distillery

On my last trip to Toronto, which was about a month ago, I discovered that the sensor on my 20D was in desperate need of a cleaning. Well, I kind of knew this, but it was even worse than I remembered, so instead of using it to take photos, I used my old backup, which is a Kodak DX6490. Yeah...not exactly the quality that I'm used to! So these photos aren't my best, but I did manage to get some shots that I like while hanging out one Sunday afternoon in the Distillery District. If I have my facts correct, this an area in Toronto that used to be a working distillery, but they've since taken the beautiful red brick buildings and turned it into a fun area for shopping, dining, arts, and entertainment. Distillerydistrict.com proclaims it "Toronto's Hippest Address" and a lot of movies were filmed here during the 90s.


View of the main plaza in the Distillery. I don't know if this is an everyday thing, or just a weekend or Sunday thing, but there were tents set-up, art-show style throughout the plaza. Classy tents, though, with cool stuff and beautiful jewelry - most well out of my price range. I like the angle that the "Gooderham & Worts" sign cuts across the photo at, and I really like the reflection of the clock in the window. I took photos of the clock itself, but this is more interesting.


My favourite part of this photo is definitely the sky. I like that it appears to be in motion, the colour of it, and the wispiness of the clouds. I also like the lampposts on the right. Please ignore the man on the left in the daisy dukes. I wanted to crop him out, but using 4x6 proportions, I would have had to sacrifice too much sky, so there he stays. I suppose he adds character.


I don't have any great close-ups of the buildings, but this is the best of the ones that I have. The green Victorian ironwork against the red brick is just fantastic. The sign in the lower righthand corner indicates the building's number. Since there are not streets here, just pedestrian walkways, all of the buildings are numbered.

Next: I really will start to highlight last week's trip. I had just forgotten that I had a few decent Toronto photos to share.

south of the border

Here's a fun fact for you: Windsor, Ontario is the only place along the U.S.-Canada border where Canada is actually south of the United States. There's a little plaque in downtown Windsor, which is right across the river from downtown Detroit, that informs interested tourists of this. I took a photo with it a couple of summers ago.

So, Windsor. I have such fond memories here. As the nearest interesting Canadian city to me (because the only thing that Sarnia has going for it is Coffee Lodge, and that one time when they had one of the greatest Canadian casts for a skating show ever), there was a time when I found myself in Windsor about once a month. That time has passed, but I still do enjoy it, especially the Med Bread at Moxie's. And the Chapters. Mmm, Canadian books. It's so difficult to find Will Ferguson's hilarious travelogues even just across the river.

So on a sunny Saturday in April, BFF Jules and I headed to Windsor for the afternoon. I was writing a travel article on it for my school's newspaper, and I wanted a fresh perspective and photos that weren't terrible. If you want to read the article, it's here, on page 9. Oh, and it's a PDF file. But if you just want the photos, here they are. Apologies for the dust...I shot the whole day with a dirty lens, and I had no idea. Oops.


Taken from the riverfront park in downtown Windsor, this is GM's Renaissance Centre in downtown Detroit. It was built a few decades ago to help revitalize downtown Detroit, and it's a living/working/entertainment/dining conglomeration of steel. The idea didn't really work, because it ended up being a self-sustaining bubble that didn't need the rest of the city, but it was a nice idea, and I guess the Ren Cen is kind of sweet. 1/1600, f/14, ISO 1600.


The rest of Detroit's skyline is much older, and I think the old style skyscrapers are just so pretty. Of course, I have the heart of a city girl, so I think that the steel-and-glass variety are gorgeous, too. 1/3200, f/14, ISO 1600.


Here's a pretty great photo of BFF Jules, gazing lovingly across the river at Detroit. She really does love Detroit more than anyone else that I know. (Nope, she's not from there.) 1/2500, f/14, ISO 1600. (Apparently, I had NO idea I was shooting on ISO 1600...)


One of the new additions to Windsor's riverfront - a sculpture imploring passers-by to "pray for peace." I like this shot, but I wish that the Radisson's sign wasn't right in the middle of it. 1/400, f/18, ISO 1600.


If you read the article, you know all about the Odette Sculpture Park. If not, well, the OSP is part of the riverfront in Windsor, and it features all kinds of random sculptures. I guess the really crazy stuff is further towards the bridge, but we were tired of walking, so we turned around. Next time. 1/1600, f/18, ISO 1600.


Kind of an interesting shot with one of the sculptures and part of the Detroit skyline. 1/1250, f/18, ISO 1600.

Next: Canadian Stars on Ice. Once I post those shows, I'll be all caught up!