Harbour Dawn
After going through Hanlan’s and the airport for almost six weeks in 2004 the ice was pretty thick, and the City contracted out one of the largest tugs in the harbour to break up the ice as much as possible. After six weeks of relative silence the crunchy tinkling sound woke me up, in time […]
Conglomeration
Time warp back to 2004, and a sudden cold snap breaks the Ward’s dock hydraulics, trapping the Ongiara in place for several hours. The legendary ingenuity of the Island community came to the fore, assuming that having everyone run from one end of the boat to the other might shift it enough to get free […]
No Access
Signs and trees lie entombed in ice at the end of the boardwalk after a wicked winter storm in 2004.
Don’t Fall In
Lifesaving gear on the boardwalk sits useless, encrusted with heavy ice, after a good winter storm in 2004.
Jimmy Jones Center Ice
Jimmy Jones takes center ice with Leo and Samantha on the legendary black ice of 2005, seen here off the boardwalk and frozen all the way to the spit. Click image to view larger.
Distant City
Zeke and a friend light up the fabled black ice of 2005, seen here at sunset about half a kilometer off of the boardwalk. Click image to view larger.
22 Lakeshore Ave.
22 Lakeshore Ave. sits derelict and empty in the winter of 2009, before renovations completely replaced the structure. Click image to view larger.
Strengthsfinder
An early panoramic self-portrait, kayaking on a delightful ice shelf formed during ice-out in March of 2004 as the Ongiara rumbles past. Click image to view larger.
Black Ice Twilight
An inner harbour frozen solid in early February reflects the twilight hues of Toronto, as seen here between Algonquin and Snake islands. When doing this kind of shoot, it pays to have an extra battery kept handy in a warm pocket somewhere. Click image to view larger.
Approaching Storm
A wounded mute swan sits on the ice pack of the outer harbour, waiting as a winter storm approaches.
Old Faithful
Another Ward’s beach geyser erupts into strong sidelight. After each session of shooting in -18°C weather, the cameras would be coated in ice and require careful defrosting for several hours near a constant heat source.
Cpt. Tom
A gem from the archives: it’s January 2004, and the temperature has just plummeted by over 20°C. Plastic shatters, pipes burst, and hydraulic lines fail. Without hydraulic pressure, the crew of the Ongiara are unable to raise the Ward’s Island dock, effectively trapping the ferry Island-side. For two hours everything was tried, including something enterprising […]
1830 to the City
The Ongiara streaks to the city at 6:30 P.M., punching through the January ice in this two-minute exposure.
Chickadee Isolation
A Chickadee puffs itself up against the cold of winter, searching for food behind the filtration plant.
Surprising Teeth
A beaver, teeth stained red from a winter diet of nothing but bark, floats in a hole kept open in the ice off of Snake Island.
Smirnoff Snowman II
A close view of the boardwalk’s Smirnoff Snowman, and his novel way of staying warm on cold winter days.
Canadian Hero
A true Canadian hero: a beaver, doing what it does best, hauls a branch out of the Ward’s dunes through a winter blizzard, back to the water where it will swim with it through the breaking surf to its lodge. Absolutely epic, for the amount of nutrition that the underbark of dogwood contains. This is […]
Proof of Concept
Hot on the heels of their newfound popularity from the front-page Toronto Star article, a curious Toronto Island mink checks out the experimental IceCam, underwater and under the ice near Snug Harbour. A terrible photograph by any stretch of the imagination, there isn’t much light down there, but an interesting portrait of our furry little […]
Steamy Ongiara
The Ongiara makes her way through thick steam thrown up by an almost 30°C temperature drop.