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...

It was busy... just how we like it. Update.

So, the last couple of weeks were pretty busy. Ever since I came back from Croatia, things just kept going on and there was no rest for the wicked.

The work piled up, the house was a mess (I do live with a male) and the fridge was empty (male again).

In between cleaning and restocking, there were moments of some photo opportunities I just couldn't miss.

The first thing after my arrival back home was a party we had - business and private kind of party with plenty of friends, lots of food, drinks and a good band. It was nice and exhausting, and everything ended with a good burnout, as expected.

After that, I was mostly trying out a new Nikon I got recently.

So naturally, I went on all the usual places I normally go and tried to capture it with a new lens.

I must say I'm pleased, even though I could use another telephoto lens. What I have now is actually doing pretty good work on macro shots.

Back home, I witnessed some Philippe Ramette's photographs for an upcoming exhibition that was supposed to take place after my father's - and his work got me thinking a bit. I sort of wanted to try out things he does, so I played around a bit with that. My options were limited and actually didn't have as much time as I wanted, so there is a few experimental shots I got. For now.

I went downtown (which I rarely do lately) to see the Buskerfest and famous Toronto sign on Nathan Phillips Square (which everyone took a picture of yet, but me).

I also visited Distillery district again (I wish I could be there more often - that place is amazing).

We also went to CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) place one night. Too expensive just to get in and leave the car outside, when basically everything else you need to pay extra. I was terrified of the rides (I would kill to ride on the most bad-ass ride when I was younger), but I guess that's adulthood. You kind of become aware that there might be actual mechanical issues and all sort of risks and that you might actually die.

We went up north to a cottage for the long weekend. I got up at 6 am to try and shoot the sunrise. Of course, east somehow ended up being totally on the opposite side of where I was thinking (It's not like I'm carrying a compass with me all the time) so the sun got up behind the bushes and cottages and the image was everything but nice.

We also had a photo shoot going on last week, where I finally got to shoot some real people (in your face, Shelly the hamster). Actually it was a girl, a model, and she did her job pretty well. I got to the conclusion that I need a lot of practice still. It was a good experience. I'm looking for models now.

Last, but not least, I joined Instagram. A huge step for me. I've been kind of avoiding it this whole time, but what the heck. You can see a lot more photos if you follow me there - @sharoncocaine

That's all for now. Rock on, folks.