Photo essay: Markham & Pacific Mall

Boring story short: The in-laws were out of town over the Thanksgiving weekend, and we had to house-sit/pick up produce from their backyard garden. Between giant slabs of cheap BBQ pork and a million pounds of fresh organic tomatoes, I also took some pics. 

All photos taken with the ancient (by digital camera times) Fuji X-E1 and the 7artisans 25mm f1.8 lens. This combo is not only cheap, but has become my new fun every-day camera setup. The film-like rendering of the first X-trans sensor plus the manual focusing and general corner-fuzziness of the toy lens is really a throwback - but the tiny pancake lens is really sharp in the center.

 

Photo essay: CNE 2017

The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE, or The Ex, as we locals call it) has marked the unofficial end of the summer in Toronto since forever, and I haven't missed one since I moved to this city 15 years ago. It's crowded, it's loud, dirty, and everything is a cash grab, including the over-the-top food selections like fried butter (?!), but none of those are really why my wife and I go visit every August. It's our yearly chance to walk around the grounds like a pair of 8-year-olds, with a corn dog on one hand, cotton candy on the other, and ignore that you're an adult with responsibilities for one night, because definitely–most definitely–you totally have a chance to win that giant Pikachu.

Honest Ed's final days : Part 2

I'm glad I made it to the aMAZEment have one last chance to experience Honest Ed's at its fullest. Toronto has made me very skeptical of any new events in this city, but I have to admit that this one was absolutely worth the admission price and then some. Farewell Ed's - No glass tower can replace you.

Read part 1 here.

Photos taken with the Panasonic LX100 (mostly) and the GX85 with the Olympus 17mm f1.8

Honest Ed's final days: Part 1

Three days left before it closes its doors for good, Honest Ed's already looks like a ghost town. Most of the stock is gone, its iconic hand-painted signs are up for sale, and there is a general feeling of gloom and sadness in the air as you walk the isles.

Like many who made Toronto their adoptive home, Honest Ed's had a special place in my heart not only as a landmark of the city, but as one of its most iconic, almost living and breathing, characters. This is the place that I bought my first rice cooker in Canada for a cool $9.99 (this is an essential item for any Asian) and its unavoidable, giant neon sign will be sorely missed.

All photos taken with the Panasonic Lumix GM5 and the 14mm f2.5 lens.

UPDATE: Some of the photos in this series have been picked up by Toronto Star Touch, Indie88, and Lululemon Toronto's Instagram Feed.