Fall is Here - Part 2 - Old Walkerville Area, Oct. 24, 2012

    Well every Monday through Friday morning I drive my kids to school. They go to Walkerville Center for Creative Arts http://www.walkervillearts.com/ (High School) in the Old Walkerville area of Windsor.  At this time of the year with all the leaves changing on the old trees it is just beautiful.  So I had to bring the camera with me one morning and after dropping them off; drive through the area and take some shots.  Below is the best of them. I stopped first and took a few looking up one of the streets where the rows of town houses are. these were the townhouses build for the employees at the old Hiram Walkers Distillery.  The I stopped along the road next to St. Mary's Church and the graveyard.  I took a few around there and then into the park where the old Willistead Manor is located. Last I was driving around the streets and saw an older car parked on the side of the street in the neighborhood. It was a nice orange color contrasting the colors of the season. It just struck me and I had to take a few shots.  Looking at these it's hard not to "Remember When....." Walkerville was the center of activity in this area. Speaking of which if you are interested in the history of the area, check out this site http://www.walkervilletimes.com/boomyears.htm   They have done a great job a documenting the area.

Fall is here ....Part 1 - Did you see that Sunset Last Night (Oct 26, 2012)?

    Well we were sitting around playing Diablo III last night. When my son Liam gets up and looks out the open front door; and says look at the color outside. The sun was setting and everything was turning shades of Yellow, Orange & red. So immediately we pause the game, grab the camera case and are in the truck. I was going to head to the Old Walkerville area to get the contrast of the leaves turning color with the sunset colors but; there was no way we would make it there in time. So since the river front is closer, we headed that way. Am I glad he noticed when he did. I would hate to have missed it.  I took them from the rivers edge next to the parking lot for the park where the Peace Fountain is located. You can see the GM Headquarters (Ren Cen) in Detroit to the right and or centered in on. On the left (or centered) is the Windsor side with the two smoke stacks of the Ford power plant on riverside and to its right is the Catholic Church a few blocks over on Riverside. You can see the color of the sky through the Bell towers. Near the bottom is a picture I took near the end. My hands where getting cold as I waited for the different shots and so they shook and the lights of and around the GM building got pulled and left the light lines in a sort of "S" form. I thought for a mistake it looked pretty cool so I kept it.  Enjoy.

The 5th Ann. World Wide Photo Walk Day - Oct 13, 2012

     Well I came across a blog on "Google +" about this event and followed the trail to the main web page for the event a few weeks before it happened. I was interested in the event and the chance to get out with other Photographers to share the the experience with. I hadn't heard of the walk prior and found out on the site that the local walk did have a leader; and that he had picked Jackson Park as the spot for the local walk. I have taken a few shots there, as can be noted from the few other blogs I have done so far. More importantly next to Jackson Park is my old high school, The Honorable W.C.Kennedy Collegiate Institute. I have wanted to take some shots of the school just as a matter of nostalgia for a while. So I signed up and went this past Saturday. I am off work presently as I am post operative (had emergency surgery a month ago), and while I am doing really well; this was a challenge to walk around for 2 hours, go to a restaurant for an hour or so after and then I had a family dinner (we did Thanksgiving together Sat. as not everyone could make it the weekend before). My Son Liam came along to help carry the case and to take some photo's himself. we really enjoyed the day and here are some photo's of our walk. Hope you enjoy.

Above: Hon. W.C. Kennedy C.I. - High School or Windsor, Ont., Canada

Above: Old Vines on the wall of school.  Liked the look of this in the Black & White best. 

    The next few were taken by me in and around the "Queen Elizabeth II Gardens" of Jackson Park, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The first is a lamp post in the central area near the pond taken through the surrounding tree's and undergrowth of the Garden. We were walking through and I just glance up in this direction and had to stop and take a few steps back. glad I did, I think the composition of the surrounding foliage and the lamp in the middle turned out well. 

 
  This second one is the sun dial monument that stands at the back right of the middle path of the Q.E. II gardens. I just snapped the one on a whim. I didn't take any others as I normally would. When I got back home and looked at it on the computer though I thought it turned out pretty good.

    There are of course all sorts of plants and flowers in the garden. Of course at this time of the year they are starting to wilt and die. But a good number of plants still held a lot of life and color. I took several shots of a good number of them.  This one just jumped out at me though. The color is crisp and the framing worked out about perfect.

    Again the plants were everywhere  and this one just about leaps through the lens, the camera and into your  eye as you take this photo.  I Just had to include it & the next one. That one just struck me as the colors all blend together in the various shades of brown.

    Lastly are a few of the shots my son took.  The first one here is a tree stump cut with a seat back that is hidden in underbrush surrounding the Q.E. II Gardens. It is just visible as you walk the path and since it is on an incline and a bit slippery, I couldn't go in. He asked for the camera and stepped in and took a couple of shots. I wasn't sure exactly what he was shooting until he came out and showed me the screen. Then when we got home and saw it, it really became apparent what he had shot. It was a really nice shot. 

    As we walked around looking at things to shoot, we had just finished taking some shots of a tree with a strange lean to it and walked down the path a little. Liam asked for the camera again and as I was saying look at the colors of the trees over there he was turning and saying" Yeah, I know. That's what I'm shooting."

      The pond in the Q.E. II Gardens was great under the overcast sky for reflections. It was just making the most of them. Liam took this one and Ii think it was the best of the ones we shot. The sculpture in the pond, with the war memorial wall behind and the planes and trees behind that.

    This last one Liam took the camera and put it up against the lamp post, pointed to the sky. He changed the settings a few times taking shots and again it wasn't until we got home that we saw this one. the texture of the pole, the image view up to the lamp and the over cast sky above.  Nice shot kid.