Holly

One always reads how autumn means colour, red and yellow foliage and more. Well, if you've been following this blog, one thing you'd know is that every season has its own claim to colour. That said, the red berries in the holly bushes are a fall treat; they're the more.

Horton Street approaching Springbank Drive

After getting the shot in the park (see yesterday's post), I returned to Horton Street to await the return of my wife with the car. There was a street sign beside the roadway that I could use as an improvised monopod. With my little camera it is best to refrain from shooting at the high ISO settings, the images get grainy or noisy. I prefer to support the camera, accept the motion blur, and shoot at the usual 50 ISO. It works for me.

I've got to stop the car!

My wife and I were heading home along Horton St. W. where Horton changes into Springbank Dr. and I could see deep into Greenway Park. There was a fog forming, the sun was setting and the light was magic. "I've got to stop the car!"

"We're in traffic!" my wife protested. I pulled over and my wife and I both jumped out of the car. She ran around to the driver's side and drove off. I ran into the park.

I say a Canon ELPH is a great camera because you always have it with you. What do you think? Was the moment captured worth stopping the car? My wife didn't think so. She admits that she quietly, and not so quietly, cursed that ever present little camera.

Cheers,
Rockinon

The original London Daily Photo

Recently I had a comment from a chap known as Ham. He has the original London Daily Photo site from the other London, the one across the pond.


Check his site out, and note how he is raising money with his blog to fight breast cancer. What a great idea.

Lovely Home in a Forgotten Part of London

This home is in a forgotten part of  the London core — on the southern edge near the Thames River. There are homes in this area going back 130 or more years and a few still look quite good. Sadly, many of the homes have been demolished or so modified over the years that they have lost all their charm. I'm try to learn a bit more about this neighbourhood and will post my findings on Rockin' On: the Blog.

Not as easy as it looks

I saw this fellow moving smartly down Colborne St. heading south. I made a U-turn but got stopped by a red light. He crossed Dundas Street and, by the time I was almost close enough to get a picture, he turned right onto Horton. He made peddling one bike and controlling another look easy. At Wellington Street I got a quick picture off before he darted through the stopped traffic to head south. Totally illegal, this is the type of picture that The London Free Press would never run, and for good reason. The paper would be accused of make dangerous conduct look acceptable. So let me just say this, "Kids, try this at home (and not on the street.)"

London Soap and Cosmetic Company

In 1985 the oldest surviving soap factory in Canada was destroyed by fire. Today this is all that remains. How very, very sad. This was a interesting plant, and with some imagination it could have been a really cool museum with a great location beside the Thames River.

According to the plaque, from 1875 until 1984 the factory on this site produced a profuse variety of soap products. For the last four years the property was owned by the City of London and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.

The rusting artifact is a toilet soap milling machine that mixed soap flakes with different fragrances to produce bars of fine soap. The flakes of soap are long gone and in their place flakes of rust are appearing on the massive gears.

In the coming days, I am going to be running pictures from this core London neighbourhood, a neighbourhood under stress. More has been lost in this neighbourhood than the century soap plant.