Crockett Hotel

San Antonio, Texas - February 2010

I liked the way this picture turned out - the crazy scraggly tree, the bushy trees that look like they are slowly climbing up the hotel facade...I think it makes the hotel look interesting, almost ominous.

Wall writings

Toronto - 2003

Mystery shops

Saint John, New Brunswick - October 2010

These two stores are second hand shops - one furniture, one used/unwanted/cheap buy items.  I went into both, the furniture one on the left was tiny but neat and organized, the other on the right, exceptionally cramped and full of boxes upon boxes of stuff.  I took this picture because I liked the way the light shone on the building and the uniformity of the windows; it also had an "old store" look to it due to the signage.  I shot this weeks before I ever went into these shops; it was interesting what I found inside.

Paris - May 17, 2011

Notre Dame Cathedral, bushy trees, and really flat lighting.  I wish I could have captured it a bit better.  Nonetheless, I still took a piece of history home with me. I do like the way the cloud looms though, decorating the sky.

New York City - May 2009

When I look up at skyscrapers, I see geometric shapes, lines running up to the sky - and infinite possibilities to compose a pleasing picture. The strong graphic nature of buildings standing together with its inherent patterns and simplicity in form is a beautiful sight for me.

Irises

Toronto - spring 2009

These flowers are long gone by now, but they still live on in this photograph.  I remember I took this picture because I thought they were especially tall, and the petals were very large and beautiful - certainly the biggest irises I'd ever seen.

Niagara Falls, Ontario - August 2009

Algonquin Park - summer 2009

I love black and white pictures of grass - such simple subject matter but so much texture and pattern, revealing many lovely shades of gray.

Window view

Toronto - 2009

View from the Art Gallery of Ontario, looking onto Dundas St. West.  I find it strange how the buildings look so different and almost unrecognizable from here considering how many times I've walked along that street.

London - June 1, 2011

For some reason I always think a picture with a pigeon or two in it makes the photo less banal...even funny.  I admit, I took this picture solely because there was a pigeon sitting on the statue's head (see bottom right).

San Antonio, Texas - February 2010

There is nothing in this image that shows that it was taken in Texas, but it was.  I was walking around exploring the streets and as I was going to cross a small street, I looked up to see this.  I liked how the signs and the stairs and shadows zigged and zagged, the diagonals playing off each other.  I suspect that if I went back, found the same building and tried to capture the same angle, I probably couldn't - simply because I wouldn't be able to find the exact spot I stopped and stood at when I looked up.  That's the thing I've realized about photography, you sometimes only get that one chance.

Parliament Hill, East Block building

Ottawa - November 2009

I like how this photograph of a historical building actually looks like an old historical photograph.  

New York City - May 2009

I enjoy the architecture found in NYC.  I took this photo because I liked how the vertical strips of the pointed glass structure contrasted with the patterned windows of the building behind it.  The whole picture is about lines.

These murky trees...

Algonquin Park - summer 2009

I shot these pictures with my Olympus automatic camera instead of my usual manual Pentax K1000. I was playing around, seeing if this automatic might give me something different. I developed the film in the usual manner, and discovered all my images were overexposed. Hmm, I thought, then decided I liked these murky looking trees since the overexposure had softened up the edges of the photograph, reminding me a little of the salted paper print - this printing process was used in the first years of the invention of photography when pictures didn't always come out sharp and clear, printed from negatives made of waxed paper- cool.

Palais de Justice

Paris - May 17, 2011

I wanted to capture the grandeur and symmetry of the structure; I really like the swirl detail that punctuates the horizontal centre. I was definitely lucky I had the right lighting that day to bring out the textures of the building.

Surfers at play

Maui - December 2009

The water is violent and beautiful at the same time. These surfers skim and float atop the water and are at one with it.  I remember I came upon this scene near sunset and the vanishing light made it all the more dramatic to watch.  I also remember how loud the splashing of the waves were.

Leaves, twigs & ferns

Algonquin Park, Ontario - 2009

Ancient temples

Angkor, Cambodia - 2003

This was my first time ever visiting Cambodia.  I shot with a 35mm and a Rolleiflex.  The Rolleiflex pictures sat untouched until I pulled them out earlier this year - these two photos are from that set of negatives. 

To my friend over in Cambodia - hi Chenda

London - May 30, 2011

Big Ben, London Eye, pretty trees, lamp post, bench, people, ground, sky - all squeezed into one frame.  Photography is a very generous medium indeed.