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Today most people visit the historical village of Hornby for the Toronto Outlet mall. But this tiny village was once home to a thriving community with a large church presence. And while all have since closed, there is still one that stands tall, St Stephen’s Anglican Church. In 1834, Rev Adam Elliot led the first recorded Anglican service in Hornby. Rev Elliot, known for his work with Canada’s Indigenous peoples, was one of many missionary rectors who served the many Anglicans who lived in the rural parts of Upper Canada. These services continued in Hornby, hosted at farms through the settlement and, as attendance grew,Read More →

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St. John’s Anglican Church is another small rural parish easily missed. I didn’t even know the parish still existed after coming across the name in connection with other Anglican churches. But after driving past on my way home and discovering its history, I knew I would have to include the congregation. The township of Nelson was home to many small rural communities that popped up along Dundas Road. One of these communities, Hannahville, grew up around the modern intersection with Guelph Line. Like many such communities, there were a significant group of Anglicans who, if they wished to worship, needed to travel to St. Luke’sRead More →

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Hidden far from the downtown and tucked away is the oldest continuously occupied Church in Oakville. The Parish of St. Andrew’s owes itself to Irish farmers Bartholomew O’Conner and Charlie O’Hara, who convinced a priest in Dundas to celebrate Mass in Halton Region in 1819. For many years, the Roman Catholics in Oakville travelled some seventeen kilometres to the St. Peter’s Mission Church, but the first known celebration of Mass in Oakville occurred in 1835. This number grew as the St. Peter’s Parish only offered mass once every four months. In Oakville, the rapid growth of the settlement resulted in 150 Catholics celebrating mass inRead More →

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Doors Open Hamilton has been a long time favourite event since I went to my first event in 2007. It gives a behind-the-door look at many buildings through legal means, which is a huge draw for a group of explorers. One of the biggest draws of that 2007 event is the presence of the HMCS Halifax, one of the Royal Canadian Navy’s frigates and the first ship in the class. We also got glimpses of buildings that were undergoing renovation. It also quickly became a bit of a birthday tradition as it always falls near or sometimes on my birthday. But for the past twoRead More →

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Heading into the big city is a rarity these days between no major events running yet and mainly shooting for review purposes and parenthood. My travel circle is limited these days, not that I’m complaining. But having a random mid-week trip into Toronto with a bit of free time allows me to get out, stretch my legs and camera gear and head out for some enjoyment of the craft. It also helped that I was again shooting for the Embrace the Grain film of the month challenge, which for March was Kentmere 100. So I packed two rolls of film, two cameras, and two lenses.Read More →

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My first experience with a Doors Open event took place in 2007 in Hamilton, wow, I’ve been doing these for over ten years now. I learned of it through the Urban Exploration community. And really there’s no surprise there, explorers do love getting a view of places we normally can’t. And frankly, there’s no better way to do that than legal tours. And while these days I don’t go with a big group, I still enjoy getting out to the Toronto or Hamilton event. Sometimes even both if I can work it. There was even a year I went to Guelph’s and I helped runRead More →

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September 2017 marked a milestone for Sheridan College. As a College Sheridan began its life as a collection of Satellite campuses, those campuses closed, the college moved to centralised campuses. One remained the Skills Training Centre. This September that campus would close its doors as the last satellite campus for Sheridan. STC, as it was better known, holds a special spot for me. I worked at the campus for several years, establishing a permanent IT presence at the small campus. So when I learned that the campus was doomed to closure I made a point to return one last time and document it. And documentRead More →

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When it comes to Doors Open events, there’s no bigger one in Ontario that Toronto’s. With 2017 being the 150th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Toronto made it a goal to have 150 buildings on their doors open event. And what a selection there was, with lots of old favourites and plenty of new ones especially to me. I’ve visited Doors Open Toronto on many occasions, but always seem to hit up the same locations over and over again. So this year I made a point to visit many of the places I’ve never visited, or haven’t been happy with my photographs in the past. IRead More →

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New York City, a place filled with photographic possibilities. And a city I didn’t think I’d be getting back to anytime soon after my last visit back in 2013. Sure it took five years, but I managed to get back, on my honeymoon no less! And my awesome wife Heather even let me bring some toys along. And by toys I mean cameras. I went loaded for bear, the trusty Nikon FA three AI-S lenses (35, 50, and 105) and lots of photographic film. Now usually when I go shooting buildings in a city I tend to capture the full view of the building, gettingRead More →

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One of my favourite photographic events to attend are the Doors Open tours we have in Ontario. Two cities pull out the stops the first being Hamilton the second being Toronto. While of late, Hamilton has been sort of disappointing, but it has also been the one that I have attended the most. But my attendance is a little bit of a Birthday tradition for me as it always falls on the weekend closest to my birthday. Sadly this year’s event was soured a little with rain, so I only managed to get to four locations, of which I’ll be sharing three here today asRead More →