Boarding Pass: YYZ
Photo map of Toronto. Click image for interactive map.
It felt like I was getting away with something, yet it was all totally legit. Extra naughty points for doing it in an international location, even if I was barely across the border. I was simultaneously at work, while indulging in my favorite hobby. Delicious. Downtown Toronto was a perfect conspirator for my intra-work-trip escapades, and my camera and I were here for it.
We landed in the early afternoon, but it was about 2:30 pm by the time I got checked in at the hotel and ate a quick lunch. Rain was in the forecast for the early evening and the sky was well on its way to ominous, so I couldn’t mess around. Fortunately, I had prepared with a photo map of the immediate surroundings of my hotel, which was located right downtown. I had a walkable location, a plan, a couple of hours of daylight and decent weather, and my camera. I was all set.
I had seen Nathan Phillips Square on the ride to the hotel, so I had a good sense of the distances to my other targeted locations based on that. I headed south and slightly west out of the hotel with the intention of making the square my first stop. As I waited at a light to cross the street, I heard a soft voice ask, “Is that a 16 or a 35?” I looked up to see a very nice young gentleman, who was inquiring about my lens. I told him it was a 24mm on a crop sensor (my trusty T6, who gets taken along on work trips). His name was Pancham and he was a photography student at the local university. He showed me some of his portrait work, and we talked photography until the light changed. It was a delightful way to start my afternoon of shooting. We follow each other on Instagram now (he is very good).
You are here, Nathan Phillips Square.
Nathan Phillips Square is the location of the famous Toronto sign, so I went there first. There were only a few people there, but enough to make the photographs interesting. I was able to photograph the sign itself from several angles. Mission accomplished, I continued southward toward Lake Ontario.
Downtown Toronto is very pedestrian-friendly, with plenty of crossing signals for safety. These lights are long, though. In need of a way to kill these 30+-second waits, I made a shutter priority setting of 1/30 s and tried my hand at some panning shots of passing traffic. I had never done this before, so why not? I LOVED it. Through trial and error and lots of throwaway shots of blurry vehicles, I ended up with some nice keepers by the end of the shoot. Instead of just standing there thinking about how cold my hands were getting, I was able to add a new technique to my repertoire. Score.
Practicing my panning shots on Yonge Street.
Why was I heading toward the lake? I was going to Sugar Beach. It is a small beach on the shore of Lake Ontario, right in the middle of downtown. I wanted to photograph it because I had seen pictures of its dozens of pink umbrellas, and I hoped the looming clouds and city backdrop would prove creepily interesting. Hell yeah it did. The light pink umbrellas harbored just enough grunge from winter disuse to enhance the dystopian scene, and a bit of hanging moss in the foreground didn’t hurt either. Your girl never met a leading line she didn’t like, and the repeating arrangement of these umbrellas suited me magnificently. Satisfied with my shots of Sugar Beach and aware of the incoming weather, I turned around and made my way back toward the hotel.
Creepy, fabulous Sugar Beach.
I walked back to the hotel a different way than I came, and I got some nice street and panning shots on the return trip. I was briefly hassled for cash outside the shopping center, but nothing too drastic. There were plenty of other people around, and no was taken for an answer. I was back in my room before dark, ready to hit the sack early for an inhumane show time in the morning. And thus ended another day in the life of this crafty travel photographer.
I am glad that work took me to Toronto. I might not have made a dedicated photography trip there, and I got some great photos that day. It is easy to drift through yet another work trip with another afternoon of watching Netflix in a hotel room, but seizing opportunities like this replaces monotony with inspiration and photos I am proud to share.
