It's been a while....

... but just because it was quite busy around here.

After the motorcycle show, it seems like winter is no more (when it comes to business).

However, it's still very wintery outside and I've been mostly out, taking photos, trying out stuff and just having fun. Who could blame me? :)

With all that is going on (my car broke down, visa issues, tripod issues, business issues) it's been impossible to take care of everything at once.

Nothing really interesting happened, but I did enjoyed my walks. This year I do have a proper winter jacket (I couldn't ignore the fact that I live in Canada any more) so I finally understand how nice taking a walk can be on -10 :)

We had some snow that melted quickly, but for a few days  everything looked amazing. The lake froze partially, so did the Etobicoke creek I sometimes visit.

In the Humber park there are always birds to see. And even though I have plenty of bird photos, somehow you can never get enough of them. Especially when they're crowded like this, fighting for the food.

Larger geese are constantly attacking little ducks and making their life harder in finding the crumbles. Cruel nature.

There was a lady feeding them. It's incredible how close the brave birds can come when they know there's a bag full of crumbles in the old lady's hands.

The swan immediately came close and was begging (well, demanding) for food, reaching all the way in her plastic bag. Geese are not as tall so they couldn't do the same thing. That just reminded me on the story of a fox and stork.

There was other kind of attacks too. This little guy on the right has no clue what's about to happen.

The beach was empty, of course. No people, no dogs and a big warning there are no lifeguards on duty.

Funny.

But then, I remember last winter guy surfing on the ice, so I guess the sign is here for a reason, after all...

There were little loons swimming in the lake, but I couldn't catch them with my lens.

They were babies, and looked like little penguins, being all black and white. Quite a sight.

I need to get a tele lens.

In the meantime, I'll make lemonade with the lemons I got.

Have a nice week everybody! Enjoy the winter while it's still here! (Did I just say that?)
I'm becoming Canadian.

Xoxo!

North American International Motorcycle Supershow 2016

Another beginning of the year, another Toronto Motorcycle Supershow.

It's a tradition to be there, and this year they've been celebrating 40 years of the legendary show.

Of course, we've been there as well.

Plenty of things to see! If you're into bikes at all, you should visit the show (at least once). Numerous artists, especially in hall 5, presented their babies: whether it's the aesthetics, power and performance or something else.


And even tho this kind of event seems to be an inexhaustible source of good photographs, I must admit - I was feeling kind of bored (with a few exceptions!).

The problem is, I've been there last year and a year before - and I have exactly the same photos stored on my hard drive. Nothing changed, except for a few newly finished show bikes that were exposed this year. Other than that, it was pretty much all the same.

The same settings, the same vendors, the same booths, the same stage program.

Regardless, there is always something interesting to see, that you might have missed the year before.

Like I missed the snake.

And I mentioned exceptions.

There is a beautiful piece of work that surprised me - a breast cancer awareness chopper.
Full of symbolic terms, it represents everything good within bad.

Pink flake paint and very original "ribbon style" pipes are making the bike just awesome. Made by @cycleworx_custom_motorcycles.


And in regards of performance, Wildside Motorcycles presented the fastest bagger in the area. Yes, bold statement, but definitely justified. With 124 ci and 7-speed tranny, among other, this bike is the beast.

There was also a completely restored old 1971 Electra Glide - "Elvis" - that they were especially proud of. Shiny like new.





Also, some really nice paint artwork, the kind you have to see to believe. Amazing Fitto did his magic again.

All in all, interesting stuff. Personally, aside beautiful bikes, I enjoyed just catching the moments and details - like shapes on the wall of the International Centre, or a little girl playing with creepy zombie doll (that freaked me out a bit).

So, it's done for this year, but if you're in the area sometimes beginning January 2017, swing by the International Centre in Mississauga and have a look. You just might discover a new passion :)

Xoxo

@sharoncocaine

Christmas Spirit and Hot, Spicy Wine

Nothing is like December! I'm not a winter person, but December brings out that holiday joy and Christmas spirit all over the place.

And I'm not viewing this from religious point of view - whatever religion you're in, or if you're not religious at all, I'm talking about the unique feeling of holiday atmosphere.

Holiday lights on the streets, ornaments on Christmas trees, the general look of the city at this time of year, everything sparkling and smelling of cider and wine - the whole Christmassy feel.

You can hear Christmas songs everywhere, see ideas for presents in every store you walk into and feel that special warmth of red, gold and silver colors, so significant for these holiday moments.



Even though the commercialization of Christmas holidays has taken it too far, with companies decorating and pushing gifts sales already in November, and people feeling pressured about the whole thing, it still doesn't diminish that very holiday sensation that's spreading like a virus as soon as you see the first holiday lights on the streets.

The best place to enjoy the atmosphere in Toronto, at this moment, is definitely the Distillery District.

With the Toronto Christmas Market that is held there every December for the whole month, up until Christmas day, Distillery District becomes a magical place (magical more than it usually is).

Various artisans and vendors are participating and there's nothing you can't buy in their little booths.

You can find hand-made ornaments, gifts, candles and other Christmas merchandise. If you're hungry, you'll be able to enjoy German sausages, roasted nuts, baked goods and plenty of other seasonal stuff.



To keep yourself warm, I strongly recommend the popular mulled wine - which was delicious! So very tasty, just like the wine from back home, which my family used to make every Christmas and which we regularly enjoyed during the whole Christmas season.  I really missed that so I made sure I got enough. Don't overstep your boundaries though - it's stronger than it tastes :)

All in all, a very nice evening out - I loved it! If you're around, make this place a number one on your visit list. Soon.  Even the holiday hater will enjoy :)

The only thing that's missing is snow, to make the whole experience more fulfilled. But, until then, this is the perfect place to hang out one of these evenings, before Christmas, while there's still mulled wine available...



Oh and yes. A huge Christmas tree :) Who doesn't love that?

Cheers! Xoxo

It's getting cold!

Yes, the winter is coming. It's not really so tough, considering we're in Canada and still haven't had a proper snow.

One would say it's unusually warm for this time of year.  I'm actually glad because for once, Croatia is full of snow, and we're not :)

Still, getting colder and colder every day.

That means my cat doesn't want to spend nights outside anymore, and wants to curl up on my bed to sleep there.

That means making tea occasionally and dishes that you eat with the spoon.

That means less walking and less nature photographing. Hence, more hamster and indoor stuff.

I was just cleaning Shelly's cage the other day, so while she was out, I decided to take a few photos again.

The only apple I had in house was huge, and she was obviously overwhelmed with the size.

I had to bite it off so she could continue nibbling it.
Surprisingly, she showed more interest towards my camera than the apple.









We also had another photo shoot in the garage, with a beautiful model and a great make-up artist. Again a great experience. Lovely girls. Had issues with the lights again though. How I wish it was summer and we can shoot outside...

The other day, it was nice and sunny, so I wanted to get some fresh air.



I took a walk, and the path that I'm usually taking surprised me with great reflections in the lake, that I haven't noticed earlier.

I have also been dealing with the domain and the website, so beachofhope exists no more. I have a new website that you can see here.

Still working on it though, don't be judgy.

Considering I have no idea what I'm doing, it getting along pretty good. :) I had some help from my hosting service agent who was kind enough to make my day. Thank you, Colton!

So, with all that was happening, between the work, photo shooting, little business I started on the side which will stay top secret (literally, it's better if you don't know), new website and all - it was a pretty busy week. 

It's time to think about Christmas holidays and presents now.

Stay warm!

XoXo

Santa and some raw art

This was a busy week. With all that's normally going on, there was a Santa Claus Parade in downtown Toronto, last Sunday, which I wanted to see. Also, I went to see the Raw Artists exhibition on Thursday.

Santa Claus Parade was, well... fun. For all those under 10.
Nevertheless, it was nice to see it once, get some shots and leave it at that. I was surprised by how many people were there. It was a nice, warm day so I guess that contributed a lot.

The streets were closed, security guys everywhere, children jumping around, parents holding thermos bottles with coffee sitting on sidewalks, cushions, blankets, strollers, sandwiches and lots of reindeer horns on people's heads.

Apparently, people arrive early in the morning to save the spot for their family, so that they can sit in front row and see the parade.

The parade alone lasts for couple of hours, but to have a nice watching spot, you should be there hours earlier.





To be honest, it was actually more interesting before the parade showed up, because of all the people and kids mingling on the streets. Put some children on the middle of the empty street and give them some crayons and there you go. Art as you've never seen it.

I didn't wait to see the Santa though - it was enough for me to witness Frozen characters, clowns, girl with the goose, people in dog's costumes, Lego figures and other, I must say, lame and totally unrelated characters to something that's called Santa Claus Parade. 

The only thing they all had in common were Christmas songs. I didn't see a single reindeer :O or one of Santa's elves, for that matter. Or anything related to actual Christmas holidays. Too many commercial banners and sponsor signs for my taste though. It was like watching commercials on TV.

However, it was obvious the children were enjoying it. They don't care about rules or names or commercials or appropriate costumes. They spent the day dancing and drawing in the streets of Toronto. What can be better than that?

For something more to my liking, I visited a more adult event going on in MOD Club on College Street this week.


There was a Raw Artists Uprising event with numerous artists showing their work. Some of Toronto's photographers, painters, jewelry makers, make up artists, film makers and musicians were presenting their best pieces and had fun in connecting and browsing thru other spheres of art. It was quite interesting to be mingling around some extraordinary individuals. Here's more on that, where you can see the artists involved and some of their work.

All in all, a fun week. I was surprised by some snowflakes yesterday, and that doesn't seem like fun at all. Soon enough it'll be snowy and (more) cold and I'll have to stay in and shoot the hamster again...

Stay warm!

Soaking up some art

I live and breathe motorcycles.

Garage, noise, dust, exhausts, parts, chrome, filters, rat bikes, shiny bikes, gasoline, paint, tools, tires, chains, oils, powder coating, engines.

In an environment like this, it's easy to forget you have other aspirations too (or that you're a girl, for that matter).

There is some art involved in this motorcycle world, I have to admit (actually, plenty of it). 

But that should be another topic altogether.

My point is, I need a break occasionally, as well as other stuff (not involving motorcycle culture) too. Which is why I'm writing nonsense posts about my cat, hamster or current weather conditions.

I love bikes, but I love apple pies too and I don't eat them every single day. So I find  my escape in photographing and walking around the city, to satisfy my hunger for diversity.

The truth is, I need whatever - as long as it's something else. Preferably, something inspiring.

With that in mind, I was wondering the other day where should I go to change the environment a bit, and it was chilly and windy that day so I didn't actually want to spend the day outside. 

Then I remembered AGO, the Art Gallery of Ontario I haven't yet visited. 

After taking into consideration other alternatives, visiting AGO soon got up on top of my list. 

The moment I walked in I was impressed by the size of it and was eager to explore every corner of the gallery.

Currently, there are some really interesting exhibitions and collections holding, like Camera Atomica and AGO Photography Prize exhibition. 

The architecture inspired me as much as exhibited art pieces, most of all the famous Italian gallery and beautiful curvy designed stairs in the middle of the building.

I was never really a museum person (hello, I'm putting the polar bear with the radio as the main photo of this post), so it surprised me how much I was yearning for it.

One one hand, I mostly wanted to see the gallery from the inside due to beautiful architecture and design, but the exhibitions dragged me into them and it's impossible not to get intrigued by various artists and their pieces on the other hand.

Those foxy ladies were pretty awesome too. I kind of missed what was that all about, but the big, spacious room filled with skins looked cool.

Anyhow, a great afternoon filled with great art. I'm strongly recommending to anyone who's near Toronto to see it for yourself.

There is an upcoming exhibition on American photography and film early next year which would be nice to see if I get the chance.

More on AGO's stuff you can find on their website.



Until then, there are a few other places I still need to discover. More on that soon, I hope. But first, some apple picking.

@sharoncocaine

Walkin' downtown

This was an awesome warm weekend and of course, I wanted to spend it outside.

I haven't been downtown for a while and I really wanted to take a serious walk and get out for a whole day. Since I have a guest here (her majesty, Ana Flo), we decided to use this nice weather and go somewhere I usually wouldn't go alone.


I wanted to go apple picking, but Ana didn't feel like it. So we agreed upon spending some time in High Park and some time downtown. I haven't been downtown for a while so we were curious at what's there to see.

Turned out, there's plenty to see, especially if you're bored and yearning for a little city hype.

I wanted to visit Brookfield Place to see a World Press Photo Exhibition, so we headed there first.


Some nice, some interesting but mostly sad stories told thru photographs by award winning artists and photojournalists made a strong impression on both of us. I recommend to go and see for yourselves.

We took a walk towards the lake and on our way there we stopped at Union Station - the place I've seen only from the outside until now, so we decided to walk in and take a peek at what's in there.

Outside, hungry pigeons chilled on the Union Station sign.



Soon enough we found ourselves by the lake and enjoyed the sun and warm breeze.

We entered the Power Plant gallery where we took a look at three standing exhibitions, but I was most impressed by "Black Cloud", an installation by Mexican artist Carlos Amorales. 30000 black moths cut out of paper and placed on the walls of the gallery made a splendid view.

More about him and his moths you can find here

After coming back towards Eaton Center and a huge meal, we needed a break so we had a coffee on Nathan Phillips Square. Plenty of people was there, despite being the Thanksgivings day, and they laughed, took pictures by the Toronto letters, posing for selfies, smiling, chattering and enjoying a beautiful afternoon. I do love to look at people sometimes. When they're happy.

We spend some time in High Park (as if that was a fair alternative to apple picking), but it was nice. Crowded, but nice. We barely found a parking spot after a while of driving around, just before we almost gave up. I swear, half of Toronto was there that afternoon.

We even made it to the Cherry beach.

It was a good weekend. I hope this weather will last.

I want to make an apple pie, so I still have to go apple picking...