One Day in Toronto - DPChallenge Forums

11/08/2009 09:50:34 PM · #1

OK I know this isn't and individual photograph but it is one project. I had to wait until the Oct Free Study was over to post this as one of the shots was in it, I've been dying to share with you guys 'n' gals. : )

So, I set myself a goal for this shoot, basically to take some black and white shots of Toronto to try and capture the atmosphere of the city, and to nail the skyline shot I've been after all year. It can be difficult with kids to make time for things like this, but my wife was a star and let me indulge.

I started the day at 5am, got to Toronto at around 6:30am. I parked down near the ferry so I wouldn't have far to walk after going out to the islands in the evening. I e-mailed some people in work to help plan a route around the city and interesting things to see, this helped tremendously as I would have been wandering around aimlessly otherwise.

If you haven't seen it already I put together a video of the shots, with some soulful music from Metric, a Toronto band.
Toronto Shoot Video

All the shots were taken in colour (RAW) and then converted to black and white in photoshop. I used the Sigma wide angle lens a lot (10-20mm) to emphasise the height of the buildings, it's such a great lens. I tried a few different styles, used the tripod where needed, and also took some "from the hip" Cartier Bresson style, which was fun. OK, here we go.

Shooting street candids is tough as the best of times, shooting homeless people sort of feels like you are taking advantage. I don't think I could do photojournalism for a living, I think I'd always want to intervene. I got this shot just after having missed out on an awesome shot, because I asked someone if I could photograph them and they said no. So I changed my tack to shoot first, ask permission later (if at all). The background speaks for itself, I love it.

Urban Angel

This was shot from the hip walking through the tunnels under the railway tracks. 50mm, set to f/2.2, focus a few metres in front, continuous shooting, and fire away! I love the juxtaposition with the first shot, these people were more concerned with the contents of their lattes than anything else going on around them.

Coffee

These three large black buildings in the financial sector look so ominous and serious, everything is very uniform and immaculate. They are so black and flat they remind me of the monoliths in 2001, an advanced form of multifunction robot. I love the way the clouds came in just to give the shot that impending sense of doom.

Monolith

Brookfield Place (formerly BCE Place), the "crystal cathedral of commerce". Now I didn't know about this place, it wasn't on my route, I just sort of stumbled on it by accident after walking through one of the doors. I looked up, and WOW! I'm sure this place has been shot thousands of times, so instead of the futuristic look, I went for something altogether more industrial in the processing.

Dark Arches

Re-edited in Basic for the Low Key challenge.

This shot I processed differently from the rest, sort of a blurry gritty glow. It was shot through the mucky windows of the CN/Skydome walkway. Not an amazing shot by any means, but I got it for a friend of mine who loves trains!

VIA

This triangular building is down near Front St, I took a few shots from different angles but this on is my fave. The wide angle hides the sides completely and really makes it look like a tower right up to the sky. I don't know much about the architecture but the design of the widows remind me of those on the Glasgow tenements which is where I grew up as a child, something very comforting and sturdy about the design.

Esplanade Tower

Shooting for black and white you have to look for tones, reflections, angles and shapes much more than for colour. I really love how this steel and glass structure came out. A bit abstract but with every grey tone in there!

Angles

This is one of my favourite shots of all of them. When the sun hits the RBC building in the morning it acts as a giant golden reflector, lighting up the opposite side of the street with a soft glow. What I really like about this shot apart from the lighting is the fact it contains people and transport. Sometimes when you are trying to cature a cityscape you want as few distractions as possible in the shot, but with the bus, the people, and the wide angle making the buildings lean in to me it lends a real small town feel. You'll see the same again with one of the other shots.

Front St Life

Another candid. This one was a bit more fun as the guy didn't mind being photographed at all, but this shot from the side worked best. The Maple Leafs (hockey team) were in Dundas Sq doing some sort of show all day, so with the music blaring this gentleman decide to dance and drum away. The fact he's wearing a tie is just a bonus, and the ambulance is the sobering element to his situation.

Drummer

Again looking for shots that wouldn't normally be shot, I really like this one of the CN Tower. It makes it look a bit futuristic, a bit Jetson's! Being someone who likes symmetry, the unequal window sizes plus the window missing from the bottom left add that little bit of chaos for me.

CN Reflection

Not sure of the security arrangements on the subway, another one shot from the hip to avoid attention.

Arrival

This is the other cityscape/life shot I was talking about. Again great lighting, planning, and a sturdy tripod allowed me to really capture the scene. This is where I got accosted by security, who accused me of being a potential terrorist and asked me to move on. Seeing as I was on the larger stones (privately owned), and not the smaller stones of the sidewalk I had no choice. But once again I got the shot first, yay! How did they know I was part of the Judean People's Front!

Shapes Financial

This is a mural over a car park near Dundas, it's part of the Paint Your Faith celebration, I found a link here:
//www.wondercafe.ca/paint_your_faith
And lucky for me they had only recently finished it.

Car Park Mural

Now this shot may not seem special to some, but to me the term "street car" is an unfamiliar romantic element of North American culture that I wanted to capture.

Street Cars Westbound

Another subway shot, this time with me pressed up against a wall. Same as the street car sign, (being a Brit) the subway isn't a familiar tool of transport to me, it's an icon of city life. A living breathing mechanism to get everyone around in semi chaos, the ebb and flow of people who know exactly where they are going, have the correct change, and do not deviate from their paper or playlist. You can hear it wherever you are, you can feel the heat venting from the buildings and streets.

Departure

This place is special to me. When we went to Toronto in 2004 for a city break the first night we went around the corner from the hotel to Mr Greenjean's for a meal. It was hilarious, I ordered burger and chips, and got exactly that, a burger and a plate of chips (me thinking I had ordered fries!) First lesson in language ha ha. I just remember being amazed at the number of levels in the Eaton centre, and with a food court and access to the subway and PATH system I thought, why would you ever go above ground!

I proposed to my wife a couple of days later in the CN Tower, the rest is history.

Eaton Centre

I do love doing night/long exposure shots, especially capturing car light trails. This is a combination of a few exposures at Dundas Sq. The blurry people really make it for me too.

Dundas Lights

And my final shot. I got the ferry out to Centre Island at around 5:30pm hoping to catch any rays of evening sun, unfortunately it was too cloudy for any sunset shots. So I sat it out until it got dark, on a spooky rocky outcrop, me being the only one who got off the ferry! I am so pleased with how it came out, it was just as I had imagined it. I was a bit worried about half an hour earlier as the light was going down but none of the offices had switched on any lights at all, I thought it was going to be a very dark skyline!

Skyline

Hope you enjoy the shots, I had such a great day, any comments and constructive criticism are welcome.

P.S. I have used Redbubble to make a calendar of some of the shots, can't wait to get one!

Toronto Calendar by Rob Smith

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

11/08/2009 10:02:50 PM · #2

Man! I have a lot to learn from you! I live in toronto, so I take most of the city shots for granted...

Great work!!! I was actually down there this morning trying to do some nice shots, i'll post em once they are edited, but yours are way better!

I used a tokina 12-24 @12, but I can see that 10mm makes a huge difference!

Nice work!!!

VitaminB

Nikon D800

11/08/2009 10:06:16 PM · #3

This is an excellent series Rob. I try to get downtown often for shots, but also find myself pigeon-holed for ideas, and always take shots of the same thing. I will definitely be getting some inspiration from your series and will try something like it myself soon.

11/08/2009 10:10:04 PM · #4

do I sense a Downtown toronto GTG???

11/08/2009 10:31:25 PM · #5

Yeah but I still don't have any ribbons! :-P

Thanks for the kind comments! And if I can get away from the kids I'd be up for a GTG.

11/08/2009 10:37:35 PM · #6

Awesome! I'm sure we can round up a bounch of DPC locals =)

I find Sunday mornings best because Green P street parking is free till 1pm and there is nobody around so it's easy to get around and take pics...

i'll start a new Toronto GTG thread...

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

11/08/2009 10:43:46 PM · #7

toronto GTG thread started... reply if you would consider coming.... date TBA

Rob, you are the unofficial tour guide =)

Message edited by author 2009-11-08 22:44:12.

cmeier

11/13/2009 09:43:44 PM · #8

Rob, those are great shots. I work right off Yonge/Dundas square and you've captured the ambience beautifully. Nice work! --C

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

11/14/2009 02:56:54 AM · #9

Loved the tour! Thanks very much!

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

11/14/2009 02:29:47 PM · #10

Thank Melethia, and thank you for your comments too!

Coley

Nikon D810

11/14/2009 02:50:20 PM · #11

Awesome shoot Rob. Love the tones and BW conversion. Some very inspiring work here indeed!

I love the subway shot

GiorgioBaruffi

Apple iPhone 5s

Fujifilm XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS

11/14/2009 03:09:45 PM · #12

i love this work... the last one is fantastic...

Photologist

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

11/14/2009 08:11:32 PM · #13

Excellent photography, Rob. I love Toronto.

May I suggest, the next time you go, there is a suburb on the northern end of the city (Markham) that has the cathedral that really stands out from the rest of the area. It is set back on a large parcel of land, so you don't get many ambient distractions. It's a photo-op that's waiting to happen: