with her snout, then sat herself down facing the opposite shore.

We stayed there in silence for what seemed like an age as snowflakes continued to fall, tiny flecks of floating ice barely rippling the mirror-like surface.

I brushed the snow from Calli’s fur and thanked her for bringing us here today. This has been a favourite spot of ours for her entire life, but never before had we seen it quite like this. I should let her lead the way more often.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #actofdog #winter #forest #trees #thames #river #reflective #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

All signs point to winter

The icicle works
London, ON
December 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Winter can be beautiful.

That is all.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #onstorm #icestorm #icicleworks #winter #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Touch tone memories

More than mere numbers
Toronto, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This is how we once kept in touch.

Loose change in our pockets and familiar, time-worn buttons under our fingers.

They were everywhere, then.

Always at the ready if we needed a lift home. Or some help. Or just wanted to hear a friendly voice on a dark night.

Now, the buttons are virtual, and the entire phone, reduced to a sliver of glass, has replaced the change in our pockets.

Yet every once in a while, the past whispers to us from a dusty payphone lingering in a shadowy, forgotten corner.

An echo, perhaps, of the indelible connections we once made.

And still do, if we’re lucky.

#toronto #ontario #canada #payphone #streetphotography #texture #stilllife #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Two birds, one sidewalk

I've got you
Toronto, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On a garbage-strewn stretch of downtown Toronto sidewalk, two birds stand still and silent, ignored by the endless knots of city dwellers rushing to whatever it is that fills the day.

The birds haven’t shifted positions in what seems like an age, their only movements an occasional flinch of the head. I’m no expert in avian body language, but they seem to be staring into each other’s souls.

I want to imagine that they’re both okay, but my gut is telling me bird on the left isn’t, and bird on the right is playing protector. Again, I have no advanced knowledge beyond simple observation, but I still find myself hoping I’m wrong, and willing them both to soon be able to return to the skies where they belong.

Standing on dusty concrete ruminating over the fate of a couple of common birds may feel a little ridiculous amid the usual ins and outs of everyday life. But as I walk away I can’t stop thinking about the lives of others, and how there really is no such thing as common.

It matters to them. It should matter to us, as well. That empathy thing again. Even for birds.

#toronto #ontario #canada #black #bird #wildlifephotography #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

When grass is anything but simple

Frozen growth
Dryden, ON
December 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It only looks simple, a straight-on view of grasses and trees, a two-dimensional scene that could have been captured just about anywhere.

But the longer we look, the more we see. The ghost-like hoar frost betraying the bitter cold, the thinly curved blades of grass defying the elements, the thick branches underneath the canopy, supporting it all. It’s a flash frozen landscape with the colour seemingly sucked out of it.

Yet there’s a delicate dance playing out here, a story of life playing out in a place seemingly hostile to it. A story visible only to those who choose to observe it.

So we stand in the biting cold, the winds singing songs in our ears and slapping us in the face, and we do just that.

Because life, apparently, is less simple than it first appears. And our stories often take their sweet time to be told.

#dryden #ontario #canada #throwback #naturephotography #landscapephotography #winter #weather #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography

Coming up: Iran goes dark

As Iran tightens the electronic noose around its citizens to shield itself from global view, the full extent of this unprecedented digital blockade is becoming terrifyingly apparent. I'll be joining CBC Radio stations across the country starting at 3:00 p.m. Eastern to discuss what this all means, and the lessons we might want to apply closer to home.

Related:

• Tech Check: Iran’s chilling internet blackout, The Vassy Kapelos Show, Bell Media
• Why you should care about a regime change in Iran, The Ben Mulroney Show, Corus
• Tech Tuesdays: Iran’s internet shutdown is chillingly precise and may last some time, Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal, CFRA

Mountains in the snow

Shaped...
London, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The winds have been busy this week, carving abstract scenes in the snows at our feet.

The low-angled light has been busy, too, carving soft shadows behind the ridges, highlighting the textures of the tenuously anchored snowflakes in deepening shades of grey and blue.

Even now, the surface is reshaping itself, the soft sounds of the shifting snows barely detectable under the rush of the steady late afternoon breeze.

None of this will last. Between warm temperatures, sniffing dogs, and playing children, it’s only a matter of time before all this disappears.

I wonder who will remember it. And whether they’ll smile when they do.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #snow #winter #weather #wx #onstorm #abstract #stilllife #texture #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Reflective Airbus

Landscape photography, sort of
Winnipeg, MB
December 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Feeling reflective at the gate.

#winnipeg #manitoba #canada #throwback #airport #ywg #aircanada #airbus #a320 #aviationphotography #planespotting #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography

Sun pillars for the win

Focused light
London, ON
December 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

At the exact moment the sun slips below the horizon, it shines a single pillar of light high into the fiery sky.

I believe it’s called a sun pillar, where light reflects off of clouds in the upper atmosphere. And as much as science can explain the light show playing out in front of me, I’d rather imagine there’s a little bit of magic involved, as well.

Because how else can we explain that tingly feeling we get down our spines - or the butterflies we feel in our stomachs?

I guess the answer lies somewhere in the fact that seeing and understanding aren’t quite the same as feeling. That a scientifically explainable phenomenon in the sky doesn’t amount to much until we layer a healthy dose of human emotion on top of it.

Which explains why we stand at the edge of day and night and look for things that might make us feel something.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #sunset #orange #cloudspotting #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

One frozen berry

Well preserved
London, ON
December 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A single berry clings desperately to a single branch. What normally reaches for the sky is now weighed down to the vertical by a thick coat of ice.

Within hours, the temperature will soar, the ice will melt, and the entire assembly seen here will bounce back to its rightful position high above.

Nothing lasts. The ice flashes brilliantly before it disappears. The scene freezes for what seems like a blink before external forces decide it’s time to change yet again.

So we capture it while we can, making memories that may not last the forever we might have wished for. But will at least linger long enough to appreciate.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #onstorm #icestorm #winter #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

CN Tower peekaboo

Clusters in the sky
Toronto, ON
September 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

As the sky’s light fades one last time, the city’s lights come alive. A nightly dance that never gets old.

#toronto #ontario #canada #yyz #riverdalepark #sunset #cntower #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #skyline #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography

Orange light through empty branches

Unimpeded
London, ON
December 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Long after the last leaf of the season has fallen to the ground, the sun’s dying rays move unimpeded through the bare canopy.

What seems empty to some is merely a new opportunity to see the previously unseen.

It’s a lesson in perspective for a planet dearly in need of it, courtesy of some random trees that, on reflection, maybe aren’t so random after all.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #sunset #orange #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Cycling through the sky

Don't look down
Toronto, ON
September 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We’re all on some kind of journey. May as well enjoy the ride.

#toronto #ontario #canada #throwback #humberbay #arch #bridge #cycling #instabike #monochrome #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography