Fireworks

Toronto City Hall. Cavalcade of Lights 2006.

Morning Fog

Early morning ice fog. First tee, Thornhill Country Club. Season is over.

Royal Ontario Museum

Big reno job going on at the ROM, corner of Bloor and University. Gotta think it took some balls to approve this expansion model - very modern, disjointed. From a distance currently looks like a building fell over.

TAGS:ROM, museum, Toronto Photos

People in glass houses...

...and IT is so interesting. Too much partying.

TAGS:University of Toronto, tired, Toronto Photos

University of Toronto Tower

Famed Soldier's Tower, Memorial Room Window at the University of Toronto.

TAGS:Toronto, University of Toronto, stained glass

Toronto Subway

From the overpass at Merton and Yonge. One of the spots on the Yonge line where it's not a 'sub' way.

TAGS:Toronto, TTC, Toronto Photos

Classic Car

Beautiful Chevrolet Corvette at Toronto Classic Car Show and auction, October 2006.

TAGS:Toronto, corvette, car show

Fall in Toronto

Generally not the best colours this year - it's been too warm. Using HDR to exagerate what's there. Picture from duck pond in the middle of Thorhnill. Didn't see the large mouse behind me until the shadow showed up in the picture.

Still using the trial version of Photomotix.

Toronto Underground

PATH is a major shopping and eating connector that links most of Toronto's downtown core. In the winter, it means never having to go outside.

Original photo edited with Paint Shop Pro's brush strokes effect.

TAGS:Toronto, PATH, Paint Shop Pro

Berries in Fall Colors

TAGS:Toronto, fall colors, colored leaves

CN Tower Windows

CN Tower reflecting in the windows of nearby office building.

TAGS:Toronto, CN Tower, Toronto Photos

Warrior

Not messing with this guy. Piper with ceremonial guard, Veteran's Memorial parade.

TAGS:Toronto, bagpipes, warrior

Pipe and Drums

Veteran's Memorial parade.

TAGS:Toronto, bagpipes, red

Musical Instruments

Veterans memorial parade. Toronto. Musicians took a break - instruments didn't.

Toronto City Hall

Another HDR image. This one super worked over and it shows - too much exposure in the top corners. A Photomatix watermark that comes with trial version of Photomax is also visible.

TAGS:HDR Photography, Toronto City Hall, d50

HDR Photography

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range Imaging. By taking a series of pics at diffent settings and merging them the resulting photo contains more colour range and intensity than a normal photo.

This one taken at Edwards Gardens.

TAGS:HDR, Toronto, flowers

Think Pink

Cool front and awning on boutique hotel just off Yonge Street. From the top ranking in Google for 'Cosmopolitan Toronto': Cosmopolitan Toronto hotel is the latest Toronto Boutique and zen Hotel. It is a hotspot for a romantic weekend getaway, Toronto meetings and meeting ...

TAGS:Toronto, buildings, hotels

Bank Next Door

Two of Toronto's more uniqe towers - Scotia Bank and condos at One King West. Perspective doing a real favour to the condo tower which is barely half as tall as the bank tower.

TAGS:Toronto, buildings, city

Rusty Ranger

Sitting empty and high in the water. Tied up near the Docks entertainment complex just off Cherry Street.

TAGS:Toronto, boats, docks

Close-up: PCMD's

Close up of the Pool Cues of Mass Destruction outside Air Canada Centre. Toronto downtown is big into wierd, bad, steel art - see the woodpecker and massive rusted sunflower in previous posts.

Towering Reflection

CN Tower, Rogers Centre and Pool Cues of Mass Destruction reflecting off Air Canada Centre glass.

Honey, we bent the condo...!

Wierd affect from this angle. Tried straightening the image but left tower still appears bent. Could it be the same architect...?!

Arch Bridge

This cool arch-bridge over the Humber River in Toronto's west end seems like it should be out of place - but isn't.

Humber Engineering

Massive girders holding the Gardiner Expressway and Lakeshore Drive above the Humber River.

Hiring: Toronto Maple Leafs

The problem when you hire badly in the first place is you have to do it all over again. In anticipation of an early start to the golf season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have apparently begun the hiring process for next year.

TAGS:Toronto Maple Leafs, Air Canada Centre, hockey

Flying North

It's almost golf season. Flags are going in. Pro shops are opening. And the Canada Geese are returning to their natural habitats on the fairways and putting greens of our golf courses. Caught this one landing (no really) at Buttonville Airport.

TD Bank Funky...what?

Keeping in mind that the bird in the previous post confuses me, probably no surprise that this pic does too. This is some kind of funky advertising/poster/technology on the way into the food court in the TD Bank Center. Fact is, this picture is 10x clearer than what you see live. It's like looking through an optical grate, where you only see the image at a certain angle. What's even more confusing is once you see it, it's still not clear what the purpose is. Maybe it's just cool?

Big Bird

First give me some credit. How tough was it to not call this picture 'Giant Pecker'. Fortunately, I'm more mature than that. This ugly woodpecker 'sculpture' outside the Toronto convention centre has always kind of confused me. First, it really is ugly. Second, it sits on a pole in the middle of nowhere. Third, it's right on the way to the Rogers Center where the Toronto BLUE JAYS play. Blue Jays, not Toronto Peckers. On closer inspection, not visible, is another pecker that sits on the far side of the pole, not really visible for anyone. One question: why?

Big Bank Tower

Scotia Plaza tower on a cloudy day. Home of Scotia Bank, this is the 2nd tallest tower in Canada and the 21st tallest in North America. The exterior features smooth Tennessee marble.

Toronto Convention Walk

Skywalk from Union Station to Toronto Convention Center and Skydome. Well known location to all Toronto Blue Jays and Auto Show fans.

TAGS:Toronto pictures

Peaceful Setting in Heart of Toronto

Picture taken out the back Lobby of the Sheraton Hotel. Sheraton is a great hotel for tourists and locals alike - central, great parking, good bar, connected by the Path Network underground to the rest of the downtown, wi-fi. Right across from City Hall.

TAGS:Toronto Pictures, Toronto Hotels, Waterfall

KLM 747 Landing at Toronto

Pics like this usually go on my other blog, JC's Toronto Plane Pics. This one has been getting big time views over at Flickr also.

Outdoor Plants in Toronto

The problem with growing plants outdoors in Toronto is that sometimes they mutate, get large and take on a grungy appearance. This beauty outside the entrance to the Royal York Hotel on Front Street.

Power Lines

I once asked a friend of mine from Europe what he noticed most about Toronto. His answer was very interesting - "all the poles full of wires". Take a look around. He's right. We've got ugly wires everywhere. These one's run throught the parking lot at the Finch subway station - and, to be fair - they've got fields full of these in Europe too.

Royal York Hotel Toronto

The grandaddy of Toronto hotels. Built in 1929, this hotel has lots of stories. From the hotel web site:

On June 11, 1929, the hotel officially opened as The Royal York. It was the tallest building in the British Commonwealth and quickly set the hospitality standard of the day. The magnificent hotel became known as a city within a city, rising in 28 floors of architectural splendor and replete with mechanical genius and opulence never before seen in Toronto. It boasted 1,048 rooms - each with radios, private showers and bathtubs. The 1.5 acres of public rooms included a 12-bed hospital, 12,000-book library and ten ornate passenger elevators. The Concert Hall featured a full stage and mammoth pipe organ weighing 50 tons, which surpassed anything else in Canada with 300 miles of copper wire. There was a glass-enclosed roof garden, the largest hotel kitchen in Canada with a bakery that could produce over 15,000 French rolls a day, a 66-ft.long switchboard manned by 35 telephone operators, its own bank and golf course (now known as St. George Golf & Country).

TAGS:Toronto Pictures, Royal York Hotel, Toronto Hotels

Toronto Reflections

From the North American Life building at Finch and Yonge.

Toronto City Hall Skating

Skating at +10 degrees. Toronto City Hall. Outstanding day for being outdoors and getting pics. This skating rink was a floating garden in a post here from September.

One King Street West

Spectucular spring day in Toronto. Picture of recently built, cool, condo hotel at One King Street West. Built on the old Toronto Dominion Bank building, this slender beauty stands 51 stories.