Toronto has many hidden street-art gems all over the place. This one I found on the Queen East strip. Taken with Pentax K100D and HDRed using Photomatix + Photoshop.

There is a love-hate relationship between the city’s street artists and everybody else. Not all of them care for the beauty of this artform. I can understand when this ‘art’ is on the windows of houses and store fronts, it crosses personal and social boundaries. But for every other time, can’t we all just get along?

Got the opportunity to go to the 2007 Toronto Autoshow with a friend of mine. Awesome stuff. Check out the full gallery on flickr.

Toronto has such hidden gems of coffee bars. This HDR was taken at a new joint on Queen East. What is it about foam and hearts? Do they always make the drink taste better? I dont know, but this place made some good coffee.

This photo was taken in Toronto on Queen’s Quay next to my old condominium place. There were a bunch of swans next to Second Cup and my son was just enamored by these beautiful birds. I obviously busted out my Pentax K100D and got snapping. Somehow, I did not even want to put this photo in the post-processing queue in my favorite RAW + HDR softwares. But I did.

I didn’t even like this outcome so much, but my best friend did. I didn’t think the photo was that special, but I put it up on Flickr anyway. I was surprised by how many people saw it, favorited it and commented on it.

The choices we try to make, we try to rationalize all our options and go for what we like best. But somehow in the end, things always feel out of our hands. I don’t know if I can fully admit to believing in a grand plan, but one thing I am sure of is that all the choices are not ours.

One of the coolest things I like about photography is that it makes me walk with my eyes sharp and head up. Otherwise I find myself pacing to my next destination single-minded and making sure that I don’t trip on anything. With a camera in my hand, I try to keep on top of what’s in front of me as well around me. What if I walk by something and end up missing a good photo-op?

That’s what happened with this photo. Its taken at the base of the CN Tower on Bremner Boulevard, Toronto. Its ‘my backyard’, as it were. I walk through these everyday but never noticed how red they look in the evening with the neon glow from the Rogers Centre and some street signage. Just got my SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/1.7 Manual Lens & Maha C-9000 Charger with 4 2700mah batteries. So my Pentax K100D ’starter’ kit is finally complete (dont use the stock 18-55mm lens as much).